View source for Leicester Square tube station

{{short description|London Underground station}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2021}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2012}}
{{Infobox London station
| name             = Leicester Square
| symbol           = underground
| manager          = [[London Underground]]
| locale           = [[Theatreland]] and [[Chinatown, London|Chinatown]]
| borough          = [[City of Westminster]]
| platforms        = 4
| fare_zone        = 1
| image_name       = LeicesterSquareTubeStation.jpg
| caption          = Station entrance
| coordinates      = {{coord|51|30|41|N|0|07|41|W|type:railwaystation_region:GB|display=inline,title|format=dec}}
| map_type         = Central London
| original         = [[Great Northern, Piccadilly and Brompton Railway]]<br />[[Charing Cross, Euston and Hampstead Railway]]
| years1           = 15 December 1906
| years2           = 22 June 1907
| events1          = GNP&B station opened
| events2          = CCE&H station opened
<!--
| tubeexits06      = 32.690
| tubeexits07      = {{increase}} 38.687 
| tubeexits08      = {{decrease}} 33.870 
| tubeexits09      = {{increase}} 35.55-->
}}

'''Leicester Square''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|l|ɛ|s|t|ər|_|ˈ|s|k|w|ɛər}}) is a [[London Underground]] station in the [[West End of London]], within walking distance of [[Theatreland]] and [[Chinatown, London|Chinatown]], as well as the southern reaches of [[Soho]].  It is located on [[Charing Cross Road]], a short distance to the east of [[Leicester Square]] itself. The station is served by the [[Northern line|Northern]] and [[Piccadilly line|Piccadilly]] lines, and is in [[London fare zone 1]].

On the Charing Cross branch of the Northern line, the station is between [[Tottenham Court Road station|Tottenham Court Road]] and [[Charing Cross tube station|Charing Cross]] stations. On the Piccadilly line, it is between [[Piccadilly Circus tube station|Piccadilly Circus]] and [[Covent Garden tube station|Covent Garden]] stations.

==History==

On early Tube plans, the station was listed as ''Cranbourn Street'', but the present name was used by the [[Great Northern, Piccadilly and Brompton Railway]] when the station opened on 15 December 1906.<ref name="Follenfant1975">{{cite book|last=Follenfant|first=H. G.|title=Reconstructing London's underground|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bSBPAQAAIAAJ|year=1975|publisher=London Transport Executive|page=45|isbn=9780853290391}}</ref>

Like other stations on the original sections of the Piccadilly and Northern lines, the station was originally constructed with [[elevator|lift]]s providing access to the platforms. The increase in passenger numbers in the 1920s as the Northern line was extended north (to [[Edgware tube station|Edgware]]) and south (to [[Morden tube station|Morden]]) and the expected further increase from the 1930s extensions of the Piccadilly line led to the reconstruction of the station below ground in the early 1930s. New station entrances were constructed to a new sub-surface ticket hall. As with the similar sub-surface ticket hall previously built at Piccadilly Circus, this was excavated partially under the roadway. From there banks of [[escalators]] were provided down to both sets of platforms. The redundant lifts were removed but the lift shaft remains in use as a ventilation shaft hidden behind a small door on the first landing of the Cranbourn Street entrance stairs. The redeveloped station opened in 1935.<ref name="arch_leicsq">{{cite web | url=http://www.architecture.com/LibraryDrawingsAndPhotographs/Exhibitionsandloans/VARIBAArchitecturePartnershipexhibitions/UndergroundJourneys/Holdenesque/LeicesterSquare.aspx | title=Underground Journeys: Leicester Square | publisher=[[Royal Institute of British Architects]] | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110707160725/http://www.architecture.com/LibraryDrawingsAndPhotographs/Exhibitionsandloans/VARIBAArchitecturePartnershipexhibitions/UndergroundJourneys/Holdenesque/LeicesterSquare.aspx | archive-date=7 July 2011 | url-status=dead }}</ref>

The escalators down to the Piccadilly line (the longest in the world when opened in 1935) <ref>{{Cite book|last=Lee|first=Charles|title=The Piccadilly Line|publisher=London Regional Transport|year=1973|isbn=0853290423|location=London|pages=23|language=English}}</ref> were the longest on the entire Underground network, being 54&nbsp;m (177&nbsp;ft) in length, until the rebuilding and reopening of [[Angel tube station|Angel]] in 1992, which overtook Leicester Square with its 60&nbsp;m (197&nbsp;ft) escalators.<ref name="arch_esc">{{cite web | url=http://www.architecture.com/LibraryDrawingsAndPhotographs/Exhibitionsandloans/VARIBAArchitecturePartnershipexhibitions/UndergroundJourneys/IntegratedDesign/Escalators.aspx | title=Underground Journeys: Escalators | publisher=[[Royal Institute of British Architects]] | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110707160800/http://www.architecture.com/LibraryDrawingsAndPhotographs/Exhibitionsandloans/VARIBAArchitecturePartnershipexhibitions/UndergroundJourneys/IntegratedDesign/Escalators.aspx | archive-date=7 July 2011 | url-status=dead }}</ref>

Offices above the red terracotta station building on the east side of Charing Cross Road were once occupied by the Northern line management staff but now have other functions in addition to the Northern line management, with Piccadilly line management and support functions on the first floor including a training centre. The building, known as Transad House, was occupied in its early years by the publishers of the [[Wisden Cricketers' Almanack]] and an image of cricket stumps appears above a doorway.

