Piccadilly line
The Piccadilly Line is a line of the London Underground, coloured dark blue on the Tube map. It is a deep-level line running from the north-east to the west of London, albeit with significant surface running sections in its outer parts.
History
The beginnings
The Great Northern, Piccadilly & Brompton Railway (GNP&BR) (its original title) was one of several controlled by the Underground Electric Railways Co of London Ltd, whose chief director was Charles Tyson Yerkes, although he himself died before any of his schemes could come to fruition. There had been, in 1902, 26 Bills before Parliament to construct tube railways in London, and it required a Parliamentary Committee to decide on the most worthy of them as far as the Piccadilly Line was concerned.
The scheme eventually agreed involved the amalgamation of two of the planned tube railways: the Great Northern and Strand Railway (GN&SR) and the Brompton and Piccadilly Circus Railway (B&PCR) and the taking over of a District Railway scheme for a deep-level tube line between South Kensington and Earl's Court (approved in 1897 but not built). When the GNP&BR was formally opened on 15 December 1906, the line ran from Great Northern & City Line terminus at Finsbury Park to Hammersmith.
On 30 November 1907 the short branch from Holborn to the Strand was opened. This had originally been the last section of the GN&SR before the amalgamation with the B&PR was made; in 1905 (and again in 1965) plans were made to extend it the short distance south under the River Thames to Waterloo, but this was never to come about. Although built with twin tunnels, single-line shuttle working became the norm from 1918, and the eastern tunnel closed to traffic.
Later changes
On 1 July 1910 the GNP&BR became part of the London Electric Railway. The Act approving the change also applied to the Baker Street and Waterloo Railway and the Charing Cross, Euston & Hampstead Railway.
On 10 December 1928 a new Piccadilly Circus tube station, which included a sub-surface booking hall and eleven escalators was opened. This was the start of a considerable development over the whole of the Railway, which included a comprehensive programme of station enlargement on the same design as at Piccadilly Circus. From the 1920s onwards there had been severe congestion at the line's northern terminus, Finsbury Park, where travellers had to change onto trams and buses for destinations in outer North and North East London. There had also been deputations made to Parliament, asking for an early extension of the line either towards Tottenham and Edmonton or towards Wood Green and Palmers Green. The early 1930s was a time of recession, and in order to relieve unemployment Government capital was made available. The chief features of the scheme were:
- An extension northwards from Finsbury Park to Cockfosters. It was also planned to build a station between Manor House and Turnpike Lane at the junction of Green Lanes and St Ann's Rd in Harringay, but this was stopped by Frank Pick who felt that the Bus & Tram service at this point was adequate. There was also some opposition from the London and North Eastern Railway to the line. The extension is in tube from Finsbury Park to a point a little south of Arnos Grove. The total length of the extension is 7.7 miles (12km): it cost £4 million to build and was opened in sections as follows:
- 19 September 1932: to Arnos Grove
- 13 March 1933: to Enfield West (now Oakwood)
- 19 July 1933: completion to Cockfosters
- Two extensions westwards:
- to Uxbridge: the London and South Western Railway had, until 1916, run trains on its own tracks to Kensington; those tracks were now little used. The Southern Railway granted the lease to the District Railway, and two of the four tracks were designed in 1930 to serve the Piccadilly Line.
- 4 July 1932: Piccadilly line service extended to South Harrow, using MetR tracks
- 23 October 1933 (after formation of the London Passenger Transport Board) to Uxbridge
- to Hounslow: the District Line tracks from Acton Town were quadrupled to Northfields on 18 December 1932 and:
- 9 January 1933: Piccadilly line trains to Northfields
- 13 March 1933: to Hounslow West
- to Uxbridge: the London and South Western Railway had, until 1916, run trains on its own tracks to Kensington; those tracks were now little used. The Southern Railway granted the lease to the District Railway, and two of the four tracks were designed in 1930 to serve the Piccadilly Line.
These extensions are notable for the Art Deco architecture of their stations, many designed by Charles Holden.
In 1977, the branch to Hounslow West was extended to Heathrow Central. This station was renamed Heathrow Terminals 1,2,3 in 1984, with the opening of a further extension via Heathrow Terminal 4. On the 7 January 2005 this further extension (via Heathrow Terminal 4) closed again, in preparation for works to extend the Piccadilly line to the future Heathrow Terminal 5 station.
7th July terrorist attack
On July 7, 2005, a Piccadilly Line train was bombed by an unknown terrorist group. The blast occurred at 08:50 BST when the train was travelling through the tunnel between King's Cross St. Pancras and Russell Square, as part of a co-ordinated attack on London's transport network. A relatively small high explosive device, concealed in a rucksack, was used; the bomber died in the explosion. The attack was synchronised, with further bombs on board a Circle Line train travelling between Aldgate and Liverpool Street and another Circle Line at Edgware Road. At 09:47, a fourth bomb exploded, this time on board a London Bus at Tavistock Square.
The Piccadilly Line bomb produced saw the most fatalities, with 21 people reported killed. Evacuations of the Piccadilly Line proved to be more difficult given it is a deep level line, and was more difficult for the emergency services to reach.
Parts of the Piccadilly Line were re-opened on July 8, with no service between Hyde Park Corner and Arnos Grove. Full service was restored August 4 exactly 4 weeks after the initial bomb.
Trains
All Piccadilly line trains are now painted in the distinctive London Underground livery of Red, White and Blue and tube stock, the smaller of the two types of stock used on the London Underground network. 76 trains are needed to run the Piccadilly Line's peak time service, out of a fleet of 88 (although one unit is now severely damaged as a result of the terrorist attacks of 7th July 2005). For more info on the current stock, see 1973 tube stock.
Rolling stock used
- 1973 tube stock (current)
- 1959 tube stock
- 1956 tube stock
- 1938 tube stock
- standard tube stock
- 1906 gate stock
Map
Stations
(In order from east to west.)
Cockfosters branch
The line splits here into two branches — the Heathrow branch and the Uxbridge branch.
Heathrow branch
(Continuing from Acton Town.)
- South Ealing
- Northfields(One of the two train depots is here and some trains terminate here)
- Boston Manor
- Osterley
- Hounslow East: was Hounslow Town until 1 December 1926
- Hounslow Central: was Heston Hounslow until 1 December 1926
- Hounslow West: was Hounslow Barracks
- Hatton Cross
- Closed - Heathrow Terminal 4
- Heathrow Terminals 1,2,3
Uxbridge branch
(Continuing from Acton Town.)
- Ealing Common
- North Ealing
- Park Royal: opened 1931
- Disused - Park Royal & Twyford Abbey: closed 1931
- Alperton
- Sudbury Town
- Sudbury Hill
- South Harrow: was South Harrow & Roxeth until 1929
- Rayners Lane (from here through to Uxbridge trains share track with Metropolitan Line and some trains terminate here)
- Eastcote
- Ruislip Manor
- Ruislip (Some trains terminate here as well, but only on Monday-Friday peak hours)
- Ickenham
- Hillingdon
- Terminus: Uxbridge
See also
Leslie Green - architect of the Great Northern, Piccadilly & Brompton Railway's early stations
Closed Stations on the Piccadilly line
Down Street opened December 15, 1906 - closed May 21, 1932.It is located between Green Park and Hyde Park Corner York Road opened December 15, 1906 - closed 19th September, 1932. It is located between King's Cross St Pancras and Caledonian Road.
External links
- Piccadilly Line - London Underground website