The Great Northern, Piccadilly & Brompton line, from Finsbury Park to Hammersmith, was opened early in 1907, and the Charing Cross, Euston & Hampstead line later in the same year.
Another scheme seriously suggested in 1904, to meet existing disabilities of communication between north and south by linking the northern and southern tramway services, involved the removal of the Charing Cross terminus of the South Eastern and Chatham railway to the south side of the river, and the construction of a new bridge in place of the railway bridge.
The surface tramway system of London cannot be complete, as, within an area roughly represented by the boroughs of Chelsea, Kensington and Fulham, the city of Westminster and a considerable district north thereof, and the city of London, the ' Charing Cross station was the scene of a remarkable catastrophe on the 5th of December 1905, when a large part of the roof collapsed, and the falling debris did very serious damage to the Avenue theatre, which stands close to the station at a lower level.
The principal London theatres lie between Piccadilly and Temple Bar, and High Holborn and Victoria Street, the majority being in Shaftesbury Avenue, the Haymarket, the neighbourhood of Charing Cross and the Strand.
The old-established collection of second-hand book-shops in Holywell Street was only abolished by the widening of the Strand, and a large proportion then removed to Charing Cross Road.