Covent Garden Station

In 1929, it was proposed that London’s Covent Garden Station would cease operation. Thankfully for those with passion for old subway stations or who live a block or two from the station today, this never occurred. Saved by community action, the old station even in modern times has been painstakingly cared for to keep it just the way it always has been, down to every last tile.

At the Turn of the Century, Covent Garden Station was conceived by the Great Northern and Strand Railway, which had received parliamentary approval for an underground route in 1899. in April 1907, four months after services on the rest of the line began operating. It was worth the wait.

The platform wall was artfully tiled with two shades of yellow and white tiling which formed geometric shapes along with three blank spaces to incorporate the station name. So beloved was this feature of the station that as part of Transport for London’s investment program in 2010, the aging tiling dating back from the station’s opening was replaced in a like-for-like basis, retaining the look and feel of the platform’s tradition. Here to stay, Covent Garden remains nestled in a bygone age—though it does have elevators now.

Written By: Seamus McMahon