Станция метро Элефант-энд-Касл: История и транспортный узел

London Underground station
the London Underground station

Elephant & Castle is a London Underground station in the London Borough of Southwark in south London. It is on the Bank branch of the Northern line between Borough and Kennington stations. It is also the southern terminus of the Bakerloo line and the next station towards north is Lambeth North. The station is in both Travelcard Zones 1 and 2. The Northern line station was opened in 1890 by the City and South London Railway (C&SLR) while the Bakerloo line station was opened sixteen years later by the Baker Street and Waterloo Railway (BS&WR). There is an out of station interchange with the nearby Elephant & Castle National Rail station. The Bakerloo line building remains much as originally constructed and is a typical Leslie Green structure. The Northern line building was designed by Thomas Phillips Figgis, The station is in both Travelcard Zones 1 and 2|group=note The northern building provides the most direct access to the Bakerloo line, while the southern one is linked more directly to the Northern line.

London Bus routes 1, 12, 35, 40, 45, 53, 63, 68, 133, 136, 148, 155, 171, 172, 176, 188, 196, 333, 343, 344, 360, 363, 415, 453, 468, C10 and P5, including night routes N1, N53, N63, N68, N89, N133, N155, N171 and N343, stop outside the station at either Newington Butts (Northern line entrance) or London Road (Bakerloo line entrance). In addition, bus routes 12, 35, 148, 176, 188, 344 and 453 provide a 24 hour bus service. to Stockwell and Clapham Common. The entire route was approved on 25 July 1890refn|The act was published on 25 July 1890 as the City and South London Railway Act, 1890. At the same time, the company's name was changed from CL&SS to C&SLR. In November 1891, the C&SLR recognised the deficiencies of the section between Borough station and King William Street. A new route was chosen with a different pair of tunnels, avoiding this section. Near Borough, the new tunnels would branch off to London Bridge to form an interchange with the mainline station and then north through the City of London to Angel. following a delay. The Act also incorporated another bill of 1893 to grant more time to build the southern extension to Clapham. The new route and the first section of the northern extension from Borough to Moorgate opened on 25 February 1900, and the King William Street diversion was closed. The southern extension to Clapham Common opened on 3 June 1900. Work continued on the rest of the northern extension and it opened on 17 November 1901. In 1912, the C&SLR submitted another bill to increase its capacity by enlarging its tunnels to the larger diameter used for the tunnels of the more recently built railways to allow larger, more modern rolling stock to be used. Together, the works proposed in these bills would enable the Charing Cross, Euston and Hampstead Railway (CCE&HR)'s trains to run over the C&SLR's route and vice versa, effectively combining the two separate railways. Tunnel enlargement works only restarted after World War I when an extension of time was granted in February 1919. Test trains began running in 1905. The first section of the BS&WR was between Baker Street and Lambeth North. The BS&WR station opened on 5 August 1906, almost five months after the rest of the line.

The interchange between the Bakerloo and Northern lines has long been criticised by local residents for its lack of escalators, its winding passageways and its two separate station entrances. Given the increased demand on the Underground station from proposed and under construction residential development, Southwark Council has called for the expansion and redevelopment of the station, noting in 2008 that it was the "final hurdle" of a deal to redevelop the Shopping Centre. In 2018, the redevelopment of the Elephant and Castle Shopping Centre was approved, with a new station entrance as part of the proposal. The upgrade and expansion work will include a new station entrance and ticket hall facing Elephant Square, three new escalators, and lifts providing step free access to the Northern line platforms. The new entrance would also improve the interchange between the Underground and Elephant & Castle railway station, with a more direct route through the new development. The shell of the new ticket hall will be constructed by the developer Delancey; TfL and Southwark Council will share the £15m cost of connecting the shell to the existing platforms and to "fit out" the new ticket hall with escalators and lifts. The Shopping Centre closed in September 2020, allowing construction work to begin. The new ticket hall is scheduled to open in 2028/9. The new ticket hall has been designed to accommodate the proposed Bakerloo line extension. New Bakerloo tunnels would be dug along with new platforms to accommodate the increase in demand if the Bakerloo line extension comes into service.

An extension to Camberwell from Elephant & Castle was planned and approved in 1931. Elephant & Castle was also to be reconstructed with a third platform to provide the additional reversing capacity, along with a new ticket hall and escalators. Due to the need to prioritise the extension from Baker Street to Finchley Road, to relieve congestion on the Metropolitan line, as well as financial constraints and the outbreak of the Second World War, no work was carried out on the extension. In the 1950s there was a brief revival of the plan, in which it was proposed that Elephant & Castle would not be altered and the additional turn round capacity would be provided by making Camberwell a three platform terminus. The project was ultimately unaffordable owing to post war austerity, reduced demand, and the disproportionately high cost of the project with a three platform deep level terminus and the requirement for new trains and a depot. During 2005–06, a Bakerloo extension was proposed with three route options. The options were extensions to Hayes via Peckham Rye, Beckenham Junction via Camberwell, or Hayes via New Cross. In July 2011, Network Rail recommended an extension of the Bakerloo line from Elephant & Castle to Lewisham, where it would take over the line to Hayes. In September 2014, Transport for London ran a consultation on the Bakerloo extension to Hayes and Beckenham Junction with options via Lewisham and Camberwell or Old Kent Road, taking over Network Rail's Hayes line. The cost of the extension is estimated at around £2–3 billion with construction expected to take place between the mid 2020s and early 2030s. A February 2017 consultation indicates that the line could extend to Lewisham via Old Kent Road with future extension options later on.