Deep beneath busy city streets lie forgotten tunnels and platforms where trains once rumbled past waiting passengers. These abandoned subway systems, often called ‘ghost stations,’ tell stories of ambitious urban planning, economic changes, and shifting populations. While modern trains have found new routes, these silent platforms and empty tunnels remain frozen in time.
Let’s venture into these haunted underground spaces where the echo of footsteps replaces the screech of train wheels. Each abandoned station offers a glimpse into the past of public transportation and city life for urban explorers.
City Hall Station, New York
This architectural treasure beneath Manhattan features elegant arched ceilings and brass fixtures that have not tarnished since 1945. Its iconic glass skylights can occasionally be glimpsed from the sidewalk above; on official tours, the original ticket booths and ornate plaques are shown.
Fans of mass transit often see its tiled walls whenever the 6 train curves through the station’s curved platform.
Aldwych Station, London
This is a former Strand line station that was used as a shelter during World War II and was closed in 1994. Original posters still cling to walls, with vintage telephones sitting silently in dust-covered booths.
Film crews regularly use its remarkably well-preserved platforms for historical scenes. Tour guides speak about how the station protected priceless museum artifacts during wartime bombing.
Like Travel Pug’s content? Follow us on MSN.
Croix-Rouge Station, Paris
This specter of a stop on Line 10 shut down during World War II and never reopened. Original art nouveau signage is perfectly preserved, with maintenance lights casting eerie shadows across the empty platforms.
Some Metro drivers take their time passing through, offering quick glimpses of the time capsule to passengers. Urban explorers snap photos of vintage advertising posters that have survived all these decades underground.
Lower Queen Station, Cincinnati
This audacious underground project never transported a single passenger, leaving behind two miles of completed tunnels. Local historians give flashlight tours through the concrete passages where tracks were never laid.
Graffiti artists have turned some sections into underground art galleries. Workers occasionally use the tunnels to access modern utility lines.
Lerchenfeld Station, Hamburg
Bombed during the Second World War, the part-collapsed tunnels of this station are eerily abandoned. Original tiling is still visible on surviving walls; old signal boxes are rusting quietly in dark corners.
Photography groups occasionally organize special visits and get some fantastic shots of its haunting beauty. Other parts are used as emergency exits for the modern subway system.
Like Travel Pug’s content? Follow us on MSN.
Mail Rail, London
This tiny underground railway once transported post beneath London’s streets. The diminutive platforms and narrow gauge rails survive, the sorting offices above long since vacant.
Special tourist trains now ride the rails in this system. The tours are occasionally led by retired postal workers, who reminisce about toiling in this underground postal railroad network.
Kymlinge Station, Stockholm
Never opened to the public, this is a fully built ‘ghost station,’ sitting in perfect condition beneath a nature reserve. Locals have taken to calling it ‘the station of the dead’ because trains pass through without ever stopping.
Urban legends claim it fills with mysterious lights on empty platforms at night. Some TV crews use its pristine condition for science fiction filming.
Rochchester Subway, New York
This underground system lasted for only 30 years before being abandoned in 1956. The ancient tunnel of Broad Street still contains the original tiles and track beds; from above, glimpses into the area come through ventilation grates.
There are also occasionally underground exhibitions conducted by local artists in its wide chambers. During winter, temperature preserves decade-old maintenance markings in tunnel walls.
Like Travel Pug’s content? Follow us on MSN.
Chamberí Station, Madrid
Sealed off in 1966, this perfectly preserved station now functions as a museum of subway history. Original advertisements from the 1920s still brighten ceramic walls while vintage turnstiles stand ready for long-gone commuters.
Visitors can watch modern trains rush past through protective glass barriers. Station guides demonstrate how early twentieth-century ticket machines worked.
Michigan Central Station, Detroit
Though famous for its above-ground ruins, vast tunnel networks lie beneath this transport hub. Underground platforms where countless passengers once waited remain eerily intact.
Urban archaeologists document artifacts left behind by railway workers. Some passages connect to Canada through forgotten international tunnels.
Court Street Station, Boston
This was a transit museum until 2008, but it still contains vintage subway cars and complete platforms. Original signal equipment is still operable, and maintenance logs still hang in staff rooms.
