Google street view will soon be available on the London underground

The street view technology of inside tube stations will be availbale to use from next year. Credit: PA Images

Google street view will be making its way underground from early next year in 30 of London's busiest tube stations.

Transport for London has partnered with the tech company to bring the 360-degree images into stations so users can plan their journeys better.

Google will be capturing the Street View imagery for this project in the coming weeks, and using its blurring technology to protect privacy and automatically blur identifiable faces before it publishes the images.

Posters will be placed at stations to alert customers when the cameras will be capturing imagery. The images will be collected by a small team organised by Google between 10am to 4pm to avoid peak hours, using a 360-degree backpack camera.

Google will soon start collecting Street View imagery outside peak times with special backpack cameras.

The images will then be launched throughout 2024, allowing customers to get a better sense of the layout of the stations when planning journeys or interchanging between different Tube lines at stations, as well as identify key facilities such as toilets and help points.

By being able to show routes through some of London's key stations, TfL hopes that customers will be able to use Google Street View within stations in the same way they would for journeys made by walking and cycling across London.

They say the technology will be particularly beneficial to customers with accessibility needs or people who are unfamiliar with travelling in the capital.

Deputy Mayor for Transport, Seb Dance, said: "I am delighted we are working with Google to bring Street View to the Tube.

"This exciting new project will give people the ability to plan their routes on the London Underground in the same way they would when walking and cycling across the city.

"Introducing Street View will support people to better navigate some of the capital's busiest stations and help us to build a better, more accessible London for all."

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Sarah-Jayne Williams, Global Product Partnerships Director at Google Maps, said: "Since launching in 2007, Google Street View has been hugely popular with people across the globe and we're thrilled to collaborate with TfL to extend our Street View coverage in London. 

"For the first time, users will be able to explore the capital's busiest stations like never before and plan out their journeys.  We hope this will help everyone feel more comfortable during their travels, particularly those with accessibility needs."

The full list of stations that will be using the imagery are: Baker Street, Bank/ Monument, Bond Street, Camden Town, Canada Water, Canary Wharf, Canning Town, Cannon Street, Custom House, Embankment, Euston, Euston Square, Farringdon, Green Park, Hammersmith, Highbury and Islington, King's Cross St. Pancras, Liverpool Street, London Bridge, Moorgate, Old Street, Oxford Circus, Paddington, South Kensington, Stratford, Tottenham Court Road, Victoria, Waterloo, Westminster and Whitechapel.