In a disused streetcar tunnel beneath Kingsway in central London lurks the abandoned Holborn tramway station.  Built in 1906 as part of the Kingsway tramway subway, Holborn was one of two stations along the subterranean route linking the streetcar networks of North and South London.  Today the southern end of the subway has been adapted as a road underpass routing traffic beneath the Strand, while the northern end remains intact, complete with ageing tram lines (below).

(Images: Reality Trip, reproduced with permission; David Merrigan, cc-nc-3.0; Nigel Cox, cc-sa-3.0)

Known as Great Queen Street when it opened, Holborn tramway station was first used by passengers on 24 February 1906.  Services ran from The Angel, Islington, to Aldwych, the next station in the Kingsway tramway subway (reportedly with a connecting passage to the now abandoned Aldwych tube station).  From 1908, services continued east to Tower Bridge and south to Kennington Gate.

(Images: Matt Brown, cc-3.0)

Holborn tramway station closed in 1952 when buses succeeded trams as London’s main form of street-bound public transport.  Much of the station reportedly still exists and  while there is no public access, the subterranean tunnel has become a favourite haunt of urban explorers.  It was, however, opened for a 2009 public art exhibit, Chord, by Conrad Shawcross.

(Images: Cnbrb, cc-sa-3.0; Matt Brown, cc-3.0)

Kingsway Tramway Subway and the abandoned Holborn station stood in for a fictional London Underground station called “Union Street” in the 2008 film The Escapist.  Decaying film props including a fake tube map and Union Street tube roundel can still be seen today, although the heavy iron gates remain firmly locked.

Next: The Disused Kingsway Tram Subway

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This stunning capture of the underground galleries at Fort de Roppe near Belfort, France, has featured as one of Wikimedia Commons’ pictures of the day.  Built between 1875 and 1877, the fort stands near the summit of a hill near the town of Roppe, and is part of a ring of fortifications around the city of Belfort to the south.  The underground galleries were built during the First World War to connect the fort to outer gun turrets and the concrete troop shelter.

(Images: Bresson Thomas, cc-3.0))

During World War Two, the heavily fortified underground galleries and tunnels enabled 400 French troops to hold out for three days before surrendering at the close of the Battle of France.  Now abandoned, the galleries at Fort de Roppe are in good condition but public access is prohibited.  The fortified region, including the Belfort Lion, also featured in this earlier article.

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