Shoreditch’s Tube train rooftop is finally opening to the public
Drinks on the tube
If you’ve ever walked through Shoreditch and looked up at the old Tube carriages balancing on top of Village Underground, wondering “surely people aren’t actually allowed in there”, the answer is finally changing.
Because after nearly 20 years looming over Great Eastern Street, the venue’s famous recycled London Underground Jubilee line carriages are officially opening to the public as part of a brand new rooftop terrace bar launching this summer.
Opening on Friday, the 3rd of July, the new rooftop space will give visitors their first proper chance to explore the graffiti-covered carriages that have become one of Shoreditch’s weirdest landmarks over the last two decades. Up until now, the trains were mostly used as artist studios and office space for the venue team, with only the occasional Open House event letting curious Londoners inside.
Now, though, the entire rooftop is being transformed into a 300-capacity terrace serving draught beers, cocktails, wine and pizza from Bad Boy Pizza Society. Which feels exactly like the sort of thing someone would pitch after spending 45 minutes in a creative agency meeting room with exposed brick walls.
The rooftop will open every Wednesday to Sunday throughout the summer, giving people the opportunity to finally climb aboard the old Jubilee line stock while overlooking the Shoreditch skyline.
The carriages themselves have sat above Village Underground since the venue first launched inside the Victorian railway viaduct space back in 2007. Over the years, the venue has become one of London’s best-loved clubs and live music spots, regularly hosting huge electronic acts, DJs and up-and-coming artists in one of the capital’s sweatiest and best atmospheres.
Despite the trains becoming one of the venue’s defining visual trademarks, most people have never actually stepped inside them.
Village Underground founder Auro Foxcroft said the rooftop opening felt like the “natural next step” after years of privately using the space behind the scenes.
Which probably makes sense, because if you’ve been sitting on a rooftop Tube carriage in Shoreditch for 20 years, eventually somebody is going to realise you could probably sell Aperol Spritzes up there for £14 a pop.
Still, it does genuinely sound very good. There are definitely worse ways to spend a summer evening than drinking beers on top of an old railway viaduct inside decommissioned Tube trains while East London collectively pretends it discovered rooftop bars for the first time again.
Skip the search — follow Shortlist on Google News to get our best lists, news, features and reviews at the top of your feeds!
