Hammersmith & City line

Hammersmith & City

Colour on map	Salmon pink
Year opened	Named as separate line in 1990, actual line opened in 1864
Line type	Sub-Surface
Rolling stock	C Stock 6 carriages per trainset
Stations served	29
Length	25.5
Depots	Hammersmith
Journeys made	50 million (2002)
Rail lines of Transport for London  London Underground lines   Bakerloo   Central   Circle   District   Hammersmith & City   Jubilee   Metropolitan   Northern   Piccadilly   Victoria   Waterloo & City Other lines   Docklands Light Railway   Tramlink   Overground

The Hammersmith & City line is a subsurface London Underground line. It connects Hammersmith in the west with Barking in the east, running through the northern part of central London. It is coloured salmon pink on the Tube map. It was formerly part of the Metropolitan line and incorporates the oldest underground railway in the world, the section between Paddington and Farringdon, opened on 10 January 1863.

The original Hammersmith & City line opened on 13 June 1864, although Hammersmith station itself moved to a different location in 1868. With the exception of the two-stop Waterloo & City line and the East London Line (now a London Overground service), it has been the least-used line on the Underground. It ranks 10th of the 11 lines in passenger numbers. Out of the 29 stations served, 10 have Hammersmith & City line platforms that are wholly or almost wholly below ground, all in cut-and-cover, while those at Paddington, Edgware Road, Farringdon, Barbican and Whitechapel are in cuttings, or under train-sheds but below street level. Between Hammersmith and a point between Ladbroke Grove and Westbourne Park stations, the line is an elevated railway built on brick viaducts.

Since December 2009 the route between Hammersmith and Edgware Road has been served also by Circle line trains. With this change, the Hammersmith & City line no longer has any stations unique to it.

History

Metropolitan Railway (1863-1933)

Main article: Metropolitan Railway

The Hammersmith and City Railway (H&CR) opened in 1864, a 5 km (3.1 mi) elevated railway, largely built on brick arches and bridges between a station at Hammersmith and Westbourne Park that was operated jointly by the Metropolitan and Great Western Railways. The section between Paddington and Farringdon, the world's first underground railway had opened the previous year in 1863. Aldgate was reached in 1876, and the line was electrified in 1906. The line was run with joint stock until the Metropolitan Railway became part of London Underground in 1934 and the line became a branch of the Metropolitan line.

London Transport (1933–88)

Main article: Metropolitan line (1933–88)

The District line was congested east of Whitechapel on the line to Barking, so from 1936 some Metropolitan Hammersmith & City line trains were extended to Barking, diverted from the East London line. For two years from 1939 the 8-car Uxbridge line trains were extended from Aldgate but this caused operational problems, and from 1941 Barking was again served by Hammersmith & City trains. In November 1939, through trains to the East London line via St Mary's curve were withdrawn.

The joint Met&GW stock on the Hammersmith & City line, dating from 1905, was replaced by O stock that initially operated in 4- and 6-car formations, entering service from 1937. However, the trains were made up entirely of motor cars and this caused a problem with the electrical supply, so trailer cars were added from 1938. In 1968 an order was placed for 35 six-car trains to replace this stock. These were arranged as two units with a driving cab in the motor car at one end only, and were normally run as three pairs. These trains were designated C69 stock.

Rebranding (1988-)

The line has been shown separately on Tube maps since 1988, though in later years it was usually operated as a separate line, with the sections not used by regular Metropolitan line trains (from Hammersmith to Baker Street and from Liverpool Street to Barking) not included on the main Metropolitan line maps. Also the line used C Stock as opposed to the A Stock used on the Metropolitan main line.

Because the name change of the route to the separate identity of the Hammersmith & City line is relatively recent, there are many stations with tiling or enamel maps that still show that they are served by the Metropolitan line, e.g. Bromley-by-Bow station, shared by the H&C and the District line.

Technical information

Trains

Main article: London Underground rolling stock

All Hammersmith & City line trains are in the distinctive London Underground livery of red, white and blue and are the larger of the two sizes used on the network. These 6-car trains comprise C stock, introduced 1969–70, with a further batch in 1978. The line shares this fleet with the Circle and District (Wimbledon-Edgware Road branch) lines.

