St Mary's tube station

St Mary's (Whitechapel Road) was a station on London Underground's District line located between the present-day stations at Whitechapel and Aldgate East.

History
Opened on 3 March 1884 as St Mary's (Whitechapel), the station was initially used by South Eastern Railway trains from the East London Line, but from 1 October 1884 it was used by Metropolitan Railway and Metropolitan District Railway trains. The station was always very small and cramped and was located very close to both Whitechapel and Aldgate East stations, just before the junction to the East London line.

In 1938, Aldgate East was moved further eastwards and given a new entrance only a few hundred yards from St Mary's (Whitechapel Road), immediately rendering St Mary's surplus to requirements. It closed on 30 April 1938.

Second World War
During the Second World War, the station was re-opened for use as an air-raid shelter. The edges of the platforms were bricked up to separate the shelter areas from the still-used tracks. On 22 October 1940 the surface building was hit by a bomb and severely damaged. It was subsequently demolished so little evidence of the station's existence now appears above ground. It is believed there was an entrance from the southern platform directly into the Rivoli Cinema which was located on the south side of Whitechapel Road. The Rivoli was also severely bomb damaged early in WW2. The bricked-up platforms are still accessible to London Underground staff via an anonymous door off Whitechapel Road. The door was located 50 metres to the west of the Davenant Foundation School building on the north side of Whitechapel Road in the 1960s. Below ground, it is still possible to make out where the station was, as the barrel-vaulted roof and bricked-off platforms are still just visible from passing trains. Sometimes trains travelling from Whitechapel to Aldgate East are held at signals resulting in the train stopping abreast of the old St Mary's Station platform.

St Mary's Curve
The connecting line leading to the old East London line is still called St Mary's Curve. For many years the line was used only to transfer rolling stock between the East London and Metropolitan lines (i.e. not for passenger use). Loading gauge restrictions for the then current stock meant that even though the curve was double tracked, stock could only pass in one direction at a time. When lit, it could easily be seen from the left-hand side of East London line trains entering Whitechapel from the south and can still be seen from the right-hand side of District line trains entering the station from the west. Since re-opening as part of the London Overground in 2010, the former East London Line no longer shares rolling stock with the Metropolitan line. As such, St Mary's Curve is no longer used, but the tunnel remains. The points at St. Mary's Curve were removed in 2009.

Gallery
 Image:St marys station 1938.jpg|St. Mary's (Whitechapel Road) station, 1938, shortly after its closure Image:Closed tube station.jpg|Notice of Closure