A large, illuminated map tracking train paths through the station hangs on a wall and scattered across the desk are various gadgets with switches and buttons – all of which are showing their age.

Now the signal box, which has been in operation since 1926, is being retired in favour of a state of the art system, controlled from down the line at Hammersmith. Also about to leave is signalman Frank Kelly, who has worked at Edgware Road for the last 30 years.

“I joined London Underground as a railway operating apprentice in 1963, attended a training college above Lambeth North station and qualified as a signalman in 1966,” he says, “I have worked on many of the signal boxes on the Metropolitan and Bakerloo lines over the years. There used to be quite a few, but not many remain now.”

In recent years Edgware Road signal box has seen around 3500 lever movements a day, allowing the safe passage of 900 trains. Frank shows me a clipboard where train numbers, destinations and times were recorded right up until his last shift at the end of August. Another log book was used to note anything that was not working as it should, such as signals.

“The beauty of this station is we have room to run trains around a problem, such as if a train breaks down,” he explains. “In the old days,” he adds, “we even used to uncouple trains here in the platforms.”

The technology at a signalman’s disposal has certainly come on since when Frank joined the railway. “We have more aids to help us now,” he says. “When I started all we had was a pen and a piece of scrap paper.”

But the improvements made incrementally over the years are small compared to the change happening now. London Underground’s new signalling system – currently being rolled out on the Circle, District, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan lines – will allow trains to run closer together and therefore increase service frequencies from around 28 to 32 trains per hour, providing capacity for an estimated 36,500 extra commuters at peak times.

The old signal box at Edgware Road is being maintained for another week to manage the transition to the new control centre and may become a heritage site, welcoming guided tours.

Frank says he is not bitter about the demise of the old signal box, explaining that “you can’t stop progress”. And he adds, with a grin: “The reason I’m not feeling down is when I first joined in 1963 as an apprentice, I was told not to become a signalman as they will be gone in five years.

“And I’m still here, seven years past my official retirement date! But I am ready to leave now.”