Piccadilly Line Trains on May 19th 2023

2nd filming at Caledonian Road, Holloway Road, Arsenal, Finsbury Park, Manor House, Turnpike Lane, Wood Green and Bounds Green last visit to all of these was back in January 2019.

All Piccadilly Line Trains are 6 car 1973 Stock which first entered service in 1975 however are due to be replaced between 2025 and 2026 by new rolling stock built by Siemens

Caledonian Road first station from Kings Cross is located close to nearby Pentonville Prison and Caledonian Park as well as the former Victoria Metropolitan Cattle Market which was open by Prince Albert in 1865 long before the line was built however after World War II most cattle trade was transferred to New Caledonian or Bermondsey Markets which resulted in the Metropolitan Market closing in 1963

The station designed by Leslie Green with decor style patterns similar to some stations on the Northern Line with access to street level like many of Leslie Green stations on the line including Covent Garden, Russell Square and next station North Holloway Road being that of Lifts and a Spiral Staircase eventhough the Lifts themselves reach to platform level which on maps would be advertised as Step Free.

Holloway Road when was constructed at the time with 2 lift shafts however only one was ever used.

Although the 2nd shaft was experimented with a Spiral Escalator built by Jesse W Reno however wasn’t a success and was never used. The remains of the former escalator equipment was removed in the 1990s and now is stored at London Transport Museums Acton Depot.

The location of the Piccadilly station is near the site of the former Holloway & Caledonian Road station opened by the Great Northern Railway in 1852 but closed in 1915.

Arsenal station is the only station on the underground to be named after a football club although first opened as Gillespie Road it was renamed Arsenal (Highbury Hill) in 1932 with the suffix being dropped in 1960.

Since August 2006 all Arsenal home games are played at nearby Emirates Stadium however the station is still very crowded during match days although the nearest station nowadays being Drayton Park served by Great Northern with services to Moorgate.

Finsbury Park was the terminus of the line when opened between here and Hammersmith on December 15th 1906 with today cross platform interchange being provided with the Victoria Line. The Great Northern opened its underground platforms in 1904 however in 1964 when the Victoria line was being built all services were cut back to Drayton Park.

The Piccadilly had by the 1930s overcrowding issues becoming intolerable eventually resulting the lines extension north to Cockfosters between 1932 and 1934

Manor House designed by Charles Holden however the name comes from a nearby public house with the station located on Seven Sisters Road and Green Lanes. The most notable feature is the platform width being 23 feet wide which were designed to deal with heavy volumes of traffic.

At one time it had 9 entrances which included trams and trolleybuses however trams were withdrawn in 1938 replaced by trolleybuses with the exits removed in 1951 and trolleybuses withdrawing in 1962.

Turnpike Lane was one of the first tube stations to be built in the borough of Tottenham with the station building with a modernist style look to it is a potential proposed stop for Crossrail 2 however due to the cost overruns of Crossrail 1 it's likely Crossrail 2 won't be built for some time.

Wood Green station has the reversing siding that retained for emergency use in event of disruption or to turn back late running services.

On March 15th 1976 an IRA bomb exploded on an empty stock train that was preparing to enter the reversing siding although one passenger was injured by debris.

The station building was Grade II listed in 2011 with the frontage flanked by two ventilation towers although weren't built at the time of opening but were a later addition.

Bounds Green is situated closer to the surface unfortunately like many stations on the underground during World War II Bounds Green was another victim of 'The Blitz' on the evening of October 13th 1940.

A bomb was dropped onto houses north of the station however it hit with such force it caused the north of the westbound tunnel to collapse travelling those sheltering or sleeping in the stations. 19 people were killed with 16 at the scene and 3 more later in hospital with 52 others injured.

It wasn't until 2 months later when services began running normally again. A memorial plague situated at the north of the westbound platform was placed here in 1994

Music used:
JJD - Adventure
Music provided by NCS

Video link:
NoCopyrightSounds

Filmed on Friday May 19th 2023 on iPhone 14 Pro and edited on iMovie

#londonundergroundtransport #londontransport #piccadillyline #london #metro

[thelondoner]

Great video! I enjoyed every second! 😁😁😁

[OKB]

Trains appear slower now. They almost coast into station to reduce braking perhaps. Time for new trains methinks. Excellent filming.