View source for Down Street tube station

{{unreferenced|date=June 2013}}
{{Infobox Closed London station
| name=Down Street
| image=[[File:Down Street tube station 2011.jpg|300px|Down Street tube station, Down Street, London]]
| owner=[[Great Northern, Piccadilly and Brompton Railway]]
| locale=[[Mayfair]]
| coordinates={{coord|51|30|16|N|0|08|51|W|region:GB_type:railwaystation|display=inline,title}}|
 platforms=2
| start=1907
| end=1932
| replace=None
| tubestation=yes
|borough = [[City of Westminster]]}}
'''Down Street''', also known as '''Down Street (Mayfair)''', is a disused station of the [[London Underground]]'s [[Piccadilly line]] which closed in 1932. During [[World War&nbsp;II]] it was used as an air-raid shelter, notably by [[Winston Churchill]] and his [[War Cabinet]].

==History==
[[File:Down Street tube station plan.svg|thumb|left|300px|Plan of station at the lower level as originally built]]
Down Street station lies between [[Green Park tube station|Green Park]] and [[Hyde Park Corner tube station|Hyde Park Corner]] on the Piccadilly Line. Evidence of its presence can be identified through the train windows between these stations by a change in the tunnel surface from the blackened cast iron segments to a section of beige brickwork. The station was opened by the [[Great Northern, Piccadilly and Brompton Railway]] (precursor to the Piccadilly line) on 15 March 1907, a few months after the rest of the line. The surface building was on Down Street, just off [[Piccadilly]] in [[Mayfair]]. It was never a busy station, as the surrounding area was largely residential and its residents were too wealthy to be regular tube passengers. The neighbouring stations were also fairly close by.

[[File:Down street map 1912.png|thumb|250px|Down Street station on 1912 map (note earlier name of "Dover Street" for Green Park)]]
[[File:Down Street Map Mockup.png|thumb|250px|How Down Street might appear on the London Underground Map today if it had remained open]]
Like [[Brompton Road tube station|Brompton Road]], Down Street was often skipped by trains. In 1929 it was one of the stations mooted for closure in connection with the extension of the Piccadilly line: the elimination of less-busy stations in the central area would improve both reliability and journey times for long-distance commuters. Additionally, the neighbouring stations were being rebuilt with [[escalator]]s in place of [[elevator|lifts]], and their new entrances were nearer to Down Street, further squeezing its small [[catchment area (human geography)|catchment area]]. The station closed on 21 May 1932.

After the station was closed it was almost immediately modified. The western headwalls of both platform tunnels were modified to allow a step plate junction (a junction where tunnels of differing diameters join—the ''step'' is the vertical wall filling the gap between them) to be installed, providing access to a new [[Rail siding|siding]] located between Down Street and Hyde Park Corner stations. In 1939, the [[Railway platform|platform]] faces were bricked up and the resulting space used as an underground [[bunker]]. The main wartime occupants of the station were the Emergency Railway Committee, but it was also used by Churchill and the war cabinet until the [[Cabinet War Rooms]] were ready for use. Since the end of the war the station has only been used as an emergency access point to the tube. The surface building, designed by [[Leslie Green]], is still standing.

== In popular culture ==

=== Film & TV appearances ===
Part of the 2004 British horror film ''[[Creep (movie)|Creep]]'' was set in the Down Street tube station, although the scenes were actually shot at the disused [[Aldwych tube station]] and on studio sets.

A sequence in the [[James Bond]] film ''[[Die Another Day]]'' is set in an 'abandoned' Tube station called [[Vauxhall Cross tube station|Vauxhall Cross]]. The station is supposedly used as a neutral ground for [[MI6]] illegals (officially nonexistent agents) to be given missions by [[M (James Bond)|M]]. A visible track-side line diagram places the station north/east of [[Hyde Park Corner tube station|Hyde Park Corner]], which suggests that it is actually Down Street, but for the fact that the real station is some {{convert|2.6|km|mi|abbr=on}} away from the real [[Vauxhall Cross tube station|Vauxhall Cross]], and trains still run through Down Street.

