London is proud to be home to 272 Tube stations, which is…well, more platforms than we can count. But that’s not enough for some people, as there are several examples of fake and replica tube infrastructure, built for a variety of purposes, from heritage to science.

The fake Covent Garden station at the Jackfield Tile Museum

Deepest Shropshire isn’t where you’d expect to find a replica of Covent Garden station, but take a stroll through the streets of Telford and you’re there. To be fair, the Jackfield Tile Museum doesn’t have a duplicate platform as such, but you can walk around a very convincing mannequin of the station’s tunnels.

Why here? This industrial corner of the country is where tiles for several London Underground stations, including Covent Garden, were originally made, and the museum celebrates that heritage. Tiles recovered from hospitals in Fitzrovia and Ealing are among other nods to the capital on display here.

Dummy tube platform at AJ Wells & Sons on the Isle of Wight

For such a small piece of land, the Isle of Wight packs a whole host of tube oddities. Not only are the old Tube trains retiring on the Island Line, but the tube roundels we know so well from our daily lives in London have been made on the island of Hampshire since 1990.

AJ Wells & Sons is the company responsible for making them, and we got the lowdown on them in early 2022. Equally fascinating is the fake tubing rig set up above the roundel workshop. Precision points including yellow “watch out” on the floor and Oyster signage.

Unfortunately, it is a platform that is not open to the public.

Underground train at the Lego store, Leicester Square

‘More London than the Artful Dodger’s Oyster wallet’ is how one Londonist team member described his trip to the Lego store in Leicester Square, not least because of the replica tube cart made from bricks colored.

Immerse yourself next to William Shakespeare and a royal guardsman for a plastic photo op in the car, before planning your trip with the Lego tube map on the wall. The designers have really committed to the theme – enter the store through a ‘public subway’ door arch and look at the information boards for the next departure to Brick Yard. Realistic replicas of TfL directional signage are also pasted above the cart – take a look.

Bekonscot Model Village Mini Tube Station

A lovely day out walk from London, Bekonscot Model Village is home to all manner of miniatures, including replicas of the Hoover factory in Perivale and London Zoo’s listed penguin pool.

Our eye was naturally drawn to Hanton Road, a fictional, miniature tube station, whose design was inspired by Charles Holden’s Arnos Grove. The transparent cutout at street level is particularly charming, allowing us to see the platform below. Imagine if that was something in the real London…

PAMELA from UCL

The UCL Pedestrian Accessibility Movement Environment Laboratory — or PAMELA for its friends — is a laboratory specializing in the science of pedestrian movement. Located somewhere in Tufnell Park, it can be reconfigured to test a range of scenarios, including a tube cart, which scientists and TfL use to test new cart and platform designs.

Hordes of volunteers are brought in to replicate a packed tube, tackling important issues, such as how quickly people can get on and off the train in certain situations. This information is then used to optimize the design of new infrastructure as it is built.

Tube-themed Ibis Styles Hotel, Gloucester Road

The dream ride in London would mean rolling out of bed straight onto a tube platform. And that also exists… in a way. From the outside, the ibis Styles Gloucester Road looks like an ordinary hotel, but inside they’ve gone full-on with the tube theme, with subterranean artwork plastering the walls, station tiles in the bathrooms and a specially designed tubular platform. next to your bed. It’s the plushest tubing rig you’ll ever set foot on.

West Ashfield Tube Station, West Kensington

Don’t dig your tube map; West Ashfield is not a real tube station. It is a replica set in an unremarkable looking office building, overlooking Cromwell Road and housing the offices of TfL.

Equipped with all the signaling and tannoy paraphernalia of a regular station, it was built in 2010 so that TfL could train its staff. The building also houses a model railway, designed to simulate faults which staff can then learn to fix.

We haven’t visited this one ourselves (and it’s not open to the public), so we’ll point you in the direction of IanVisits, who visited the establishment in 2010.

The tube is so ubiquitous that we’re sure there must be more aftershocks. Let us know of any other fake metro stations or platforms in the comments below.