St John's Wood tube station

St. John's Wood is a London Underground station located in St John's Wood in the City of Westminster, north-west London. It was opened in 1939 as a stop on the Bakerloo line. Today St. John's Wood is served by the Jubilee line, between Swiss Cottage and Baker Street stations and is in Travelcard Zone 2.[7] Essentially, St. John's Wood station is a local station with the nearby Metropolitan Line bypassing this station. A journey between St. John's Wood and Baker Street typically takes less than three minutes.[8]

For the former station that was once named St. John's Wood Road and then St. John's Wood, before being renamed and closed, see Lord's tube station.

St. John's Wood London Underground
Station entrance
St. John's Wood is located in Central London
St. John's Wood
St. John's Wood
Location of St. John's Wood in Central London
LocationSt John's Wood
Local authorityCity of Westminster
Managed byLondon Underground
Number of platforms2
Fare zone2
London Underground annual entry and exit
2018Increase 7.80 million[1]
2019Decrease 7.61 million[2]
2020Decrease 4.11 million[3]
2021Decrease 3.46 million[4]
2022Increase 5.63 million[5]
Railway companies
Original companyLondon Passenger Transport Board
Key dates
20 November 1939Opened
1 May 1979Bakerloo line service replaced by Jubilee line
Listed status
Listing gradeII
Entry number1401096[6]
Added to list20 July 2011
Other information
WGS8451.53472°N 0.17417°W / 51.53472; -0.17417
 London transport portal

Location

The station building is located on the corner of Acacia Road and Finchley Road[9] and tube maps from late 1938 and early 1939 indicate that it was originally to be given the name Acacia Road or Acacia.[10][11] This station is the nearest to Lord's Cricket Ground and Abbey Road Studios.[9] The station is therefore not to be confused with Abbey Road DLR station in east London.

History

Station origin as Lord's Tube Station

Further Information: Lord's Tube Station

In 1868, the original Tube network extended from St John’s Wood to Swiss Cottage stopping at St John’s Wood and Marlborough Road. St John’s Wood station was right next to Lord’s Cricket Ground and during matches, it even had its own ticket office at the ground. The following year, the Finchally Line tried to extend to Finchley Road in order to get a bigger catchmatch area, but it was not successful. Eventually, they wanted to extend the line to West Hampstead, but were not successful at doing so.

Transfer from Lord's to St John's Wood

St John’s Wood Station was not always named St John’s Wood and nor was it always in the same location. The original station in St John’s Wood was named St John’s Wood Road, then St John’s Wood and finally Lords , which was on the Metropolitan Line. and it was originally used to store milk and frozen food while some other nearby stations were used in order to simply game golf. Lord’s was once the only station that allowed customers to park their cars on the roof instead of in a ground-level lot or parking garage.[12]

Right after the start of World War II, Lord’s was renamed to St John’s Wood and the new station served the present-day Bakerloo line. Meanwhile both Lord’s and nearby Marlborough Road shut down due to the close proximity.

During the Second World War, the station was used as a shelter and even had apartments (or flats as they call them in the UK) that had rooms for servants. There were over 100 thousand people that were spending the night there but the facility choices were very limited. Most of the recreational facilities were a short Tube ride away near present day Finchley Road. Despite this, there were still canteens, libraries, bunks and drinking water.

Roundel on a platform at St. John's Wood

The station was opened on 20 November 1939 on a new section of deep-level tunnel constructed between Baker Street and Finchley Road when the Metropolitan line's services on its Stanmore branch were transferred to the Bakerloo line.[13] The new station replaced two nearby stations on the Metropolitan line which had closed the previous day. These were Lord's (originally named St. John's Wood Road, then St. John's Wood and, finally, Lord's) and Marlborough Road.[13]

The station was transferred along with the rest of the Stanmore branch to the Jubilee line when it opened on 1 May 1979.[13]

The station building designed by Stanley Heaps[14] is Grade II listed.[15]

The platform design remains the same as when opened in 1939, as designed by Harold Stabler. In 2006, the tiles were cleaned up and replaced.[16]

Transfer from Bakerloo Line to Jubilee Line

After the start of World War II, Lord's station closed and was replaced by St John's Wood, which was on the Stanmore branch of the Bakerloo line. At the time, there were two branches of this line: the Stanmore Branch and the Watford branch, although getting to Watford required a change at Harrow and Wealdstone. In 1979, the Jubilee line was opened and replaced the Stanmore branch of the Bakerloo line while the Watford branch remained the Bakerloo line.

