Maybe it was renamed to avoid confusion with Aldgate. I still get confused between Aldgate and Aldgate East despite working a stone's throw away from Aldgate for years. (I had to stop throwing stones at Aldgate Station. They didn't like it.)
I and other commenters have noted that tube maps and London A to Zs just showed plain Aldersgate until the 1960s. The offical sources state it was renamed to "& Barbican" in 1924 but I wonder how many people realised this (I certainly didn't), though a 1957 photo does seem to show Aldersgate and Barbican roundels at the station itself.
I wish Jago had read aloud Betjeman's poem. Strikes me that his lugubrious tones would be just right for 'Snow falls in the buffet of Aldersgate station,/ Toiling and doomed from Moorgate Street puffs the train,/ For us of the steam and the gas-light, the lost generation,/ The new white cliffs of the City are built in vain.'
My home station! Thank you Jago! To mark the release of a recent movie, some particularly creative vandals have defaced one of the station roundels with a sticker which has transformed it into 'Barbie can.'
@@DavidWood2 Aha, amazing what you can do with photoshop. Lots of people during lockdown had a good laugh about a sign on a Bristol bus shelter purportedly saying "Safeguard Your Pubic Spaces". It went viral, but was a Photoshop ...
the extra tracks at Moorgate are being turned into a train yard/buffer. this will include the section across barbican as well. they will store trains overnight, as well as a location to pull trains from service in the city during disruptions. This is what TFL and LTM staff told me at the Moorgate Hidden London tour a few months ago.
Your Sunday morning tales usually provide an entertaining start to the day. Today they've cheered-up my hospital lunch, so are particularly appreciated.
You should have mentioned the memorial plaque to Pebbles, the station cat. He was a sweet little thing, he used to sit on the automatic ticket barriers.
@@davemcnally3627fabulous, thank you Dave. You might expect station cats in the outer parts of the Underground, it’s odd that these two were firmly Zone 1 cats.
The sneaky lift access from the Elizabeth line at Farringdon that takes you to the Barbican platform only really works if you are travelling westbound toward Kings Cross. If you come back the other way you have to walk down the platform and cross over the bridge and then walk all the way down the opposite platform. You may as well hop off at Farringdon and come out of the station, cross over the road and go down the escalator.
The ancestors busy as ever built The Manchester Hotel just South of Aldersgate Street Station in the 1870s. It catered for commercial travellers arriving in the City from Leicester, Manchester etc and had numerous rooms that could be used as pop up showrooms. It was damaged beyond repair in the 20/30 December 1940 raid, along with most of the rest of the area. Barbican was used as a street name for part of Chiswell Street/Beech Street until the Barbican redevelopment.
Something like the Farringdon/Barbican connection exists in Chicago. On the Blue Line there are several abandoned stations downtown that connect to all the extant stations along Lake Street, enabling you to walk between them on a single, continuous platform. If you’re waiting for a train with good seats and the station looks too busy, just walk to an earlier station.
The current abandoned platforms could be brought back into use in the improvement works mentioned for allowing one train to enter as one leaves or stabling trains and being able to turn back early? which could help with timetable resilience
I believe Barbican is getting a platform 3 back to detrain/train passengers if required, but the other one(and both in moorgate) are going to be staff only access for the sidings they're becoming
I understand the entire Widened Lines from a new junction at Farringdon to Moorgate are to be used for train stabling but not for passengers. Double tracks in the tunnels and single through Barbican.
Ive always liked barbican. Its so weird seeing the sky let also being basically underground, surrounded by buildings towering over you. Its like a weird cross between the deep underground stations found in central london and the above ground platforms you see further out. I wonder if there are other oddity stations like it.
In the 1980s I helped someone who was getting treatment at Barts. I would collect them after every treatment and take them back to their flat. I got quite familiar with the oddities of that subsurface Tube line, including Barbican. Happily the treatment worked, so it was not an unpleasant association. Given the price of London property, it is somewhat surprising that these uncovered portions of the underground/rail have lasted so long, whether at Barbican or at either end of Farringdon. You'd have thought buildings would have long since been cantilevered over the lines.
