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Now everyone can take in the sights and smells of a London tram station shut for 70 years

Mmm, musty

One of London's tram stations – mothballed in 1952 to make way for diesel buses – is to be opened to the public.

London Transport Museum is running hour-long tours of the Kingsway Tram Subway near Holborn as part of its Hidden London series of historical tours.

According to transport buffs, the Kingsway Tram Subway was "probably the most important stretch of tram track in London, linking together the extensive tram networks of north and south London."

It was built by the London County Council as part of an ambitious renewal programme for the Holborn and Aldwych areas.

Opened in 1906, it closed in 1952 and has been boarded up ever since. Its closure – along with the decommission of miles of track across London – coincided with the widespread introduction of buses to replace trams.

Since its closure, most of the Kingsway Tram Subway has been kept in the dark.

But according to The Guardian, it managed to spend a brief period in the limelight when it was used as a backdrop to part of the set for the 1998 Avengers movie starring Uma Thurman and Ralph Fiennes.

For those interested in a peek at a subterranean part of London's past, the station and network of tunnels is open from 12 August to 26 September. Tickets go on sale this week from London Transport Museum. ®

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