Jubilee line

The Jubilee line is a line on the London Underground ("the Tube"), in the United Kingdom. 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 later stations are notable for their larger size and safety features (both being attempts to future proof the line). Out of 27 stations served, 13 are below ground.

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

Up to 1939

In 1932, the Metropolitan main line was extended from Wembley Park tube station to Stanmore tube station. 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, a problem which was exacerbated by the post-war flight from the City of London to the West End of London.

At first the Metropolitan had advocated a new underground line roughly following the line of the Edgware Road between its Edgware Road station and a point near Willesden Green. Indeed, construction advanced as far as the rebuilding of Edgware Road station to accommodate 4 platforms of 8 car length. Things changed though with the formation of the LPTB and the subsequent absorption of the Metropolitan. The solution now 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 (Lord's, Marlborough Road and Swiss Cottage) on the parallel route redundant, and negating the need for the Met's extension from Edgware Road station (it should be noted, however, that Swiss Cottage Met was proposed to remain open during peak hours for interchange with the Bakerloo, and that Lord's station would further open for special Cricketing events. In the event, both closed permanently as war time economies). 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 Metropolian Line trains to run Wembley Park to Finchley Road non-stop, cutting seven minutes from journey times. At Wembley Park, the Bakerloo would run on to serve Kingsbury, Queensbury, Canons Park and Stanmore. The Bakerloo extension, built as above, opened in 1939.

1939 to 1979

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.

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.

Line C opened as the Victoria line, in stages, between 1968 and 1972. Work on the north-east - south-west route continued.

In 1971 construction began on the new 'Fleet line'. Economic pressures, and doubt over the final destination of the line, had led to a staged approach. Under the first stage, the Baker Street to Stanmore branch of the Bakerloo Line was joined at Baker Street to a new 2.5-mile (4 km) segment into central London, with intermediate stops at Bond Street and Green Park and terminating at a new station at Charing Cross, thereby relieving pressure on the West End section of the Bakerloo Line between Baker Street and Charing Cross and also allowing increased frequencies on the section north 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. The work was completed in 1979. As part of the works, Trafalgar Square (Bakerloo) and Strand (Northern) stations were combined into a single station complex, Charing Cross. The existing Charing Cross station on the sub-surface District and Circle lines was renamed Embankment.

The new line was to have been called the Fleet line after the River Fleet (although it would have only crossed under the Fleet at Ludgate Circus; the Central London section mostly follows the Tyburn). The project was renamed the Jubilee Line for Queen Elizabeth II's 1977 Silver Jubilee 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 line was officially opened by the Prince of Wales on 30 April 1979, with passenger services operating from 1 May 1979.

1979 to 1999

The Jubilee line of 1979 was to be the first of four phases of the project, but lack of funds meant that no further progress was made until the late 1990s.

• Phase 2 would have extended the line along Fleet Street to stations at Aldwych, Ludgate Circus, Cannon Street and Fenchurch Street.

• Phase 3 would have seen the line continue under the river to Surrey Docks tube station with a branch to both Lewisham via New Cross, and to New Cross Gate Station.

• Phase 4 was the possible continuation of the Lewisham branch to take over suburban services on the Addiscombe and Hayes (Bromley) Branch.

An alternative plan was devised in the 1970s to extend the Jubilee line parallel to the River Thames: this would have taken the line from Fenchurch Street to Thamesmead via St Katharine Docks, Wapping, Surrey Docks North, Canary Wharf, North Greenwich, Custom House, Silvertown, Woolwich Arsenal, thence to Thamesmead. However the 'River Line', as this extension 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 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. The Jubilee Line Extension, as the eventual project became known, opened in three stages in 1999. It 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 reversing trains at times of disruption, and for occasional use as a film set). The line extends as far as Stratford, with ten intermediate stations. With the extension in place, the Jubilee line became the only line on the London Underground network that has interchanges with all other lines; it was joined in this distinction by the Central line and the Northern Line when the East London line closed for transfer to London Overground.

There have been other proposals to extend the line serving the docks.

2005 upgrade

The Jubilee line closed for a scheduled 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 Jubilee Line Extension 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.

Current Jubilee line

The Jubilee line is the newest line of the London Underground network. The trains were upgraded in 1995 to the 1996 stock.

