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23 Sep 2014
Abandoned train tunnels below London 'to be transformed' into leisure sites
BY
Katie Buckley
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Aldwych Station has been closed since 1994, but was used during the First and Second World Wars to store collections from the National Portrait Gallery and The British Museum
photo: flickr.com/diamondgeezer
Up to 34 Transport for London (TfL)-owned “ghost” train tunnels running beneath the UK capital could soon be transformed into an array of attractions and leisure sites, according to reports. It is understood that TfL is preparing to invite companies to bid to take part in the transformation of several disused Underground and Overground Stations, as well as old horse tunnels that run below the city.
Ajit Chambers, a former Barclays executive, who started The Old London Underground Company back in 2009, believes TFL’s disused assets under the city could be worth around £3.6bn ($5.8bn, €4.5bn).
Out of the 750 tunnels that TfL owns, Chambers has identified 34 possible sites for transformation and reuse. He envisages 13 of these flagship spaces being used for art galleries, nightclubs, hotels and possibly a National Fire Brigade Museum.
Speaking to the MailOnline Chambers said: “In 2009, as part of my effort to assist the financial downturn in the UK, I founded a company that would unearth one of London’s state-owned ‘sleeping property portfolios.’”
In a statement, TfL said: “We cannot show any prejudice ahead of public tender” and that it had “no affiliation” with The Old London Underground Company.
TfL has already undertaken several Underground Station transformations. There is now a herb farm below Clapham North and a deal has recently been signed for customers to pick up Waitrose goods from lockers at Chalfront & Latimer.
Chambers has several prominent investors on board for the venture, including Duncan Vaughn-Arbuckle, founder of the Vinopolis Wine Museum, while mayor of London Boris Johnson has also pledged his support.
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