London tube station opens for blitz tours

Two men in period costume sleep next to a 1940s tube train. The tours commemmorate the 70th anniversary of the blitz Photograph: Oli Scarff/Getty Images

An actor helps recreate the second world war atmosphere Photograph: Graham Turner/Guardian

The station and tube carriages are decked out as it they would have been during the 1940s Photograph: Antony Jones/PA

The use of deep-level stations such as Aldwych as shelters was discouraged until Londoners took matters into their own hands and insisted Photograph: Antony Jones/PA

An actor dressed as a warden explains how to use a gas mask Photograph: BEN STANSALL/AFP/Getty Images

Posters recreate the spirit of the blitz Photograph: John Stillwell/PA

An underground concert at Aldwych station on 9 October 1940. The audience sat on the railway track to hear the performances Photograph: Getty Images

A second world war poster directs people down to the platforms Photograph: John Stillwell/PA

Aldwych was one of the first underground stations to be used as an air raid shelter Photograph: London Transport Museum/PA

An actor dressed in period costume looks out from a train Photograph: Graham Turner/Guardian

War-time posters at Aldwych. At the height of the blitz, more than 170,000 Londoners were sheltering in the tube system on any given night Photograph: Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP