Whitechapel tube station

From Freepedia

Whitechapel

Management
Managed by	London Underground
Location
Place	Whitechapel
Local authority	Tower Hamlets
Statistics
Annual entry/exit	8.858 million
Zone	2
Platforms in use	6
History
Key dates	Opened 1869

Whitechapel is a London Underground station in Whitechapel in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in East London. It is in Zone 2.

It is on the Hammersmith & City and District lines between Aldgate East and Stepney Green, and is on the East London Line between Shoreditch and Shadwell. Services to Shoreditch only run at peak hours and Sunday mornings – at all other times, Whitechapel acts as the East London Line's northern terminus. Whitechapel also acts as the eastern terminus for some Hammersmith & City Line trains, particularly at weekends and outside peak hours.

The station consists of six platforms – two westbound and two eastbound for the Hammersmith & City and District Lines, and one north and southbound on the East London Line. It is situated in a cutting behind Whitechapel Road, with the East London Line bisecting it in a deeper cutting.

Whitechapel station was originally opened in 1869 as a stop on the mainline East London Railway from Liverpool Street station to points south. The passenger service between Whitechapel and Liverpool Street was withdrawn in 1885. The station joined the Underground network on 6 October 1884 under the name of "Whitechapel (Mile End)" as the eastern terminus of the Metropolitan and Metropolitan District Railways, the new station being built on top of the earlier and deeper East London Railway station. It gained its present name on 13 November 1901.

In 1902 the Metropolitan District Railway extended the eastbound line to Bromley-by-Bow, with Whitechapel becoming the western end of the new Whitechapel & Bow Railway. It was electrified in 1905, though the East London Railway station at Whitechapel had to wait until 1913 for its own electrification. Steam-hauled goods services from Liverpool Street continued to pass through Whitechapel until as late as April 1966. The East London Line platforms were closed between March 1995 and March 1998 during the renovation of the line; the station was also renovated at the same time.

The District Line track connects with the East London Line just west of Whitechapel station, at St Mary's Curve. This was used for passenger traffic until 1941 but is now only used to transfer empty trains to and from the other sub-surface lines. The curve is often lit and can easily be seen from the left-hand side of East London Line trains entering Whitechapel station from the south.

Also just west of Whitechapel is the former St Mary's (Whitechapel Road) tube station, one of the many closed London Underground stations.

It is proposed that Crossrail line 1 will call at Whitechapel, forking into two eastbound branches after the station.

Nearby places of interest include the Royal London Hospital, the Blind Beggar public house, and the former Wickham's department store.

Preceding station	Underground Lines			Following station
Aldgate East		Hammersmith & City Line		Stepney Green
		District Line
Shoreditch		East London Line		Shadwell