Metropolitan line

Construction of the Metropolitan line near King's Cross station (1861)

The Metropolitan Railway, also known as the Met, was a passenger and goods railway that served London from 1863 to 1933, its main line heading north-west from the City to what were to become the Middlesex suburbs. Its first line connected the mainline railway termini at Paddington, Euston and King's Cross to the City, built beneath the New Road using the cut-and-cover method between Paddington and King's Cross, and in tunnel and cuttings beside Farringdon Road from King's Cross to near Smithfield. The world's first underground railway, it opened on 10 January 1863 with gas-lit wooden carriages hauled by steam locomotives. The line operated at a frequency of three trains per hour, rising to four trains per hour during the peak periods.[2][3][4] In the 1871 plans for an underground railway in Paris, it was called the Métropolitain.[5]

The railway was soon extended from both ends and northwards via a branch from Baker Street. It reached Hammersmith in 1864 and Richmond in 1877; it completed the Inner Circle in 1884,[6] but the most important route became the line west and north-west into the Middlesex countryside, where it stimulated the development of new suburbs. Harrow was reached in 1880, and ultimately, as far as Verney Junction in Buckinghamshire, more than 50 miles (80 kilometres) from Baker Street. From the end of the 19th century, the railway shared tracks with the Great Central Railway route out of Marylebone.[7]

Electric traction was introduced in 1905 with electric multiple units operating between Uxbridge, Harrow-on-the-Hill and Baker Street. To remove steam and smoke from the tunnels in central London, the railway purchased electric locomotives, exchanged for steam locomotives at Harrow from 1908.[8] In 1910, a seventeen-minute silent film was made showing large portions of the journey from Baker Street to Aylesbury and Uxbridge, seen from the cab of a train.[9]

Unlike other railways in the London area, the Met developed land for housing, thus benefitting from the increase in the value of its land caused by the building of the railway. After World War I it promoted its housing estates near the railway with the "Metro-land" brand.

To improve services, more powerful electric and steam locomotives were purchased in the 1920s. A short branch opened from Rickmansworth to Watford in 1925. After World War I, the 4-mile (6.4 km) Stanmore branch was built from Wembley Park.[10]

Electric Locomotive No.12 "Sarah Siddons" seen at a heritage event at Amersham in 2008

An up train passing Neasden Depot in 1959

A stock at Amersham

On 1 July 1933, the Metropolitan was amalgamated with other Underground railways, tramway companies and bus operators to form the London Passenger Transport Board, and a period of rationalisation followed.

While the Metropolitan was run as an outer suburban route with steam-hauled trains and goods services, the LPTB wished to focus on electrified trains and suburban traffic. Goods services were passed to the London and North Eastern Railway, which also took over the role of providing steam locomotives for trains beyond the end of electrification at Rickmansworth. All services north-west of Aylesbury were withdrawn by 1936[11] though services returned to Quainton Road between 1943 and 1948.[12]

The 1930s was a period of rapid growth for the north-western suburbs of London, and LPTB developed ambitious plans to simplify the Metropolitan line and expand capacity. Several stations on the Uxbridge branch were rebuilt, replacing temporary wooden buildings with modernist designs and giving Uxbridge station a new site in the town centre. A major bottleneck in the line, the double-track tunnel from Baker Street to Finchley Road, was bypassed by boring two tube tunnels underneath the Metropolitan tunnels, transferring slow services and the Stanmore branch to the Bakerloo line.[13] (This route was transferred to the Jubilee line in 1979.)[14] In 1936, the line was extended east from Whitechapel to Barking along the tracks of the District line.[15] London Transport inherited incompatible electric multiple units from the railway, including the 1927–33 multiple-unit compartment stock used on routes to Watford and Rickmansworth, and these were refurbished to form a uniform fleet and designated London Underground T Stock.[16] In the 1950s, F Stock trains, with sliding doors under the control of the guard, were transferred from the District line; these mainly worked the semi-fast Harrow and Uxbridge services.[17]

