The street level interchange between the GNP&BR and CLR involving two sets of lifts was considered a weakness in the network.
A below ground subway connection was considered in 1907.
A proposal to enlarge the CLR's tunnels to create new platforms at Holborn station and to abandon British Museum station was included in a private bill submitted to parliament by the CLR in November 1913, although the First World War prevented any works taking place.

Like many other central London Underground stations, Holborn was modernised in the early 1930s to replace the lifts with escalators.
The station frontages on Kingsway and High Holborn were partially reconstructed to modernist designs by Charles Holden with the granite elements replaced with plain Portland stone façades perforated with glazed screens.
The lifts were removed and a spacious new ticket hall was provided giving access to a bank of four escalators down to an intermediate concourse for the Central line platforms.
A second bank of three escalators continues down to the Piccadilly line platforms.

To construct the new Central line platforms, the larger diameter station tunnels were manually excavated around the existing running tunnels whilst trains continued to run.
When the excavations were complete, the original segmental tunnel linings were dismantled.
The new platforms came into use on 25 September 1933 replacing those of British Museum, which had closed the day before.
As part of the modernisation the station was renamed Holborn (Kingsway) on 22 May 1933, but the suffix gradually dropped out of use and no longer appears on station signage or tube maps.
The new platforms at Holborn led to the number of passengers switching between the lines increasing tenfold by 1938.

The station was retiled in the 1980s, with murals designed by Allan Drummond that reference the British Museum.
These murals reference Egyptian and Roman antiquities, with sarcophagi, statues and trompe-l'œil columns on the walls of the platform.
The street level interchange between the GNP&BR and CLR involving two sets of lifts was considered a weakness in the network. A below ground subway connection was considered in 1907. A proposal to enlarge the CLR's tunnels to create new platforms at Holborn station and to abandon British Museum station was included in a private bill submitted to parliament by the CLR in November 1913, although the First World War prevented any works taking place.
Like many other central London Underground stations, Holborn was modernised in the early 1930s to replace the lifts with escalators. The station frontages on Kingsway and High Holborn were partially reconstructed to modernist designs by Charles Holden with the granite elements replaced with plain Portland stone façades perforated with glazed screens. The lifts were removed and a spacious new ticket hall was provided giving access to a bank of four escalators down to an intermediate concourse for the Central line platforms. A second bank of three escalators continues down to the Piccadilly line platforms.
To construct the new Central line platforms, the larger diameter station tunnels were manually excavated around the existing running tunnels whilst trains continued to run. When the excavations were complete, the original segmental tunnel linings were dismantled. The new platforms came into use on 25 September 1933 replacing those of British Museum, which had closed the day before. As part of the modernisation the station was renamed Holborn (Kingsway) on 22 May 1933, but the suffix gradually dropped out of use and no longer appears on station signage or tube maps. The new platforms at Holborn led to the number of passengers switching between the lines increasing tenfold by 1938.
The station was retiled in the 1980s, with murals designed by Allan Drummond that reference the British Museum. These murals reference Egyptian and Roman antiquities, with sarcophagi, statues and trompe-l'œil columns on the walls of the platform.
Holborn tube station