LUL says these 40-year-old trains, part of the same fleet that also operates the Circle line, are "in an increasingly poor state", and they are to be replaced with new seven-car S stock air-conditioned trains from Bombardier Transportation, with delivery scheduled to begin in 2012 for completion by the end of 2014. In combination with new signalling (see below), this is expected to produce an eventual overall increase in the capacity of the route of up to 65%.

To accommodate these longer trains (117m long as opposed to 93m for C stock), station platforms are currently being lengthened.

Depots

There is one depot, Hammersmith, close to Hammersmith station. However, that depot can do only minor work, and other work is carried out at Neasden Depot. There are also sidings at Barking, Farringdon and near High Street Kensington (known as Triangle Sidings) for stabling trains overnight. Trains are also stabled at Lillie Bridge Depot.

Signalling

LUL intends to award a contract in 2012 to build a single signal control centre for the whole of the sub-surface network (Circle, Metropolitan, and Hammersmith & City lines). Some of the existing signalling dates from before the Second World War and it has become unreliable, with replacement components often unavailable. A new system will be installed with automatic train operation (ATO), which it is hoped will be fully working by 2018, increasing throughput in the central area from 27 trains per hour to 32 trains per hour.

Map

Map of the line before the new Wood Lane station was added and before Shepherd's Bush (H&C) was renamed Shepherd's Bush Market.

There are intermediate stations on the line at which trains can terminate. These include Edgware Road, Baker Street, King's Cross, Moorgate, Liverpool Street^{[citation needed]}, Aldgate East^{[citation needed]}, Bromley-by-Bow^{[citation needed]}, West Ham^{[citation needed]}, Plaistow and East Ham^{[citation needed]}.

Stations

Hammersmith & City line

Legend Hammersmith Hammersmith depot Goldhawk Road Shepherd's Bush (H&C) 1st site (1864-1914) Shepherd's Bush Market (Shepherd's Bush until 2008) Wood Lane (1908-1959) known as White City after 1947 Central line Wood Lane opened 2008 Latimer Road Ladbroke Grove Great Western Main Line Westbourne Park Crossrail Royal Oak Paddington(Circle, H&C) Paddington(Circle/District) Edgware Road Metropolitan line Baker Street Metropolitan line Great Portland Street Euston Square (Euston) King's Cross St. Pancras Thameslink Farringdon Thameslink Barbican Moorgate Liverpool Street Circle line Aldgate(Circle/Metropolitan) District line Aldgate East East London line (Overground ) Whitechapel East London line (Overground) Stepney Green Crossrail Central line Mile End Central line LTS Line (to London Fenchurch Street) Bow Road ( Bow Church) Bromley-by-Bow West Ham Plaistow Upton Park East Ham Gospel Oak to Barking Line Barking District line continues

Hammersmith & City line train at Wood Lane

in order from west to east

Station	Image	Opened	Additional information
Hammersmith		1 December 1868	Original station on a different site opened 13 June 1864.
Goldhawk Road		1 April 1914
Shepherd's Bush Market		1 April 1914	Opened as Shepherd's Bush on 13 June 1864
Wood Lane		12 October 2008	Change for Central line at White City
Latimer Road		16 December 1868
Ladbroke Grove		13 June 1864	Originally called Notting Hill, renamed Notting Hill & Ladbroke Grove in 1880, renamed Ladbroke Grove (North Kensington) on 1 June 1919, current name is from 1938
Westbourne Park		1 February 1866
Royal Oak		30 October 1871
Paddington ( Trains to Heathrow)		1 December 1913
Edgware Road		1 October 1863
Baker Street		10 January 1863
Great Portland Street		10 January 1863	Originally Portland Road
Euston Square ( Euston)		1863	Originally Gower Street
King's Cross St Pancras ( Trains to Gatwick and Luton)		1863
Farringdon ( Trains to Gatwick and Luton)		10 January 1863
Barbican		1865	Opened as Aldersgate Street, renamed Aldersgate in 1910, renamed Aldersgate and Barbican in 1923, current name is from 1968
Moorgate		1865
Liverpool Street ( Trains to Stansted)		12 July 1875	Opened as Bishopsgate, renamed 1 November 1909
Aldgate East		6 October 1884
Whitechapel		6 October 1884
Stepney Green		1902	Metropolitan line service began in 1936
Mile End		1902	Metropolitan line service began in 1936
Bow Road		1902	Metropolitan line service began in 1936
Bromley-by-Bow		1858	Metropolitan line service began in 1936
West Ham		1 February 1901	Metropolitan line service began in 1936
Plaistow		1858	Metropolitan line service began in 1936
Upton Park		1877	Metropolitan line service began in 1936
East Ham		1858	Metropolitan line service began in 1936
Barking		1854	Metropolitan line service began in 1936

Changes in December 2009

Between Hammersmith and Edgware Road, the service was supplemented by Circle line trains from 13 December 2009, when that route changed from its previous orbital route. This was intended to cause fewer delays since, under the previous Circle line arrangements, one delayed train would affect all following trains. LUL claimed that having a terminus at Edgware Road, rather than the continuous orbital route, would avoid this.

