District line

Template:Infobox TfL line The District line is a line of the London Underground, coloured green on the Tube map. It is a "sub-surface" line, running through the central area in shallow cut-and-cover tunnels. It is the busiest of the sub-surface lines and the third busiest overall on the Underground network. Out of the 60 stations served, 25 are underground.

History

The District line has a long history. It was built by the Metropolitan District Railway and opened in stages from 1868. The MDR was later bought by Charles Yerkes, forming part of the "Underground" group until it was nationalised in the 1930s. It had branches to Uxbridge and Hounslow West, but both are now operated by the Piccadilly line. Eastbound services ran as far as the seaside town of Southend in Essex from 1 June 1910 and to Shoeburyness from 1911, until 30 September 1939. Between 1 March 1883 and 30 September 1885 the line also served stations from Ealing Broadway to Windsor, running on the Great Western Mainline.

Trains

Most of the District line's services use sub-surface D stock, although the Wimbledon to Edgware Road service uses C stock, due to shorter platform lengths between High Street Kensington and Edgware Road. The D stock has been refurbished, having received the standard Underground livery of red, white and blue, having replaced the previous unpainted aluminium finish which is prone to damage by graffiti vandals. The stock also received a complete interior refurbishment and was fitted with CCTV and passenger information displays. The trains are maintained at Ealing Common Depot and Upminster Depot.

Last unpainted train

A D stock (unit 7115) was taken out of service to be refurbished on 15 February 2008. Its run could have extended into the weekend, but due to planned weekend engineering works it was taken out on Friday at the end of operations. It was the very last silver train on the London Underground; fittingly running on the line which first introduced unpainted train.

Map

The TFL line diagram is available online.

Stations

• 
  Gunnersbury station on the Richmond branch. As at Kew Gardens, tracks are shared with London Overground services on the North London Line
• 
  Ealing Common is one of only two stations where District and Piccadilly line trains call at the same platforms (the other being Acton Town)
• 
  The District line platforms at Wimbledon
• 
  Earl's Court station is the hub of the District line
• 
  A typical District line cut & cover station - Temple
• 
  Inside an unrefurbished District Line Tube Train
• 
  The District and Circle line platforms at Paddington station on the Edgware Road branch
• 
  C69/C77 Stock train leaving for Wimbledon via Fulham Broadway

District line
former branches transferred to Piccadilly line Uxbridge Depot Uxbridge Hillingdon Ickenham Piccadilly line to Heathrow Airport (closed 1975) Hounslow West Ruislip Depot Hounslow Central Central line to West Ruislip Ruislip (closed 1909) Hounslow Town Ruislip Manor Hounslow East Eastcote Rayners Lane Osterley Metropolitan line to Harrow-on-the-Hill Osterley & Spring Grove South Harrow (closed 1934)   Sudbury Hill ( Sudbury Hill Harrow) Boston Manor Sudbury Town Alperton Northfields Depot Park Royal & Twyford Abbey (closed 1931) Central line via central London Northfields Park Royal South Ealing North Ealing Great Western Main Line via Reading Ealing Broadway Piccadilly line to Uxbridge Central line to Epping Great Western Main Line to Paddington Ealing Common Ealing Common Depot   Former service Waterloo–Reading line to Reading to Hounslow   Richmond Piccadilly line to Heathrow Airport Waterloo–Reading line to Waterloo Kew Gardens Acton Town River Thames Gunnersbury South Acton (closed 1959) South Acton North London line to Stratford South West Main Line Chiswick Park Tramlink via West Croydon Wimbledon Turnham Green Sutton Loop Line Wimbledon Park Stamford Brook Southfields Ravenscourt Park East Putney River Thames Hammersmith Putney Bridge Circle and H&C lines via Liverpool Street Parsons Green Barons Court Fulham Broadway West London Line to Clapham Junction West Kensington West Brompton Lillie Bridge Depot Kensington (Olympia) Earl's Court West London Line to Willesden Junction Triangle Sidings Circle line Gloucester Road South Kensington High Street Kensington Piccadilly line to Cockfosters Sloane Square Notting Hill Gate Victoria Circle and H&C lines to Hammersmith St James's Park Bayswater Westminster Embankment Paddington Temple Blackfriars Edgware Road Circle and H&C lines via Liverpool Street Mansion House Cannon Street Monument Mark Lane Circle and H&C lines to Hammersmith Tower Hill Metropolitan line via Harrow-on-the-Hill ( Fenchurch Street) ( Tower Gateway) Aldgate ( ) Hammersmith & City line Aldgate East St. Mary's (Whitechapel Road) East London line to Highbury & Islington St Mary's Curve to East London line Elizabeth line via Paddington East London line via Surrey Quays Whitechapel Elizabeth line to Abbey Wood or Shenfield Stepney Green Central line via Liverpool Street Mile End Central line to Epping Bow Road ( Bow Church) Bow Junction to Stratford Docklands Light Railway Bromley-by-Bow Bow Creek West Ham Plaistow Upton Park East Ham Gospel Oak to Barking line to Gospel Oak Barking Gospel Oak to Barking line to Barking Riverside LTS line to Grays via Rainham Upney Becontree Dagenham Heathway Dagenham East Elm Park Hornchurch Upminster Bridge Romford–Upminster line to Romford Upminster LTS line to Grays via Chafford Hundred Upminster Depot LTS line to Shoeburyness via Basildon