There used to be a signal box at the Elizabeth Line end of the platform, but was removed around 2016. For Crossrail they also demolished part of the ex-Thameslink tunnel to gain access to the station box below, and then built the new concrete tunnel.
My local. In pre grouping days it would be a colourful busy spot in addition to the passenger lines, GWR trains would use the station to shunt into the sidings under the market. I believe the abandoned lines are to be used as sidings for the Underground, if they are ever brought back into use, which seems unlikely now.
This is so beautifully nerdy. I love you. I forwarded one of your videos (the Barnet one) to some friends (from Barnet), and I described you as the perfect antidote to shouty modern TV. They wholeheartedly agreed. Please never stop talking nerdy to me, Jago.
I have an Aldersgate head level station sign ... when I bought it had Aldersgate & Barbican paper pasted on it. It's in LT style so the station must have been Aldersgate for a time between 1924 and 1968 before reverting to A&B ... as Betjeman implies ...
Which is in line with loads of tube maps 1920s-1960s which just show the station as Aldersgate. I was dubious about the primary source that claims it was renamed to Aldersgate and Barbican in 1924 and thought it was renamed to this, not from this, in 1968 and then to Barbican a couple of years later, both due to the development of the Barbican Centre. But it seems I was wrong as the LT Museum has photos from 1957 showing Aldersgate and Barbican on station roundels on the platform. But it was definitely Aldersgate on tube maps and A to Zs! And a 1936 photo showed signs "Aldersgate Street for Barbican" but the "Street" had been officially dropped in 1910! It seems this station was totally schizophrenic about its identity.
The station is at the centre of an extremely busy railway historic area: the Metropolitan, Circle and Hammersmith & City tracks, the Moorgate branch of Great Northern, the Elisabeth line, stone drop to the Smithfield Market goods station and Snowhill tunnel to the west, City Northern branch terminus at Moorgate to the east, Mount Pleasant post railway to the north and whatever remains of pneumatic Euston railway to the south. Fleet drain and labyrinths of the Barbican estate, the remnants of the Roman Wall, Charter house estate, St Bartholomew the great with a couple of recently mentioned oldest houses, and the emerging halls of Museum of London at Smithfield are all around.
In the Doctor Who story The Web of Fear, set on the London Underground in the 1970's (although made in 1968), Barbican is shown on the tube map as Aldersgate..
Agree entirely. See my separate post. Although Wikipedia and other items state the change of title as happening in 1924, it seems it was only done on the station roundels and not on tube maps or A to Zs. I only ever saw it shown as Aldersgate until the 1960s on Underground maps, and various versions at the LT Depot in Acton bear this out!
I like your Barbican videos because that place will always be special to me. My first ever trip from North America to Europe was in the early 1980s to attend a scientific meeting that was held at the Barbican Centre. As a young foreigner I had no idea it was controversial, I thought it was cool.
There's an old episode of The Sweeney that uses the Barbican station at the time when they were rebuilding. I love the Conservatory in the Barbican Centre, like a little piece of Kew's greenhouses.
I do remember when the those lines into Moorgate were still active and had used them myself. didn't know it was possible to get to the Elizabeth line though! Being home working now and also office moved out of aldersgate, no reason to really go up there now. Thanks for another interesting video.
Eh, Uh, What ? There used to be two NR terminii at Moorgate: one using the old Highbury branch, and the other taking services that would otherwise terminate at Saint Pancras. For a time, these were bith branded WAGN, which was a bit confusing. I may be a bit out of touch: are we saying that the line KC(Midland) to Moorgate has been completely lifted ? I was at Barbican last year, but didn't notice either way.
@@quantisedspace7047 The deep level terminus for what was GNER is still there whatever it's called now - that was the original LU route where the accident happened and it went over to BR afterwards - so Moorgate-Old Street-Essex-Road etc... There's what was the metropolitan terminus (as I remember it in the 70s/80s) that terminated at the just below ground level which is next to the circle line/metropolitan line thru tracks - that's the one that used to go out thru barbican and onwards which I guess is the ones they are looking at doing again. I think those were the ones where the tunnels etc... were then rerouted to become thameslink if my understanding is correct.
