Bounds Green tube station

Bounds Green London Underground

Station entrance
Bounds Green
Location of Bounds Green in Greater London
Location Bounds Green
Local authority London Borough of Haringey
Managed by London Underground
Number of platforms 2
Fare zone 3 and 4
OSI Bowes Park [1]
London Underground annual entry and exit
2012 Increase 5.74 million[2]
2013 Increase 6.16 million[2]
2014 Increase 6.56 million[2]
2015 Decrease 6.46 million[2]
Railway companies
Original company London Electric Railway
Key dates
19 September 1932 Station opened
Listed status
Listing grade II
Entry number 1393641[3][4][5]
Added to list 19 January 2010
Other information
Lists of stations
London Transport portalCoordinates: 51°36′25″N 0°07′27″W / 51.6069°N 0.1242°W / 51.6069; -0.1242

Bounds Green is a London Underground station, located at the junction of Bounds Green Road and Brownlow Road in Bounds Green in the north of the London Borough of Haringey, North London. The station is on the Piccadilly line, between Wood Green and Arnos Grove stations, and is on the boundary between Zone 3 and Zone 4.[6]

History

Like all stations on the Cockfosters extension, Bounds Green station, which opened on 19 September 1932,[5] set new aesthetic standards, not previously seen on London's Underground. During the planning period of the extension to Cockfosters, alternate names for this station, "Wood Green North" and "Brownlow Road" were considered but rejected.

Second World War

The station was used as an air-raid shelter and people slept on the stairs between the escalators here as well as on the platforms.[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 the station.[7] The destruction of the houses caused the north end of the westbound platform tunnel to collapse,[7] killing or injuring many people[8] amongst those sheltering from the air raid.[5] The train service was disrupted for two months.[9]

Memorial plaque placed in 1994 for the 1940 air raid victims

A memorial plaque (at the north end of the westbound platform) erroneously commemorates "sixteen Belgian refugees and... three British citizens who died" in the attack. The records of the civilian deaths held by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission indicate that in fact sixteen people died at the scene - only three of whom were Belgian - with a seventeenth dying in hospital the following day. Approximately twenty people were injured, but survived.[8] The memorial plaque was erected in the station in 1994.[5]

Design

Station entrance viewing northwards in 1955, showing the unique octagonal station building.

Architecturally, this tube station, designed in the typical "Box-style" of the architect Charles Holden by his colleague C. H. James, is a well-preserved example of the modernist house style of London Transport in the 1930s. The octagonal frontage[5] is flanked by a ventilation tower. The octagonal ticket hall is lit by four large windows with an imposing lattice of concrete beams in the ceiling; large London Underground roundels; and original bronze signs, ventilation grilles and information panel frames.[5] The sub-surface areas of the station are finished in biscuit-coloured tiles lined with red friezes. Holden's designs emphasised functionality combined with balanced geometry and the use of modern materials, especially glass and reinforced concrete.[5] The historical significance of the station is emphasised by its involvement in the World War II blitz.[5]

Unlike others on this extension, the station was not previously nationally listed as of special architectural interest but in August 2008 an application was made to English Heritage for a listing recommendation and in January 2010 the station was listed as Grade II.[3][4][5]

Layout

Two escalators take passengers from the ticket hall down to the platforms[10][11] with a central fixed stairway. These machines were installed in 1989 and 1991, replacing the original 1932 machines. The current installations are Otis MH-B type of 15.8 m vertical rise.

The station's platform tunnels have, in common with those of Southgate, a diameter of 21 feet (6.4 metres). In contrast, the much busier Wood Green, Turnpike Lane and Manor House have 23-foot (7-metre) diameter platform tunnels. The construction of "suicide pits" between the rails was also innovative; these were built in connection with a system of passageways under the platforms to give access to the track.

Improvements

The station was refurbished in 2007 as part of Transport for London’s £10 billion Investment Programme. The works were completed overnight and in a series of weekend closures.[12] This work involved the restoration of heritage features and included the upgrading of CCTV cameras, retiling and decorating the station, repairs to the roof and exterior, platform resurfacing and the installation of Help Points.[5] New train indicators were placed. The station was restored to its heritage condition, complete with red tiled borders.[12] The cable trays above the frieze level are grey.[12] The ticket hall has been retiled light and dark grey with wooden doors to station accommodation revarnished.[12]

Services and connections

Train frequencies vary throughout the day, but generally operate every 2–5 minutes between 06:53 and 00:59 eastbound,[13] and between 05:27 and 00:09 westbound.[14]

London Bus routes 102, 184, 221 and 299 and night route N91 serve the station.[15]

Nearby places

References

  1. ↑ "Out of Station Interchanges" (Microsoft Excel). Transport for London. May 2010. Archived from the original on 2012-03-12.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Multi-year station entry-and-exit figures" (XLS). London Underground station passenger usage data. Transport for London. April 2016. Retrieved 3 May 2016.
  3. 1 2 Historic England. "Bounds Green Underground Station (Including No. 38) (1393641)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 3 April 2015.
  4. 1 2 "Bounds Green Station awarded listed status". Press releases. Transport for London. 2 February 2010. Archived from the original on 2013-05-06.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Bounds Green Station awarded listed status
  6. ↑ 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.
  7. 1 2 3 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.
  8. 1 2 Cooper, Nick (7 December 2010) [2003]. "Casualty & Fatality Analysis: Bounds Green". Archived from the original on 2013-05-06.
  9. ↑ Feather, Clive. "Piccadilly line". Clive's Underground Line Guides. Archived from the original on 9 May 2015.
  10. ↑ "Avoiding Stairs Tube Guide" (PDF). Transport for London. December 2014. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
  11. ↑ Bounds Green Underground Station
  12. 1 2 3 4 "Station Refurbishment Summary" (PDF). London Underground Railway Society. July 2007. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
  13. ↑ "Piccadilly line timetable: From Bounds Green Underground Station to Arnos Grove Underground Station". Transport for London. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
  14. ↑ "Piccadilly line timetable: From Bounds Green Underground Station to Wood Green Underground Station". Transport for London. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
  15. ↑ Bounds Green Underground Station - Bus

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bounds Green tube station.
Preceding station   London Underground   Following station
Piccadilly line
towards Cockfosters
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