Piccadilly Circus tube station

Piccadilly Circus
Piccadilly Circus Location of Piccadilly Circus in Central London
Location	Piccadilly Circus
Local authority	City of Westminster
Managed by	London Underground
Number of platforms	4
Fare zone	1
London Underground annual entry and exit
2012	42.36 million
2013	41.70 million
2014	42.93 million
2015	42.80 million
Key dates
1906	Opened
Listed status
Listing grade	II
Entry number	1226877
Added to list	07 March 1984
Other information
Lists of stations	DLR Underground National Rail Tramlink
WGS84	51°30′36″N 0°08′02″W / 51.5101°N 0.1340°W / 51.5101; -0.1340Coordinates: 51°30′36″N 0°08′02″W / 51.5101°N 0.1340°W / 51.5101; -0.1340

Piccadilly Circus is a London Underground station located directly beneath Piccadilly Circus itself, with entrances at every corner. Located in Travelcard Zone 1, the station is on the Piccadilly line between Green Park and Leicester Square and on the Bakerloo line between Charing Cross and Oxford Circus.

The station was opened on 10 March 1906 by the Baker Street and Waterloo Railway (now the Bakerloo line) with the platforms of the Great Northern, Piccadilly and Brompton Railway (now the Piccadilly line) being opened on 15 December 1906. As originally built it had, like other stations, a surface booking hall (designed, like many in central London built at that time, by Leslie Green). The development of traffic before and after World War I meant that the need for improved station facilities was acute – in 1907 1.5 million passengers used the station, by 1922 it had grown to 18 million passengers. It was decided to construct a sub-surface booking hall and circulating area, which would also provide public pedestrian subways. Work began in February 1925 and was completed in 1928. The architect was Charles Holden and the builder was John Mowlem & Co: the whole complex cost more than half-a-million pounds. Eleven escalators were provided in two flights, leading to the two lines serving the station. Above these escalators was once a mural by artist Stephen Bone, showing the world with London at its centre. This mural was later replaced by advertising.

The old station building designed by Leslie Green finally closed for traffic on 21 July 1929, it was demolished in the 1980s when the large building on the corner of Jermyn Street, Piccadilly and Haymarket was constructed.