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Southgate tube station

Coordinates: 51°37′57″N 0°07′41″W / 51.6325°N 0.12805°W / 51.6325; -0.12805
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Southgate London Underground
Southgate Station in North London
Southgate is located in Greater London
Southgate
Southgate
Location of Southgate in Greater London
LocationSouthgate
Local authorityLondon Borough of Enfield
Managed byLondon Underground
Number of platforms2
Fare zone4
London Underground annual entry and exit
2019Increase 5.43 million[1]
2020Decrease 2.71 million[2]
2021Decrease 2.31 million[3]
2022Increase 3.78 million[4]
2023Increase 3.95 million[5]
Key dates
13 March 1933Opened (Piccadilly line)
16 July 2018Temporarily renamed 'Gareth Southgate' for 2 days[6]
Listed status
Listing gradeII* (since 28 July 2009)
Entry number1188692[7]
Added to list19 February 1971; 53 years ago (1971-02-19)
Other information
External links
Coordinates51°37′57″N 0°07′41″W / 51.6325°N 0.12805°W / 51.6325; -0.12805
London transport portal
Southgate Station at night with a full moon
Southgate Station at night

Southgate is a London Underground station in Southgate. It is on the Piccadilly line between Arnos Grove and Oakwood stations and is in Travelcard Zone 4.

History

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Southgate station opened on 13 March 1933 with Oakwood on the second phase of the northern extension of the Piccadilly line from Finsbury Park to Cockfosters. Prior to the station's opening, alternative names were suggested including "Chase Side" and "Southgate Central". On opening, local residents were given a free return ticket to Piccadilly Circus.[8]

On 19 June 2018, at around 19:00 BST there was an explosion at the entrance of the station, injuring five people.[9]

On 16 July 2018, the tube station Southgate was renamed "Gareth Southgate" for two days in recognition of the efforts of the England football manager Gareth Southgate in leading the England team to fourth place in the 2018 FIFA World Cup.[10] However, controversy soon followed after a video was posted to social media of a woman illegally tearing the sign down while laughing, prompting TfL to make a statement saying that she was not a member of the Tube Staff, nor had the authority to remove the sign.[11]

Architecture

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The station is built in the Art Deco/Streamline Moderne design style using brick, reinforced concrete and glass and is one of the best known of the many stations Charles Holden designed for London Underground. The station building is circular with a flat projecting concrete roof. Externally, the flat roof of the raised central section appears, impossibly, to be supported by nothing more than a horizontal band of windows that provide daylight to the ticket hall. The roof is actually supported, umbrella-like, from a central column within the ticket hall. The whole building is topped by an illuminated feature resembling a Tesla coil, designed to look as if it is taken from Frankenstein's laboratory.[12]

Escalators with bronze uplighters at Southgate Station
Escalators with bronze uplighters at Southgate Station

Like Arnos Grove, Oakwood and Cockfosters, Southgate is a listed building in this case at Grade II* (regraded from Grade II in 2009) and retains much of its original decoration. The two escalators have the original column lighting, while bronze panelling is in evidence throughout the station. However; the station is not without change: in the late 1990s, one of the three entrances was filled in to be used as a new ticket office, and due to the design of the automatic barriers, one of the two remaining entrances is exit only.

In 2008, the station was extensively renovated, with new tiling at platform level, a partial new floor in the main ticket hall, and improved signage throughout.[13] The station won the London Regional category award at the 2008 National Railway Heritage Awards for the modernisation of a heritage station.[14]

The original escalators were replaced in the late 1980s with the then standard London Transport design. The balustrade of the escalators was manufactured from bronze, rather than aluminium to maintain the 1930s period appearance of the station and to satisfy the requirements of English Heritage.

The preserved condition of the station's original features, particularly the escalators, makes Southgate popular for filming scenes for period dramas.

Location

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The station was developed as a bus/underground interchange and the main building sits on an island between Southgate Circus and Station Parade where a series of bus stops are located. A secondary building containing shops wraps around the other side of the parade.

The station is located on a hill and whereas the platforms at the stations on each side are on the surface those at Southgate are in a short section of tunnel. The tunnel portals are visible from the platforms when looking north, a unique occurrence for a deep-level London Underground station. As usual on the Piccadilly line, the platforms are labelled Westbound and Eastbound. However, the tunnels run more or less north-east to south-west at Southgate, so eastbound is north-eastbound and westbound is south-westbound.[15]

In the early 1980s, moving picture advertising was tested in the tunnels south of the station. The pictures were of a child on a beach turning to face the camera.

Southgate is the northernmost station in tunnels on the London Underground network.

Services

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Preceding station London Underground Following station
Arnos Grove
towards Uxbridge, Rayners Lane or Heathrow Airport (Terminal 4 or Terminal 5)
 Piccadilly line
 Oakwood
towards Cockfosters

Connections

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London Buses routes 121, 125, 298, 299, 382, W6, W9, 616, 628, 688 and 699 and night route N91 serve the station.

References

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  1. ^ "Station Usage Data" (XLSX). Usage Statistics for London Stations, 2019. Transport for London. 23 September 2020. Archived from the original on 9 November 2020. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  2. ^ "Station Usage Data" (XLSX). Usage Statistics for London Stations, 2020. Transport for London. 16 April 2021. Retrieved 1 January 2022.
  3. ^ "Station Usage Data" (XLSX). Usage Statistics for London Stations, 2021. Transport for London. 12 July 2022. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
  4. ^ "Station Usage Data" (XLSX). Usage Statistics for London Stations, 2022. Transport for London. 4 October 2023. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
  5. ^ "Station Usage Data" (XLSX). Usage Statistics for London Stations, 2023. Transport for London. 8 August 2024. Retrieved 16 September 2024.
  6. ^ "Gareth Southgate Tube Roundel". Geoff Marshall.
  7. ^ Historic England. "Southgate Underground Station (1188692)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
  8. ^ Mott, R. (2001). A Southgate Boyhood. Edmonton Hundred Historical Society. p. 22. ISBN 0-902922-61-0.
  9. ^ "Five injured in Tube station explosion". BBC News. 19 June 2018. Retrieved 20 June 2018.
  10. ^ "World Cup 2018: Tube station named Gareth Southgate". BBC News. 16 July 2018. Retrieved 16 July 2018.
  11. ^ "Outrage as 'random' woman is filmed tearing down Gareth Southgate Tube sign". Evening Standard. London. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
  12. ^ Emmerson, Andrew (2010). The London underground. Oxford: Shire Publications Ltd. ISBN 978-0-7478-0790-2. OCLC 462882243.
  13. ^ "London Underground".[dead link‍]
  14. ^ "Previous Winners". Lists of winners. National Railway Heritage Awards. 2008. Archived from the original on 26 January 2014.
  15. ^ line layout
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