Finally the Underground in Battersea, but why did it take so long?
Battersea Power Station Underground Station, what a mouthful!
A quick look at the London Underground map will show 249 stations north of the river compared to just 31 here in the south. There are numerous reasons, but chief amongst these is London’s ad hoc development up until the early 20th centuries.
The Cities of London and Westminster are on the northern bank of the rivers, but a smaller settlement flourished as a gateway to the City on the Surrey bank (Southwark). However, throughout the centuries the City’s Corporation prevented the building of more bridges within nearby distance, which slowed the growth of villages such as Lambeth and Battersea.
The first underground line, the Metropolitan Railway was opened in 1863, serving 7 stations between Paddington and Farringdon. This was built with the cut and cover method, and later superseded with the less disruptive deep tunnelling lines. The rationale for this was to connect some of the intercity terminals lining the New Road (Marylebone - Euston Rd). Essentially London was being plugged to the north, where the Industrial Revolution was in full swing.
The river itself was an obstacle and since the Georgian period a dense network of omnibuses and horse drawn trams was in place. In 1850 there were 50 return services between Clapham and the City. Less urbanisation south, meant that railways lines connecting London to the south of England could lay their tracks easily with very little disruption, hence the so called Battersea Tangle.
The geology of London also played a factor. South of the river we encounter less soft clay, ideal for tunnelling. That same clay is the main ingredient for the capital’s ubiquitous London Stock yellow brick.
Competition from overground lines and trams, tunnelling under the river in potential chalky and rocky substrata and less potential commuters led to our underdeveloped Tube network in the south, but the two new stations in Battersea show that where there’s high investments in real estate it is still possible to build new stations/lines. The costs however are prohibitive and just like in the 18th century it is yet again private enterprise filling the gap. The Battersea Power Station developers contributed £200 million to the Northern Line extension.
