Editing Metropolitan line (section)

== History ==

=== Metropolitan Railway ===
{{Main|Metropolitan Railway}}
[[File:Constructing the Metropolitan Railway.jpg|thumb|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 [[City of London|the City]] to what were to become the [[Middlesex]] suburbs. Its first line connected the mainline railway termini at {{stnlnk|Paddington}}, {{stnlnk|Euston}} and [[London King's Cross railway station|King's Cross]] to the City, built beneath the [[New Road (London)|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, London|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.{{sfn|Green|1987|pp=3–5}}<ref>{{cite book |last1=Edwards |first1=Dennis |last2=Pigram |first2=Ron |year=1988 |publisher=[[Bloomsbury Publishing|Bloomsbury]] |title=The Golden Years of the Metropolitan Railway and the Metro-land Dream |isbn=1-870630-11-4|page=32}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last1=Pipe|first1=Victoria|title=The Railway Adventures: Places, Trains, People and Stations|last2=Marshall|first2=Geoff|publisher=September Publishing|year=2018|isbn=9781910463871|location=Tewkesbury|pages=82}}</ref> In the 1871 plans for an underground railway in Paris, it was called the ''Métropolitain''.<ref>{{cite book |first=Benson |last=Bobrick |title=Labyrinths of Iron |url=https://archive.org/details/labyrinthsofiron00bobr |url-access=registration |publisher=Newsweek books |year=1981 |page=[https://archive.org/details/labyrinthsofiron00bobr/page/142 142]|isbn=9780882252995 }}</ref>

The railway was soon extended from both ends and northwards via a branch from [[Baker Street tube station|Baker Street]]. It reached [[Hammersmith tube station (Circle and Hammersmith & City lines)|Hammersmith]] in 1864 and [[Richmond station (London)|Richmond]] in 1877; it completed the ''[[Circle line (London Underground)|Inner Circle]]'' in 1884,{{sfn|Green|1987|pp=7–10}} 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-on-the-Hill station|Harrow]] was reached in 1880, and ultimately, as far as {{stnlnk|Verney Junction}} in [[Buckinghamshire]], more than {{convert|50|mi|km|abbr=off}} from Baker Street. From the end of the 19th century, the railway shared tracks with the [[Great Central Railway]] route out of {{rws|Marylebone}}.{{sfn|Green|1987|pp=11–14}}

[[File:Au Morandarte Flickr IMG 1744 (14652395318).jpg|thumb|12 ''Sarah Siddons'' with vintage train at Hammersmith]]
Electric traction was introduced in 1905 with [[electric multiple unit]]s operating between Uxbridge, Harrow-on-the-Hill and Baker Street. To remove steam and smoke from the tunnels in central London, the railway purchased [[Metropolitan Railway electric locomotives|electric locomotives]], exchanged for steam locomotives at Harrow from 1908.{{sfn|Green|1987|pp=24–26}} 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.<ref name="A Trip on the Metropolitan Railway (1910)">{{cite web|title=A Trip on the Metropolitan Railway (1910)|url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/1185333/|website=Screen Online|publisher=British Film Institute|access-date=25 January 2016}}</ref>

Unlike other railways in the London area, the Met developed land for housing, thus [[Value capture|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 {{convert|4|mi|km|adj=on}} Stanmore branch was built from Wembley Park.{{sfn|Green|1987|pp=43–45}}

=== London Transport ===
{{Main|Metropolitan line (1933–1988)}}
[[File:Neasden metropolitan line station geograph-2384536-by-Ben-Brooksbank.jpg|thumb|T Stock train passing Neasden Depot in 1959]]
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 {{Stnlnk|Aylesbury}} were withdrawn by 1936{{sfn|Green|1987|pp=46–48}} though services returned to {{Stnlnk|Quainton Road}} between 1943 and 1948.{{sfn|Horne|2003|p=69}}

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 tube station|Stanmore]] branch to the [[Bakerloo line]].{{sfn|Green|1987|p=51}} (This route was transferred to the [[Jubilee line]] in 1979.){{sfn|Green|1987|p=63}} In 1936, the line was extended east from {{stl|London Underground|Whitechapel}} to {{stl|London Underground|Barking}} along the tracks of the District line.<ref name="Rose" /> 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]].{{sfn|Bruce|1983|pp=72–74}} In the 1950s, [[London Underground F Stock|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.{{sfn|Bruce|1983|pp=78–81}}

