In today’s episode of ‘London Tube stations that didn’t quite make the final cut’, we have Marlborough Road. Perched on the corner of Finchley Road and Queen’s Grove in north-west London, the station served as a stop on the Metropolitan Line for 70 years, before having its limelight somewhat stolen by the arrival of the newer, shinier, and slightly more convenient St John’s Wood.
Another forgotten fragment of out trusty transport network’s rich history, Marlborough Road is now used as a power station that helps boost the Metropolitan Line. But it journeyed down many different careers tracks before that…
The history of Marlborough Road station
Marlborough Road first opened to the public in April 1868, as part of the first northward extension of the Metropolitan line from Baker Street. The station was used by many local commuters, but as bus-travel became more popular, passenger numbers started to dwindle – and Marlborough Road’s opening hours were reduced in 1914, putting the station’s destiny in jeapordy.
The future of Marlborough Road station was further endangered in the mid 1930s. The Metropolitan Line was encountering some congestion issues due to trains from the line’s many branches having to use the same track. A new deep-level tunnel was constructed between Finchley Road and Baker Street stations to help ease the Tube traffic. And Marlborough Road’s fate was eventually sealed in 1939, when a shiny new Tube station was built just round the corner: St John’s Wood.
In a true display of London resiliencethe abandoned station building turned its hand to a fair few different professions in the years that followed. It served as a doctors surgery at some point, and was turned into a Chinese restaurant, Royal China, in the 1970s, where diners could feel the rumble of trains beneath their feet as they ate.
Transport-loving Londoners are still able to spot remnants of the station’s past to this day. A section of the platform and the stairs leading down to it can be seen, and the archways and brickwork of station’s walls are still in tact. Keep your eyes peeled the next time you’re passing by!