@@quantisedspace7047 The BedPan electrification brought commuter trains from St. Pancras to Moorgate. There was no route across to the Thames at Farringdon having been lifted many years ago - there was still an interesting disused underground shunting yard there for the market. It was later that Thameslink was conceived cutting the BedPan services to Moorgate and introducing the cross Thames route from Farringdon which retained the route from St Pancras Hotel Curve & KX Midland. KX Midland (City Widened Lines) station was closed and a new station constructed under St Pancras.
@@barrieshepherd7694there was a period of time after through Thameslink trains had begun that some morning/evening peak trains still ran through to/from Barbican and Moorgate. It was the upgrade to permit 12-car trains that necessitated Farringdon’s platforms to be extended across the junction, causing the former widened lines at Barbican to be orphaned from the network. The NR platforms could not be extended at the other end (towards St Pancras) due to the gradient and space constraints.
Hi Jago from Spain where it is a little cooler at a mere 33°. To me, it was always Aldersgate since there was no sign of the upstart pip-squeak of Barbican in those days.
I used to work nearby, so it was interesting to hear some history about the area. The 2014 short film, Mind The Gap was filmed at the Barbican station, based on a true story and worth a watch in my view.
Having recently been on a Hidden London tour of Moorgate in Spring 2023, I was told the Farringdon-Moorgate section of the widened lines would be used as two sidings for tube trains, allowing faster startup in the morning in the central section, supposedly with room for 12 trains. I assume this is still the plan.
4:26 For just an instant, my eye interpreted that staircase and the odd... trough-looking?... structure between it and the -swamp- water feature as a water slide. Woohoo! Cannonball!
So there's no more national rail srvice to Moorgate any longer? I worked around the banking area of London in the late 80s and remember the trains going through Barbican and onto Moorgate. I'm sure I did or am I going slightly mad?
@@caw25sha Yeah your correct well the thing is that all day service ended in 2003 where it got reduced to peak times only before they officially closed in 2009. You also got to remember Barbican was only served on the Moorgate direction.
There is a national rail service but via the Northern City Line. The ones that went through Barbican ceased in 2009. I vaguely remember the closure being publicised with the Thameslink Upgrade Program and FCC branding being removed.
@@hx0d I just remember catching the Metro line to Baker St. and seeing the national rail in the bays at Moorgate. Then we'd see them sometimes at Barbican.
The plans for the old platforms are to use them for stabling trains to replace the old ones which I think are near Farringdon and are too short for S7 and S8 trains
I've just returned from the Railway Museum in York, around which you generally walk at rail level. "Your" picture of the condensing loco (number 23) from the LT Museum makes clear how much easier it is to view rolling stock from platform level. There is no right or wrong, especially since at York you can walk beneath Lode Star and satisfy yourself that it does indeed have 4 cylinders. Proper engineering with no computer anywhere in sight. KUTGW, please.
The secret Barbican exit to the highwalks is key to how the Architects actually wanted people to access the Barbican estate. Also those reflecting pools are only a metre deep with the tube running underneath.
I do hope the improvement works will include a "wash & brush up". Barbican is such a mish-mash of jarring surfaces and decay with poor wayfinding to boot.
Awesome. This time last year, my wife and I were on holidays in London from Australia and we stayed with our daughters at their flat nearby. So we used Barbican and Farringdon (Elizabeth Line) stations many times as we traveled around London. It was really cool to see the streets outside, as well as the station itself. It brings back lots of great memories of our holidays there. We even used the access way to go between the Elizabeth line platforms and Barbican.
Hi Jago, I have an inexplicable fondness for the Widened Lines, and their current parlous state is distressing - please keep us updated on TfL's moves.
