Chronography of London Underground
Page last modified 30/12/2022
London Underground (& tramways
etc.) For other London railways,
main line and suburban. see GB railways.
Live
tube map, https://traintimes.org.uk/map/tube/?
Railway opening,
closing, dates have been moved to the maps being published on Bookshop, UK changes.
For general underground (man
made or man used sites) matters check out Subterranea Britannica, https://www.subbrit.org.uk/
See
also underground-themed
images here.
1) Click here for map of London�s
pre-1952 tram network, maximum extent, also showing proposed tram lines
2)
Click Here for more events relating to London
3)
Click here for
How Deep is Your Tube Station.
Map of depth/elevation of London tube stations, both absolute (to sea level)
and relative (to ground level. Also which stations are vulnerable to a 10 metre
tidal surge.
4)
Proposed Northern
Line Extension from Edgware.
5)
Proposed Northern Line Extension,
Edgware, general map
6)
Image of Chiswick Park station, 1880s and
now.
24/5/2022, London�s Elizabeth Line opened. It runs from Reading
to Shenfield, although passengers initially have to change at Paddington.
19/8/2016, A 24-hour service was introduced on parts of London
Underground�s Victoria and Central Lines.
2009, Work on London�s Crossrail began.
2001, Lots Road power station, which had generated
electricity for the London Underground, became redundant.
17/12/1981, The
Law Lords ruled the Greater London
Council�s cheap fares policy, effectively subsidised from rates, was
illegal.
Rationalisation of services due to moderrnisation
31/10/1981, Blake Hall station on the Central
Line, London Underground, closed. It had been the least-used station on the network, with
an average 6 passengers a day.
4/10/1964, Services on the Moorgate to Finsbury
Park line, north London, were cut back to Drayton Park to allow for Victoria
Line trains at Finsbury Park, see 1/9/1968.
9/4/1964. The first driverless trains ran
on the London Underground. They were first trialled on the Central Line
between Woodford and Hainault.
5/1/1964, The first automatic ticket barrier on
the London Underground was installed, at Stamford Brook station.
1963, Construction of London�s
Victoria Line began.
9/9/1961, London Metropolitan
line services north of Amersham were withdrawn. The last steam passenger services ran on the London
Underground; however some freight and works trains on L U continued to be steam
hauled until 1971.
1960, London�s Metropolitan line was electrified from Rickmansworth to Amersham and Chesham.
27/9/1960. Bank Underground Station, London, opened the
first travelator, or moving
pavement, in Europe.
30/11/1947. In London, steam trains
from Liverpool Street ceased to run on the Chigwell to Newbury Park loop.
5/5/1947, In London, Central Line trains began running to Leytonstone.
4/12/1946, In London, Central Line
trains began running to Stratford.
1/7/1946. London�s Aldwych to
Holborn spur line re-opened.� It had been closed during the War and used as an air raid
shelter
London Underground during World War Two - for full history of WW2
see France-Germany
3/3/1943, 173 people were crushed to death whilst
descending the stairs into Bethnal Green Underground station to shelter
during an air raid. A woman at the top of the stairs, carrying a child, slipped
and fell on those immediately in front of her, causing those below to lose
their balance too.
11/1/1941, Bank Underground station, London, received a
direct bomb hit during the Blitz. 51 died.
12/11/1940, Sloane Square London Underground station
received a direct bomb hit just as a train was leaving in the evening. 35
people were known killed and 2 hospitalised (some estimate a death toll of 79)
with three missing. Train services were running again 2 weeks after the event.
14/10/1940, At 8.02pm, a German World War Two bomb made a direct
hit on Balham
Underground station, where hundreds of people were sheltering from
the air raid. Water rushed in as water mains and sewage pipes burst. 68 people
were killed.
13/10/1940, Bounds Green Underground station was hit by a
German bomb; 17 died and 20 were injured.
17/9/1940. Marble Arch became the first tube station to
be hit by German bombs. 20 died and over 40 were injured.
1/2/1940. First
class travel was abolished on London�s Metropolitan and District Railway.
From then on, all travel on London transport was single-class.
20/11/1939, Bakerloo Line trains began through
running to Stanmore from Baker Street.
8/3/1939, London Transport collected four
million used tickets, which were then analysed manually to see which were the
most and least used routes, in order to plan for future development.
