Tube mishap sees train pull into abandoned station
Passengers were bewildered when their train pulled into a station not in use since 1999
At a glance
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Tube passengers on the Jubilee line were left baffled after their train ended up at the abandoned Charing Cross station branch
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The Jubilee line section of the station has been out of use since 1999
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The passengers were all safely rerouted back to Green Park
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TfL said the mishap was the result of a “miscommunication”
London Underground passengers were left bewildered when their train accidentally pulled into an old abandoned station during a regular journey.
The eastbound Jubilee line service had been travelling from Green Park to Westminster on Sunday when it stopped at the Jubilee branch of Charing Cross Tube station, which has been out of use since 1999.
One passenger told the BBC when the train came into the station “I noticed that Westminster station looked unusual and as the train slowed, I noticed the roundels said Charing Cross and not Westminster”.
Transport for London (TfL) said the mishap was the result of a “miscommunication”.
Image source, London Transport Museum
The mishap happened due to a signalling miscommunication
The passenger, who asked not to be named, said once the Tube had come to a halt “the train driver spoke over the intercom and verbatim said ‘sorry I have no idea what happened’ as the entire train stood flabbergasted.
“One guy even tried to operate the open door button!”
The passenger added the driver was then “chuckling” when they explained that the control room at Green Park had sent the train down the wrong track.
Image source, London Transport Museum
The station is still used for filming and storing trains
The station was used by Jubilee line trains from 1979 but has been closed to passengers for nearly 25 years.
Nevertheless, the tracks are still live with empty trains on the Jubilee line occasionally having to pull into the sidings towards Charing Cross to regulate the service.
The station is also occasionally used for filming.
A TfL spokesperson explained that the lost train had been directed to reroute into the sidings to regulate a late service, with an instruction for passengers to disembark at Green Park.
However, a “miscommunication” had meant that not all passengers had been able to leave the train before it continued into the old Charing Cross station.
They said it then went “straight back to Green Park to allow those customers to leave the train”.
Image source, Bryan Jones
Signs show the old Jubilee line route until 1999
“We apologise for the disruption this caused to their journeys, and we can assure Londoners that this train movement was routine, entirely safe and controlled by our signalling system,” the spokesperson added.
Despite a disrupted journey, one passenger was just happy to have an impromptu trip see a bit of history.
“I’m still blown away at what happened, maybe because I got a free trip to an abandoned Tube station,” she said.
Aside from a rare Tube error, the disused Charing Cross Jubilee line station can be visited during the Hidden London tours, external provided by the London Transport Museum.
The passengers did not leave the train but were able to take a few photos of the little-seen station
