Aldgate East Station

Leider ist die Station im Umbau oder Renovierung, deswegen herrscht ein leichtes Chaos.

Had never stopped off at Aldgate East station before but was heading to Old Spitalfields and it was one of the options so I took it.
Never again.
Badly signposted on the inside so even though I took the correct exit it left me baffled as to where the street was that I was looking for. Didn’t feel particularly safe having my phone out to check the map — lots of dodgy looking people milling about. Eventually found Commercial Street and skidaddled up there as fast as my little legs would carry me.
It’s amazing how quickly you can go from dump to ‘simply divine, daaaaahling’ in this lovely old city of ours!
I love London. I don’t love Aldgate East — won’t be visiting again!

This place is dire — believe it or not it’s undergone a renovation. When I first used this station in 2000, people used to sleep here in boxes in the hallways. Not their fault, but it didn’t feel too safe or sanitary. The fact that I give it one star means it’s improved.

I thought Lina was exaggerating, but having visited Aldgate East I could not possibly agree more. Dark. Depressing. Crumbling. The best thing about this station is that they have trains to take you away from it!
It is one of the few in Travelcard Zone 1 that isn’t on or inside the Circle Line. Instead, it services the District Line (between Tower Hill and Whitechapel) and the Hammersmith & City (between Liverpool Street and Whitechapel). It is not step free and there are the usual Oyster readers and ticket barricades.
Note: this is the only station (and I’ve Unilocaled over 100 of them!) where I have been (very politely!) asked not to photograph due to «security». Because a bad guy would certainly want to be obvious about it with a cheap low-​res digital camera that has pink polka dots. (It’s my wife’s.)

Lina is right, its a shoddy place, but the end near the Whitechapel Gallery has improved (probably because of the gallery). But now probably the most busy exit has closed for refurbishment etc. The signage in this station is appaling and disorientation as you wonder which exit to take even if you have used it for years! The blue maitenaince boards are just about making me lose the will to live! When will the maintenance finish?! It started years ago! The station need a MAJOR image improvement. Also, WHERE ARE SEATS?! So many people use the station, and for a station near to the square mile it is appalling. I never thought i would moan about a tube station before but this station is worse than a station in some crime ridden areas of London. Thank you.

Aldgate East is quite possibly the most depressing, dankest tube stations, ever. It looks like the tube station they would use in some movie about post-​apocalyptic London where all the riders inside are be City-​worker zombies. The station itself is hideous – all of the tiles off the walls have been removed, there are dangling wires everywhere, there’s a higher than average mouse-​on-​the-​tracks rate and the signs about the improvement works are just funny at this point.
The only positive: it’s Zone 1!

A long corridor, dimly lit full of eclectic folk lining the grubby platform. Bland walls that need a re-​paint. Pretty much sums up this District Line/​Hammersmith and City Line station. Usually confused with Aldgate station at the end of the Metropolitan Line 200 metres down the road. They’ve just opened up some new exits on the gyratory outside, but there always seem to be too many exits closed and huffing and puffing commuters.
Quick history lesson: The original Aldgate East station was opened on 6 October 1884 as part of an eastern extension to the Metropolitan District Railway (now the District Line), some way to the west of the current station, close to the Metropolitan Railway’s Aldgate station. However, when the curve to join the Metropolitan Railway from Liverpool Street was built, the curve had to be particularly sharp due to the presence of Aldgate East station, at which it needed to be straight.

An interesting little station full of history and in my opinion the go between between the city of london and east london. A five min walk down the road either way and the cultural difference is quite shocking. In the city you have the yuppies suited and booted, and the other way you have whitechapel market, full of del boys trying to make a quick buck.
There was actually a rumour that due to public demand, algate east would be re-​named brick lane, due to its close proximity to brick lane. I would not agree with that, as anyone who needs or wants ot get to brick lane will find it.
I have to admit that i am not a massive fan of brick lane curry houses — unless you go to the most expensive ones (to which chefs from top London restaurants go to learn about pan asian cuisine) the quality is very poor.

This is a station I used to use a lot when I worked with a charity in Whitechapel.
The station dates to 1938, and was built to replace a station of 1884 vintage slightly to the west, when the triangular junction between Aldgate, Tower Hill and Aldgate East was enlarged. One effect of its rebuilding further eastwards was that an intermediate station between here and Whitechapel, St Mary’s (Whitchapel Road), was closed when the new station opened.
It was one of the first ‘cut-​and-​cover’ stations to be designed to be completely under the surface (ie the ticket hall is down the steps). The tracks were lowered to accommodate this, with the result that the platforms in effect are double-​height, and therefore unusually spacious (although poor lighting results in it being rather dingy, as Moonrising mentions).
It has always had an air of neglect about it, and although it retains its 1930s tiling scheme, this has become very tatty. Let’s hope the current refurbishment improves things. The station used to have an attractive red-​brick Jacobean-​style building above it, but this seems to have disappeared in the general redevelopment of the area.
It is served by both District line trains to and from Upminster, and by Hammersmith and City Line trains. It’s less than a five minute walk (west) to Aldgate station, where additional Metropolitan Line trains and the Circle Line run — good to know when things go wrong.
During the day, there’s a useful entrance at the east end onto Whitechapel Road.

A dark dank barn of a station. I usually end up there when there’s problems heading into central London from Liverpool Street and it seems to make sense to head out and back on the District Line. It always seems dark whatever the time of day is. And my visits usually involve running right the way up one platform, up to the ticket hall then down the other side of the station (all of which takes place in that same dark barn by the way). Did I say it was a bit dingy? And, seeing as I mostly tend to end up there when there’s major problems at Liverpool Street, I’ve several times found myself stuck for what seems like hours.
So, I’m probably biased. But it is dingy.

Well its being retiled currently and the subways thankfully are being refurbished as part of the redevelopment of the area so the homeless people no longer can use it as a piss hole.
I agree renaming the station would be good idea as it is confusing with Aldgate.