Sometimes, transit employees use its tracks for training exercises. Local photographers love the way light filters through street grates above.
Like Travel Pug’s content? Follow us on MSN.
Crystal Palace Station, London
Lying unseen beneath the park, this high-level station closed in 1954 but is still largely intact. Victorian engineering details survive throughout its brick-lined tunnels, while old track beds disappear into darkness.
History groups organize guided walks through connecting passageways. Some areas still show smoke stains from steam locomotives.
Északi Járműjavító, Budapest
This abandoned repair facility houses a labyrinth of test tracks and maintenance pits. Huge underground halls once housed scores of subway cars, and giant tool marks scar the workbenches.
The urban explorers photograph old Hungarian transit signs and equipment. Areas are sometimes used as emergency storage space for the modern metro system.
South Ferry Loop, New York
This curved platform closed after modern trains became too long for its sharp bend. Glass tiles still gleam on walls never meant to be seen by today’s passengers.
Train operators use its loop to turn around, giving lucky riders brief glimpses. Water damage creates haunting reflections in abandoned waiting areas.
Like Travel Pug’s content? Follow us on MSN.
Porte Molitor, Paris
This Art Deco station was closed in 1939 for wartime security and never reopened. Original light fixtures hang above the platforms, untouched since before World War II; faded route maps show long-disappeared connections.
Street artists slip in to paint elaborate murals on empty walls. Local historians document wartime messages scratched into tunnel walls.
Wellington Tunnel, Liverpool
This early underground railway closed in 1956, leaving behind Victorian-era tracks and stations. Waterproof brickwork still keeps river water at bay, while old telegraph systems rust in control rooms. Ghost tour guides share tales of mysterious sounds echoing through passages. Some sections connect to forgotten air raid shelters.
Lower Bay Station, Toronto
This testbed facility shut down in 1966 but remains wonderfully accessible. Film crews frequently utilize its retro look for movie scenes; transit workers store their equipment in old waiting areas, and its security guards talk of hearing strange noises in abandoned tunnels.
Original 1960s advertisements remain perfectly intact in some areas.
Like Travel Pug’s content? Follow us on MSN.
Rapid Transit Subway, Cincinnati
America’s largest abandoned subway contains miles of never-used tunnels and stations. Completed platforms stand ready for trains that never arrived, while drainage systems still protect empty tracks from flooding.
Local preservation groups offer seasonal walking tours through lit sections. Some residents use connecting passages as unofficial bike routes.
Bungui Station, Beijing
Built as a secret government shelter, this fully equipped station never served regular passengers. Emergency supplies still stock some storage rooms while Cold War-era communication equipment gathers dust.
Special permits allow photography groups to document its preservation; local officials occasionally inspect its backup power systems.
Line 1, Novosibirsk
This Cold War-era building project abandoned complete but never-used metro stations underneath Russia’s third-most populous city. Original communist murals remain bright on never-used platforms, while propaganda posters peel from waiting room walls.
Adventure tourists take photos of hammer and sickle designs on marble floors. Some areas have been repurposed as civil defense training grounds.
Like Travel Pug’s content? Follow us on MSN.
Underground Echoes
Abandoned subway stations are time capsules from urban transportation history, preserving moments when cities either dreamed of expansion or saw their unexpected decline. While modern trains whizz through tunnels nearby, these silent, people-vacant platforms and corridors hold stories of ambitious plans, changes in politics, and technological evolution that formed our cities.
These ‘silent’ stations remind us that even the most practical of urban infrastructure bears human stories and historical significance. Closed by war, made obsolete by progress, or never opened at all, these underground spaces evoke moments in time when cities imagined different futures for themselves. They stand as monuments both to human ambition and to the inevitable changes that time brings to the urban landscape.
More from Travel Pug
- 15 Dangerous European Cities to Avoid
- 15 Caribbean Islands Where Tourists Keep Getting Scammed
- The 20 Most Fascinating Abandoned Places: A Journey Through Time and Forgotten Spaces
- 15 Hidden Places in the Smithsonian Museums Locals Love: A Guide to Lesser-Known Treasures
- 16 Hidden Florida Beach Towns That Aren’t Overrun with Tourists
Like Travel Pug’s content? Follow us on MSN.