Central line

Central line
Overview
Type	Deep Tube
System	London Underground
Stations	49
Ridership	260.916 million (2011/12)[3] passenger journeys
Colour on map	Red
Website	tfl.gov.uk
Operation
Opening	1900
Depot(s)	West Ruislip Hainault White City[4]
Rolling stock	1992 Tube Stock 8 carriages per trainset
Technical
Line length	74 km (46 mi)
Transport for London rail lines London Underground lines   Bakerloo   Central   Circle   District   Hammersmith & City   Jubilee   Metropolitan   Northern   Piccadilly   Victoria   Waterloo & City Other lines   Docklands Light Railway   Tramlink   Overground v t e

The Central line is a London Underground service that crosses London from Ealing and Ruislip in the west to Stratford in East London before heading north-east to Epping in Essex, outside Greater London and the M25, London's orbital motorway. Coloured red on the tube map, the line serves 49 stations, 20 of which are below ground, in 46 miles (74 km) and is the longest tube line.^[5] One of London's deep-level tube railways, the trains are smaller than those on British main lines. In 2011/12 over 260 million passenger journeys were made on the line.

Although the section between Leyton and just south of Loughton is on the surface, it is the oldest rail alignment in use on the current London Underground system, having been opened by the Eastern Counties Railway in 1856, seven years ahead of the Metropolitan Railway.

The line has the shortest escalator on the London Underground system, at Stratford, with a rise of 4.1 metres (13 ft)^[6] and also the only station where an escalator takes passengers up to the trains, at Greenford, which is also the only escalator with wooden treads left on the system.^[7]

The line has the shallowest Tube platforms on the system, at Redbridge, just 7.9 metres (26 ft) below the road, and the sharpest curve, the Caxton Curve, between Shepherds Bush and White City.^[5]

The line opened in 1900 and was the last line to be built during the reign of Queen Victoria.

History

Central London Railway

Harry Bell Measures designed the surface buildings for the CLR, such as this one at Oxford Circus.

The Central London Railway (CLR) was given permission in 1891 for a tube line between Shepherd's Bush and a station at Cornhill, and the following year an extension to Liverpool Street was authorised, with a station at Bank instead of at Cornhill.^[8] The line was built following the streets above rather than running underneath buildings, because purchase of wayleave under private properties would have been expensive, and as a result one line runs above another in places, with platforms at different levels at St Paul's, Chancery Lane and Notting Hill Gate stations.^[9] The tunnels were bored with the nominal diameter of 11 feet 8 ¹⁄₄ inches (3.562 m), increased on curves, reduced to 11 feet 6 inches (3.51 m) near to stations.^[10] The tunnels generally rise approaching a station, to aid braking, and fall when leaving to aid acceleration.^[9]

The line between Shepherd's Bush and Bank was formally opened on 30 June 1900, public services beginning on 30 July.^[11] With a uniform fare of 2d the railway became popularly known as the "Twopenny Tube".^[11] It was initially operated by electric locomotives hauling carriages, but the heavy unsprung locomotives caused considerable vibration in the buildings above the line and the railway changed to using electric multiple units by 1903.^[12]

In July 1907, the fare was increased to 3d for journeys of more than seven or eight stations. The line was extended westwards with a loop serving a single platform at Wood Lane for the 1908 Franco-British Exhibition. A reduced fare of 1d, for a journey of three or fewer stations, was introduced in 1909 and season tickets became available from 1911. The extension to Liverpool Street opened the following year, providing access to the Great Eastern station and the adjacent Broad Street station by escalators. The Central London Railway was absorbed into the Underground Group on 1 January 1913.^[13]

In 1911, the Great Western Railway won permission for a line from Ealing Broadway to a station near to the CLR's Shepherd's Bush station, with a connection to the West London Railway and agreement to connect the line to the Central London Railway and for the CLR to run trains to Ealing Broadway. Construction of the extension from the CLR to Ealing Broadway started in 1912^[14] but opening of the line was delayed by World War I. The CLR purchased new rolling stock for the extension, which arrived in 1915 and was stored before being lent to the Bakerloo line. The rolling stock returned when the extension opened in 1920.^[15]

In 1912, plans were published for a railway from Shepherd's Bush to Turnham Green and Gunnersbury,^[16] allowing the Central London Railway to run trains on London and South Western Railway (L&SWR) tracks to Richmond. The route was authorised in 1913^[17] but work had not started by the outbreak of war the following year.^[18] In 1919 an alternative route was published, with a tunnelled link to the disused L&SWR tracks south of their Shepherd's Bush station then via Hammersmith (Grove Road) railway station.^[19] Authorisation was granted in 1920,^[20][18] but the connection was never built, and the L&SWR tracks were used by the Piccadilly line when it was extended west of Hammersmith in 1932.^[21]

London Transport and the Second World War

On 1 July 1933, the Central London Railway and other transport companies in the London area were amalgamated to form the London Passenger Transport Board, generally known as London Transport.^[22] The railway was known as the "Central London Line", becoming the "Central Line" in 1937.^[23] The 1935–40 New Works Programme included a major expansion of the line. To the west new tracks were to be built parallel with the Great Western Railway as far as Denham. To the east new tunnels would run to just beyond Stratford station, where the line would be extended over the London & North Eastern Railway suburban branch to Epping and Ongar in Essex, as well as a new underground line between Leytonstone and Newbury Park mostly under Eastern Avenue so as to serve the new suburbs of north Ilford and the Hainault Loop.^[24] Platforms at central London stations were to be lengthened to allow 8-car trains.^[24]

Construction started, the tunnels through central London being expanded and realigned and the stations lengthened, but it proved impossible to modify Wood Lane station to take 8-car trains and a new station at White City was authorised in 1938.^[25] The line was converted to the London Underground four-rail electrification system in 1940.^[26] The positive outer rail is 40 mm (1.6 in) higher than on other lines, because even after reconstruction work the tunnels are slightly smaller.^{[citation needed]} Most of the tunnels for the extensions to the east of London had been built by 1940, but work slowed due to the outbreak of the Second World War until eventually suspended in June.^[26] The unused tunnels between Leytonstone and Newbury Park were equipped by the Plessey Company as an aircraft components factory, opening in March 1942 and employing 2000 people.^[27] Elsewhere, people used underground stations as night shelters during air raids. The unopened Bethnal Green station had space for 10,000 people. In March 1943, 173 people died there when a woman entering the shelter fell at the bottom of the steps and those following fell on top of her.^[27]

Loughton station was rebuilt in the 1930s, with a central track accessed by two platforms for the Central line extension. Opening in 1940, it was not served by Central line trains until 1948.^[1] Today, the station is a listed building.^[2]

Construction restarted after the war, and the western extension opened as far as Greenford in 1947^[28] and West Ruislip in 1948.^[29] The powers to extend the line to Denham were never used due to post-war establishment of the Green Belt around London, which restricted development of land in the area.^[29] The eastern extension opened as far as Stratford in December 1946, with trains continuing without passengers to reverse in the cutting south of Leyton.^[30] In 1947 the line opened to Leytonstone, and then Woodford and Newbury Park.^[31] Stations from Newbury Park to Woodford via Hainault and from Woodford to Loughton were served by tube trains from 1948.^[29] South of Newbury Park, the west-facing junction with the main line closed in the same year to allow expansion of Ilford carriage depot.^[32] The extension transferred to London Underground management in 1949, when Epping began to be served by Central line trains. The single line to Ongar was served by a steam autotrain operated by British Rail (BR) until 1957, when the line was electrified.^[33] BR trains accessed the line via a link from Temple Mills East to Leyton.^[34]

The Central line stations east of Stratford kept their goods service for a time, being worked from Temple Mills, with the Hainault loop stations served via Woodford.^[34] The BR line south of Newbury Park closed in 1956^[32] and Hainault loop stations lost their goods service in 1965, the rest of the stations on the line following in 1966. Early morning passenger trains from Stratford (Liverpool Street on Sundays) ran to Epping or Loughton until 1970.^[35] The single-track section from Epping to Ongar was electrified in 1957^[36] and then operated as a shuttle service using short tube trains. However, carrying only 100 passengers a day and losing money, the section closed in 1994, and is now used by the heritage Epping Ongar Railway.^[37]

The Central line was shut between January and March 2003, after 32 passengers were injured when a train derailed at Chancery Lane due to a traction motor falling on to the track. The line was not fully reopened until June.^[38][39] In 2003, the infrastructure of the Central line was partly privatised in a public–private partnership, managed by the Metronet consortium. Metronet went into administration in 2007, and Transport for London took over its responsibilities.^[40]

Rolling stock

Former rolling stock

View of Bank station in 1903 showing the original electric multiple units

When the railway opened in 1900, it was operated by electric locomotives hauling carriages with passengers boarding via lattice gates at each end. The locomotives had a large unsprung mass, which caused vibrations that could be felt in the buildings above the route. After an investigation by the Board of Trade, by 1903 the carriages had been adapted to run as trailers and formed with new motor cars into electric multiple units.^[41] The Central London Railway trains normally ran with six cars, four trailers and two motor-cars, although some trailers were later equipped with control equipment to allow trains to be formed with 3 cars.^[42] Work started in 1912 on an extension to Ealing Broadway, and new more powerful motor-cars were ordered. These arrived in 1915, but completion of the extension was delayed due to the outbreak of World War I, and the cars stored. In 1917 they were lent to the Bakerloo line, where they ran on the newly opened extension to Watford Junction. Returning in 1920/21 and formed with trailers converted from the original carriages they became the Ealing Stock.^[15] In 1925–28 the trains were rebuilt, replacing the gated ends with air-operated doors, allowing the number of guards to be reduced to two.^[43] After reconstruction of the Central London Railway tunnels, the trains were replaced by Standard Stock transferred from other lines and the last of the original trains ran in service in 1939.^[44]

Standard Stock behind a steam autotrain service at Epping in 1957

The Standard Stock ran as 6-car trains until 1947, when 8-car trains became possible after Wood Lane was replaced by a new station at White City. More cars were transferred from other lines as they were replaced by 1938 Stock.^[45] In the early 1960s there was a plan to re-equip the Piccadilly line with new trains and transfer its newer Standard Stock to the Central line to replace the older cars there, some of which had been stored in the open during the Second World War and were becoming increasingly unreliable.^[46] However, after the first deliveries of 1959 Stock were running on the Piccadilly it was decided to divert this stock to the Central line, together with extra non-driving motor cars to lengthen the trains to from 7-car to 8-car. 1962 Stock was ordered to release the 1959 Stock for the Piccadilly line. The last Standard Stock train ran on the Central line in 1963,^[47] and by May 1964 all 1959 Stock had been released to the Piccadilly line.^[48]

The single track section from Epping to Ongar was not electrified until 1957, prior to which the service was operated by an autotrain, carriages attached to a steam locomotive capable of being driven from either end, hired from British Railways, and an experimental AEC three-car lightweight diesel multiple unit operated part of the shuttle service Monday-Friday in June 1952.^[36] Upon electrification, 1935 Stock was used,^[49] until replaced by four-car sets of 1962 Stock specially modified to cope with the limited current.^{[citation needed]} The section closed in 1994, and is now the heritage Epping Ongar Railway.

A shuttle operated on the section from Hainault to Woodford after a train of 1960 Stock was modified to test the automatic train operation system to be used on the Victoria line. As each 1967 Stock train was delivered, it ran in test for three weeks on the shuttle service.^[50]

Current trains

1992 Stock at Theydon Bois

When the signalling on the Central line needed replacement by the late 1980s, it was decided to bring forward the replacement of the 1962 Stock, due at about the time as the replacement of the 1959 Stock. The signalling was to be replaced with an updated version of the Automatic Train Operation (ATO) system used on the Victoria line, the line traction supply boosted and new trains built.^[51] Prototype trains were built with two double and two single doors hung on the outside of the train, and with electronic traction equipment that gave regenerative and rheostatic braking.^[52]

In accordance with this plan, the first 8-car trains of 1992 Stock entered service in 1993,^[53][54] and while the necessary signalling works for ATO were in progress, One Person Operation (OPO) was phased in between 1994 and 1995.^[37] Automatic Train Protection was implemented 1995–97 and ATO 1999–2001, with a centralised control centre in West London.^[5]

