Tottenham Court Road station

The station opened as part of the Central London Railway (CLR) on 30 July 1900.[8] From that date until 24 September 1933,[8] the next station eastbound on the Central line was the now-defunct British Museum; the next stop in that direction is now Holborn. The platforms are under Oxford Street west of St Giles' Circus and were originally connected to the ticket hall via lifts at the east end of the platforms. The original station building was on the south side of Oxford Street and was designed in common with other CLR stations by Harry Bell Measures. The building and its neighbours were demolished in 2009.

The Charing Cross, Euston & Hampstead Railway (CCE&HR, now part of the Northern line) arrived here on 22 June 1907[9] but used the name Oxford Street until an interchange (linking the eastbound Central line with the southbound Northern line via the ends of the platform) was opened on 3 September 1908[10] from when the present name was used for both lines. The next station north on the Northern line was originally called Tottenham Court Road,[10] but was renamed to Goodge Street at this time.

The original ticket office was directly beneath St Giles circus and was accessed from stairs on three street corners around the Circus. Its original lift shafts and emergency stairs are still extant. A set of emergency stairs can be used as access down to the ends of the Northern line platform. The lift shafts are used for offices and station facilities.

Like a number of other central area stations, Tottenham Court Road underwent improvements during the 1920s to replace the original sets of lifts with escalators. Works commenced in 1923; a new subsurface ticket hall, under St Giles Circus, was constructed and the escalators came into service on 28 September 1926 (upper set) and 1 February 1926 (lower set).[11] A shaft for three escalators was driven from the ticket hall under the junction down to the east end of the Central line platforms ending at an intermediate circulation space. A further pair of escalators descend from this level to the north end of the Northern line platforms. The lifts were removed and the redundant shafts were used as ventilation ducts. In 1938 a chiller plant began operating at the station. This was decommissioned in 1949.

Passenger congestion entering and leaving the Northern line platforms was partially eased by the addition of a short single escalator at the centre of the platform leading up to a passageway linking to the intermediate circulation area. However, this was in itself a cause of congestion, as traffic trying to leave the station from the Northern line found itself in the path of traffic entering and travelling to the Central line.

In the early 1980s, the entire station was redecorated, losing the distinctive Leslie Green-designed platform tiling pattern of the Yerkes tube lines (which included the CCE&HR), and the plain white platform tiles of the CLR. It was replaced by distinctive mosaics by Eduardo Paolozzi, located on platforms, passages and escalator entrances.

The station had four entrances to the sub-surface ticket hall from the north-east, south-west and north-west corners of the junction and from a subway beneath the Centre Point building which starts on Andrew Borde Street. The entrances were frequently congested leading to occasions during peak periods of the day when they were briefly closed to prevent overcrowding in the station.

In the aftermath of the King's Cross fire in 1987, London Underground was recommended to investigate "passenger flow and congestion in stations and take remedial action".[12] A Parliamentary bill was tabled in 1991 to permit London Underground to improve and expand the frequently congested station, however this was not proceeded with.[13] In 2000, London Underground consulted on a station upgrade including a new larger ticket hall, new escalators and step free access, which would have taken 4 years to construct.[14]

Construction of the station expansion work in 2011

Tottenham Court Road Eastern Ticket Hall after expansion, with Daniel Buren's artwork.

The station was eventually reconstructed and upgraded in the mid 2010s as part of the Crossrail project to construct the Elizabeth line,[6] with the £500 million station upgrade taking eight years.[15] To enable the station expansion work to occur, both the Astoria theatres and the original Central line entrance were demolished.[16] During construction, the Central and Northern lines were alternately closed for several months to allow for upgrade works to take place.[17]

Upon completion in 2017, the project delivered:[15]

• A new ticket hall six times larger than previous, located below St Giles Circus and the forecourt of Centre Point
• New public plaza outside Centre Point, with station entrances designed by Hawkins\Brown
• New dedicated set of escalators to access the Northern line
• New and expanded passageways underground
• Escalators down to the eastern end of the future Elizabeth line station.[6]
• Step-free access throughout the station
• Restoration of existing artwork by Eduardo Paolozzi, and a new artwork in the ticket hall by Daniel Buren

