Chancery Lane tube station

Chancery Lane

Northeastern entrance
Chancery Lane Location of Chancery Lane in Central London
Location	Holborn
Local authority	London Borough of Camden
Managed by	London Underground
Number of platforms	2
Fare zone	1
London Underground annual entry and exit
2007	14.771 million[1]
2008	15.390 million[1]
2009	14.789 million[1]
2010	15.280 million[1]
1900	Opened
List of stations	Underground · National Rail
London Transport portal

Coordinates: 51°31′05″N 0°06′40″W / 51.518°N 0.111°W / 51.518; -0.111

Chancery Lane is a London Underground station in central London. It is on the Central Line between St. Paul's and Holborn stations. The station is located at the junction of High Holborn, Hatton Garden and Gray's Inn Road with subway entrances giving access to the ticket office under the roadway. It is in Travelcard Zone 1.

History

The station was opened by the Central London Railway (CLR) on 30 July 1900.^[2] The current station entrance is not the original. The original, disused station building is on the north side of High Holborn at nos. 31–33,^[3] approximately 400 feet (122 m) to the west, closer to High Holborn's junction with Chancery Lane. Originally, provided with four lifts between ground and platform levels, the station was rebuilt in the early 1930s to operate with escalators.^[4] It was not possible to construct the inclined escalator shaft between the platforms and the existing entrance and so a new sub-surface ticket hall was constructed below the road junction. The new station entrance came into use on 25 June 1934.^[4] The old entrance building became redundant and, in recognition of the location of the new entrance, the station was renamed Chancery Lane (Gray's Inn), although the suffix subsequently fell out of use.^[2]

When the CLR excavated the running tunnels it routed them to avoid passing under surface buildings in order to limit the risk to surface buildings from vibration. At Chancery Lane, the tunnels are placed with the eastbound tunnel above the westbound.^[5]

It is one of eight London Underground stations which has a deep-level air-raid shelter underneath it. After World War II this was turned into Kingsway telephone exchange. Access to the shelter was via the original station building and lift shaft as well as subsidiary entrances in Furnival Street and Took's Court.^[3]

Notable events

On 25 January 2003, a train derailed at Chancery Lane, injuring 32 passengers, after a motor became detached from the train. The entire Central Line and the Waterloo & City Line (which also uses 1992 Stock trains) were closed whilst the cause of the failure was determined and appropriate modifications made to the trains.

Transport links

London bus routes 8, 25, 17, 45, 242, 341, 521 and N8.

Gallery

• 

  Eastbound platform looking west

• 

  Westbound platform looking east

• 

  The shortest escalator on the Tube network

• 

  Roundel, eastbound platform

• 

  Southern entrance

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d} "Customer metrics: entries and exits". London Underground performance update. Transport for London. 2003-2010. http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/corporate/modesoftransport/tube/performance/default.asp?onload=entryexit. Retrieved 8 May 2011. 
2. ^ ^{a b} Rose, Douglas (1999). The London Underground, A Diagrammatic History. Douglas Rose/Capital Transport. ISBN 1-85414-219-4. 
3. ^ ^{a b} Emmerson, Andrew; Tony Beard (2004). London's Secret Tubes. Capital Transport. pp. 170. ISBN 1-85414-283-6. 
4. ^ ^{a b} Connor, J.E. (1999). London's Disused Underground Stations. Capital Transport. pp. 122. ISBN 1-85414-250-X. 
5. ^ Clive's Underground Line Guides, Central Line, Layout

External links

• London Transport Museum Photographic Archive
  • Chancery Lane, 1914
  • Sub-surface ticket hall, 1934
  • Subway entrance at the corner of Gray's Inn Road, 1934

Preceding station		London Underground		Following station
Holborn towards Ealing Broadway or West Ruislip		Central line		St. Paul's towards Epping, Hainault or Woodford (via Hainault)