In order from west to east

Richmond branch

• Richmond
• Kew Gardens
• Gunnersbury

Ealing branch

• Ealing Broadway ( Trains to Heathrow)
• Ealing Common
• Acton Town
  • South Acton (closed branch line)
• Chiswick Park

The Richmond and Ealing branches join just west of Turnham Green.

• Turnham Green
• Stamford Brook
• Ravenscourt Park
• Hammersmith
• Barons Court
• West Kensington

Wimbledon branch

• Wimbledon
• Wimbledon Park
• Southfields (lift access to platforms to be provided by 2012)
• East Putney
• Putney Bridge
• Parsons Green
• Fulham Broadway
• West Brompton (eastbound platform is accessible via National Rail lift)

Kensington (Olympia) branch

• Kensington (Olympia)

The Kensington (Olympia) branch joins the main line west of Earl's Court, and trains from it normally run to High Street Kensington.

The Wimbledon branch joins the main line west of Earl's Court.

Main line

• Earl's Court
• Gloucester Road
• South Kensington
• Sloane Square
• Victoria ( Trains to Gatwick)
• St. James's Park
• Westminster ( Westminster Pier)
• Embankment ( Charing Cross) ( Embankment Pier)
• Temple
• Blackfriars ( Trains to Gatwick and Luton) ( Blackfriars Pier)
• Mansion House
• Cannon Street
• Monument
• Mark Lane (closed)
• Tower Hill ( Fenchurch Street) ( Tower Gateway) ( Tower Pier)
• Tower of London (closed)
• Aldgate East
• St. Mary's (closed)
• Whitechapel
• Stepney Green
• Mile End
• Bow Road ( Bow Church)
• Bromley-by-Bow
• West Ham
• Plaistow
• Upton Park
• East Ham
• Barking
• Upney
• Becontree
• Dagenham Heathway
• Dagenham East
• Elm Park
• Hornchurch
• Upminster Bridge
• Upminster

Edgware Road branch

The Edgware Road branch diverges from the main line east of Earl's Court.

• High Street Kensington
• Notting Hill Gate
• Bayswater
• Paddington ( Trains to Heathrow)
• Edgware Road

Current service pattern

The following off-peak service pattern currently runs on the District line

• 6 tph Ealing Broadway - Tower Hill
• 6 tph Richmond - Upminster
• 6 tph Wimbledon - Upminster
• 6 tph Wimbledon - Edgware Road
• 4 tph Kensington (Olympia) - High Street Kensington

(tph=trains per hour)

The only line to not have an interchange with the District Line is the Metropolitan Line, though they did in the earliest years of the Circle Line at the immediately adjacent South Kensington Metropolitan and District Line platforms before much of the Metropolitan Line was taken over by the Circle and Hammersmith and City lines.

Aldgate East Station on the DIstrict and Hammersmith & City Lines is within easy walking distance of Aldgate Station on the Metropolitan and Circle Lines.

Interavailabilty

c2c also serves Upminster, Barking, West Ham and Fenchurch Street (for Tower Hill). Tickets are interavailable between the two operators with Oyster Cards (including pay as you go) accepted on this part of c2c's route. South West Trains services occasionally operate on the Wimbledon Branch between East Putney and Wimbledon, often due to engineering works or problems on the mainline, although trains do not stop at any of the intermediate stations.

In popular culture

• The fictional Walford East tube station in the BBC television series EastEnders is on the District line, taking the place of Bromley-by-Bow.

• Sheffield band Milburn wrote a song labelled 'The District Line' which refers to London.

External links

• "District line facts". Transport for London. Retrieved 2008-07-11.
• "District Dave's London Underground Site". Retrieved 2008-07-11.
• "District Line". Clive's UndergrounD Line Guides. 2008-04-15. Retrieved 2008-07-11.