The station is on the western side of Tottenham Court Road, a short distance north of the junction with Goodge Street. It is one of three stations that directly serve the Fitzrovia area, the others being Warren Street and Great Portland Street.
History
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It was opened on 22 June 1907 as Tottenham Court Road by the Charing Cross, Euston and Hampstead Railway, but changed to the present name on 9 March 1908[7][8] before an interchange was built between the previously separate (and differently named) Northern line and Central line stations at the present Tottenham Court Road station. Goodge Street is named after John Goodge, who developed the land in the early 18th-century.[9]
In the invasion preparations, Goodge Street station was used only as a signals installation by the United States Army Signal Corps. It was one of a number of signals installations for communications in and around London. Among these installations were SHAEF headquarters at 20 Grosvenor Square and the basement of the Selfridges department store on Oxford Street; both buildings exist today.
After the war the shelters were used as a hostel that could accommodate up to 8,000 troops. Goodge Street continued in use as an army transit centre until it was damaged by fire on the night of 21 May 1956. The fire coincided with Parliamentary consideration of a Government Bill seeking power to take over the shelters (The Underground Works [London] Bill) and the Minister of Works assured the Commons they would not again be used for human occupation in peacetime (although no one was killed, the fire had caused some alarm and proved difficult to put out).[citation needed] Another fire, on 21 June 1981, caused by burning rubbish, killed a man and injured 16 people, and resulted in a recommendation of a smoking ban on the Underground. There was a tardy response with London Transport finally introducing a one-year trial smoking ban on 9 July 1984. Almost halfway through the trial a major fire occurred at Oxford Circus, resulting in a full smoking ban on all subterranean stations and Underground trains.[11]
It is one of the few tube stations that still rely on lifts rather than escalators to transport passengers to and from street level.[12] In addition, it is one of the few such tube stations that still use the original scheme of separate exit and entrance areas.[citation needed] Alternatively, passengers can use the 138-step staircase to get down to the platforms.[12] The surface building was designed by the Underground Electric Railways Company of London's (UERL's) architect Leslie Green.
Services and connections
Train frequencies vary throughout the day, but generally operate every 3–7 minutes in both directions.[13][14]
The station appeared in the 1942 feature film Gert and Daisy's Weekend.[17] The former shelter is the setting for much of the 1968 Doctor Who serial The Web of Fear.[17] Dialogue in the story mentions the shelter's former use in the Second World War, and the exit in Chenies Street.[18]
The station is the setting of the song "Sunny Goodge Street", from the 1965 album Fairytale by singer-songwriter Donovan. The station exterior also appeared in the 2005 music video for "Believe" by The Chemical Brothers.[17][19]
^Roberts, J. R. Howard; Godfrey, Walter H., eds. (1949). Survey of London: Volume 21, the Parish of St Pancras Part 3: Tottenham Court Road and Neighbourhood. London: London County Council. pp. 1–6.
^Emmerson, Andrew; Beard, Tony (2004). London's Secret Tubes. Capital Transport Publishing. pp. 54–58. ISBN1-85414-283-6.
^Bownes, David; Green, Oliver; Mullins, Sam (2012). Underground: How the Tube shaped London. London: Allen Lane. pp. 219–220. ISBN978-1-846-14462-2.
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