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The oldest section of the Metropolitan Railway (MetR) - the precursor of the Metropolitan Line - opened in 1863 , running between Farringdon and Paddington, and was the world's first underground railway. Although the Atlantic Avenue Tunnel in New York is sometimes called the "world's oldest subway tunnel", this had no stations and was used by long-distance as well as suburban trains. METROPOLITAN RAILWAY steam locomotive number 23, the only surviving locomotive from the world's first underground railway, is preserved at London's Transport Museum ]] The Railway was incorporated in 1863 from a junction with the Great Western Railway (GWR) main line at Bishops Road, Paddington to Victoria Street (later Farringdon Street ) in the City Of London . A plaque commemorating the opening can be seen at street level outside Baker Street Station on the north side of Marylebone Road. Construction of the line began in February . By the turn of the century the MetR had its foot in both the main-line and in the basic underground system for London. Line openings The railway now began extending into West London and then further into the City:
The section between Westbourne Park and Edgware Road, giving access to the MetR, was the property of the GWR. It was constructed without Parliamentary sanction.
A further extension, to Richmond , was opened on 1 October 1877 over the lines of the London And South Western Railway via Hammersmith (Grove Road) and a viaduct connection to Ravenscourt Park . Part of this viaduct is still visible from Piccadilly and District Line trains. The extension closed on 31 December 1906 .
"Metroland"
Aylesbury-Verney Junction The ''Aylesbury and Buckingham Railway'' (A&BR) (between Aylesbury and Verney Junction ) was incorporated on 6 August 1860, opened on 23 September 1868, was amalgamated with the MetR on 1 July 1891. In April 1906 the section from Harrow to Verney Junction was leased to a Joint Committee of the MetR and GCR: it was worked on a five-yearly basis alternately by the joint lessees. Passenger services on the line were withdrawn between Quainton Road and Verney Junction from 6 July 1936, and the intermediate stations of Granborough Road and Winslow Road were closed. The last through service, a parcels train from Verney Junction, was worked on 6 September 1947. Brill Tramway North of Aylesbury, at Quainton Road , was a 6.5-mile (10-km) branch railway. It started life as the ''Wotton Tramway'' built and run under the auspices of the Duke of Buckingham. It was constructed between 1870 and 1872 and served as a means of transport around the estate as well as public railway. For a while, a branch line connected to a brick and tile works. In 1894 the line was taken over by the ''Oxford and Aylesbury Tramroad Co'' who rebuilt the existing tramway and extended it to Brill , leading to the name ''Brill Tramway''. It was always the intention that the Tramway would in due course run to Oxford ; in spite of the scheme being once again proposed in 1899, it never came to anything. From April 1899 the tramway was operated as a branch of the Metropolitan mainline (sometimes known as the ''Brill Branch''). There were stations at - 'Waddesdon' (originally 'Waddesdon Road'); 'Westcott'; 'Church Siding'; 'Wotton'; 'Wood Siding' and 'Brill'. As an independent railway a variety of Small Steam Locomotives were used on trains but once part of the Metropolitan Railway A and B Class Metropolitan Railway locomotives were used on trains. Carriages built for the O&A remained in use after the take-over, these two were eight wheeled carriages that had the wheels mounted directly onto the chassis and did not have bogies. The Brill Tramway closed to all traffic on 1 December 1935 . METROPOLITAN DISTRICT RAILWAY The Metropolitan District Railway (usually called the District Railway) was incorporated ten years later than the MetR, on 29 July 1864. As noted above it was set up to complete the "Inner Circle". Line openings The main line of the District commenced at High Street Kensington and extended to Mansion House . Sections were opened as follows:
The following two openings connected the District with other railways:
Before that, however, the District had begun extending its main line both eastwards and westwards, and had at the same time been making connections with main line railways:
In effect this completed the Metropolitan District Railway system. ELECTRIFICATION Electrification had been considered by the MetR as early as the 1880s, but such a method of traction was still in its infancy, and agreement would need to be reached with the District because of the joint ownership of the Inner Circle. Experiments were later carried out on the Earls Court-High Street Kensington section, and a jointly-owned train of six coaches began a passenger service in 1900. As a result of those tests a MetR/District committee in 1901 recommended overhead AC traction for the system. This was accepted by both parties but when an American lead group, the Underground Electric Railways Company Of London Limited (UER), took over control of the District there was disagreement. The group was led by Charles Yerkes , whose experience in the United States led him to favour DC , with Third Rail pickup. After arbritration the latter system was taken up and the railways began electrifying the routes, using multiple-unit stock.
Services on the "Extension line" in the open remained steam-hauled for some years, necessitating change of locomotive:
Two branches were built for electric traction at the outset:
LATER HISTORY Although much of the line was electrified, steam-hauled passenger trains ran beyond Amersham until 1961 and maintenance trains as late as 1971 . In addition, an annual "Steam on the Met" event ran until 2000 , when it was suspended prior to the reorganisation of London Underground in readiness for the introduction of the new "Public-Private Partnership" (PPP) maintenance contracts for the network, though the London Underground Railway Safety Case does permit running future specials. The Metropolitan Railway was taken over by the London Passenger Transport Board in 1933 , becoming the Metropolitan Line of the London Underground. The section north of Aylesbury was closed in 1936 , though services did get to Quainton Road again between 1943 and 1948 . In the same year a service extension from Whitechapel to Barking was implemented along the District Line tracks. In 1948 it was nationalised, along with the rest of the Underground. PRESERVED METROPOLITAN RAILWAY CARRIAGES See Vintage Carriages Trust for details of preserved Metropolitan Railway carriages. THE FUTURE It now seems possible that the and backed by Transport for London is seeking to build it using a Government grant. |