Mornington Crescent Tube Station

A totally functioning station as opposed to a part-​time station that it had been in the past, i.e. opening only until 9pm each evening and closing at weekends, it is now opened the same hours as other tube stations. It has two lifts, but it is an extremely busy station that often it is quicker to use the spiral stairs.
Made famous by the BBC Radio 4 comedy panel games programme. When the station was reopened in 1998 after being closed, for lift repairs, for six year (local rumours had it that TFL ran out of funds!), TFL invited the Radio 4 team to open it. There is a memorial plaque to the late Willie Rushton, one of the show’s longest-​serving panelists, at the station.
The station is on the Charing Cross branch of the Northern line, between Euston and Camden Town. Be warned, if you are travelling on the Bank branch, it will not stop there! It is in Zone 2, just outside Zone 1.
The area round the station has been totally revamped and re-​planned, so it is more opened and pedestrianised, due to the high volume of people traffic in the area now, as Camden Town is a busy tourist attraction. No more railings between the roads and pavements, creating a more welcoming environment. A typical high street flows northwards from the station, but with lots of music venues like Koko and The Crowndale (formerly Purple Turtle) on the south end of the high street and Jazz Café and the Electric Ballroom at the north end, with other venues dotted in-​between, which is now the annual Camden Crawl.

This tube station is toward the southern end of Camden Town and is the other main station besides the busier Camden Town station. I was not all that impressed with this station as we were directed to come here by an employee at another tube desk over by Westminster Abbey in order to get a refund on our oyster card, but what they didn’t mention is this is only a part time ticket office. They close between approximately 2−5PM everyday. So if you are looking to buy tickets that require speaking with an employee of the station, be sure to check the operating hours before coming by. Meh.

Mornington Crescent is a deep station that does have lifts but is not completely step-​free between the street and the platform. It’s quite close to Camden Town station and if you are headed there, consider this station as an alternative as Camden Town gets quite busy.
Serving the Charing Cross brand of the Northern Line, Mornington Crescent is in Travelcard Zone 2. There are Oyster readers and ticket barricades. The ticket booth is staffed and there are also automated ticket vending machines.

Camden locals come here (or Chalk Farm or Kentish Town stations) on the weekends to head off around town as Camden Town tube station is exit only for long periods when it gets busy. It is not, however, a great place to alight on the way to the markets as they’re a ten minute walk away at the other end of Camden High Street and there isn’t a great deal to see along the way.
Mornington Crescent is a well maintained station that retains a lot of its original features. Even the walk down to the platforms is better than most as the stairs down go through tiled corridors rather than down a grimy tube.
If you go there have a look at Greater London House on the other side of Hampstead Road. This art deco gem — formerly the Carreras cigarette factory — was restored a few years ago and boasts such unusual features as large sculptures of cats outside the front door and moulded cats (complete with metal whiskers) just below the roof. A peculiar sight!