The station got inaugurated in 1906 on March 10 with the platforms designed by the Great Northern, Piccadilly and Brompton Railway (now known as Piccadilly) and the complete station was designed by the Waterloo and Baker Street Railway. Previously, it had a surface booking hall designed and built by Leslie Green in Central London like other stations. The traffic development before and past First World War indicated that there was an indispensable need to improve and expand station facilities. It was planned to build a circulating area and a booking hall. The circulating area also provided subways for public pedestrian purpose and work began in February 1925 and ended in 1928. All through this process, the builder responsible was John Mowlem & Co. and the architect involved was Charles Holden. The complete complex had cost more than 0.5 million pounds. In two flights, eleven escalators were provided, which served the station with two lines.
The building that had been there was demolished in the 1980s when the new building was constructed at a large scale on the Haymarket and the corner of Piccadilly Circus. Piccadilly Circus offers Bakerloo line platforms which are a unique entity to the network. Its unusual back to back layout is captivating. Both the platforms can bee seen at once from the single tunnel appointing a crossover at the North end of the Station. For southbound Bakerloo Line Trains, the station can act as an intermediate terminus.
There had been a heavily featured video by Sir Paul McCartney for Press. In this video, McCartney is seen walking proudly, boldly and with absolute confidence around the station and stylishly catching a tube train and talking with energized members of the general public. The station is a famous pilgrimage site for McCartney fans interested to reenact the video that is now well known as ‘McPressing’ amongst fans.
Recognized as one of the most scintillating areas in London city, Piccadilly Circus offers outstanding nightlife with the most happening pubs, restaurants, bars, theatre and cinema. The place owns an array of shopping malls and a maze of shops, an atmosphere that is ideal for shopping. Piccadily Circus is the most accessed tube station and is routed in such a manner that it becomes easy to find ways to major streets in the city of London including Trafalgar Square, Soho, Leicester Square and Carnaby Street.
Future
In future, Piccadilly Circus would be between Tottenham Court Road and London Victoria stations. More effectively, a new station would have to be constructed under the same levels as now, as a part of major refurbishment of the already existing structures. However, a stop will only be provided at Piccadilly Circus if the Chelsea-Hackney is a part of the London Underground and not apart of the National Rail network there. It is a same scenario with many stations on the offered path in Central London. With the current scenario, the Chelsea-Hackney line is not predicted to be completed until at least 2022.