Services

Train frequencies vary throughout the day, but generally operate every 2–5 minutes between 05:54 and 00:18 in both directions. During some events at Lord's Cricket Ground, this station sometimes becomes exit only. Other nearby stations are Maida Vale, Warwick Avenue, Swiss Cottage and Baker Street. [17][18]

Today, Wifi is available in the station which means it is easier for people to stay connected on the go. Additionally, with the rise of Amazon, machines, nearby ticket stores and the ability to use a contactless payment card, the ticket offices have closed down. Back in 2015, TFL had a huge cut of funds from the government so they needed to find a way to earn more funds without raising the fares. They even predicted that new Oyster Card shops would help increase their revenue.

Up-lighters

Up-lighters are lights that are seen along the escalator as a way to help see and provide light all the way from the street to the platform. It also helps keep the passengers in line with where they are going at all times. The up-lighters date back to 1939 when the station first opened.[19]

Incidents

In the spring of 2021, there was an incident where a passenger was found on the tracks due to a faulty train. It led to life-changing injuries and the individual was taken to the hospital. There was nothing suspicious going on but police and fire officers were sent to St John’s Wood station in order to investigate the issue. This caused the Jubilee line to be suspended and then it was running on severe delays due to the incident.[20]

Accessibility

There is one gate inward and one gate outward from the Tube that is big enough to fit a buggy or wheelchair. The station is not step free and the only way to access the platforms is by escalator or stairs. Prior to 1993, it was illegal to have a wheelchair anywhere on the London Underground due to fire safety concerns.[21][22]

Connections

London Buses routes 13, 46, 113, 187 and night route N113 stop outside the station.[23] Coach routes 712, 755, 757, 758, 768, 771, 772, 797 and A6 also serve the station. London Buses routes 139 and 189 serve Abbey Road.[23] 13, 113 and N113 travel south towards Central London while 46 and 187 travel towards Maida Vale. Northbound, 13, 113 and N113 travel towards the Golder's Green and Brent Cross, while 46 travels towards Hampstead and Kings Cross and 187 ends at the O2 Center.

The destinations of the busses outside of St John's Wood Station are

From Abbey Road, 139 travels between Goldners Green and Waterloo and 189 travels between Brent Cross and Marble Arch.

Route 274 stops in the Western part of the neighborhood and runs from Islington Angel to Lancaster Gate.

Nearby points of interest

The station appeared in the music video for "Bedsitter" by Soft Cell.[8]

The recording of the underground train heard at the beginning and end of The Jam's 1978 song "Down in the Tube Station at Midnight" was recorded at St John's Wood.[25]

A common trivia question is, "Which London Underground station does not contain any of the letters in the word "mackerel"? The answer is St John's Wood, which does not contain any of the letters A-C-E-K-L-M-R. This is only true because the word "Saint" is always abbreviated "St" in the name, and because Hoxton is on the London Overground but not the Underground. Victoria Coren Mitchell described this as her favourite trivia question.[26][27][28] Two former stations also fulfill the mackerel test: Wotton and Wood Siding, which were part of the Underground network between 1933 and 1935.[29]

