Charles Yerkes

The station was planned by the Great Northern and Strand Railway, GN&SR, which had received parliamentary approval for a route from Wood Green Station, now Alexandra Palace, to Strand in 1899.

After the GN&SR was taken over by the Brompton and Piccadilly Circus Railway, B&PCR, in September 1901, the two companies came under the control of Charles Yerkes's Metropolitan District Electric Traction Company before becoming transferred to his new holding company, the Underground Electric Railways Company of London, UERL, in June 1902.

To connect the two companies' planned routes, the UERL attained permission for new tunnels between Piccadilly Circus and Holborn.

The companies were formally merged as the Great Northern, Piccadilly and Brompton Railway following parliamentary approval in November 1902.

The platform wall was tiled with two shades of yellow and white tiling, which gave formed geometric shapes along the three blank spaces to incorporate the station name.

As part of the Transport for London's investment program, the aging tiling dating back from the station's opening was replaced in 2010 in a like-for-like basis, retaining the look and the feel of the platforms.

The stations along the central part of the Piccadilly line, as well as some of the sections of the Northern line, were financed by Charles Yerkes and were famous for the Leslie Green-designed red station buildings and distinctive platform tiling.

Each station had its own unique tile pattern and colors.