Arnos Grove tube station

Arnos Grove London Underground

Station entrance
Arnos Grove
Location of Arnos Grove in Greater London
Location Arnos Grove[1]
Local authority London Borough of Enfield
Managed by London Underground
Number of platforms 4 (facing 3 tracks)
Fare zone 4
London Underground annual entry and exit
2011 Increase 4.16 million[2]
2012 Steady 4.16 million[2]
2013 Increase 4.48 million[2]
2014 Increase 4.71 million[2]
Railway companies
Original company London Electric Railway
Key dates
19 September 1932 Station opened as terminus
13 March 1933 Line extended to Enfield West (now Oakwood)
Listed status
Listing grade II*[3] (since 20 July 2011[3])
Entry number 1358981[3]
Added to list 19 February 1971[3]
Other information
Lists of stations
London Transport portalCoordinates: 51°36′59″N 0°08′01″W / 51.6163°N 0.1335°W / 51.6163; -0.1335

Arnos Grove is a London Underground station located in Arnos Grove in the London Borough of Enfield, London. It is on the Piccadilly line between Bounds Green and Southgate stations and is in Travelcard Zone 4.[4] The station opened on 19 September 1932 as the most northerly station on the first section of the Piccadilly line extension from Finsbury Park to Cockfosters. It was the terminus of the line until services were further extended to Oakwood on 13 March 1933. When travelling from east of Barons Court and through Central London, Arnos Grove is the first surface station after the long tunnel section of the Piccadilly line. The station has four platforms which face three tracks.

The station was designed by architect Charles Holden, and has been described as a significant work of modern architecture. On 19 February 1971, the station was Grade II listed. In 2005, the station was refurbished with the heritage features also maintained. In July 2011 Arnos Grove's listed status was upgraded to Grade II*. The station was awarded with the Best Newcomer and the Best Overall Garden in the Underground in Bloom 2011 competition and also in the London in Bloom competition.

Location

The station is located in Arnos Grove, near Arnos Park on Bowes Road.[5] It is the first surface station after the long tunnel section which starts east of Barons Court and passes through Central London.[6] The station and surrounding neighbourhood of Arnos Grove take their names from the Arnos Grove estate, which was to the north of the station.[1] The station is part of the Arnos Grove group of stations, comprising all seven stations from Cockfosters to Turnpike Lane, and the management office for the group is in Arnos Grove station. Linked to the station by a lineside passageway is Ash House, which is a drivers' depot.[5]

History

The Great Northern railway (GNR) and its successor, the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER), for many years refused consent for any extension into the suburbs of Haringey and Enfield.[6] Eventually, public opinion became strong enough to force the matter and in the 1930s the line was rapidly extended from Finsbury Park to Cockfosters via Arnos Grove.[6] The station was opened on 19 September 1932 as the most northerly station on the first section of the Piccadilly line extension.[6] It was the terminus of the line until services were further extended to Oakwood on 13 March 1933.[6] Its name was chosen after public deliberation: alternatives were "Arnos Park", "Bowes Road" and "Southgate".[7]

On the night of 13 October 1940, during the Blitz, a lone German aircraft dropped a single bomb on houses to the north of Bounds Green station.[8] The destruction of the houses caused the north end of the westbound platform tunnel to collapse.[8] As a result, train services between Wood Green and Cockfosters were disrupted for two months.[6] On 11 August 1948, a passenger train was derailed when the front and rear bogies of a carriage took different routes at a set of points at the station.[9] On 7 July 2005, a bomb was exploded on a train travelling between King's Cross St. Pancras and Russell Square.[6] As a result, train services between Hyde Park Corner and Arnos Grove were disrupted until 4 August of the same year.[6]

Station building

Like the other stations Charles Holden designed for the extension, Arnos Grove was built in a modern European style using brick, glass and reinforced concrete and basic geometric shapes.[3] A circular drum-like ticket hall of brick and glass panels rises from a low single-storey structure and is capped by a flat concrete slab roof.[3] The design was inspired by the Stockholm City Library and Swedish architect Gunnar Asplund.[10][note 1] The centre of the ticket hall is occupied by a disused ticket office (a passimeter in London Underground parlance)[12] which houses an exhibition on the station and the line.

The station today

Station interior, showing the circular drum-like ticket hall.

Three parallel train tracks pass through the station, with two double-sided platforms between the central track and the outer tracks.[6] The edges of the platforms are labelled platform 1 and 2, and platform 3 and 4, in such a way that the two outer tracks are accessible from platforms 1 and 4, and the central track, usually used by trains that terminate and reverse at Arnos Grove station, is accessible from platforms 2 and 3.[6] Platforms 1 and 2 are designated for trains to Cockfosters while platforms 3 and 4 are for trains to Central London.[6]

In July 2011 Arnos Grove became a Grade II* listed building.[13] The building is one of the 12 "Great Modern Buildings" profiled in The Guardian during October 2007.[14][note 2] Arnos Grove Drivers' Depot won Best Newcomer and Best Overall Garden in the Underground in Bloom 2011 competition[15] for their new project which also got them an award in the London in Bloom competition. Their website[16] tells the whole story with photographs of the garden and the awards ceremonies.

