The station opened on the Piccadilly Line with the name 'Holborn (Kingsway)' on December 15, 1906, but the suffix was later dropped. The Central Line platforms were opened on September 25, 1933 after the closure of the adjacent British Museum tube station.
From 1907 until 1940 and 1946 until 1994 a branch of the Piccadilly line ran from Holborn to Aldwych tube station. Two platforms were originally provided at Holborn for this service, but one was swiftly closed and was later divided into rooms for use (at various times) as offices, air-raid shelters, storerooms and an electric sub-station. The other remained in use until 1994, and remained visible behind locked gates for some years after that.