17/5/1938, London
Underground train crash at Charing Cross, 6 killed.
1937, Rayners Lane station now handled 4 million passengers a
year, compared to 22,000 a year in 1930, as �Metroland� housing spread out
across Middlesex.
10/1935, The tram route from Shepherd�s Bush to Hounsow closed.
4/5/1935, London�s Leicester Square tube station opened.
1934, At Holborn, the Picadilly and Central
lines were connected by a subway and escalators. Previously, passengers had to
exit British Museum Station and cross High Holborn to change.
1/7/1933, The
new London passenger Transport Board came into existence, coordinating all bus,
tram and tube services within a radius of 20-30 miles of Charing Cross. Only main line rail
services were excluded. The tube map was also reorganised according to a new
design by Harry Beck.
B3eck was paid 5 Guineas for his map, the style of ehicvh has been widely
copied around the world, and not just for subway maps.
5/11/1932, London Transport changed the name of
Gillespie Road station to Arsenal after the local football club.
10/12/1928, In London, the new
Underground Station at Piccadilly Circus opened.
20/4/1924, The interchange at Camden Town between
the City and South London Lines and the Northern Line to Golders Green,
Highgate, came into use.
1/8/1917, London Underground extended the Bakerloo line with
a new tube station at Stonebridge Park.
1915, London�s last horse tram route (Tower Bridge to
Rotherhithe) was electrified.
22/3/1915, London
Underground extended the Metropolitan line, with a new station at North Harrow
4/10/1911. Britain�s first escalators were introduced, connecting the District
and Piccadilly lines at Earl�s Court station in London.
1906, Lots Road power station opened, for generationg power fot the
London Underground.
10/3/1906, The Bakerloo Line, London, opened between Baker
Street and Elephant and Castle.
1904, Coin operated ticket machines
were introduced, saving time queueing.
1904, The street
tramway from London was extended from Southall to Uxbridge through Hayes.
Perivale station.
13/12/1904. London�s Metropolitan
Railway went electric.
1903, The� electric tram
was extended from Isleworth to Kingston and Hampton Court. The Clapham to
Tooting electric tramway opened.
6/2/1903, In the UK, a Royal
Commission was set up to find a solution to London�s
traffic jams. Options included new electric tramways, but these would take
up valuable road space, or new tube lines, following the
success of the �twopenny tube� opened in 1900 from Shepherds Bush to Bank (now
the Central Line).
9/4/1902� In London, the Underground Electric Railways Company was formed.
1901, Trams began running from Purley via Croydon to London; the
service was withdrawn in 1951.
4/1901, London�s first electric tramway began operations, from Shepherds Bush
along the Uxbridge Road to SActon and Kew, operated by London United Tramways
Ltd.
30/7/1900, Shepherd�s Bush station, West London, opened as
the western terminus of the Central Line.
8/8/1898, London�s Waterloo and City Railway opened.
1876, The horse tramway from Shepherd�s Bush
to Acton opened.
21/10/1896, James Greathead,
engineer whose invention, known as the Greathead
Shield, was crucial for the construction of the first London tube lines,
died in Streatham, south London (born 6/8/1844 in South Africa).
7/12/1869, The East London Railway opened from New Cross Gate to Wapping. It used a former
pedestrian tunnel under the Thames that had opened in 1843. In 1876 a link with
the Great Eastern Railway at Bishopsgate was opened. In 1880 a branch from
Surrey Docks began operations. Until 1941 District Line trains from central
London ran direct to New Cross via the St Marys Curve, just west of
Whitechapel, but after that date the East London Line ran as a separate route,
from Shoreditch.
First
London Undeground Line; the Metropolitan Line, Paddington to Farringdon Street,
1853-69
1/3/1869, London�s Metropolitan Railway, opened 10/1/1863
and operating on both broad and standard gauge, changed to standard gauge only.
10/1/1863. London�s four mile long Metropolitan
Railway was opened by Gladstone.� The line had seven stations and ran from
Paddington to Farringdon Street. It was aimed at relieving growing congestion
on London�s streets. The railway company tried to relieve the public�s fears
about breathing in sulphurous fumes by claiming they were beneficial.
1853, UK Parliament authorised construction of the 3.75 mile
railway from Farringdon Street to Paddington. However construction did not start until 3/1860.