Station improvements

In 2005 the station underwent a refurbishment programme[17] including improvements to signage, security and train information systems.[12] General repairs and redecoration were carried out, flooring was renewed, and better lighting, an improved CCTV security system and Help Points were installed, with the latter being suitable for people with limited hearing.[12] Some of the original signs are in a 'petit-serif' adaptation of the London Underground typeface, Johnston Delf Smith Sans.[12] This typeface was designed by Charles Holden and Percy Delf Smith, a former pupil of Edward Johnston.[18]

During the refurbishment programme, all these heritage features were maintained as well:[12]

Services and connections

The tube sidings south of Arnos Grove station.

Services

A journey between Arnos Grove and Southgate typically takes slightly more than four minutes.[19] Train frequencies vary throughout the day, but generally operate every 3-9 minutes between 07:07 and 01:07 eastbound,[20] and every 2-6 minutes between 05:19 and 00:06 westbound.[21] When operational problems occur on the line, Arnos Grove station may act as a temporary terminus of a reduced service – either a shuttle service between Arnos Grove and Cockfosters or a truncated service from Central London.[6] The station has a set of seven sidings to its south for stabling trains.[5]

Connections

Nearby places

In popular culture

Notes and references

Notes

  1. ↑ A similar design was employed by Holden for the rebuilding of Chiswick Park on the District line (also in 1932), although the drum there is supplemented with an adjacent brick tower.[11]
  2. ↑ It was summarised by architectural critic Jonathan Glancey as "...truly what German art historians would describe as a gesamtkunstwerk, a total and entire work of art."[10]

References

  1. 1 2 "Arnos Grove, Enfield". London Gazetteer. Hidden London. Archived from the original on 8 May 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Multi-year station entry-and-exit figures" (XLS). London Underground station passenger usage data. Transport for London. June 2015. Retrieved 20 June 2015.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Arnos Grove Underground Station". The National Heritage List for England. English Heritage. Archived from the original on 17 October 2012.
  4. ↑ Transport for London (January 2016). Standard Tube Map (PDF) (Map). Not to scale. Transport for London. Archived (PDF) from the original on 3 January 2015.
  5. 1 2 3 "Arnos Grove tube station". Google Maps. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Feather, Clive. "Piccadilly line". Clive's Underground Line Guides. Archived from the original on 9 May 2015.
  7. ↑ Dumayne, Alan (1998). Southgate. Sutton Publishing Limited. p. 44. ISBN 0-7509-2000-9.
  8. 1 2 Richard, McKeever (7 September 2010). "Bounds Green and the Blitz". Bowes and Bounds Connected. Archived from the original on 9 May 2015. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
  9. ↑ Earnshaw, Alan (1993). Trains in Trouble: Vol. 8. Penryn: Atlantic Books. p. 22. ISBN 0-906899-52-4.
  10. 1 2 Jonathan, Glancey (16 October 2007). "Great modern buildings: Going Underground". Architecture (The Guardian). Archived from the original on 9 February 2015. Retrieved 25 January 2009.
  11. ↑ "Chiswick Park Underground Station (including two platforms with canopies and shelters and shops to either side of ticket hall)". The National Heritage List for England. English Heritage. Archived from the original on 13 May 2015.
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Arnos Grove improved". Transport for London. 25 February 2005. Archived from the original on 10 May 2015. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
  13. ↑ "16 London Underground Stations Listed at Grade II". English Heritage. Archived from the original on 14 September 2011.
  14. ↑ "No 9: Arnos Grove station". The Guardian's Great Modern Buildings Series (The Guardian). Archived from the original on 15 June 2008. Retrieved 21 November 2007.
  15. ↑ Lindsey, Clarke (9 September 2011). "Underground In Bloom 2011 Winners Announced". londonist. Archived from the original on 6 June 2012.
  16. ↑ "arnos grow'n'picc club". Archived from the original on 2 April 2012.
  17. ↑ "Station Refurbishment Summary" (PDF). London Underground Railway Society. July 2007. Archived (PDF) from the original on 10 May 2015. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
  18. ↑ John, Bull (18 September 2009). "A Typeface for the Underground". London Reconnections. Archived from the original on 29 January 2015. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
  19. ↑ "Stations that it takes the longest to travel between". Tube Facts and Figures. Geofftech. Archived from the original on 1 May 2015. Retrieved 13 May 2015.
  20. ↑ "Piccadilly line timetable: From Arnos Grove Underground Station to Southgate Underground Station". Transport for London. Retrieved 13 May 2015.
  21. ↑ "Piccadilly line timetable: From Arnos Grove Underground Station to Bounds Green Underground Station". Transport for London. Retrieved 13 May 2015.
  22. ↑ "Buses from Arnos Grove and New Southgate" (PDF). Transport for London. March 2015. Archived (PDF) from the original on 29 June 2015. Retrieved 29 June 2015.
  23. ↑ "From Arnos Grove Tube Station to New Southgate Railway Station". Google Maps — Directions. Retrieved 13 May 2015.
  24. ↑ "Wasps' Nest". Agatha Christie: Poirot. IMDb. 1991. Archived from the original on 12 May 2015. Retrieved 12 May 2015.
  25. ↑ David, Renwick; Brian, Farnham; Agatha, Christie (27 January 1991). "Wasps' Nest". Season 3. Episode 5. 50 minutes in. Archived from the original on 13 May 2015. Retrieved 13 May 2015.
  26. ↑ "Arnos Grove". Platform for art – Thin Cities. Transport for London. Archived from the original on 2 February 2014.

External links

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