The TV series and novel ''[[Neverwhere]]'' are mostly set in a medieval-fantasy world with locations named after tube stations such as [[Blackfriars station|Blackfriars]] and [[Knightsbridge tube station|Knightsbridge]]; the finale is located in an area known as Down Street, and one scene of the TV series was filmed on the remaining open section of platform at Down Street, with real trains passing by in the background.

In [[Billy Connolly]]'s ''World Tour Of England, Ireland And Wales'', Billy takes a tour of the Down Street station, explaining the heritage and showcasing the various rooms Winston Churchill and his war cabinet are believed to have once occupied.

Episode 1 of [[Dan Cruickshank]]'s ''Great Railway Adventures'' (a [[National Geographic Channel]] 2010 [[documentary]] series about the history of Britain's railways) explores the station's role as control centre for all of [[Great Britain]]'s [[railways]] moving military supplies and personnel during the [[World War II|1939 - 1945 War]]

In Episode 6 of the 2012 TV Series ''[[The Tube (2012 TV series)|The Tube]]'', Down Street is featured. A member of staff takes the film crew around the station while undertaking a check up, telling the crew about the station and why it closed. The episode shows areas where Churchill worked during the war, and the old platforms which are now in the tunnel.{{clarify|date=September 2012}} On hearing a noise after a train has passed through the station, the staff mention a reputed ghost which has been reported by London Underground staff in the past.

=== Music ===
The British band [[Hefner (band)|Hefner]] released a song titled "Down Street", on their 2006 album ''[[Catfight (album)|Catfight]]'', according to the sleeve notes of which, it is set in the early 1930s and tells the story of two lovers who meet at the station. [[Steve Hackett]] also recorded a song titled "Down Street", on his 2006 album ''[[Wild Orchids (album)|Wild Orchids]]'', about the station in its disused state.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.genesis-news.com/c-Steve-Hackett-Wild-Orchids-CD-review-s55.html |title=Steve Hackett - Wild Orchids - Review - Street Date: 11 September 2006 |publisher=Genesis-news.com |date= |accessdate=2013-03-26}}</ref>

=== Video Games ===
In the game ''[[Shadow Man (video game)|Shadow Man]]'', Down Street is the home stage of Jack the Ripper, one of the main antagonists in the game.

==References==
{{Reflist}}
*J. E. Connor, ''London's Disused Underground Stations'', Capital Transport, 2001, pp.&nbsp;28–33.

==External links==
{{commons category|Down Street tube station}}
*[http://underground-history.co.uk/downst.php Down Street] on Hywel Williams's Underground History site.
*[http://www.subbrit.org.uk/sb-sites/sites/d/down_street_station/ Subterranea Britannica: Down Street station.]
*[http://www.abandonedstations.org.uk/Down_Street_station.html London's Abandoned Tube Stations: Down Street station.]
*[http://archive.is/20130123055531/www.flickr.com/photos/folkestonegerald/sets/72057594079548411/ Pictures from a tour of Down Street].
*[http://www.flickr.com/photos/darryl_se7/sets/72057594079823352/ More pictures] plus [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NLd6ElkvRk video] from the same tour.
*{{ltmcollection|6j/i000056j.jpg|London's Transport Museum Photographic Archive}} Down Street station shortly after opening
*[http://www.cwgcuser.org.uk/personal/subterra/lu/lufilmtv/lufandtv.htm The London Underground in Films & Television]

{{clear}}
{{s-start}}
{{s-note|text=Former Route}}
{{s-rail|title=LUL}}
{{s-line|system=LUL|line=Piccadilly|previous=Hyde Park Corner|next=Green Park}}
{{end}}

{{Piccadilly line navbox}}
{{closed london underground stations}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Down Street Tube Station}}
[[Category:Disused London Underground stations]]
[[Category:Railway stations opened in 1907]]
[[Category:Railway stations closed in 1932]]
[[Category:Disused railway stations in the City of Westminster]]
[[Category:Former buildings and structures in the City of Westminster]]
[[Category:Piccadilly Line stations]]