Jubilee line

Template:Infobox TfL line The Jubilee Line is a line on the London Underground ("the Tube"), in England. It was built in two major sections - initially to Charing Cross in Central London, and later extended in 1999 to Stratford in East London. The Jubilee Line Extension stations are generally notable for their exceptional size and safety features (both being attempts to future-proof the line). Out of 27 stations served, 13 are underground.

The Jubilee Line is coloured silver/grey on the Tube map.

Before the Jubilee line

The Metropolitan main line had been extended from Wembley Park to Stanmore, opening in 1932. The line, as with many others in the north-west London area, was designed to absorb commuter traffic from the new and rapidly expanding suburbs. The line presented the Metropolitan with a problem — so successful was the suburban traffic that by the early 1930s, the lines into Baker Street were becoming overloaded, not least by the post-war flight from the City to the West End.

The solution presented was an extension of the Bakerloo Line, north from Baker Street to serve St. John's Wood and Swiss Cottage, thereby rendering the existing stations (St. John's, Marlborough Road and Swiss Cottage) on the parallel route, redundant. The line would rise between the Metropolitan tracks at Finchley Road, providing cross-platform interchange with the Metropolitan line. Continuing north to Wembley Park, the Bakerloo was to provide intermediate service on the Metropolitan line, allowing its own trains to run Wembley Park to Finchley Road non-stop, cutting seven minutes off of main-line Metropolitan journeys. At Wembley Park, the Bakerloo would run on to serve Stanmore. The Bakerloo extension, built as above, opened in 1939.

The immediately pre- and post-war planning for the Tube network considered a series of new routes. The main results of this study concerned two major routes: the south to north-east "line C" (later constructed as the Victoria Line) and lines 3 and 4, new cross-town routes, linking the north-east suburbs to Fenchurch Street, Wapping and variously Lewisham and Hayes.

Line C opened as the Victoria line, in stages, between 1968 and 1972. Work on the north-east - south-west continued, and in 1972 construction began on the new 'Fleet Line'. Economic pressures, and doubt over the final destination of the line, had led to a staged approach. The first stage comprised thus:

• A takeover of the Bakerloo line between Stanmore and Baker Street.
• A new tube between Baker Street and Charing Cross, thereby relieving pressure on the West-end section of the Bakerloo south of Baker Street.

The new tube was to offer cross-platform interchange between the Bakerloo and Fleet at Baker Street, as pioneered on the Victoria line. Work began in 1972, and was completed in 1979. As part of the works, Trafalgar Square (Bakerloo) and Strand (Northern) stations were to be combined into a single station complex, Charing Cross. The existing Charing Cross station on the sub-surface District and Circles lines was to be renamed Embankment.

History

The line opened on 1 May 1979, taking over one of the Bakerloo Line's two branches to relieve congestion on their common portion. The Baker Street to Stanmore branch was joined to a new four-kilometre segment into central London, terminating at a new station at Charing Cross.

The previous Charing Cross station, on the Circle, District, Bakerloo and Northern lines, was renamed Embankment. The new Charing Cross tube station created a new interchange, amalgamating the stations of Strand on the Northern Line and Trafalgar Square on the Bakerloo.

The new line was to have been called the Fleet Line after the River Fleet, but the project was renamed for Queen Elizabeth II's 1977 following a pledge made by the Conservatives in the Greater London Council election of 1977. The original choice of battleship grey for the line's colour was based on the naval meaning of the word fleet; this became a lighter grey, representing the silver colour of the Jubilee itself. The Fleet Line was mentioned in a 1965 Times article, discussing options after the Victoria Line had been completed — suggesting that the Fleet Line could take a Baker Street-Bond Street-Trafalgar Square-Strand-Fleet Street-Ludgate Circus-Cannon Street route, then proceeding into south-east London.

The Jubilee Line of 1979 was to be the first phase of the project, but lack of funds meant the line stayed the same until the late 1990s. Phase 2 would have extended the line along Fleet Street to stations at Aldwych, Ludgate Circus, Cannon Street, Fenchurch Street, St Katharine Docks, Wapping and then under the River Thames to New Cross, terminating at Lewisham with the potential of taking over the National rail services to Hayes. An alternative plan was created in the late 1970s to extend the Jubilee Line in parallel with the River Thames, this would have taken the Line from Wapping to Thamesmead Via Surrey Docks North, Canary Wharf, North Greenwich, Custom House, Silvertown, Woolwich Arsenal and to Thamesmead. However the 'River Line' extension as it was called was deemed too expensive and construction of the extension never proceeded.

