Maida Vale Tube Station

Story

Maida Vale is a London Underground station in Maida Vale in inner north-west London. The station is on the Bakerloo line, between Kilburn Park and Warwick Avenue stations, and is in Travelcard Zone 2.The station is 'Grade II' listed building being of architectural and historic interest. In 2009 the station won a National Railway Heritage Award, in the London Regional category, for the successful modernisation of a historic station.HistoryMaida Vale opened on 6 June 1915 on Bakerloo tube's extension from Paddington to Queen's Park 5 months after the extension. At the time, it was the first station to be entirely staffed by women. The women continued to work at the Maida Vale station until 1919 when servicemen returning from the war displaced them. The outbreak of World War II again opened up jobs for women. On 6 June 2015, the station celebrated its 100th anniversary as part of the 100 years of women in transport campaign.Location and layoutThe station is located at the junction of Randolph Avenue and Elgin Avenue and has a surface building designed by Underground Electric Railways Company of London's architect Stanley Heaps. He used a standardized design that appears in many station buildings under control of UERL whilst Maida Vale was provided with buildings in the style of the earlier Leslie Green stations but without the upper storey, which was no longer required for housing lift gear. It was one of the first London Underground stations built specifically to use escalators rather than lifts.