Metropolitan Line
The
Metropolitan Line is part of the
London Underground, coloured
magenta on the
Tube map. It was the first
underground railway (or subway) in the world, opening on
January 10,
1863 (however, parts of that initial section are no longer served by the Metropolitan Line, but by the
Hammersmith & City,
District and
Circle lines). The main line runs from
Aldgate in the
City of London to
Amersham, with branch lines to
Uxbridge,
Watford and
Chesham. For the initial section of the Line the rails are in tunnel for much of the way; beyond
Baker Street, at Finchley Road the Line runs in the open.
The four-track layout for part of the distance — between Wembley Park and
Moor Park — allows for the running of express or "fast" services to the outer suburbs. Baker Street is the terminus for many trains, but others complete their journeys into the City to either
Moorgate (where there are terminal platforms) or Aldgate.
The origins of the Metropolitan Line lie with the incorporation, in
1853, of the
North Metropolitan Railway, the original name of the Metropolitan Railway, which railway had been empowered, with the
Metropolitan District Railway to complete an
Inner Circle of railways in London. The first section was opened from near
Paddington to Farringdon Street (now
Farringdon station) in January 1863; work on the railway had begun in February
1860 using the "cut-and-cover" method of construction. This caused massive traffic disruption in north London: during the work the
Fleet Sewer bursting into the diggings, flooding the partly-built tunnel.
Another major change took place in
1988, when the
Hammersmith & City Line and
East London Line – which already had well-defined individual identities – were split off from the Metropolitan Line to be run separately. The Metropolitan Line is now confined to its northern extension from Baker Street plus its original track to Aldgate, running through the tunnels opened by the Metropolitan Railway back in 1868. The Metropolitan and East London Lines use the same trains and are still physically linked, although there is no longer a passenger interchange.
In
1998, the Metropolitan Line was partly privatised in a controversial
Public-Private Partnership. It is now part of the "Sub-Surface Railways" group, managed along with the Circle, Hammersmith & City and District lines by the Metronet consortium.
The Metropolitan Line's influence on underground railways world-wide has been immense. The
Paris Metro took its name, in full
Chemin de fer métropolitain, from the Metropolitan Line. This is the origin of the term
metro.
|
The train on the left is a Metropolitan Line A Stock unit, the smaller train is a Piccadilly Line 1973 tube stock train |
The current rolling stock in use on the Metropolitan Line is the sub-surface gauge
A Stock built by Cravens in
Sheffield, which is shared between the Metropolitan and
East London lines. While it ran in service with unpainted aluminium bodywork for many years, since refurbishment the stock has received the now standard white and blue Underground livery, with red ends. Metropolitan Line services are usually formed of two four-car units coupled together for a total of eight cars, although the
Chesham shuttle service and the East London Line are both served by four-car trains.
|
Geographically accurate path of the Metropolitan Line |
in order from east to west*
Terminus: Aldgate*
Liverpool Street*
Moorgate*
Barbican*
Farringdon*
King's Cross St. Pancras*
Euston Square*
Great Portland Street (after this station no longer shares track with Circle and Hammersmith and City lines)
*
Baker Street Some trains terminate here
*
Finchley Road*
Wembley Park*
Preston Road*
Northwick Park*
Harrow-on-the-HillThe line splits here into two branches — the Uxbridge branch and the Northwood branch.
Uxbridge branch
(continuing from Harrow on the Hill)
*
West Harrow*
Rayners Lane*
Eastcote*
Ruislip Manor*
Ruislip*
Ickenham*
Hillingdon *
Terminus: Uxbridge Northwood branch
(continuing from Harrow on the Hill)
*
North Harrow*
Pinner*
Northwood Hills*
Northwood (the last station within Greater London)
*
Moor ParkThe line splits here into two branches — the main line towards Amersham and the Watford branch.
Watford branch
(continuing from Moor Park)
*
Croxley*
WatfordTowards Amersham
(continuing from Moor Park)
*
Rickmansworth*
Chorleywood *
Chalfont & Latimer Here trains either continue to
Amersham or, during peak hours, go straight through on a separate branch to
Chesham. At all other times there is a shuttle between Chalfont & Latimer and Chesham, which involves a change from Amersham trains. The service frequency between Chalfont & Latimer and Chesham is roughly every 17 minutes.
*
Chesham or
*
Amersham*Off-peak service pattern: The current off-peak service pattern is as follows:
** 6tph Uxbridge — Aldgate (all stations)
** 6tph Watford — Baker Street (all stations)
** 4tph Amersham — Baker Street (all stations to Moor Park, then Harrow-on-the-Hill, Wembley Park and Finchley Road only. This section is also run by 2tph
Chiltern Railways trains to and from Aylesbury, providing a 6tph service between Amersham and London.
** 2tph Chesham — Chalfont & Latimer:(tph=trains per hour)
*Peak hours*The Metropolitan line, unlike other London Underground lines, operates fast train services during peak hours. (The
Piccadilly Line runs a fast service between Hammersmith and Turnham Green/Acton Town, but this operates round the clock, the intermediate stations are served by the
District Line). There are also through trains to Aldgate from Watford/Amersham; semi-fasts to Watford/Uxbridge not stopping at Northwick Park or Preston Road; and through trains to Chesham. There are also a few early-morning/late-evening trains from Rickmansworth to Watford.
Transport for London and Hertfordshire County Council are developing plans to divert the line from the current Watford station and re-route it over the disused Croxley Green branch line to Watford Junction. The current station is located in a housing estate by
Cassiobury Park, rather than serving the centre of Watford. New stations would be provided at Ascot Road and
Watford West. See
for details.
As part of a wider overhaul of the Sub-Surface Lines, there are also plans to run through Metropolitan Line trains from Uxbridge to Barking. This would be to replace Hammersmith & City Line services which would be curtailed or withdrawn as part of the
Circle Line re-organisation. However, this would either require new rolling stock or civil engineering works as there are a number of gauge infingements which mean that Metropolitan stock is banned east of Aldgate. [
1] [
2]
*
Metropolitan Line — London Underground website
*
Clive's Underground Line Guide — Metropolitan Line*
The Metropolitan Line
