The first trains on the London Underground were steam powered, so shafts open to the sky were put in the tunnels at intervals along the line to let the steam and smoke out and keep the temperature down.
New lines powered by diesel-electric trains were built with each end of the line at ground level. That way, the air in the tunnels is refreshed by the trains themselves s pushing air from above ground through the tunnels.
Tamara and I went on a tour of Hidden London. We had a chance to see the old Dover Street station that was just a couple of streets away from where Green Park Underground station is now.
The tour included seeing and standing inside one of the huge ventilation shafts, and the photo at the top of this article is looking up the curve of the ribbed tunnel to ground level way above.
These next photos are first, looking up the 54 steps to the level of the ventilation channel that is above the active railway line. Then looking down those stairs and then looking down on the current tube line. Finally the Buckingham Palace entrance to Green Park station.
The Green Park
This next photo is looking at the entrance to Green Park station on the south side of Piccadilly. There is another entrance on the north side, right on the street, This south entrance is actually in Green Park. and if I were to turn around and walk south for about 750 m and I would be standing outside Buckingham Palace.
The reason The Green Park exists at all is that King Charles II wanted to walk from Hyde Park to St. James’s Park without leaving royal soil. Nowadays he would have to cross Piccadilly.
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