References
  1. "Station Usage Data" (CSV). Usage Statistics for London Stations, 2018. Transport for London. 23 September 2020. Archived from the original on 14 January 2023. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
  2. "Station Usage Data" (XLSX). Usage Statistics for London Stations, 2019. Transport for London. 23 September 2020. Archived from the original on 9 November 2020. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  3. "Station Usage Data" (XLSX). Usage Statistics for London Stations, 2020. Transport for London. 16 April 2021. Retrieved 1 January 2022.
  4. "Station Usage Data" (XLSX). Usage Statistics for London Stations, 2021. Transport for London. 12 July 2022. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
  5. "Station Usage Data" (XLSX). Usage Statistics for London Stations, 2022. Transport for London. 4 October 2023. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
  6. Historic England. "St John's Wood Underground Station (1401096)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 6 May 2014.
  7. Standard Tube Map (PDF) (Map). Not to scale. Transport for London. November 2022. Archived (PDF) from the original on 7 November 2022. Retrieved 12 November 2022.
  8. "Tube Facts & Figures". www.geofftech.co.uk.
  9. "Google Maps". Google Maps.
  10. Harris, Cyril M. (2006) [1977]. What's in a name?. Capital Transport. p. 61. ISBN 1-85414-241-0.
  11. Horne, Mike (2000). The Jubilee Line: An Illustrated History. Capital Transport. p. 19. ISBN 1-85414-220-8.
  12. "The history of St John's Wood and Marlborough Road stations". St John's Wood Memories. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
  13. Rose, Douglas (2016) [1980]. The London Underground, A Diagrammatic History (9th ed.). Douglas Rose/Capital Transport. ISBN 978-1-85414-404-1.
  14. Day, John R; Reed, John (2010) [1963]. The Story of London's Underground (11th ed.). Capital Transport. p. 133. ISBN 978-1-85414-341-9.
  15. "16 London Underground Stations Listed At Grade II". English Heritage. Retrieved 28 July 2011.
  16. "Station Refurbishment Summary" (PDF). London Underground Railway Society. July 2007. Retrieved 18 February 2015.
  17. "Jubilee line timetable: From St. John's Wood Underground Station to Swiss Cottage Underground Station". Transport for London. Retrieved 19 February 2015.
  18. "Jubilee line timetable: From St. John's Wood Underground Station to Baker Street Underground Station". Transport for London. Retrieved 19 February 2015.
  19. said, Roy Patten (20 June 2012). "29. The uplighters at St John's Wood". 150 great things about the Underground. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
  20. "Person in hospital after 'casualty on the tracks' at St John's Wood Tube station". Ham & High. 27 May 2021. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
  21. van Roosmalen, Linda; Hobson, Douglas; Karg, Patricia; DeLeo, Emily; Porach, Erik (December 2012). "Transit Operator Evaluation of Three Wheelchair Securement Systems in a Large Accessible Transit Vehicle". Journal of Public Transportation. 15 (4): 87–109. doi:10.5038/2375-0901.15.4.5. ISSN 1077-291X.
  22. Kauhsen, Bruno, "Example 33. Underground station, Canary Wharf, London, UK", Concrete Construction Manual, München: DE GRUYTER, retrieved 3 August 2023
  23. "Buses from St. John's Wood" (PDF). Transport for London. May 2013. Retrieved 18 February 2015.
  24. London, A. Lady in (3 November 2011). "St John's Wood, London - A Local Area Guide to St John's Wood". A Lady in London. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
  25. "Down in the Tube Station at Midnight by The Jam". Songfacts. Retrieved 7 November 2020.
  26. "Rob Eastaway". www.robeastaway.com.
  27. Hartston, William (10 January 2013). "Top 10 facts about the Tube". Express.co.uk.
  28. Hardman, Caroline (20 April 2011). "Who Does That: What's with all the mackerel?".
  29. "Metropolitan - from Quainton Road to Brill". Underground History.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to St. John's Wood tube station.
Preceding station London Underground Following station
Swiss Cottage
towards Stanmore
 Jubilee line Baker Street
towards Stratford
Former services
Swiss Cottage
towards Stanmore
 Bakerloo line
Stanmore branch (1939–1979)
 Baker Street
towards Elephant & Castle
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