Oval tube station

Template:Short description Template:More citations needed Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use British English Template:Infobox London station

Oval is a London Underground station in the London Borough of Lambeth. It is on the Northern line between Kennington and Stockwell stations, and is in Travelcard Zone 2.<ref name=stn>Template:Cite map/Standard Tube Map</ref> The station opened on 18 December 1890 as part of the City and South London Railway and is named after The Oval cricket ground, which it serves.

Location

The station is located at the junction of Kennington Park Road (heading north-east), Camberwell New Road (south-east), Clapham Road (south west) and Harleyford Street (north west) and is about 500 yards from The Oval cricket ground.<ref name=stnlocation>Google Maps – Oval Tube Station</ref> Also close by are Kennington Park and the imposing St Mark's Church.<ref name=stnlocation />

History

Template:Expand section The City and South London Railway opened to passengers between Stockwell and King William Street on 18 December 1890,Template:Sfn and was both the first standard gauge tube and the first railway to employ electric traction in London.Template:Sfn To avoid disturbance of surface buildings the construction of the tube was shield-driven at deep level,Template:Sfn and much of the work was done via shafts at station sites which later contained the passenger lifts.Template:Sfn

Oval tube station was the intended site of one of the attempted London bombings on 21 July 2005.

Station building

Template:Unreferenced section The Oval station, opened as Kennington Oval, was designed by Thomas Phillips Figgis<ref name="Labyrinth">Template:Cite web</ref> with elements of early Arts and Crafts and neo-classical detailing. The structure was made distinctive by a lead-covered dome with cupola lantern and weathervane which housed some of the lift equipment; the main part of the building was of red brick. The station building was rebuilt in the early 1920s when the line was modernised and was refurbished during the late 1990s at street level with a modern tiling scheme inside and out, adding a full-length glazed canopy and giving the station a more modern look. Reflecting its proximity to the cricket ground, the internal decorative tiling features large images of cricketers in various stances.

In 2004, station staff started to use a whiteboard to display a handwritten "thought of the day" from the Tao Te Ching for the benefit of passengers. This idea then spread to other Underground stations such as North Greenwich, where the content relates to events at the nearby O2 Arena.<ref>BBC News, https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-42666628</ref>

Services

Oval station is on the Morden branch of the Northern line between Kennington to the north and Stockwell to the south. Train frequencies vary throughout the day, but generally operate every 3–6 minutes between 06:03 and 00:27 in both directions.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

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