The London Underground, with its unpredictable delays, strikes and the seemingly incomprehensible Circle line, can often be a puzzle.
But perhaps no station encapsulates the Tube’s often perplexing nature more than Brill.
Nestled on land owned by the Duke of Buckingham in Buckinghamshire, this station was a staggering 45 miles north of the City of London – to give you an idea, Brighton is just over 54 miles south. It’s hard to wrap your head around why there was a Tube stop tucked away in rural Buckinghamshire.
Unlike most bustling Tube stations, Brill offered a rather different experience. In 1932, part of what is now the Metropolitan line, it only saw 3,272 passengers a year, generating a paltry £191 in fares.
Brill station didn’t prove its worth, and so was shut down after just 2 years
(Image: Wikicommons)
The following year, all major underground lines, including the Metro, were nationalised under the London Passenger Transport Board. This meant that despite its remote location and lack of demand, Brill station became part of the London Underground.
However, its inclusion was short-lived as the London Passenger Transport Board concluded that the station had little potential for economic growth.
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In 1935, the decision was made to close down Brill station, just two years after it became part of the London Underground network.
By the following year, the entire infrastructure of the station was auctioned off. Now, the site where the station once stood is predominantly open fields, perhaps as it should have always been.
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