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     The Great Northern, Piccadilly and Brompton Railway

The Great Northern, Piccadilly and Brompton Railway (GNP&BR), also known as the Piccadilly tube, was a railway company established in 1902 that built a deep underground line. The GNP&BR was formed by the merger. It also incorporated part of a route devised by a third company, the Metropolitan District Railway (MDR). The company was part of the holding company Underground Electric Railways Company of London Limited (UERL). Construction of the railway was postponed due to lack of funds, but in 1906 the company opened its 22-station line over 9.2 miles (14.74 km) between a terminus in the west at Hammersmith and a terminus in the north at Finsbury Park. The estimate of passenger numbers was very optimistic, generally on all UERL lines. Despite improvements, integrations and cooperation with other tube companies, the CCE&HR was eventually financially squeezed. In 1933, like the rest of the tube lines and companies, it was taken over by public ownership. In the early 1930s York Road, Down Street and Brompton Road stations were closed due to low usage, but in the lead-up to World War II the underground passageways at Down Street and Brompton Road were considered useful as protected deep shelters for critical government and military operations. Down Street was fitted out for use by the Railway Executive Committee and the War Cabinet. Brompton Road was used as a control centre for anti-aircraft operations, and after the war it was used by the Territorial Army. Between September 1940 and July 1946, the Strand branch was temporarily closed, its tunnels used to store exhibits from the British Museum as well as serving as an air-raid shelter. Today the GNP&BR tunnels and stations form part of the central section of the Piccadilly Line of the London Underground.

 
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