TfL has announced that the two ticket halls at Charing Cross Underground station will be closed for refurbishment.
The larger Northern line ticket hall (the one closest to the National Rail station) will be closed from Monday 26 September 2016 until July 2017. During this period, passengers should use nearby Embankment station for access to the Northern line, while those wanting the Bakerloo line should use the subway entrances in Trafalgar Square.
As part of this work, the 1970s style hall will be updated with new tiles, a straightened gate line and improved CCTV and lighting. Could this be the end of the lurid green decor?
There will also be more space at the top of the escalators once the work is complete.
Following the reopening of the Northern line ticket hall in July 2017, the Bakerloo line ticket hall will be closed for similar work until December 2017.
Mark Wild, Managing Director of London Underground, said:
The Northern line ticket hall at Charing Cross was opened in the 1970s, and now feels tired and unwelcoming. This work will improve the ticket hall, making it bright, modern and a better place for our customers to pass through. It will also make the station fit for the large number of passengers that pass through it every day and future-proof it as the demand on the Tube increases while London continues to grow.
According to TfL, during the works, the underpass linking William IV Street and Adelaide Street to the Northern line ticket hall 'will be closed, but the shops inside will remain open'. How, then, does one get to the shops? We presume the statement means only the access gate to the tube will be closed, not the entire underpass. Then again, the space does include Davenport's magic shop, so anything is possible.
