The Halcyonite

By Leela

’23

The first tube line was opened in 1863, and it was the metropolitan railway. Its purpose was to connect the main line railway termini and the city. It opened in stages with the first stage opening between Paddington and Farringdon, soon after extending to moorgate in the square mile.

A second company was formed. The Metropolitan and District Railway. Such a unique name, right? 

The metropolitan district railway was established in 1864 with the idea of the “inner circle”. This would be a loop that connects all of  the mainline railway termini, as well as busy areas and the finance bro district. This is now the circle line.

Fun fact about the inner circle: one company ran the trains that went clockwise, and other ran counterclockwise services. If you accidentally bought a ticket from the wrong company, and say you were only going a couple stops in one direction, you couldn’t exchange it, and you’d have to go the long way, all the way around. 

It is also important to mention that branches were built out to Ealing, Hounslow (although Piccadilly has since taken over the Hounslow branch) Richmond, Wimbledon and Buckingham. It used to reach far lengths such as Eton(ew). 

This became the modern day District, metropolitan, circle and H&C. 

These lines were built before the invention of a tunnel boring machine and were built using the ‘cut and cover’ method. This was done by digging a so-called trench in the street, laying tracks and then covering them. 

The first deep level tube line opens in 1890, with the City and South London railway. It ran from King William Street in the finance bro district, across under the river, down to Kennington. This was built with a tunnel boring machine. It is a cylindrical machine that excavates with the main benefit being that it does not disrupt activity above ground.  After this, we got the modern day Piccadilly, Bakerloo, and the City and South London railway  merged with the Hampstead Euston and  Charing Cross Railway to become the Northern line (the most intelligent and dashing tube line). 

Before 1933, all aforementioned railways were their own separate companies, but in 1933, the London passenger transport board was formed. The purpose of this was to turn London’s rapid transit into a unified, more intuitive system.

The victoria line opened in three stages, around 1967. It was to relieve congestion on the Piccadilly line and create a somewhat express link across the city. It was also important as it was important as it was the only tube extension south of the river apart from the northern line. It was opened by the Queen, as shown is this adorable retro vibes video.

In 1939, the Bakerloo line built an extension between Baker street and Finchley road, relieving congestion on the double tracked section of the metropolitan line. It then took over the local tracks of the section from Finchley road up to Stanmore, with the advent of the Jubilee line, the northerly of the two Bakerloo line branches was taken over by a new line, known as the Jubilee, named after the Queen’s silver jubilee in 1977, although it wasn’t opened until 1979. It ran to Charing Cross. In 1999, it was extended, isolating Charing Cross, favoring a southerly route through Waterloo, London Bridge and Canary Wharf (finance bros). It also goes past the millennium dome before ending at Stratford. It was partially funded by the Canary Wharf development. It is the newest extension of the tube. 

Fun little fact: While opened in 1898, The waterloo and city line was inducted into the underground in 1994.