Russell Square tube station


Russell Square is a London Underground station opposite Russell Square on Bernard Street, Bloomsbury, in the London Borough of Camden. The station is on the Piccadilly line, between Holborn and King's Cross St Pancras and is in Travelcard Zone 1.
Russell Square Station is not far from the British Museum, the University of London's main campus, Great Ormond Street Hospital, Russell Square Gardens and the Brunswick Centre.

History

The station was opened by the Great Northern, Piccadilly and Brompton Railway on 15 December 1906. The station was designed by Leslie Green. On 20 July 2011, English Heritage gave the station buildings Grade II listed status, describing it as:

2005 London bombings

On 7 July 2005, in a co-ordinated bomb attack, an explosion in a train travelling between King's Cross St. Pancras and Russell Square resulted in the deaths of 26 people. Another bomb later exploded on a bus at Tavistock Square.
A plaque remembering the victims, identical to the one at King's Cross St Pancras tube station, is located at the station.

The station today

The station is a Grade II listed building.
Russell Square station has three lifts, which are all fifty-passenger lifts built by Wadsworth. There are no escalators but the platforms can be reached using a spiral staircase with 177 steps. It is said that the signs at the station indicate an incorrect number of steps, which is 175 steps.
The station has four payphones, seven gates, a Wifi service, five vending machines and a photo booth.

Platform level tiling

The stations on the central part of the Piccadilly line, as well as some sections of the Northern line, were financed by Charles Yerkes, and are famous for the Leslie Green designed red station buildings and distinctive platform tiling. Each station had its own unique tile pattern and colours.

Services and connections

Train frequencies vary throughout the day, but generally operate every 4–7 minutes between 06:06 and 00:28 in both directions.
London Buses routes 10, 59, 68, 91, 168, 188, peak-hour express X68 and night routes N91 and N98 serve the station.

In popular culture

Russell Square tube station was used as the location for the 1973 horror film Death Line, which starred Donald Pleasence, Christopher Lee and Clive Swift.