London Wants You to Party Underground

Reuters: What do the British do when there’s tons of free abandoned subway space in the underground and nothing to fill it with? Why, they open more pubs, of course.

The concept is awesome: party animals and night-revellers will get the opportunity to do their night thing deep under the earth and far away from open public spaces where passing out on a bench will get them thrown in jail. Finally, the public is safe from the possibility of watching a drunkard pee on himself! That’s right, 26 unused stations in the London subway system are now going to be turned into new venues for concerts, bars and other tourist attractions, and it won’t cost a cent of public money.

Over the years, stations have closed down for one reason or another. Some have been closed for decades and others are still used occasionally, like the Aldwych for film sets. South Kentish Town was closed in 1924 but still hosts a sauna and massage parlour. Other sites have historical significance and will use those claims to their advantage. For example, Down Street was formerly used as an air raid shelter by Winston Churchill. Who wouldn’t want to party there?

Of course, some obstacles include safety issues…especially when you have a bunch of drunks roaming around an operational railway. Although maybe if they do it right, they can actually use the railway to their advantage, like the Scots do in Glasgow. Students there use the subway to get from pub to pub, in a popular event they refer to as the Subcrawl. Really, what could go wrong?