INSIDE THE HIDDEN 100-YEAR-OLD TUNNELS BENEATH LONDON UNDERGROUND

The century-old tunnels have metal grates where you can watch commuters
These unused passages are largely used for storage and as escape routes

Ever felt eyes on you whilst venturing for your connecting tube - that's because may have been someone watching.

London is famed for its beautiful skyline where the past meets with the present, with world-famous sky-scrapers and historical buildings sitting in close proximity.

The capital is also renowned for its vast and complicated network of tunnels that lie beneath the surface.

Less widely shared are the various unused and forgotten tunnels as hoards of passengers unknowingly walk by them ever day.

Since 2022, the public were once more allowed to walk these old passages as the London Transport Museum began offering tours of the century, with one TikToker deciding to explore one of the old underpasses that time - and Londoners - forgot.

Venturing into the depths of subterranean London, content creator Dan Thomas decided to take a look at the dusty unused floors of the hidden tunnels in Shepherd's Bush.

Although the cobwebbed tunnels - which were shuttered a hundred years ago in 1924 - are largely useless, Dan revealed you can spy on unknowing passengers through grated gates.

The primary use of these tunnels is now storage, escape routes or to help with construction work on the rails.

The giant industrial metal staircases, dangling cables and dark grey walls are a far cry from the well lit white tiled tunnels commuters travel through today.

Similar to it's unused tunnels, Shepherd's Bush station has a rich history, having opened its doors for the first time all the way back in 1900.

It was part of the Western terminus - a new section of the Central London Railway - which is better known today as the Central Line.

The station was a key part of London transport, connecting the suburbs in the west to the city.

At the time commuters could also travel further west with the same ticket, which meant Shepherd's Bush Station was among the most important hubs for London Transport in the early 20th century.

Equally, the ticket which allowed commuters to travel further west via tram at no extra price paved the way for the Oyster card.

Currently, tours of Shepherd's Bush's eerie unused tunnels are not available, however the London Transport Museum is running tours of the forgotten passages in Aldwych, Baker Street and Down Street - which served as bomb shelter for Winston Churchill during World War II.

However, these aren't the only abandoned parts of London Underground network with a rich history.

Brompton Road station was so rarely used by commuters, tube drivers would pass by it entirely.

Knowing if a train would even stop at Brompton Road confused people so much, it inspired a West End play with a run of 174 performances.

The station first opened its doors in 1906, but only three years later authorities started to realise the station was redundant.

But the derelict transport hub, covered in oxblood tiles, is packed with an abundance of history, previously acting as a command centre during the Blitz.

The station was taken over by Winston Churchill's War Office and acted as a base for the Royal Artillery to control anti-aircraft batteries to protect London from air raids.

During the war, one of the stations lift shafts had rooms built inside it, which eventually acted as a base for the Royal Artillery.

Gun emplacements across London were organised from the station as they attempted to shoot down German aircrafts flying over the city.

It was even rumoured that Hitler's right hand man - Rudolph Hess - was interrogated inside by British authorities.

Among the labyrinth of tunnels, converted bunkers can be found with leftover electrical appliances from the war.

Wartime telephone exchanges have been left as well as a wartime oxygen scrubber, which was present to clean the air in the event of a gas attack.

2024-04-27T08:46:28Z dg43tfdfdgfd