Station features

Stations on the Jubilee Line Extension feature:

• step free access to street level
• modern architecture
• wheelchair access
• station protection doors

The station protection doors prevent people from falling on the track by automatically opening only when the train is exactly in line with them. A chime alerts the protection door sensor to shut just before the train doors. This prevents people jumping onto the train last minute. The open air stations begin at Stanmore and end at Finchley Road. On the other side of the line the open air stations start at Stratford and end at Canning Town.

Against these improved features, the Jubilee Line Extension stations have been heavily criticised for very longwinded and poorly planned (although expensive to build) connection facilities with other Underground lines, compared for example to the Victoria Line, the previous cross-London line built.

Rolling stock

File:1996 stock driver car.PNG

1996 tube stock driving car

File:1996 stock trailer car.PNG

1996 tube stock trailer car

1996 tube stock at Stratford Station

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 has an exterior similar to the 1995 Stock in use on the Northern line but (in spite of the confusing naming) is technically less advanced. 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. The 1996 stock uses a different engine to the 1995 stock and has a completley unique engine sound. Subsequent modifications also made the text scroll across the internal display instead of just appear in it.

Future

2009/2010 Upgrade

A project is currently under way to convert the Jubilee line to automatic train operation, using the SelTrac system in use on the Docklands Light Railway. When complete, the new system will enable London Underground to run more trains, increase capacity by 33 per cent and to cut journey times by around 22 percent. Equipment installation and testing for the new systems began in late 2006, and the line upgrade work has required the closure of sections of the Jubilee line on each weekend during 2009. Although the project was due for completion in March 2009, the Jubilee line closures are to continue into 2010.

The programme of closures has been criticised by local politicians, as well as by the management of venues such as Wembley Stadium and The O2 because visitors to major concerts and sporting events have had to travel by rail replacement bus. The management of the project by Tube Lines has been criticised by London TravelWatch for its delayed delivery date, and a report by the London Assembly referred to the weekly line closures as "chaotic".

Thamesmead branch

When North Greenwich was opened, it was constructed to enable a branch extension to be built eastwards to Thamesmead. At present there are no plans to construct this branch route.

West Hampstead Interchange

Plans were put forward in 1974 and again in 2004 for a West Hampstead Interchange, to connect the three West Hampstead stations in one complex, but plans were put on hold in 2007 due to uncertainty over the North London Line rail franchise.

Map

Geographical path of the Jubilee line

The TfL line diagram is available online.

Stations

Jubilee line
Stanmore Stanmore sidings Canons Park Queensbury Kingsbury Metropolitan line via Harrow-on-the-Hill Wembley Park Neasden Dollis Hill Willesden Green Kilburn West Hampstead Finchley Road Metropolitan line to Aldgate Swiss Cottage St John's Wood link to Bakerloo line Baker Street link from Bakerloo line Bond Street Green Park Charing Cross line ends short of Aldwych Westminster River Thames Waterloo Southwark ( Waterloo East ) London Bridge Bermondsey Canada Water River Thames Canary Wharf River Thames North Greenwich provision for branch to Royal Docks and Thamesmead River Thames to Woolwich Arsenal to Poplar, Bank, Tower Gtwy. Canning Town West Ham Stratford Market depot Stratford to Stratford International

Notice explaining about step-free access. This can be found inside every Jubilee line train.

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

Former stations

Station	Opened	Closed
Charing Cross	1 May 1979	19 November 1999

The Jubilee Line platforms at Charing Cross are still used but not for passengers - when the service is suspended between North Greenwich/Canary Wharf and Stratford, one in every three trains will terminate at Green Park, go to Charing Cross, reverse, and start a service from Green Park.

Gallery

• 
  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

Additional images are available from the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE) case studies for the stations at Canary Wharf, North Greenwich, Southwark, and Stratford.

External links

• "Photographic Archive". London Transport Museum. Retrieved 2008-07-11.
  • Official opening of Jubilee Line
• "Jubilee line facts". Transport for London. Retrieved 2008-07-11.
• "Jubilee Line". Clive's UndergrounD Line Guides. 2008-01-21. Retrieved 2008-07-11.
• Saint, Andrew (20 January 2000). "The Jubilee Line Extension". London Review of Books. Retrieved 2008-07-11.
• "Jubilee line extension". Retrieved 2008-07-11. (photo gallery)