True story back in 1994 groups of us students from Backwell Comprehensive School went on a school trip to London to visit a few museums / exhibitions, I was in a group that visited Barbican last , While trying to get out of the centre down to Silk Street ( Where the coach was parked ) we truly got lost , Somehow i with 2 friends ended up in Barbican Underground Station Booking Office area with the gate lines / barriers, I hope sign posts and signs have improved a lot since that year and no more people have got lost 😀
You know, visiting the Barbican for the first time was one of the high points of my childhood. But it turns out we didn't have a future after all, so there you go. I like that station. Contrasty, I guess.
The City Widened lines is the most facsinating part of the London Underground . Steam engines into the 1960/s ( even electric loco Metropolitan goods trains ! ) thru trains , diesels and goods trains and yards , bankers , multipall companys , last of compartment stock , over and under etc etc .
Commuted to Barbican for nearly a decade. It’s not a very interesting station building, but used to have a large greasy spoon cafe in the booking hall. Plus the signal box on the station platform, by the new entrance to Farringdon Elizabeth line. Those girders at the far of platform 2 seem to. E holding up a six storey office block.
The plan for the old NR lines is a project called Farringdon City Sidings Basically turn the widened lines into a very long siding for trains to use with minimal disruption to the main line. Points just east of Farringdon have been installed for the completion of the project but it's behind schedule for many reasons.
I think Alderagate used to be called Nobber's Bunker at one point but they changed the name in 1932 due to an incident with Queen Mary and a chimpanzee which somewhat tarnished its reputation, according to Diana Mitford.
Thanks, I always wonder about the various bits of unused railway land that you see around the place, it's good to have an explanation for at least one of them.
The Farringdon Barbican exit came in very handy for me when I attended a conference near London Wall. I wish TfL would advertise it more. Maybe they want to reduce foot traffic?
It was meant to be a proper set of escalators + the lift in the original plans, but was one of many "extras" that were cut to save money around a decade ago to try and stop the budget ballooning. Definitely downplayed by TfL to avoid overcrowding - it's not marked on the Tube Map for the same reason.
Which is in line with loads of tube maps 1920s-1960s which just show the station as Aldersgate. The primary source that claims it was renamed to Aldersgate and Barbican in 1924 seems dubious. I thought it was renamed to this, not from this, in 1968 and then to Barbican a couple of years later, both due to the development of the Barbican Centre.
Did wonder if any plans existed to extend the City Widened Lines further eastwards past Moorgate. Know concerns were raised about it reaching Finsbury Circus, yet that did not stop either the Metropolitan nor later the Elizabeth from running past that way. Surely there must of been some interesting pre-to-post-war extension schemes for the City Widened Lines past Moorgate in place of duplicate Metropolitan type route to Aldgate?
I'm hoping that they re-use the abandoned line to terminate trains at Moorgate, thereby not using the crossovers before Moorgate station which can slow trains down. You can see it on the end of Farringdon station going towards Barbican.
I always feel a little sad when I see an abandoned or disused section of railway. It is a shame the cannot do something a little more imaginative with the space than turn it over to those with green fingers.
Well, Sir Jago Hazzard, I *thoroughly* enjoyed tuning into this rather Ruthless 👍 Tale From Da Tube! I hope 🤞 you enjoy 😉 reading 📖 this comment about this _Ruthless But Fascinating 🤨 Tale From Da Tube._ If you did, why not give these comment(s) a ❤️! *Excellent 👍 Barbican Tale From da Tube 🚇, Sir Jago Hazzard and Your Many Tales From Da Tube!* *………….and you, Sir Jago Hazzard, are the “Barbican and Aldersgate” to all of RU-vid!*
Instead of the Elizabeth Line as such why dont we build one great long train with bell -end loops at say Bristol and Clacton. Two trains then can be cable hauled with stopping - or just slowing down every set distance for people to get on or off, bit like those travelator things
I don't like the Barbican Estate- it's difficult to find your way out once you're in (it's rumoured that some visitors from its opening day are still looking for an exit). I find it rather cold and soulless.