Depots

There are three depots: West Ruislip (51°33′51″N 0°25′37″W / 51.56417°N 0.42694°W / 51.56417; -0.42694 (West Ruislip Depot)), Hainault (51°36′29″N 0°5′37″E / 51.60806°N 0.09361°E / 51.60806; 0.09361 (Hainault Depot)) and White City (51°30′25″N 0°13′21″W / 51.50694°N 0.22250°W / 51.50694; -0.22250 (White City Depot)).^[4] Ruislip and Hainault Depots were completed in 1939. During the Second World War, anti-aircraft guns were made at Ruislip Depot and the U.S. Army Transportation Corps assembled rolling stock at Hainault between 1943–45.^[55]

Services

As of May 2013 the off-peak service is

• 9 trains per hour (tph) between Ealing Broadway and Hainault^[56]
  • 3 tph of which continue beyond Hainault to Woodford via Chigwell^[57]
• 9 tph between West Ruislip and Epping^[58]
• 3 tph between Northolt and Loughton^[59]
• 3 tph between White City and Newbury Park^[60]

totalling 24 trains per hour (one every 3 minutes) between White City and Leytonstone.^[61]

A 24-hour service over Friday and Saturday nights is planned to operate between Ealing Broadway and Hainault from 2015.^[62]

In September 2013, frequencies in the morning peak were increased to 34 trains per hour, giving the line the most intensive train service in the UK.^[63] Previously the Victoria line held this record with 33 trains per hour.

Route

Map

The route of the Central line through the London Boroughs and the county of Essex

Railway line

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Central line 

Legend

Ongar		Epping Ongar Railway
(closed 1981)Blake Hall		Former LU Ongar Line
North Weald		(closed 1994)
M11
Coopersale rail access only
Epping
M25
Theydon Bois
Debden
Loughton
Buckhurst Hill		M11
Roding Valley		Chigwell
		Grange Hill
Woodford		Hainault depot
A406		Hainault
South Woodford		Fairlop
		Barkingside
Snaresbrook		Newbury Park
A12		A12
		LNER Fairlop Loop to Ilford & Seven Kings
		Gants Hill
Wanstead		Redbridge
Leytonstone
		Gospel Oak to Barking Line
		Leyton
High Speed 1		Great Eastern Main Line
Lea Valley Lines
Stratford International		Crossrail
		below: former North London Line
Stratford		now DLR towards Canning Town)
		Jubilee Line
North London Line		DLR towards Poplar
		Crossrail
Great Eastern Main Line
		District Line and H&C
Mile End
Bethnal Green
Shoreditch High Street
Liverpool Street
Bank
St Paul's
Chancery Lane
Holborn
(closed 1933)British Museum
Tottenham Court Road
Oxford Circus
Bond Street
Marble Arch		Crossrail
Lancaster Gate
Queensway
Notting Hill Gate
Holland Park
Shepherd's Bush ( Main Line )		West London Line
Shepherd's Bush (LT)
		right-hand running starts
		White City depot
		Wood Lane (Central Line)
		(closed 1947)
Hammersmith & City Line		Wood Lane (Metropolitan Line)
Wood Lane (H&C)
		White City
GWR goods line to West London Line
		Westway (A40)
		flyover restores left-hand running
to Paddington		East Acton
		Great Western Main Line
North London Line
		North Acton
New North Main Line
First Central (proposed)		A40
		West Acton
Piccadilly line		Piccadilly & District lines
A406/A40 gyratory
Hanger Lane		Ealing Broadway
Perivale		Great Western Main Line
		Greenford Branch Line to GWML
		Greenford
		Northolt
Chiltern Main Line
		South Ruislip
		Ruislip Gardens
		Ruislip depot
Ruislip		Metropolitan and Piccadilly lines
		West Ruislip
South Harefield		Harefield Road
Denham		aborted Denham extension
Chiltern Main Line

The Central line is 46 miles (74 km) long and serves 49 stations.^[5][64] The service has the dedicated use of a mainly two-track railway, widened to three tracks for short sections south of Leytonstone and west of White City. Total track length is 91.4 miles (147.1 km), of which 32.8 miles (52.8 km) is in tunnel;^[5][65] this track is electrified with a four-rail DC system: a central conductor rail is energised at –210 V and a rail outside the running rail at +420 V, giving a potential difference of 630 V.^[66]

The single-track line north of Epping, which closed in 1994, is now the Epping Ongar heritage railway. As of May 2013 shuttle services operate on weekends between North Weald and Ongar and North Weald and Coppersale.^[67] These do not call at Blake Hall, as the station platform was removed upon station closure in 1981, and the remaining building is now a private residence.

