South Kensington redevelopment

looks very good - i think TFL could put lifts in first but will be no step free between ticket hall and street like green park (had lifts between lines)

It does say lifts to all platforms.

I can't quote a source, but I have read that the Piccadilly lifts at South Kensington were unique on the early underground in that they stopped at both platform levels.

Lifts will be a later phase. One of the old shafts to the Picc Line will be reused.

This Q&A document from a recent local presentation gives some insight as to what is planned.

How many lift shafts are there down to the pic line?

Finally found out a bit more on the lifts & the different levels.

They were installed in 1907 when the Piccadilly line, as the GNBPR, opened.

South Kensington itself was opened by the District (as the MDR)in 1868 and the District obtained Parliamentary approval in 1897 for a new deep-level tube line which was to've been from West of Gloucester Road to Mansion House with just Embankment as an intermediate stop and, as per wiki:


To relieve the congestion, the DR planned an express deep-level tube line starting from a connection to its sub-surface tracks west of Gloucester Road and running to Mansion House. The tunnels were planned to run about 60 to 70 feet (18–21 m) beneath the existing sub-surface route with only one intermediate stop at Charing Cross (now Embankment). Parliamentary approval was obtained in 1897 but no work was done. In 1898, the DR took over the Brompton and Piccadilly Circus Railway (B&PCR) which had a route planned from South Kensington to Piccadilly Circus. The route was modified to join the DR deep-level route at South Kensington.

Following the purchase of the DR by the Underground Electric Railways Company of London in 1902, the planned DR and B&PCR lines were merged with a third proposed route from the Great Northern and Strand Railway. The DR deep-level route was revised at its western end to continue to Earl's Court and surface to the east of Barons Court.

The deep-level platforms were opened on 15 December 1906 by the Great Northern, Piccadilly and Brompton Railway (GNP&BR, now the Piccadilly line) which ran between Finsbury Park and Hammersmith.The platforms are placed eastbound above westbound and were originally served by lifts from street level stopping at both platform levels. Eastbound GNP&BR trains and DR trains would have shared the same platform with the two routes separating at a junction immediately to the east of the station. Westbound trains would have had separate platforms at the lower level with the routes merging at a junction west of the station. Although construction of the section of the DR tube route east of South Kensington had been postponed, a partial, 120-foot (37 m) long, section of the westbound DR platform was built along with the two for GNP&BR use. Though closed-off from the rest of the station, it was linked to the lift lobby and was tiled to match the other platforms. Enlarged tunnel sections for the junctions were constructed with the original running tunnels and remain visible from passing trains. A new surface building on Pelham Street for the lifts was designed by Leslie Green with the GNP&BR's distinctive ox-blood red glazed terracotta façade.

The unused westbound tunnel was used during World War I to store art from the Victoria & Albert Museum and china from Buckingham Palace and, from 1927 to 1939, was used as a signalling school. During World War II it contained equipment to detect bombs falling in the River Thames which might require the emergency floodgates on the under-river tunnels to be closed.

In the early 1970s the lifts to the Piccadilly line platforms were replaced by escalators, with one pair being provided between the ticket hall and a new intermediate level, where it met a linking passageway to the Circle and District line platforms, and three being provided from there to a lower concourse between the levels of the two Piccadilly line platforms. Stairs up and down from the lower concourse connect to the platforms. The stairs and passage to the westbound platform are located in the disused DR westbound platform tunnel. With the introduction of escalators, the GNP&BR station building was taken out of use.

Was the Parliamentary Approval for the Deep-Level District given a completion date, or is it still in force?

Subeterranea Brittanica reports that parliamentary approval was granted in 1897. 1908 was the year the powers were relinquished.

In any case, the route will have been penetrated at several places, notably by the Jubilee Line at both Charing Cross and Westminster

Weary passengers might think otherwise.

It's some foreign measurement, apparently.
It's longer than a yard, you see!

Americans use the Metric system for scientific purposes, just like everyone else.
They simply don't use them when they are culturally inappropriate, such as for speed limits, or buying sausages.

It takes an age to divide 15 by 3?

It seems TFL have begun looking for partners to develop and update facilities at the "listed" South Kensington Station.

More information is here Construction Enquirer Article

But in summary, TFL hope to provide step free access at the station, with the costs either fully or partially funded by additional retail facilities.

Why would mental arithmetic be difficult just because someone else is driving on an 'interstate' - whatever that might be?