South Kensington tube station

South Kensington
Entrance to the Arcades leading to the station
South Kensington
Location of South Kensington in Central London
LocationSouth Kensington
Local authorityRoyal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea
Managed byLondon Underground
Number of platforms4
Fare zone1
London Underground annual entry and exit
2019 33.07 million
2020 9.81 million
2021 10.82 million
2022 24.33 million
2023 26.09 million
Key dates
1 October 1868Opened (MR)
24 December 1868Started (DR)
1 February 1872Started "Outer Circle" (NLR)
1 August 1872Started "Middle Circle" (H&CR/DR)
30 June 1900Ended "Middle Circle"
15 December 1906Opened (GNP&BR)
31 December 1908Ended "Outer Circle"
1949Started (Circle line)
Other information
External links
Coordinates51°29′39″N 0°10′26″W / 51.4941°N 0.1738°W / 51.4941; -0.1738
London transport portal

South Kensington is a London Underground station in the district of South Kensington, south west London. It is served by three lines: Circle, District and Piccadilly. On the Circle and District lines the station is between Gloucester Road and Sloane Square stations, and on the Piccadilly line it is between Gloucester Road and Knightsbridge stations. The station is located in Travelcard Zone 1. The main station entrance is located at the junction of Old Brompton Road (A3218), Thurloe Place, Harrington Road, Onslow Place and Pelham Street. Subsidiary entrances are located in Exhibition Road giving access by pedestrian tunnel to the Natural History, Science and Victoria and Albert Museums. Also close by are the Royal Albert Hall, Imperial College London, the Royal College of Music, the London branch of the Goethe-Institut and the Ismaili Centre.

The station is in two parts: sub-surface platforms opened in 1868 by the Metropolitan Railway and the District Railway as part of the companies' extension of the Inner Circle route eastwards from Gloucester Road to Westminster and deep level platforms opened in 1906 by the Great Northern, Piccadilly and Brompton Railway. A variety of underground and main line services have operated over the sub-surface tracks, which have been modified several times to suit operational demands with the current arrangement being achieved in the 1960s. The deep-level platforms have remained largely unaltered, although the installation of escalators in the 1970s to replace lifts improved interchanges between the two parts of the station. Parts of the sub-surface station and the Exhibition Road pedestrian tunnel are Grade II listed.