On Dean Street, a dedicated western entrance and ticket hall was built to access the new Elizabeth line platforms.[6] These platforms stretch for 230 m (750 ft) between the two ticket halls, underneath Soho Square.[18] The completed western entrance and Crossrail platforms were handed over to TfL in early 2021.[18] Crossrail links Tottenham Court Road to Canary Wharf, Abbey Wood, Stratford, and Shenfield in the east with Paddington, Heathrow and Reading in the west.[6] The central section of the Elizabeth line opened on 24 May 2022 between Paddington and Abbey Wood.[19] Direct service to Reading, Heathrow, Stratford and Shenfield commenced on 6 November 2022.[20]

As part of a plan to raise £500 million from development above new Crossrail stations,[21] a residential development of 92 homes as well as retail units will be built above the western ticket hall by developer Galliard Homes[22] and a new West End theatre as well as retail and office space will be built above the eastern ticket hall by developer Derwent London.[23] The new theatre will be the first West End theatre to open in over 50 years.[24]

The typical off-peak service in trains per hour is:[31]

• 12 tph to Northolt of which 9 continue to West Ruislip
• 12 tph to White City of which 9 continue to Ealing Broadway
• 12 tph to Loughton of which 9 continue to Epping
• 12 tph to Newbury Park of which 9 continue to Hainault

Additional services call at the station during the peak hours.

The Central line also operates a night service on Friday and Saturday nights as part of the Night Tube. Trains generally operate every 10 minutes in each direction, with trains every 20 minutes to Ealing Broadway, Loughton and Hainault via Newbury Park.

The typical off-peak service in trains per hour is:[32]

• 10 tph to Edgware
• 8 tph to High Barnet
• 2 tph to Mill Hill East
• 20 tph to Kennington of which 10 continue to Battersea Power Station

Additional services, including direct trains beyond Kennington to Morden call at the station during the peak hours.

Elizabeth line services began calling at Tottenham Court Road on 24 May 2022 and all services are operated using Class 345 EMUs.

The typical off-peak service in trains per hour is:[33]

• 8 tph to Abbey Wood
• 8 tph to Shenfield
• 6 tph to London Paddington
• 4 tph to Heathrow Terminal 4
• 2 tph to Heathrow Terminal 5
• 4 tph to Maidenhead of which 2 continue to Reading

These services combine to give a service of 16 tph in each direction. During the peak hours, the service is increased to 20 tph in each direction.

On Sundays, the services between Shenfield and London Paddington are reduced to 4 tph, with another 4 tph terminating instead at Gidea Park.

Preceding station	London Underground			Following station
Oxford Circus towards Ealing Broadway or West Ruislip		Central line		Holborn towards Epping, Hainault or Woodford via Newbury Park
Goodge Street towards Edgware, Mill Hill East or High Barnet		Northern line Charing Cross Branch		Leicester Square towards Battersea Power Station, Morden or Kennington
Preceding station	Elizabeth line			Following station
Bond Street towards Reading or Heathrow Airport Terminal 4 or Terminal 5		Elizabeth line		Farringdon towards Abbey Wood or Shenfield
Future developments
Preceding station	Crossrail			Following station
Victoria towards Hampton Court, Shepperton, Chessington South or Epsom		Crossrail 2		Euston St Pancras towards New Southgate or Broxbourne
Former services
Preceding station	London Underground			Following station
Oxford Circus towards Ealing Broadway		Central line		British Museum towards Liverpool Street

The Crossrail 2 project proposed a station at Tottenham Court Road, the only planned interchange between the Elizabeth line and Crossrail 2.[34] The expanded station built as part of the Crossrail project took the future demands of Crossrail 2 into account, which will allow for less construction disruption if the line is built.[34] The proposals involve a new Crossrail 2 ticket hall on the site of Curzon Soho on Shaftesbury Avenue. This has been criticised by campaigners.[35][36] The station and ticket hall site were first safeguarded as part of the route during the development of the Chelsea-Hackney line in 1991.[37] In November 2020 plans for Crossrail 2 were shelved.[38]