[[File:Leicester Square Film Sprockets.jpg|thumb|left|Film sprocket design on the Northern line northbound platform.]]
On all four platforms of the station, film sprockets are painted down the entire length and on the top and bottom of the display area (black on the Northern line platforms, and dark blue on the Piccadilly line platforms), in reference to the four premiere cinemas in Leicester Square.

==Connections==
[[London Buses]] routes [[London Buses route 24|24]], [[London Buses route 29|29]], [[London Buses route 176|176]] and night routes [[London Buses route N5|N5]], [[London Buses route N20|N20]], [[London Buses route N29|N29]], [[London Buses route N41|N41]] and [[London Buses route N279|N279]] serve the station.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://content.tfl.gov.uk/bus-route-maps/leicester-square-a4-010622.pdf|title=Buses from Leicester Square|date=June 2022|website=TfL|access-date=1 August 2022}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://content.tfl.gov.uk/bus-route-maps/leicester-square-night-a4.pdf|title=Night buses from Leicester Square|date=June 2022|website=TfL|access-date=1 August 2022}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Leslie Green]] – architect of original station building
*[[Charles Holden]] – (1875–1960) architect of new ticket hall and entrances

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category|Leicester Square tube station}}
* [https://www.ltmuseum.co.uk/collections/collections-online/photographs London Transport Museum Photographic Archive]
**{{LTM archive|1998-87661|Leicester Square station before building above was constructed, 1907}}
**{{LTM archive|1998-87650|Leicester Square station, 1925}}
**{{LTM archive|1998-83873|Original ticket hall in 1927}}
**{{LTM archive|1998-61218|New entrance on the south side of Cranbourne Street, 1935}}
**{{LTM archive|1998-63494|New sub-surface ticket hall after opening in 1935}}
**{{LTM archive|1998-60439|New entrance on the corner of Little Newport Street (now disused), 1955}}
*{{cite web | url=http://www.architecture.com/LibraryDrawingsAndPhotographs/Exhibitionsandloans/VARIBAArchitecturePartnershipexhibitions/UndergroundJourneys/UndergroundJourneys.aspx | title=Underground Journeys, Charles Holden's work for London Underground | publisher=[[Royal Institute of British Architects]] | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110707160249/http://www.architecture.com/LibraryDrawingsAndPhotographs/Exhibitionsandloans/VARIBAArchitecturePartnershipexhibitions/UndergroundJourneys/UndergroundJourneys.aspx | archive-date=7 July 2011 | url-status=dead }}
**{{cite web | url=http://www.architecture.com/LibraryDrawingsAndPhotographs/Exhibitionsandloans/VARIBAArchitecturePartnershipexhibitions/UndergroundJourneys/Holdenesque/LeicesterSquare.aspx | title=Underground Journeys: Leicester Square, Design drawing and history | publisher=[[Royal Institute of British Architects]] | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110707160725/http://www.architecture.com/LibraryDrawingsAndPhotographs/Exhibitionsandloans/VARIBAArchitecturePartnershipexhibitions/UndergroundJourneys/Holdenesque/LeicesterSquare.aspx | archive-date=7 July 2011 | url-status=dead }}
**{{cite web | url=http://www.architecture.com/LibraryDrawingsAndPhotographs/Exhibitionsandloans/VARIBAArchitecturePartnershipexhibitions/UndergroundJourneys/IntegratedDesign/Escalators.aspx | title=Underground Journeys: Escalators | publisher=[[Royal Institute of British Architects]] | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110707160800/http://www.architecture.com/LibraryDrawingsAndPhotographs/Exhibitionsandloans/VARIBAArchitecturePartnershipexhibitions/UndergroundJourneys/IntegratedDesign/Escalators.aspx | archive-date=7 July 2011 | url-status=dead }}

{{Adjacent stations|system=London Underground
  |line1=Northern|left1=Tottenham Court Road|right1=Charing Cross|type1=Charing Cross
  |line2=Piccadilly|left2=Piccadilly Circus|right2=Covent Garden

}}

{{Northern line navbox}}
{{Piccadilly line navbox}}

[[Category:Northern line stations]]
[[Category:Piccadilly line stations]]
[[Category:Tube stations in the City of Westminster]]
[[Category:Former Great Northern, Piccadilly and Brompton Railway stations]]
[[Category:Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1906]]
[[Category:Former Charing Cross, Euston and Hampstead Railway stations]]
[[Category:Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1907]]
[[Category:Charles Holden railway stations]]
[[Category:Leicester Square]]
[[Category:Leslie Green railway stations]]
[[Category:Charing Cross Road]]
[[Category:London Underground Night Tube stations]]
[[Category:1906 establishments in England]]