St. John's Wood is a London Underground station. It is located in St John's Wood in the City of Westminster, north-west London. The station was opened in 1939 as a stop on the Bakerloo line. Today, it is on the Jubilee line between Swiss Cottage and Baker Street stations, and is in London fare zone 2.

Essentially, St. John's Wood station is a local station with the nearby Metropolitan line bypassing this station. A Jubilee line journey between St. John's Wood and Baker Street typically takes less than three minutes.

Location

The station building is located on the corner of Acacia Road and Finchley Road and tube maps from late 1938 and early 1939 indicate that it was originally to be given the name Acacia Road or Acacia. This station is the nearest to Lord's Cricket Ground and Abbey Road Studios.

Right after the start of World War II, Lord’s was renamed to St John’s Wood and the new station served the present-day Bakerloo line. Meanwhile both Lord’s and nearby Marlborough Road shut down due to the close proximity.

During the Second World War, the station was used as a shelter and even had flats that had rooms for servants. Most of the recreational facilities were a short Tube ride away near present day Finchley Road. Despite this, there were still canteens, libraries, bunks and drinking water.

thumb|right|St. John's Wood station roundel

A new station was opened on 20 November 1939 on a new section of deep-level tunnel constructed between Baker Street and Finchley Road. At that point, the Metropolitan line's services on its Stanmore branch were transferred to the Bakerloo line. The new station replaced two nearby stations on the Metropolitan line which had closed the previous day. These were Lord's (originally named St. John's Wood Road, then St. John's Wood and, finally, Lord's) and Marlborough Road. is Grade II listed.

The platform design remains the same as when opened in 1939, with ceramic relief tiles designed by Harold Stabler and that were also fitted to a number of other contemporary stations. In 2006, the tiles were cleaned up and replaced.

Transfer from Bakerloo line to Jubilee line

After the start of World War II, Lord's station closed and was replaced by St John's Wood, which was on the Stanmore branch of the Bakerloo line. At the time, there were two northern branches of this line: the Stanmore branch and the Watford branch. In 1979, the Jubilee line was opened and replaced the Stanmore branch of the Bakerloo line.

In March 2007, a test was held at the station to allow understanding of how toxic gas might spread throughout London Underground stations and buildings during a terrorist attack. A non-toxic test gas – Sulfur hexafluoride – was released throughout the station, and monitored as it drifted around.

Up-lighters

Up-lighters are lights that are seen along the escalator as a way to help see and provide light all the way from the street to the platform. It also helps keep the passengers in line with where they are going at all times. The up-lighters date back to 1939 when the station first opened.

Incidents

In the spring of 2021, there was an incident where a passenger was found on the tracks. It led to life-changing injuries and the individual was taken to hospital. There were no grounds for suspicion but police and fire officers were sent to St John’s Wood station in order to investigate the issue. This caused the Jubilee line to be suspended and then it was running on severe delays due to the incident.

Accessibility

There is one gate inward and one gate outward from the Tube that is big enough to fit a buggy or wheelchair. The station is not step free and the only way to access the platforms is by escalator or stairs. Prior to 1993, it was illegal to have a wheelchair anywhere on the London Underground due to fire safety concerns.

Connections

London Buses routes 13, 46, 113, 187 and night route N113 serve the station.

Nearby points of interest

  • Abbey Road Studio
  • Lord’s Cricket Ground
  • MCC Museum
  • St John’s Wood Park
  • London Central Mosque
  • Regents Park
  • The Star, former pub in operation since the 1820s, now a gastropub of the Drunch chain

The station appeared in the music video for "Bedsitter" by Soft Cell.

A common trivia question is, "Which London Underground station does not contain any of the letters in the word "mackerel"? The answer is St John's Wood, which does not contain any of the letters A-C-E-K-L-M-R. This is only true because the word "Saint" is always abbreviated "St" in the name, and because Hoxton is on the London Overground but not the Underground. Victoria Coren Mitchell described this as her favourite trivia question. Two former stations also fulfill the mackerel test: Wotton and Wood Siding, which were part of the Underground network between 1933 and 1935.

References

  • London Transport Museum Photographic Archive