Changes in land use, particularly the urban renewal of the Docklands area, caused the project to extend the line beyond Charing Cross to change considerably in the 1990s. The Jubilee Line Extension, opened in three stages in 1999, split from the existing line at Green Park, creating a one-station branch to Charing Cross, which is now closed (although it is still maintained for occasional use as a film set). With the extension in place, the Jubilee Line is the only line on the London Underground network that has interchanges with all other lines.

Rolling stock

File:1996 stock driver car.PNG

Diagram of a 1996 tube stock driving car

File:1996 stock trailer car.PNG

Diagram of a 1996 tube stock trailer car

When the Jubilee Line was opened, it was operated by 1972 stock. In 1984 this was partially replaced by the new 1983 Stock, the displaced 1972 Stock being transferred to the Bakerloo Line. The 1983 Stock proved to be unreliable and troublesome in service, with single-leaf doors making passenger loading and unloading a slower process than on other stock with wider door openings. With the construction of the Jubilee Line Extension, the opportunity was taken to introduce new trains, and today the line is worked by 1996 stock, which is similar to the 1995 Stock in use on the Northern Line. The new stock has internal displays and automated announcements to provide passengers with information on the train's route - at first they simply listed the destination of the train, and subsequently also listing the name of the next station and interchanges there. Subsequent modifications also made the text scroll across the internal display instead of just appear in it.

The 2005 upgrade

The Jubilee Line closed for a five-day period starting on 26 December 2005 in order to add an extra carriage to each of the six-car trains. The line had to be closed while this work was done as six and seven car trains could not run in service at the same time because the platform edge doors at JLE stations could not cater for both train lengths simultaneously. Additionally, an extra four complete trains were added to the fleet, bringing the total to 63. The result is a 17% increase in capacity at peak times, allowing 6,000 more passengers per day to use Jubilee Line services. The signalling system was also upgraded. Work was completed and the line reopened two days ahead of schedule, on 29 December 2005.

Future

The line is scheduled to switch to automatic train operation in 2009, using the SelTrac system currently on in use on the Docklands Light Railway. Equipment installation and testing for this began in late 2006.

Map

Geographical path of the Jubilee Line

Stations

• Terminus: Stanmore opened December 10, 1932.
• Canons Park, opened December 10, 1932 (as Canons Park (Edgware)); renamed 1933.
• Queensbury, opened December 16, 1934.
• Kingsbury, opened December 10, 1932.
• Wembley Park , opened October 14, 1893.
• Neasden, opened August 2, 1880.
• Dollis Hill, opened October 1, 1909.
• Willesden Green, opened November 24, 1879.
• Kilburn opened November 24, 1879 (as Kilburn & Brondesbury); renamed September 25, 1950.
• West Hampstead, opened June 30, 1879.
• Finchley Road, opened June 30, 1879.
• Swiss Cottage, opened November 20, 1939.
• St. John's Wood, opened November 20, 1939.
• Baker Street, opened May 1, 1979.
• Bond Street, opened May 1, 1979.
• Green Park, opened May 1, 1979.
• Charing Cross (former terminus), opened May 1, 1979; closed November 19, 1999
• Westminster opened December 22, 1999.
• Waterloo opened September 24, 1999.
• Southwark opened November 20, 1999.
• London Bridge opened October 7, 1999.
• Bermondsey opened September 17, 1999.
• Canada Water opened September 17, 1999.
• Canary Wharf opened September 17, 1999.
• North Greenwich opened May 14, 1999.
• Canning Town opened May 14, 1999.
• West Ham opened May 14, 1999.
• Terminus: Stratford opened May 14, 1999.

Gallery

• Inside a 1996 Stock train on the Jubilee Line.
  Inside a 1996 Stock train on the Jubilee Line.
• 
  1996 tube stock units stable at Stratford Market Depot.
• 
  A Jubilee Line train calls at Canary Wharf station.
• 
  The ticket hall of Canary Wharf station.

External links

• Jubilee Line, London Underground website
• Clive's UndergrounD Line Guides - Jubilee Line
• London Review of Books piece, 20 January 2000
• Jubilee line extension photo gallery