Great Portland Street is a

London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England. The ...

station near

Regent's Park Regent's Park (officially The Regent's Park) is one of the Royal Parks of London. It occupies of high ground in north-west Inner London, administratively split between the City of Westminster and the Borough of Camden (and historically betwee ...

. It is between and on the Hammersmith & City,

Circle A circle is a shape consisting of all points in a plane that are at a given distance from a given point, the centre. Equivalently, it is the curve traced out by a point that moves in a plane so that its distance from a given point is cons ...

and

Metropolitan Metropolitan may refer to: * Metropolitan area, a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories * Metropolitan borough, a form of local government district in England * Metropolitan county, a typ ...

lines.

Great Portland Street Great Portland Street in the West End of London links Oxford Street with Albany Street and the A501 Marylebone Road and Euston Road. A commercial street including some embassies, it divides Fitzrovia, to the east, from Marylebone to the west. ...

station is listed as a building of National Significance and lies in

Travelcard Zone 1 Fare zone 1 is the central zone of Transport for London's zonal fare system used by the London Underground, London Overground, Docklands Light Railway and National Rail. For most tickets, travel through Zone 1 is more expensive than journeys ...

History

The station was part of the world's first underground railway, the

Metropolitan Railway The Metropolitan Railway (also known as the Met) was a passenger and goods railway that served London from 1863 to 1933, its main line heading north-west from the capital's financial heart in the City to what were to become the Middlesex su ...

, which opened between "Bishop's Road" (now ) on the Hammersmith & City line and "Farringdon Street" (close to the present-day station). It was opened on 10 January 1863 as "Portland Road", changed to its present name on 1 March 1917 but was renamed "Great Portland Street and Regents Park" in 1923 and then reverted to its present name in 1933. The current structure was built in 1930 on a traffic island on the

Marylebone Road Marylebone Road ( ) is an important thoroughfare in central London, within the City of Westminster. It runs east–west from the Euston Road at Regent's Park to the A40 Westway at Paddington. The road which runs in three lanes in both directio ...

at its intersection with

and Albany Street. Its construction is a steel framed cream terracotta clad exterior, with the perimeter providing shops and originally a car showroom with office space over the station. Great Portland Street was at a major sales location for the motor industry. It was designed by the Metropolitan Railway's architect C. W. Clark and was Grade II-listed in January 1987. The station lies at the northern end of Great Portland Street – a main road which marks the border between

Marylebone Marylebone (usually , also , ) is a district in the West End of London, in the City of Westminster. Oxford Street, Europe's busiest shopping street, forms its southern boundary. An ancient parish and latterly a metropolitan borough, it ...

and

Fitzrovia Fitzrovia () is a district of central London, England, near the West End. The eastern part of area is in the London Borough of Camden, and the western in the City of Westminster. It has its roots in the Manor of Tottenham Court, and was urban ...

. The local neighbourhood plan identified the gyratory around Great Portland Street Underground Station as one where public realm improvements and traffic calming should be made.

Services

The station is served by the

, Hammersmith & City and

lines, between

Euston Square Euston Square is a large square in the London Borough of Camden in Central London. It lies on Euston Road, and Euston railway station and Euston bus station are on its northernmost side. Although “Euston Square” strictly refers to the squ ...

in the east and

Baker Street Baker Street is a street in the Marylebone district of the City of Westminster in London. It is named after builder William Baker, who laid out the street in the 18th century. The street is most famous for its connection to the fictional detec ...

to the west. All three lines share the same pair of tracks from

Junction to

Aldgate Aldgate () was a gate in the former defensive wall around the City of London. It gives its name to Aldgate High Street, the first stretch of the A11 road, which included the site of the former gate. The area of Aldgate, the most common use of ...

Junction making this section of track one of the most intensely used on the London Underground network.

Circle line

The typical service in trains per hour (tph) is: * 6 tph clockwise via Kings Cross St Pancras and Liverpool Street * 6 tph anti-clockwise to Hammersmith via Paddington

Hammersmith & City line

The typical service in trains per hour (tph) is: * 6 tph eastbound to Barking * 6 tph westbound to Hammersmith via Paddington

Metropolitan line

The typical off-peak service in trains per hour (tph) is: * 12 tph eastbound to Aldgate * 12 tph westbound via Baker Street: ** 2 tph to Amersham ** 2 tph to Chesham ** 8 tph to Uxbridge The typical peak time service in trains per hour (tph) is: * 14 tph eastbound to Aldgate * 14 tph westbound via Baker Street: ** 2 tph to Amersham ** 2 tph to Chesham ** 4 tph to Watford ** 6 tph to Uxbridge

Connections

London Buses London Buses is the subsidiary of Transport for London (TfL) that manages most bus services in London, England. It was formed following the Greater London Authority Act 1999 that transferred control of London Regional Transport (LRT) bus s ...

routes 18, 27, 30, 88, 205 and 453 and night routes N18 and N205 serve the station.

Gallery

File:Great Portland Street Tube Station 2011.jpg, Station as seen from above looking north File:Tube150 - Metropolitan Railway No. 1 Steam Train at Great Portland Street Tube Station.jpg, Original Metropolitan Steam Train passes through Great Portland Street Station File:Great Portland Street stn roundel.JPG, Platform roundel File:Marylebone Toll Gate at Great Portland Street in 1790.jpg, View of station location circa 1790 File:Great Portland Street Underground Station Tunnel Entrance Sept2011.jpg, Station tunnel running under Marylebone Road File:Metropolitan Underground Railway stations.jpg, Shown as the Metropolitan Railway's Portland Road Station in 1862 File:Thomas-crane-portland-road-1883- great-portland-street.jpg, Thomas Crane's 1883 poster of Portland Road Station File:Portland Road Underground Station 1862.jpg, Trial 1862 train journey passing Portland Road station.

References

External links

{{Metropolitan line navbox Circle line (London Underground) stations Hammersmith & City line stations Metropolitan line stations Tube stations in the City of Westminster Former Metropolitan Railway stations London Underground stations located underground Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1863 Great Portland Street 1863 establishments in England Charles Walter Clark railway stations Grade II listed railway stations Grade II listed buildings in the City of Westminster