London Underground: Explore Baker Street station’s 160 year history in a new TfL hidden tour
The London Transport Museum is giving you access to the most hidden and oldest parts of Baker Street Station in a brand new tour.
The London Underground celebrates its 160 year anniversary this year, making it the oldest underground network in the world.
Transport enthusiasts can experience its history by exploring the secret and “forgotten” locations with London Transport Museum’s Hidden Underground tours.
Now for the first time visitors can get behind the scenes of one of the oldest Tube stations in the world: Baker Street station.
Opened on January 10 1863, the station is one of the seven original stations to have opened to the public along the line, as part of the Metropolitan Railway.
On the tour visitors can explore closed-off parts of the station including original platforms, disused lift shafts and corridors that are hidden in plain sight - some of which were last accessed by the public over 75 years ago in 1945.
Transport enthusiasts can also learn about the station’s history as the Operational Headquarters for London Underground, and hear first-hand accounts from those who worked (and played) there over the years.
This tour will take you on a historical journey through the 160 years of the station, starting with the early days of Victorian underground steam travel and ending in the busy station of 10 platforms and five Underground lines that it is today.
Along the way, you’ll hear what the very first passengers thought of underground travel in 1863, how the Underground grew and expanded over the next 16 decades, and how Baker Street served not only passengers, but also London Underground staff.
Tickets for the Baker Street tour go on sale to the public on July 12 whilst subscribers to the newsletter will receive 24-hour priority booking on July 11. The tours will be running from September 6 to December 29 with the tours taking place from Wednesday to Saturday each week.
The Hidden London tours by London Transport Museum also offers a range of other tours of London’s vast transport network.
Visitors can explore the original 19th century passageways and features at Shepherd’s Bush or the bomb-proof wartime corridors concealed at the now disused Down Street station on the Piccadilly line.
They can also enjoy Euston’s secret 1960s gallery of advertising posters; and the labyrinth of underground passages hidden deep beneath Clapham South built to shelter Londoners during the Second World War.
A brand-new virtual tour, Hidden London: Discovering the Forgotten Underground, has also been launched to celebrate the Tube’s 160 year anniversary.
The online tour is led by an expert guide to allow people from all over the world to discover how the London Underground network evolved over the years since its beginning on January 10 1863.
And for those who want to stay above ground you can choose the Secrets of Central London walking tour of Covent Garden, Kingsway, Lincoln’s Inn Fields and Victoria Embankment.
For more information on Hidden London tours you can read our full guide or visit London Transport Museum’s website.
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