District 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. Out of the 60 stations served, 25 are underground. Two of the four (Richmond and Wimbledon) western branches of the route are also the only lines across the entire network to cross the Thames by bridge and not by tunnel. Although the District line is only the fourth longest line on the network, it serves more stations than any other line.

History

The District line was built by the Metropolitan District Railway (MDR) 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-on-Sea in Essex from 1 June 1910 and to Shoeburyness from 1911, until 30 September 1939 (now part of the London, Tilbury and Southend railway). Between 1 March 1883 and 30 September 1885 the line also served stations from Ealing Broadway to Windsor, running on the Great Western Main Line.

Trains

Most of the District line's services use sub-surface D stock trains, although the Wimbledon to Edgware Road service is operated with C stock trains due to shorter platform lengths between High Street Kensington and Edgware Road. The D stock trains were refurbished between 2005 and 2008, receiving the standard Underground livery of red, white and blue to replace the previous unpainted aluminium finish, which was prone to damage by graffiti vandals. The stock also received a complete interior refurbishment and was fitted with CCTV and passenger information displays.^[2] The trains are maintained at Ealing Common Depot^{map 61} and Upminster Depot.^{map 62}

From 2013 both the C stock and D stock fleets will gradually be replaced by new S stock trains from Bombardier Transportation.^[3] The fleet is expected to be completely renewed by 2016.^[2] The new trains, which are shorter (7-car) versions of the new trains already appearing on the Metropolitan line, will be air-conditioned. Because they will be longer than the trains currently in use, some station platforms will need to be lengthened.^[4]

Map

Stations

In order from west to east

Richmond branch

Ealing Broadway branch

Wimbledon branch

Kensington (Olympia) branch

Edgware Road branch

Main line

Closed stations

• Hounslow Town tube station, opened 1 May 1883, replaced by Hounslow East on 2 May 1909
• Mark Lane, Main line, opened 1884, replaced by Tower Hill 4 February 1967
• South Acton, Ealing branch, opened 1880, closed 28 February 1959
• St. Mary's, Main line, opened 3 March 1884, closed 30 April 1938
• Tower of London, Main line, opened 1882, closed 1884

Current service pattern

The following off-peak service pattern currently runs on the District line (frequencies in peak hours are generally higher):

• 6 trains per hour Ealing Broadway – Upminster
• 6 trains per hour Richmond – Upminster
• 6 trains per hour Wimbledon – Tower Hill
• 6 trains per hour Wimbledon – Edgware Road
• 3 trains per hour Kensington (Olympia) – High Street Kensington (weekends only), a 2 trains per hour service operates on weekday Exhibition days.

This gives a total of 18 trains per hour between Earl's Court and Tower Hill.

Safety

In early 2009, three safety failures occurred on the line. All of them were recorded to have involved trains which passed signals showing red. In August 2009 it was reported that the line had been given a period of less than a month to improve safety features or face possible legal action, involving temporary line closures.^[6][7]

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. From 4 February 2010 EastEnders will use shots of District line trains to superimpose on their episodes to show the trains running into the fictional station of Walford East which is part of the set.
• Sheffield band Milburn wrote a song called 'The District Line' which refers to London.
• Canadian guitarist Pat Travers wrote a song called 'Life in London' which mentions the District Line.

Gallery

Maps

References

External links

• "District line facts". Transport for London. http://www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/modesoftransport/londonunderground/keyfacts/13166.aspx. Retrieved 11 July 2008. 
• "District Dave's London Underground Site". http://www.trainweb.org/districtdave/index.html. Retrieved 11 July 2008. 
• "District Line". Clive's UndergrounD Line Guides. 15 April 2008. http://www.davros.org/rail/culg/district.html. Retrieved 11 July 2008.