London's Secret Tubes

Strange, derelict surface buildings looking like art déco tube stations, odd passages leading apparently nowhere on the Underground and half-remembered tales of government bunkholes and hideaways deep below the streets of London… On these and similar subjects rumours have abounded for years. Now, for the first time, an authoritative and intriguing book tells comprehensively the true story of the vast underground shelters and government citadels constructed during the Second World War and afterwards. Other revelations include never-before published details of express tube railway lines to relieve congestion on existing tracks, the plans to relocate the complete mechanism of government and parliament to north-west London, and the standby studios constructed underground by the BBC in case Broadcasting House was destroyed. Details are given of disused tube stations converted to other uses and the vast underground factory constructed in tunnels intended for a new tube line. Speculation over notable projects half constructed and then abandoned is exposed as myth as well. In clear, factual terms a team of specialist authors set out the results of extensive primary research, much of which has never been published before. Enhancing the text are dozens of archival and other photographs, nearly all seen for the first time in London’s Secret Tubes.