Mark Lane (former) Underground Station

Many of London's abandoned or 'ghost' stations can be seen all over the city. Although some have completely disappeared above ground, like Lord's station, they are usually easy to spot because most of them were housed in the tell-tale oxblood tiled buildings designed by Leslie Green.

Mark Lane, however, is different. It didn’t have those lovely tiles, instead being housed in a stately, stone-faced building. Because of this, many people walk right by this building, or sit inside with a drink, without ever noticing the clues to its previous life.

A Tangled Underground Timeline

The story begins in 1882, when the Metropolitan Railway opened an underground station called the 'Tower of London'. Between 1882 and 1884, Byward Street was laid out, cutting through the existing Great Tower Street toward Trinity Square in alignment with the railway line below.

Marlborough Road (former) Underground Station

Marlborough Road (former) Underground station building.

If you travel on the Metropolitan line, between Finchley Road and Baker Street, you will pass through three closed stations. Although difficult to see and with much of the infrastructure now removed, they are Lord's, Swiss Cottage and Marlborough Road. The latter is the easiest to see and is used to evacuate the Metropolitan line, should the need arise.

Marlborough Road is in an open section of the line, which was built using the cut-and-cover method, with the station building still surviving.

Marlborough Road Southbound platform (taken from a Metropolitan line train).

Located at the junction of Finchley Road and Queen's Grove, Marlborough Road station opened on April 13, 1868 as part of the first northward extension, from Baker Street, of the Metropolitan Railway.

The Metropolitan began to suffer from passenger congestion, at its southern end, resulting in new deep-level tunnels being constructed between Baker Street's Bakerloo line tunnels and Finchley Road.