A couple of years ago I signed up for a virtual tour of Euston tube station’s lost tunnels. The tour was fascinating and I resolved to sign up for an in-person tour if and when they reopened. At the weekend I was lucky enough to get my chance.
We met at Euston Square station and watched a short video about the history of Euston mainline and Underground stations. I won’t repeat the information here as I put much of it in my blog post about the virtual tour, but it was a useful refresher. We then walked over to the old CCE&HR building, now surrounded by railings and facing imminent demolition. Finally we headed towards Euston station, through the barriers and down the escalators to the southbound Northern line platform (Bank branch), from where we headed through a door at the end of the platform to reach the disused tunnels.
After checking out the tunnels we walked into another area where yellow paint was recently discovered – this shade of yellow in an Underground station means the Second World War. These tunnels were marked for use as a shelter during possible air raids for railway staff who weren’t able to get home.
Finally we went into a very secret space above the tracks and got to see the trains pulling into the station – it felt very surreal.
There’s no point in repeating what I said about the virtual tour, so instead, here are some pictures I took of the inside of the station.