Editing Piccadilly line (section)

===Aldwych branch closure===
{{for|detailed explanation of the Aldwych branch|Aldwych tube station}}
Plans to extend the Aldwych branch south to Waterloo were revived several times during the station's life. The extension was considered in 1919 and 1948, but no progress towards constructing the link was made.{{sfn|Connor|2001|pp=98–99}}

In the years after the Second World War, a series of preliminary plans for relieving congestion on the London Underground had considered various east–west routes through the Aldwych area, although other priorities meant that these were never proceeded with. In March 1965, a [[British Railways Board|British Rail]] and [[London Transport Board|London Transport]] joint planning committee published "A Railway Plan for London", which proposed a new tube railway, the [[Fleet line]] (later renamed the [[Jubilee line]]), to join the [[Bakerloo line]] at {{stl|London Underground|Baker Street}} then run via Aldwych and into the City of London before heading into south-east London. An interchange was proposed at Aldwych and a second recommendation of the report was the revival of the link from Aldwych to Waterloo.{{sfn|Horne|2000|pp=31–33}}<ref name="railarch">{{cite book |url=https://www.railwaysarchive.co.uk/documents/BRLT_RailwayPlanForLondon1965.pdf |title=A Railway Plan for London |date=March 1965 |author=[[British Railways Board]]/[[London Transport Board]] |page=23 |access-date=31 October 2020 |url-status=live |archive-date=30 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200830122021/https://www.railwaysarchive.co.uk/documents/BRLT_RailwayPlanForLondon1965.pdf}}</ref> London Transport had already sought parliamentary approval to construct tunnels from Aldwych to Waterloo in November 1964,<ref name="notices">{{cite journal |date=3 December 1964 |title=Parliamentary Notices |journal=[[The Times]] |issue=56185 |pages=2 |url=http://infotrac.galegroup.com/itw/infomark/322/785/116929157w16/purl=rc1_TTDA_0_CS33777539&dyn=17!xrn_1_0_CS33777539&hst_1 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120927174941/http://infotrac.galegroup.com/itw/infomark/322/785/116929157w16/purl%3Drc1_TTDA_0_CS33777539%26dyn%3D17%21xrn_1_0_CS33777539%26hst_1 |archive-date=27 September 2012 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription}}</ref> and in August 1965, parliamentary powers were granted. Detailed planning took place, although public spending cuts led to postponement of the scheme in 1967 before [[Invitation to tender|tender]]s were invited.{{sfn|Connor|2001|p=99}}

With the Aldwych branch receiving no extensions, it remained a lightly used shuttle service from Holborn. The branch was considered for closure many times, but it survived.{{sfn|Connor|2001|pp=98–,99}} Saturday services were fully withdrawn on 5 August 1962, leaving the line with a peak hour only shuttle on weekdays.{{sfn|Horne|2007|p=134}} In 1993, The original 1907 lifts, which now failed to meet the safety standards at the time, required replacement at a cost of over £3&nbsp;million. As a result, in August 1993, a public inquiry was held for closure of the short branch line. On 30 September 1994, the branch was closed to traffic.{{refn|The [[Epping tube station|Epping]] to [[Ongar railway station|Ongar]] section of the [[Central line (London Underground)|Central line]] also closed on 30 September.{{sfn|Rose|1999}}|name=note4|group=note}} The disused station is now used for commercial filming and as a training facility, with the line retaining its link to the rest of the Piccadilly line.{{sfn|Horne|2007|pp=134–135}}