The Hammersmith & City line continues to run as a separate entity, with trains running to Barking and Plaistow in the east. The headway on the Hammersmith – Edgware Road leg has been reduced from seven to four minutes by this schedule change, and the alternation of Hammersmith & City with Circle trains now in principle provide 12 trains per hour at peak times on this section, doubling the previous frequency.

Maps

• ^map 1 Hammersmith – 51°29′39″N 000°13′30″W
• ^map 2 Goldhawk Road – 51°30′07″N 000°13′37″W
• ^map 3 Shepherd's Bush Market – 51°30′21″N 000°13′35″W
• ^map 4 Wood Lane – 51°30′35″N 000°13′27″W
• ^map 5 Latimer Road – 51°30′50″N 000°13′02″W
• ^map 6 Ladbroke Grove – 51°31′02″N 000°12′38″W
• ^map 7 Westbourne Park – 51°31′16″N 000°12′04″W
• ^map 8 Royal Oak – 51°31′09″N 000°11′17″W
• ^map 9 London Paddington – 51°31′02″N 000°10′39″W
• ^map 10 Edgware Road – 51°31′12″N 000°10′04″W
• ^map 11 Baker Street – 51°31′19″N 000°09′25″W
• ^map 12 Great Portland Street – 51°31′26″N 000°08′38″W
• ^map 13 Euston Square – 51°31′33″N 000°08′09″W
• ^map 14 King's Cross St. Pancras – 51°31′49″N 000°07′27″W
• ^map 15 Farringdon – 51°31′12″N 000°06′19″W

• ^map 16 Barbican – 51°31′13″N 000°05′52″W
• ^map 17 Moorgate – 51°31′07″N 000°05′19″W
• ^map 18 Liverpool Street – 51°31′07″N 000°04′53″W
• ^map 19 Aldgate East – 51°30′55″N 000°04′20″W
• ^map 20 Whitechapel – 51°31′08″N 000°03′40″W
• ^map 21 Stepney Green – 51°31′19″N 000°02′47″W
• ^map 22 Mile End – 51°31′30″N 000°01′59″W
• ^map 23 Bow Road – 51°31′38″N 000°01′29″W
• ^map 24 Bromley-by-Bow – 51°31′26″N 000°00′41″W
• ^map 25 West Ham – 51°31′41″N 000°00′14″E
• ^map 26 Plaistow – 51°31′53″N 000°01′02″E
• ^map 27 Upton Park – 51°32′06″N 000°02′04″E
• ^map 28 East Ham – 51°32′20″N 000°03′06″E
• ^map 29 Barking – 51°32′21″N 000°04′54″E
• ^map 30 Hammersmith Depot – 51°29′52″N 000°13′31″W
• ^map 31 Neasden Depot – 51°33′28″N 000°15′31″W

References

Bibliography

• Bruce, J Graeme (1983). Steam to Silver. Capital Transport. 
• Green, Oliver (1987). The London Underground — An illustrated history. Ian Allan. 
• Horne, Mike (2003). The Metropolitan Line. Capital Transport. 
• Rose, Douglas (December 2007) [1980]. The London Underground: A Diagrammatic History (8th ed.). Harrow Weald: Capital Transport. ISBN 978-1-85414-315-0. 
• Simpson, Bill (2003). A History of the Metropolitan Railway. 1. Witney: Lamplight Publications. ISBN 189924607X. 

External links

• "Hammersmith and City line facts". Transport for London. http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/corporate/modesoftransport/tube/linefacts/?line=hammersmithandcity. Retrieved 11 July 2008. 
• "Hammersmith & City Line". Clive's Underground Line Guides. 14 December 2007. http://www.davros.org/rail/culg/hammersmith.html. Retrieved 11 July 2008.