Tube Ends (5) : District Line (Edgware Road to Wimbledon)

The District Line grew out of the District Railway which was formed to link up the railway termini in London, at first using Metropolitan Railway rolling stock and then later it's own. The District Railway eventually formed a sprawling network spanning London from west to east, becoming the District Line in 1933.

The branch from Edgware Road to Wimbledon (known as the Edgware Road branch of the District Line for obvious reasons) begins on shared tracks with two of the other sub-surface lines. Edgware Road itself was originally part of the Metropolitan Railway and indeed one of the original stations on the first stretch from Paddington to Farringdon.

The branch travels through down through west London including Earl's Court before heading south west via West Brompton and then south of the Thames before terminating at Wimbledon.

Edgware Road

Ladbroke Grove

Fulham Broadway

Wimbledon

Tube Ends (4) : Hammersmith and City Line (Hammersmith to Barking)

Although the Hammersmith & City Line only dates from 1990 when it appeared on the tube map for the first time, some of it's route dates back to the 1860s and the earliest of London's underground railways. A line was built jointly by the Metropolitan and Great Western Railways from Paddington to Hammersmith, then a developing suburb of London. The line, and it's later extensions out east became the Hammersmith & City route of the Metropolitan Railway later Line. Finally, in 1990 it was given an identity on the network of it's own.

The Hammersmith & City Line starts in Hammersmith in west London, heading east along shared tracks with the other sub-surface lines through some of the major rail termini like Paddington. Kings Cross and Liverpool Street. It then heads out into east London through Whitechapel, Plaistow and finally arriving at Barking. For nearly all of it's length, the Hammersmith & City shares tracks and stations with the other three sub-surface lines though on the tube map there is a short stretch between Moorgate and Aldgate East where the pink line of the Hammersmith & City is all on it's own!

Hammersmith

Moorgate

West Ham

Barking

Tube Ends (3) : Metropolitan Line (Chesham to Aldgate)

The Metropolitan Line has it's origin in the Metropolitan Railway which in 1863 became the first underground railway in the world (which is why many later underground railways are called "metros"!) The underground section of the Metropolitan was between Paddington and Farringdon, as with nowadays most of the Metropolitan was above ground. Unlike the later proper "tube" lines which were tunnels dug deeper underground, the Metropolitan was built in a deep trench which was then covered over.

Chesham in Buckinghamshire is the furthest station on the Underground from central London, a little further away than the other north western terminus Amersham (though the Metropolitan used to go to Aylesbury and beyond!) The Metropolitan heads towards London through Buckinghamshire and then Hertfordshire at places such as Rickmansworth. The building of the Metropolitan to the north west of London in the late nineteenth century spurred much house building and expansion of existing towns and villages, creating the commuter demand which the Metropolitan (and later the Underground) grew successful on.

The Metropolitan passes through north west London including Wembley and Camden before arriving at the major interchange of Baker Street. Now the Metropolitan is under the London streets as it continues through Moorgate and terminating at Aldgate in the City of London.

Chesham

Rickmansworth

Finchley Road

Aldgate

Tube Ends (2) : Bakerloo Line (Harrow and Wealdstone to Elephant and Castle)

The Baker Street & Waterloo Railway opened in 1906 though was soon known as the Bakerloo Line. The northern terminus of the line was once Watford Junction but this was reduced back to Stonebridge Park in 1992 before the line was restored back up to Harrow & Wealdstone in north west London two years later. This remains the line's northern terminus, though not all trains travel that far. 

The line heads overground through Wembley, Willesden and then to Queens Park where the Bakerloo Line enters a tunnel and doesn't see light again all the way to the southern terminus of the line. The Bakerloo serves both Paddington and Marylebone mainline termini also connecting to major Underground junctions at Baker Street, Oxford Circus and Piccadilly Circus.

After Waterloo, another mainline terminus, the Bakerloo passes under the Thames to finally terminate at Elephant & Castle in Southwark. There have been proposals to extend the line further on, one serious proposal is to extend the line to Lewisham and Hayes though as yet it remains firmly in the planning stage.

Harrow & Wealdstone

Edgware Road

Regents Park

Elephant & Castle

Tube Ends (1) : Northern Line Bank Branch (High Barnet to Morden)

In this new series we will take a look at the various lines on the London Underground, from terminus to terminus!

The Northern Line consists of the Bank and Charing Cross branches which are linked together at Camden Town. The Bank branch stretches from High Barnet in north London down to Morden in south west London, passing through the City of London. The Northern Line has a complicated history which includes the earliest deep level tube railway on the Underground.

Two separate railways were combined in the 1920s to form the Northern Line. The City & South London Railway was opened in 1890. It was London's first deep level underground electric railway and ran from Stockwell to King William Street (a station which has the distinction of not only being one of the first tube stations to open but also to close in 1900!) The CSLR was later extended to form what is now the city core of the Bank branch. The Charing Cross, Euston & Hampstead Railway was opened in 1907 running from Charing Cross to Golders Green. This now forms the city core of the Charing Cross branch.

Starting at High Barnet the line heads south through Finchley (with a branch line to Mill Hill East) and Camden. The Bank branch serves Euston, Kings Cross and St Pancras mainline termini before heading into the city serving Bank and London Bridge. Heading south of the river the Bank branch meets up with the other branch again at Kennington before heading south west to it's terminus at Morden.

Despite the name the Northern Line does not include the most northern tube stations on the Underground, however it does include the most southern!

High Barnet

Finchley Central

Clapham North

Morden