We're at the top right-hand corner of the Tube map
Today we're at Epping station where we start our journey
for Secrets of the Central Line.
Now of course you can't mention Epping without mentioning the fact that trains
used to go much further than here,
all the way up to Ongar, in fact.
Which you can now get a heritage bus to on certain weekends
that take you to the Epping to Ongar Steam Railway.
If you look north from the footbridge, you can still see
the old tracks heading out of the station.
But we headed south, trying to work out all four London landmarks
in the moquette seating.
And then we went here, a place where almost nobody goes.
Welcome to the least used station not just on the Central Line
but on the whole of the London Underground.
Roding Valley on average see just over 200,000 passengers pass through it
per year.
There are some stations that get that many in just one day.
There's not a lot going on.
Also near this part of the Central Line, the Bank of England has a secure building
It's printing works where it makes all the notes in Britain.
We tried to see it, but failed. I guess that's what you call not getting...
...the money shot.
Continuing around the Hainault loop, we got out at Newbury Park
to have a look at the 1951, award-winning bus shelter.
Yeah, it's just a bus shelter, but it is Grade II listed.
One stop down the line, Gants Hill appears to be a very dull traffic roundabout
But when you go inside, it's just unique.
I love the columns where you can see through to the platforms either side.
I like the arch roof.
The uplighters are gorgeous and my favourite bit...
...the little roundels in the tiles on the side there.
It's very pretty.
The Second World War actually caused delay to the completion of this end of the Central Line
But there's a section of track between Wanstead and Newbury Park
that was actually used as a munitions factory
for the duration of the war.
We're at Leytonstone station where there's something that I really love.
Look to either side of me - mosaic galleries which pay tribute
to the great filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock
who was born in Leytonstone in 1899.
There's a whole bunch of them, each representing a different film
as you go down the passageway.
[Psycho shower scene music]
One of the things I love about the Tube is pointing out things
that I think the commuter, in a rush, doesn't always see
So if you're a regular user of here, Bethnal Green station
how many times have you walked past this clock
without realising that instead of numbers
there are little tiny roundels on the clock face?
That's brilliant.
Now if you're in any decent pub quiz about the London Underground
you're always get told how Chancery Lane
has the shortest escalators on the whole network.
Or at least it did have...
Until the new Stratford station was built, of course,
and then this here -
by just a couple of inches
- became the new, shortest escalator on the whole of the Underground.
Now, thousands of people come through Tottenham Court Road
Literally thousands, every day.
But how many of them do this?
If you come and stand in this circular room
Right in the middle and shout
Hello!
You can hear it echo.
We're outside Queensway station, one of the last few stations to have lifts
down to the platform levels.
And here's a top tip for you.
It's really close to Bayswater, which is on the District and Circle Line.
If you ever have to go to the Circle Line station
of Bayswater, don't change at Notting Hill as loads of people do,
just keep going on the Central Line
get out at Queensway instead and walk the last few seconds
You'll save yourself at least five to ten minutes of time.
Go to the eastern end of Shepherd's Bush station and look back on yourself
for a really cool view of both platforms.
And then try and work out why it is that one stop down the line
trains come out at White City on the wrong side.
It's because the line first terminated at Shepherd's Bush
and the single track took a sharp curve under a road which led to a reversing siding
and a depot. When Wood Lane station opened the single track was extended back
down and around to Shepherd's Bush
where the crossover occurs.
Then, White City station opened to the north
and new tracks spurred off the curve
and Wood Lane station was closed.
Down towards East Acton on the other side, there's a footbridge
where you can see the western crossover happen out in the open.
And on to the West Ruislip branch to Greenford
where we're having fun with escalators again.
And here's your second pub quiz question:
Which station has an escalator going up to platform level?
It is, of course, Greenford.
Until the new Stratford station was built and then
this escalator also became another escalator that you can take
up to an Underground line platform.
So it might not be the only place where you can go up anymore
But it is the only place left on the Underground
with a tread that's made of wood.
On the adjacent National Railway lines
you can see old semaphore signals too.
Elsewhere on the Central Line, don't forget to keep an eye out for the gullwing canopies
at Loughton station,
these roundels in the ironwork railings outside Redbridge.
The gorgeous old waiting room at Barkingside.
Or even the roads are getting in on the act.
Here, crossing the line near Hanger Lane,
a bridge indicating that both the Central and District Lines
pass underneath it.
So we're at the western end of the Central Line, we've got to Ealing Broadway
the end of our Central Line tour.
And actually, as this is my local station,
this means I can walk home for once.