Metropolitan Line

You’re probably here because of our list, An Interesting Fact About Every London Tube Station.

Now, like the Underground itself, the list is pretty huge. And also like the Underground, we thought we’d make it easier to navigate – so we also created a little splinter list dedicated to stations on The Metropolitan Line (which – bonus fact! – is the only Underground line to run an express service). A list which, lo and behold, you’ll find on this very page…

Aldgate

Is built directly on top of a vast plague pit, where thousands of bodies are apparently buried. No-one knows quite how many.

Liverpool Street

Built on the original site of the Bethlehem (Bedlam) mental asylum.

Moorgate

Has a virtually unknown second underground line which starts here – the Northern City Line runs from Moorgate to Finsbury Park.

Barbican

The tube’s first rail disaster happened here, 4 people died …and the trains were running again within half an hour.

Farringdon

Originally designed to transport livestock to Smithfield market – there are still cattle ramps onto the street West Smithfield for this purpose.

King’s Cross St Pancras

Has the shortest lift shaft on the network, at just 2.3 metres.

Euston Square

Was the place that the very first piece of work on the underground – or any underground railway on earth – took place. A shaft was sunk in January 1860 there.

Great Portland Street

Despite having three lines run through it, it only has one pair of tracks, making it one of the most intensely used parts of the network.

Baker Street

Has the most platforms of any tube station – 10.

Finchley Road

Analysis of earth removed when tunnelling towards the station revealed that its site was the southern limit of a glacier which covered Britain in one of the Ice Ages.

Wembley Park

Was originally constructed to serve Wembley Pleasure Grounds, which were to be centrepieced by a tower taller than the Eiffel Tower. It only reached 200 yards before funds ran out.

Preston Road

Was originally named “Preston Road Halt for Uxendon and Kenton”, which would have made it easily the longest name on the line, and the only one with an actual instruction.

Northwick Park

Is only 350m from Kenton station, making it the closest tube station pair outside zone 1.

Harrow-on-the-Hill

It’s actually on Green Hill, north of Harrow Hill.

West Harrow

Is, perhaps ironically, the station people travel to to get to Britain’s biggest walking festival.

Rayners Lane

When the station first opened, there was only one single house nearby, owned by a farmer named Daniel Rayner. The station was duly called Rayner’s Lane.

Eastcote

Was originally called Ascot.

Ruislip Manor

Suffered heavy aerial bombardment by the Luftwaffe during WW2, due to its proximity to RAF Northholt.

Ruislip

Due to the convoluted tracks, it’s actually possible to reverse trains here, but it takes up both platforms, so it’s not done at peak hours.

Ickenham

Said to be haunted each Christmas since the ’50s by a woman in a red scarf, who was electrocuted there. She flails her arms, apparently.

Hillingdon

The name Hillingdon is Middle English, and means “Hill’s hill”.

Uxbridge

Being the final/first station on the line, it has a tunnel designed to mirror the one at Cockfosters at the opposing end of the line.

North Harrow

Has been awarded the “Best Customer Service” trophy at the London Transport Awards – no surprise, the station master is called James Bond.

Pinner

In 2009, a Pyrenean Mountain Dog named Rufus became a minor celebrity for his daily commute from Pinner to Baker Street due to his size.

Northwood Hills

Before it opened in 1933, there was a competition to name it. This was, apparently, the winning entry.

Northwood

Is actually at a higher level than Northwood Hills.

Moor Park

Has a “secret” unmarked entrance adjacent to a golf course.

Croxley

A story is told of how a year after the opening of the station in 1926, a group of ladies was directed to it by Croxley’s policeman P.C. Haggar. He bade them a cheery “Good-night” – to learn shortly afterwards that they were a band of suffragettes who had set fire to the new station.

Watford

Due to not being in the centre of town, has been threatened with closure since 1927. And it may well finally be closed in 2020.

Rickmansworth

Is a surprising hub for film locations: scenes for both Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark, and the Last Crusade were filmed literally two minutes north of the station, as well as Bridget Jones and the Edge of Reason, and Blackadder.

Chorleywood

The name literally means “peasant’s wood” (and currently has one of the highest qualities of life in the country).

Chalfont & Latimer

Longest single journey between neighbouring stations: 9 mins on average to Chesham.

Chesham

Furthest away from any other station, at 3.8mi to the nearest neighbour.

Amersham

The highest station on the network, at 147m above sea level.

Check out the other lines right HERE.