A major rebuilding of the main line from Wembley Park to Amersham was planned in the 1930s but delayed by the war. The line from Wembley to Harrow was rebuilt immediately after the war and the project was completed from 1956–1962, on a more modest scale than originally planned. Until 1961, passenger trains continued to be attached to a steam locomotive at Rickmansworth to run to Aylesbury. The rebuilding electrified the line from Rickmansworth to Amersham, transferring all Aylesbury services to British Railways. A pair of fast lines was added from Harrow to north of Moor Park by 1962, allowing outer-suburban trains to run fast to Moor Park.[18] Aluminium A stock, originally unpainted, replaced the T stock and locomotive-hauled trains. More A Stock trains were built in 1962–63 to replace the trains on the Uxbridge service, giving the main line a single train type for all services. A Stock was four-car units that could operate as four- or eight-car trains;[19] normally operated as eight cars, a four-car unit operated the Chesham shuttle.[20] One person operation of the trains was proposed in 1972, but due to conflict with the trade unions was not introduced on the line until 1986.[21]

A Stock vehicles at Rayners Lane in their original unpainted livery

Although the East London line had been an isolated shuttle since 1939,[15] it was shown on London Underground maps as part of the Metropolitan line until 1968.[22] In 1970, it was shown with a thin white line in the middle and labelled the "East London section".[23] By the 1985 map, it had become the "East London Line", remaining the same colour as the Metropolitan line with a white line in the middle,[24] changed to orange by the 1990 map.[25] In 1990, the Hammersmith & City line became a separate line from Hammersmith to Whitechapel (Barking during the peak), the Metropolitan line being from Aldgate to Baker Street and northwards to Amersham with branches to Chesham, Uxbridge and Watford.[15][25]

In 2003, the infrastructure was partly privatised in a public–private partnership managed by the Metronet consortium. Metronet entered administration in 2007 and Transport for London took over responsibilities.[26]

On 12 December 2010, the service to Amersham was reduced from four trains per hour to two, and a direct service between Chesham and central London was introduced, replacing the 4-car Chesham to Chalfont & Latimer shuttle.[27] The final passenger services operated by the A Stock ran on 26 September 2012,[28] followed by a ticketed public railtour on 29 September.[29]

During the off-peak the service pattern on the line, in trains per hour (tph), is as follows:[41]

• 8tph Aldgate - Uxbridge (all stations);
• 4tph Baker Street - Watford (all stations);
• 2tph Aldgate - Amersham (all stations);
• 2tph Aldgate - Chesham (all stations).

These services combine to give a total frequency of 16tph between Baker Street and Harrow-on-the-Hill. Of these, 12tph run between Aldgate and Baker Street which, together with the 6tph frequencies on both the Circle and Hammersmith & City lines,[43] gives a total of 24 trains every hour on the central-London section between Liverpool Street and Baker Street.

In the morning peak, the southbound service pattern is strengthened to the following:[41]

• 4tph Uxbridge - Baker Street (all stations);
• 6tph Uxbridge - Aldgate (4 all stations, 2 semi-fast);
• 6tph Watford - Baker Street (3 all stations, 3 semi-fast);
• 2tph Watford - Aldgate (1 all stations, 1 semi-fast);
• 4tph Amersham - Aldgate (2 semi-fast, 2 fast)
• 2tph Chesham - Aldgate (fast).

The northbound frequencies in the morning peak are similar on each route, except all trains run as all-stations services.

Similarly, in the evening peak, the northbound service pattern is strengthened to the following:[41]

• 3tph Baker Street - Uxbridge (all stations);
• 7tph Aldgate - Uxbridge (all stations);
• 4tph Baker Street - Watford (2 all stations, 2 semi-fast)
• 4tph Aldgate - Watford (semi-fast);
• 2tph Baker Street - Amersham (semi-fast);
• 2tph Aldgate - Amersham (fast);
• 2tph Aldgate - Chesham (fast).

