Template:Short description Template:Distinguish Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use British English Template:Infobox London station Aldgate East (Template:IPAc-en) is a London Underground station on Whitechapel High Street in Whitechapel, in London, England. It takes its name from the City of London ward of Aldgate, the station lying to the east of the ward (and the City). The station is served by the District and Hammersmith & City lines, and is located in Travelcard Zone 1.
On the District line, the station is between Tower Hill and Whitechapel stations. On the Hammersmith & City line, it is between Liverpool Street and Whitechapel stations.<ref>Template:Cite map/Standard Tube Map</ref>
HistoryEdit
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Original stationEdit
The original Aldgate East station opened on 6 October 1884 as part of an eastern extension to the District Railway (now the District line).<ref name=culgdistrict>Clive's Underground Line Guides - District line</ref> It was Template:Convert to the west of the current station, close to the Metropolitan Railway's Aldgate station. The curved link to the Metropolitan Railway had to be particularly sharp owing to the location of Aldgate East station.
Resited stationEdit
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As part of the London Passenger Transport Board's 1935–1940 New Works Programme, the triangular junction at Aldgate was enlarged to allow for a much gentler curve and to ensure trains that were held on any leg of the triangle did not foul any signals or points elsewhere.<ref>H.F. Howson, London's Underground, 4th ed. London: Ian Allan, 1967, Template:OCLC, p. 47.</ref> The new Aldgate East platforms were sited almost immediately to the east of their predecessors with one exit facing west toward the original location and another at the eastern end of the new platforms.
The new station opened on 31 October 1938 <ref name=culgdistrict /> and the earlier station closed permanently the previous night.<ref>H.V. Borley, Chronology of London Railways, Oakham, Leicester: Railway & Canal Historical Society, 1982, Template:ISBN.</ref><ref>J.E. Connor and B. Halford, Forgotten Stations of Greater London, Colchester: Connor & Butler, 1991, Template:ISBN.</ref> It was designed to be completely subterranean providing a much-needed pedestrian underpass for the road above.
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In order to accommodate the space needed for the underpass, the existing track needed to be lowered by more than Template:Convert. To achieve this task whilst still keeping the track open during the day, the bed underneath the track was excavated and the track held up by a timber trestle framework. Once excavation was complete and the new station had been constructed around the site, an army of over 900 workmen lowered the whole track simultaneously in one night using overhead hooks to suspend the track when necessary.<ref>Howson, pp. 47–48.</ref> The hooks Template:As of.
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The eastern exit of the new station was now close enough to St Mary's (Whitechapel Road), the next station along the line, that this could also be closed.<ref group="note">The station closed on 30 April 1938, six months before the resited Aldgate East station opened.<ref name=culgdistrict /></ref> This reduced operational overheads and journey times because the new Aldgate East had effectively replaced two other stations.
Past proposalsEdit
A campaign was launched by a local councillor in a bid to change the name of the station to Brick Lane tube station by 2012,<ref> Template:Cite news</ref> but this had no official support and was not successful. The same councillor has also campaigned to have Shoreditch High Street railway station renamed "Banglatown".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
The station todayEdit
Template:More citations needed section The station has no surface buildings.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> A canopy was constructed in the 2000s and in 2013–14, the high-rise Aldgate Tower, was built above it.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Template:As of, when there was a fire in the building, the tower also contained apartments.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Ticket barriers control access to all platforms.
District and Hammersmith & City line trains run into Aldgate East from Liverpool Street and Tower Hill along two sides of the above triangle and pass through the site of the earlier station, most of which has been obliterated by the current junction alignment although the extensive width and height and irregular shape of the tunnel can be observed.
The platforms have a particularly high headroom and this, combined with the late-1930s style of tiling, typical of the stations of the then London Passenger Transport Board, gives the platforms a particularly airy appearance, unusual on the Underground at the time of construction. The tiling contains relief tiles showing devices pertinent to London Transport and the area it served; these were designed by Harold Stabler and made by the Poole Pottery.
Station improvementsEdit
The station was Metronet's first (and show-piece) station refurbished in 'heritage' style.<ref name=stnrefurbishment>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Work began at platform level in 2007.<ref name=stnrefurbishment /> On 9 March 2007, it was noted that every other platform bullseye and its associated blue enamel "Way Out" plate below had been removed on both platforms marking the end of the only sub-surface 'New Works' station.<ref name=stnrefurbishment /> By 14 March, all the roundels had been removed and temporary signs substituted.<ref name=stnrefurbishment /> The north-east entrance was closed from 10 March 2007 until 2009.<ref name=stnrefurbishment /> As of 23 May 2007, the tiling had been removed from the eastbound platform and the walls were rough cemented but the tiles remained on the westbound one.<ref name=stnrefurbishment /> The new framework for lighting and cabling had been installed.<ref name=stnrefurbishment />
ServicesEdit
District lineEdit
This is the general off-peak frequency. During peak times trains also operate to Wimbledon. During off-peak times, 3 trains per hour from Wimbledon terminate at Barking (as of December 2014).
- 12 tph eastbound to Template:Stnlnk (On Sundays alternate trains run to Barking only)
- 3 tph eastbound to Barking
- 6 tph westbound to Ealing Broadway
- 6 tph westbound to Richmond
- 3 tph westbound to Wimbledon
Hammersmith & City lineEdit
The typical off-peak service in trains per hour (tph) is:
- 6 tph eastbound to Barking<ref name=culgh&c>Clive's Underground Line Guides - Hammersmith & City line</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
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- 6 tph westbound to Hammersmith<ref name=culgh&c /><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
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It is not a regular service but before 6am, two Circle line trains run from Barking to Edgware Road via Victoria (as of February 2015).<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>Template:Current event inline
ConnectionsEdit
London Buses routes 15, 25, 115, 135, 205, 242, 254 and night routes N15, N25, N205, N253 and N550 serve the station.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Nearby tourist attractionsEdit
- Whitechapel Art Gallery
- Petticoat Lane Market
- Brick Lane
- Spitalfields Market
- Hamish Mackie's public artwork of six galloping horses
Notes and referencesEdit
NotesEdit
ReferencesEdit
BibliographyEdit
External linksEdit
Template:District line navbox Template:Hammersmith & City line navbox Template:Metropolitan line navbox