There is a true story about the early days of the concert hall. One of the LSO players (Douglas Cummings) went 'out front' at the interval of a concert and was unable to find his way back to backstage; he missed the first item in the second half and crept sheepishly onto the stage after it finished.
I had always wondered about the disused platforms (I say “always”, it was probably the last time I alighted at the station that I was alerted to them!) excellent stuff as ever!
Another superb video. Mr H. As a young fellow I worked within the City*, so this area is like home. Your followers owe you gratitude for your entertaining and informative stuff. Thanks, Mr H. Simon T * Strangely, there isn't a plaque to mark the fact.
i was looking at the museum map display at kennington station whilst waiting for a battersea power station station train to visit my friend at their flat in nine elms... thinking 'huh? aldersgate... i can be a jago for once and research this!' then i forgot. that was yesterday. i guess i still get to find out.
At some time in, I think, the 1890s, the body of a young girl was found in what was then Aldersgate Street station (downstairs). She had clearly been murdered but the culprit was never found.
I have been off on those now disused platforms (can't remember if I have done it both directions or just one?)when the Thameslink called there to/from Moorgate.
Thé tunnel from what is now City Thameslink station that curves East into the Farringdon National Rail platforms was itself abandoned for many years, until Chris Green came up with the idea to reopen the Snow Hill Tunnel. He was the brains behind the Thameslink concept, to reopen the abandoned link between Blackfriars and Farringdon for through running. There was at one time a curve to the West, linking to the Widened Lines into Barbican and Moorgate en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow_Hill_tunnel_(London)
It would be nice if the widened lines, at the Barbican Centre could somehow be used to create service separation between the Circle Line and the other lines that pass through Barbican (Hammersmith and City Line and Metropolitan Line). If we could use the fragments of quad track on bits of the Circle Line, as part of an upgrade program to quad track the entire Inner Circle, we could run express trains and stopping trains on the Circle Line route and gain some of the through service benefits that the warped mind of Watkins was trying to figure out. I don't know if we would be better off having an "Express Circle Line," that runs non-stop through stations like St James Park...or if we would be better off running an "Express District Line" that does South Kensington, Victoria, Embankment, Canon Street, Westminster and Tower Hill...and an Express Hammersmith & City Line that does Edgware Road, Baker Street, Euston, Kings Cross/St Pancras and Liverpool Street. An Express Circle Line might allow for better connections between Victoria, Paddington and Euston. But making the other lines into express lines would speed up the end to end journey times and create Crossrail / RER like benefits to three of the four subsurface lines. Making three lines faster would be better for people outside Zone 1. We might even be able to improve the Hammersmith and City Line further, by abandoning it's terminal station at Hammersmith, tunnelliing below the District line and extending it down into South West London. And we might be able to extend it beyond Barking by sending it somewhere else in East London (Rainham, Purfleet and Northfleet could be good places to link an Express Hammersmith and City Line to). Quad tracking might create enough capacity to allow the Metropolitan Line to run to Liverpool Street all day. And that would mean that, if there is a major signal failure at Liverpool Street, Kings Cross, St Pancras or Euston, passengers could be sent to the Metropolitan Line told to get Watford trains and the staff at Watford Station could get those people sent further north. The Metropolitan Railway and Metropolitan District Railway companies didn't want to be forced to work as one company. And that was mostly Victorian men with tall hats arguing over who's "hat" was biggest. But maybe looking beyond the "hat measuring contest" with Yerkes, Watkins was right...for the wrong reasons, and we need to restore quad track service to improve things.
Indeed with the extra platforms at South Ken / Gloucester Road it seems an express circle missing those stations might be better for faster Pad Vic connections ? As to Hammersmith City extension I always said that should go to Barking Riverside with the Goblin picking up the Rainham / Pitsea C2C service. (with extra C2C half hourly Pitsea / Barking / Stratford Liv Street. Ideally the EL should have been quad tracked with the links to C2C / an enhanced Maldon Essex Service happening into the core section , which should have picked up the Greenford Branch and off to Oxford on the other end.
