The is a line of the
London Underground , coloured
Blue on the
Tube Map . It is the third busiest line on the Underground. It is mainly a deep-level line running from the north to the west of London via Zone 1, with significant surface running sections in its outer parts.
The Piccadilly line began as the (GNP&BR), one of several railways controlled by the
Underground Electric Railways Co Of London Ltd (UERL), whose chief director was
Charles Tyson Yerkes , although he died before any of his schemes came to fruition.
In
1902 there had been 26
Bills before
Parliament to construct tube railways in London, many of them proposing competing routes 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). A connecting section between
Piccadilly Circus and
Holborn was also added to link the GN&SR and B&PCR.
When the GNP&BR was formally opened on
15 December 1906 , the line ran from the
Great Northern & City Line terminus at
Finsbury Park to the District Railway's station at
Hammersmith .
On
30 November 1907 the short branch from
Holborn to the Strand (later renamed
Aldwych ) opened. This had been planned as 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 , with the eastern tunnel closed to traffic.
On
1 July 1910 the GNP&BR and the other UERL owned railways (the
Baker Street And Waterloo Railway , the
Charing Cross, Euston & Hampstead Railway and the District Railway) were merged by private Act of Parliament to become the ''"London Electric Railway Company"''.
On
10 December 1928 a new
Piccadilly Circus Tube Station , which included a sub-surface booking hall and 11 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 basis as at Piccadilly Circus.
See Also: Piccadilly Line Cockfosters extension
From the 1920s onwards there had been severe congestion at the line's northern terminus,
Finsbury Park , where travellers had to change on to trams and buses for destinations in
North and North East London. There had 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. However, a 'Ventilation Station', in similar architectural style to tube stations of the time was provided at the site, and is visible today. 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 12 km (7.7 miles): it cost £4 million to build and was opened in sections as follows:
These extensions are notable for the
Art Deco architecture of many of their stations, often designed by
Charles Holden .
During the planning stages of the
Victoria Line , a proposal was put forward to transfer Manor House station to the Victoria line, and also to build new "direct" tunnels from Finsbury Park to Turnpike Lane station, thereby cutting the journey time in and out of Central London. This idea was eventually shelved due to the inconvenience to passengers that would have been caused during re-building, as well as the costs of the new tunnels. Even so, the Piccadilly line was still affected at Finsbury Park by the construction of the Victoria line. The westbound service was re-directed through new tunnels, to give cross-platform interchange with the Victoria line on the platforms previously used by the
Northern City Line . This work was completed in 1965, and the diversion came into use on
3 October 1965 , three years before the opening of the first stage of the Victoria line.
In
1975 a new tunnel section was opened to
Hatton Cross from Hounslow West.
Hounslow West became a tunnel section station. In
1977 , the branch was extended to
Heathrow Central . This station was renamed Heathrow Terminals 1,2,3 in
1984 , with the opening of a one-way loop serving
Heathrow Terminal 4 , to the south of the central terminal area.
