page_title: Aldgate East tube station
section_title: Resited station
hierarchical_section_title: Aldgate East tube station / History / Resited station
caption_attribution_description: Our Catalogue Reference: ZSPC 11/256 Description: Stairway between ticket hall and platform at the new Aldgate East Station Date: c 1946 Images reproduced by permission of London Transport Museum © Transport for London
context_page_description: Aldgate East is a London Underground station on Whitechapel High Street in Whitechapel, in London, England. It takes its name from the City of London ward of Aldgate, which is east of the station. It is on the Hammersmith & City line between Liverpool Street and Whitechapel, and on the District line between Tower Hill and Whitechapel, in Travelcard Zone 1.
context_section_description: As part of the London Passenger Transport Board's 1935–1940 New Works Programme the triangular junction at Aldgate was enlarged, to allow for a much gentler curve and to ensure trains that were held on any leg of the triangle did not foul any signals or points elsewhere. The new Aldgate East platforms were sited almost immediately to the east of their predecessors, with one exit facing west toward the original location, and another at the eastern end of the new platforms.
  The new eastern exit was now close enough to the next station along the line, St Mary's (Whitechapel Road), that this station could also be closed, reducing operational overheads and journey times, because the new Aldgate East had effectively replaced two earlier stations.
  The new station, which opened on 31 October 1938, (the earlier station closing permanently the previous night) was designed to be completely subterranean, providing a much-needed pedestrian underpass for the road above.
  However, in order to accommodate the space needed for this, and the platforms below, the existing track required lowering by more than seven feet (2 m). To achieve this task whilst still keeping the track open during the day, the bed underneath the track was excavated, and the track held up by a timber trestle framework. Then, once excavation was complete and the new station constructed around the site, an army of over 900 workmen lowered the whole track simultaneously in one night, using overhead hooks to suspend the track when necessary. The hooks still remain.
caption: The resited Aldgate East station, showing its modernist, simple appearance
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