[[File:Rayner's Lane Station. - geograph.org.uk - 39714.jpg|thumb|right|A Stock vehicles at Rayners Lane in their original unpainted livery]]
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 to 1962, on a more modest scale than originally planned. Until 1961, passenger trains continued to be attached to a steam locomotive at {{stl|London Underground|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.{{sfn|Green|1987|p=55}}{{failed verification|date=September 2014}} Aluminium [[London Underground A60 and A62 Stock|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;{{sfn|Bruce|1983|p=110}} normally operated as eight cars, a four-car unit operated the Chesham shuttle.{{sfn|Bruce|1983|p=113}} [[Driver-only operation|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.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Croome |first1=Desmond F. |last2=Jackson |first2=Alan Arthur |title=Rails Through the Clay: A History of London's Tube Railways |year=1993 |publisher=Capital Transport |page=468 |isbn=978-1-85414-151-4}}</ref>

=== A separate identity ===
[[File:Amersham.jpg|thumb|A stock at Amersham]]
Although the [[East London line]] had been an isolated shuttle since 1939,<ref name="Rose">{{cite book |last=Rose |first=Douglas |title=The London Underground: A Diagrammatic History |edition=8th |date=December 2007 |orig-year=1980 |publisher=Capital Transport |location=London |isbn=978-1-85414-315-0}}</ref> it was shown on London Underground maps as part of the Metropolitan line until 1968.<ref>{{cite web |title=London Underground map 1968 |url= http://www.clarksbury.com/cdl/maps/tube68.jpg |work=The London Tube map archive |access-date=21 November 2012}}</ref> In 1970, it was shown with a thin white line in the middle and labelled the "East London section".<ref>{{cite web |title=London Underground map 1970 |url= http://www.clarksbury.com/cdl/maps/tube70.jpg |work=The London Tube map archive |access-date=21 November 2012}}</ref> 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,<ref>{{cite web |title=London Underground map 1985 |url= http://www.clarksbury.com/cdl/maps/tube85.jpg |work=The London Tube map archive |access-date=21 November 2012}}</ref> changed to orange by the 1990 map.<ref name="T90" /> 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.<ref name="Rose" /><ref name="T90">{{cite web |title=London Underground map 1990 |url= http://www.clarksbury.com/cdl/maps/tube90.jpg |work=The London Tube map archive |access-date=21 November 2012}}</ref>

In 2003, the infrastructure was partly privatised in a [[public–private partnership]] managed by the [[Metronet (British infrastructure company)|Metronet]] consortium. Metronet entered [[Administration (law)|administration]] in 2007 and [[Transport for London]] took over responsibilities.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/london-underground-ppp-performance-report-2009-2010.pdf |title=PPP Performance Report |date=2009–2010 |publisher=Transport for London |access-date=7 March 2012 |pages=7–8 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120426034334/http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/london-underground-ppp-performance-report-2009-2010.pdf |archive-date=26 April 2012 }}</ref>

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.<ref>{{Cite press release |url= http://www.tfl.gov.uk/static/corporate/media/newscentre/archive/17617.html |title=Chesham trains to run direct into central London |date=7 December 2010 |publisher= Transport for London |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120417091407/http://www.tfl.gov.uk/static/corporate/media/newscentre/archive/17617.html |archive-date=17 April 2012 |url-status=dead |access-date=21 March 2018}}</ref> The final passenger services operated by the A Stock ran on 26 September 2012,<ref>{{cite news |url= http://www.railwaystoday.com/2012/09/26/a-stock-the-end/ |title=A Stock last day on the Metropolitan Line |date=26 September 2012 |work=Railways Today |access-date=2 November 2012 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160119095624/http://www.railwaystoday.com/2012/09/26/a-stock-the-end/ |archive-date=19 January 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref> followed by a ticketed public [[railtour]] on 29 September.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.ltmuseum.co.uk/whats-on/events/vehicles-on-the-move |title= Last A stock rail tour |publisher= London Transport Museum |access-date= 27 September 2012 |archive-date= 1 October 2012 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20121001055823/http://www.ltmuseum.co.uk/whats-on/events/vehicles-on-the-move |url-status= dead }}</ref>