The southbound frequencies in the evening peak are similar on each route, except all trains run as all-stations services.

In order from east to west.

Station	Image	Opened[15]	Branch	Additional information	Position
Aldgate		18 November 1876	Circle	Terminus	51°30′50″N 000°04′34″W
Liverpool Street		12 July 1875	Circle	Originally Bishopsgate, renamed 1 November 1909. Connects with Central and Hammersmith & City lines and London Overground, Elizabeth line and National rail services from Liverpool Street mainline station. Elizabeth Line services via Stratford and Shenfield from platforms 15, 16 and 17.	51°31′07″N 000°04′53″W. .
Moorgate		23 December 1865	Circle	Originally Moorgate Street, renamed 24 October 1924. Connects with Northern line and National rail services from the main line Northern City Line. The Elizabeth line is interchangeable via the Northern Line platforms from Liverpool Street Station due to the long platforms.	51°31′07″N 000°05′19″W.
Barbican		23 December 1865	Circle	Originally Aldersgate Street, renamed Aldersgate 1910, Aldersgate and Barbican 1923, Barbican 1968	51°31′13″N 000°05′52″W
Farringdon		10 January 1863	Circle	Resited 22 December 1865. Interchangeable with National Rail and Elizabeth line services. Originally Farringdon Street, renamed Farringdon & High Holborn 1922, Farringdon 1936	51°31′12″N 000°06′19″W
King's Cross St Pancras		10 January 1863	Circle	Station resited 1941. Originally King's Cross, renamed King's Cross & St Pancras 1925, King's Cross St Pancras 1933.	51°31′49″N 000°07′27″W
Euston Square		10 January 1863	Circle	Originally Gower Street, renamed 1909	51°31′33″N 000°08′09″W
Great Portland Street		10 January 1863	Circle	Originally Portland Road, renamed Great Portland Street 1917, Great Portland Street & Regent's Park 1923, Great Portland Street 1933	51°31′26″N 000°08′38″W
Baker Street		10 January 1863	Main line	Metropolitan line platforms date from 1868	51°31′19″N 000°09′25″W
Finchley Road		30 June 1879	Main line	Finchley Road (South Hampstead) from 1885 to 1914	51°32′50″N 000°10′49″W
Wembley Park		12 May 1894	Main line		51°33′49″N 000°16′46″W
Preston Road		21 May 1908	Main line	Resited 1931/2	51°34′20″N 000°17′43″W
Northwick Park		28 June 1923	Main line	Originally Northwick Park & Kenton, renamed 1937	51°34′43″N 000°19′07″W
Harrow-on-the-Hill		2 August 1880	Main line	Originally Harrow, renamed 1894	51°34′46″N 000°20′13″W
West Harrow		17 November 1913	Uxbridge		51°34′47″N 000°21′12″W
Rayners Lane		26 May 1906	Uxbridge		51°34′31″N 000°22′17″W
Eastcote		26 May 1906	Uxbridge		51°34′36″N 000°23′49″W
Ruislip Manor		5 August 1912	Uxbridge		51°34′24″N 000°24′45″W
Ruislip		4 July 1904	Uxbridge		51°34′17″N 000°25′16″W
Ickenham		25 September 1905	Uxbridge	Originally Ickenham Halte, rebuilt 1970/1	51°33′43″N 000°26′31″W
Hillingdon		10 December 1923	Uxbridge	Renamed Hillingdon (Swakeleys) 1934, suffix gradually dropped. Resited and rebuilt 1992	51°33′14″N 000°27′00″W
Uxbridge		4 July 1904	Uxbridge	Station resited from Belmont Road in 1938 Terminus	51°32′45″N 000°28′42″W
North Harrow		22 March 1915	Main line		51°35′06″N 000°21′45″W
Pinner		25 May 1885	Main line		51°35′34″N 000°22′50″W
Northwood Hills		13 November 1933	Main line		51°36′02″N 000°24′33″W
Northwood		1 September 1887	Main line	The last station within Greater London	51°36′39″N 000°25′28″W
Moor Park		9 May 1910	Main line	Originally Sandy Lodge, renamed Moor Park & Sandy Lodge 18 October 1923, Moor Park 25 September 1950	51°37′47″N 000°25′58″W
Croxley		2 November 1925	Watford	Originally Croxley Green, renamed 23 May 1949	51°38′51″N 000°26′29″W
Watford		2 November 1925	Watford	Terminus	51°39′27″N 000°25′03″W
Rickmansworth		1 September 1887	Main line		51°38′25″N 000°28′24″W
Chorleywood		8 July 1889	Main line	The last station within Hertfordshire. Originally Chorley Wood, renamed Chorley Wood & Chenies 1 November 1915, Chorley Wood 1934, Chorleywood 1964	51°39′15″N 000°31′06″W
Chalfont & Latimer		8 July 1889	Main line	Originally Chalfont Road, renamed 1 November 1915	51°40′04″N 000°33′40″W
Chesham		8 July 1889	Chesham	Terminus	51°42′19″N 000°36′41″W
Amersham		1 September 1892	Amersham	Renamed Amersham & Chesham Bois 12 March 1922, Amersham 1937 Terminus	51°40′27″N 000°36′27″W

