Aldgate East tube station

Aldgate East
Aldgate East Location of Aldgate East in Central London
Location	Spitalfields
Local authority	London Borough of Tower Hamlets
Managed by	London Underground
Number of platforms	2
Fare zone	1
London Underground annual entry and exit
2012	10.13 million
2013	11.66 million
2014	12.25 million
2015	12.84 million
Key dates
6 October 1884 (6 October 1884)	Opened
31 October 1938	resited
Other information
Lists of stations	DLR Underground National Rail Tramlink
WGS84	51°30′55″N 0°04′20″W / 51.5152°N 0.0722°W / 51.5152; -0.0722Coordinates: 51°30′55″N 0°04′20″W / 51.5152°N 0.0722°W / 51.5152; -0.0722

Aldgate East is a London Underground station in the Spitalfields district of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, in east London. It is on the Hammersmith & City line between Liverpool Street and Whitechapel, and on the District line between Tower Hill and Whitechapel, in Travelcard Zone 1.

The name "Commercial Road" had been proposed for the original Aldgate East station, which opened on 6 October 1884 as part of an eastern extension to the District Railway (now the District line), some 500 feet to the west of the current station, close to the Metropolitan Railway's Aldgate station. However, when the curve to join the Metropolitan Railway from Liverpool Street was built, the curve had to be particularly sharp owing to the location of Aldgate East station, at which the track needed to be straight.

As part of the London Passenger Transport Board's 1935–1940 New Works Programme the triangular junction at Aldgate was enlarged, to allow for a much gentler curve and to ensure trains that were held on any leg of the triangle did not foul any signals or points elsewhere. The new Aldgate East platforms were sited almost immediately to the east of their predecessors, with one exit facing west toward the original location, and another at the east end of the new platforms.

The new eastern exit was now close enough to the next station along the line, St Mary's (Whitechapel Road), that this station could also be closed, reducing operational overhead and journey times, because the new Aldgate East had effectively replaced two earlier stations.