Covent Garden | |
|---|---|
 Station entrance | |
  Covent Garden Location of Covent Garden in Central London | |
| Location | Covent Garden |
| Local authority | City of Westminster |
| Managed by | London Underground |
| Number of platforms | 2 |
| Fare zone | 1 |
| London Underground annual entry and exit | |
| 2020 |  1.62 million[3] |
| 2021 |  7.48 million[4] |
| 2022 | 12.99 million[5] |
| 2023 | 12.57 million[6] |
| 2024 | 13.52 million[7] |
| Railway companies | |
| Original company | Great Northern, Piccadilly and Brompton Railway |
| Key dates | |
| 15 December 1906 | Line opened |
| 11 April 1907 | Station opened |
| Listed status | |
| Listing grade | II |
| Entry number | 1401025[1][2] |
| Added to list | 20 July 2011 |
| Other information | |
| External links | |
| Coordinates | 51°30′47″N0°07′27″W / 51.5130°N 0.1243°W /51.5130; -0.1243 |
 London transport portal | |
Covent Garden (/ˈkɒvəntˈɡɑːrdən/) is aLondon Underground station, servingCovent Garden and the surrounding area in theWest End of London. It is on thePiccadilly line betweenLeicester Square andHolborn stations, and is inLondon fare zone 1.[8] The station is located at the corner ofLong Acre andJames Street and the street-level concourse is a Grade IIlisted building.
The station was planned by theGreat Northern and Strand Railway (GN&SR), which had received parliamentary approval for a route fromWood Green station (now Alexandra Palace) to Strand in 1899.[9] After the GN&SR was taken over by theBrompton and Piccadilly Circus Railway (B&PCR) in September 1901, the two companies came under the control ofCharles Yerkes' Metropolitan District Electric Traction Company before being transferred to his newholding company, theUnderground Electric Railways Company of London (UERL) in June 1902.[10] To connect the two companies' planned routes, the UERL obtained permission for new tunnels betweenPiccadilly Circus andHolborn. The companies were formally merged as the Great Northern, Piccadilly and Brompton Railway following parliamentary approval in November 1902.[11][12][13] The station was opened by theGreat Northern, Piccadilly and Brompton Railway on 11 April 1907, four months after services on the rest of the line began operating on 15 December 1906.[14]
In 1929, Covent Garden was suggested 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[15][16], though the closure did not proceed.
In 2011,English Heritage gave the station frontage Grade II listed status,[1][2] on account of it being a good example of Leslie Green's architecture.
Like the rest of the original GNP&BR stations, the street level station building and platform tiling were designed byLeslie Green in theModern Style (British Art Nouveau style).[17][18] As is commonplace with other Central London stations Green designed,[19] the station building is a classic red 'Oxblood' building which has two elevations fronting onto the end of James Street and Long Acre. The platform wall was tiled with two shades of yellow and white tiling which formed geometric shapes along with three blank spaces to incorporate the station name. As part ofTransport for London's investment programme, the ageing tiling dating back from the station's opening was replaced in 2010 in a like-for-like basis, retaining the look and feel of the platforms.
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The stations along the central part of the Piccadilly line, as well as some sections of the Northern line, were financed byCharles Yerkes,[20] and are famous for theLeslie Green designed red station buildings and distinctive platform tiling. Each station had its own unique tile pattern and colours.
Covent Garden station is one of the few stations inCentral London for which platform access is only bylift or an emergencyspiral staircase with 193 steps.[21] There are four lifts that give access to street level, although a final flight of stairs from the lifts to the platforms means that the station is wheelchair-inaccessible.[22]
At the bottom of the staircase, numerous posters, warning users of the long climb ahead, suggest they make use of the station’s lifts instead.[23]
The journey betweenLeicester Square station and Covent Garden measures 260 metres (280 yd), the shortest distance between two adjacent stations on the Underground network.[24] Posters at the station give details of the alternative methods of getting to and from Covent Garden using surrounding stations.
Covent Garden station is on the Piccadilly line betweenLeicester Square to the west andHolborn to the east. Train frequencies vary throughout the day, but generally operate every 3–7 minutes in both directions.[25] As a part of the Piccadilly line, the train is served byNight Tube on Friday and Saturday nights.[26]
| Preceding station | London Underground | Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leicester Square | Piccadilly line | Holborn towardsCockfosters orArnos Grove | ||
It is said that the ghost of actorWilliam Terriss (murdered in 1897) haunts the station. It is claimed that he used to visit a bakery demolished when the station was built.[27] The last reported sighting of Terriss was in 1972.[28]
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