LT loco L92 at Croxley tip in 1969

The Brill Tramway with stations Waddesdon Road, Westcott, Wotton, Church Siding, Wood Siding and Brill closed in 1935. In the following year, the line was cut back to Aylesbury, with Waddesdon station and Granborough Road, Winslow Road stations on the line to Verney Junction closing.[15] Initially Verney Junction and Quainton Road remained open, with main line services provided by the LNER.

In 1939, the Stanmore branch and the stopping service between Finchley Road and Wembley Park were transferred to the Bakerloo line. On the St John's Wood section, Lord's and Marlborough Road stations were replaced by St John's Wood, and Swiss Cottage replaced the Metropolitan line station.[13][15] The Bakerloo line service to Stanmore was transferred to the Jubilee line when that line opened in 1979.[14]

In 1961, when steam locomotives were replaced and the line was electrified to Amersham, the Underground service to Great Missenden, Wendover, Stoke Mandeville and Aylesbury was withdrawn.[15]

Between Moor Park and Croxley, a short branch ran south-east off the Watford branch, near its junction with the main line, to Croxley Tip, a rubbish dump beside the Grand Union Canal. This site began as a gravel loading point before becoming used by the railway to dump waste such as old ballast and waste from Neasden power station. This route, never used for passenger traffic, continued to be used by London Transport's small fleet of steam engines until 1971, when diesels replaced them. The branch closed some time after this, although a section of the spur line remained visible from a passing train.

A second short branch line, known as the Halton Railway, served RAF Halton near Wendover, across the Wendover Arm of the Grand Union Canal. The line was built during the First World War and closed in 1963.[68] The trackbed is now a footpath.[69]

Although not operated by Metropolitan passenger services, the line from South Harrow to Rayners Lane was built by the Metropolitan railway as the District Railway was in financial difficulties at the time. This included a short branch, part of which is still visible, on a viaduct to a gas works. Other minor freight connections along the line once included connections to the Midland main line at Finchley Road.

A single-track spur from a small yard between Ickenham and Ruislip stations connects to Ruislip Depot of the Central line. This line is used for engineering and empty stock transfers, although occasional plans suggest extending the Central line into Uxbridge by upgrading the connection. It was built in 1973.

• Bruce, J Graeme (1983). Steam to Silver. A history of London Transport Surface Rolling Stock. Capital Transport. ISBN 0-904711-45-5.
• Green, Oliver (1987). The London Underground: An illustrated history. Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-1720-4.
• Horne, Mike (2003). The Metropolitan Line. Capital Transport. ISBN 1-85414-275-5.
• Jackson, Alan (1986). London's Metropolitan Railway. David & Charles. ISBN 0-7153-8839-8.