The section between Leyton and just south of Loughton is the oldest railway alignment in use on the current London Underground system, having been opened on 22 August 1856 by the Eastern Counties Railway (ECR). Loughton to Epping was opened on 24 April 1865 by the ECR's successor, the Great Eastern Railway (GER), along with the section to Ongar. The Hainault Loop was originally the greater part of the Fairlop Loop opened by the GER on 1 May 1903.^[68]

The line has two tracks except for the short three-track section south of Leytonstone, and near White City.

The line has three junctions:

• Woodford Junction is a flat junction
• north of Leytonstone the branch to Newbury Park descends into tube tunnels under the older route to Woodford
• west of North Acton there is another burrowing junction separating the lines to Ealing Broadway and West Ruislip.^[65]

List of stations

Open stations

Station	Image	Opened[69]	Branch	Notes
West Ruislip		01948-11-2121 November 1948	Ruislip branch	Connects with National rail services. Opened as Ruislip & Ickenham in 1906 by Great Western and Great Central Joint Committee (GW&GCJC), renamed West Ruislip (for Ickenham) in 1947; the suffix was later dropped.[70]
Ruislip Gardens		01948-11-2121 November 1948	Ruislip branch	Opened in 1934 by GW&GCJC, main line services withdrawn 1958.[71]
South Ruislip		01948-11-2121 November 1948	Ruislip branch	Connects with National rail services. Opened as Northolt Junction by GW&GCJC in 1934, renamed South Ruislip & Northolt Junction in 1932, and renamed in 1947.[72]
Northolt		01948-11-2121 November 1948	Ruislip branch	Replaced a nearby GWR station that had opened in 1907.[72]
Greenford		01947-06-3030 June 1947	Ruislip branch	Connects with national rail service to West Ealing, Ealing Broadway and Paddington (in bay platform). GWR station opened in 1904.[73]
Perivale		01947-06-3030 June 1947	Ruislip branch	Opened by GWR as "Perivale Halt" in 1904, closed 1915–20; Halt suffix lost in 1922.[74]
Hanger Lane		01947-06-3030 June 1947	Ruislip branch
Ealing Broadway		01920-08-033 August 1920	Ealing branch	Change for District line and main line trains. Opened by District Railway in 1879, link to main line station opened in 1965/6.[75]
West Acton		01923-11-055 November 1923	Ealing branch
North Acton		01923-11-055 November 1923	GWR station opened in 1904, moved to the current position in 1913 and closed in 1947.[76]
East Acton		01920-08-033 August 1920
White City		01947-11-2323 November 1947	Trains run right-handed through this station
Shepherd's Bush		01900-07-3030 July 1900	Refurbished in 2008
Holland Park		01900-07-3030 July 1900
Notting Hill Gate		01900-07-3030 July 1900	Change for Circle and District lines
Queensway		01900-07-3030 July 1900	Opened as Queens Road; renamed 1 September 1946
Lancaster Gate		01900-07-3030 July 1900
Marble Arch		01900-07-3030 July 1900
Bond Street		01900-09-2424 September 1900	Change for Jubilee line
Oxford Circus		01900-07-3030 July 1900	Change for Bakerloo and Victoria lines
Tottenham Court Road		01900-07-3030 July 1900	Connects with Northern line. Opened as Oxford Street; renamed 9 March 1908.
Holborn		01933-09-2525 September 1933	Originally opened as a Piccadilly station on 15 December 1906, Central line platforms opened later and station renamed Holborn (Kingsway); the suffix was later dropped.
Chancery Lane		01900-07-3030 July 1900	Renamed Chancery Lane (Gray's Inn) 25 June 1934; the suffix was later dropped
St. Paul's		01900-07-3030 July 1900	Opened as Post Office; renamed 1 February 1937
Bank		01900-07-3030 July 1900	Change for Circle, District, Northern and Waterloo & City lines and DLR
Liverpool Street		01912-07-2828 July 1912
Bethnal Green		01946-12-044 December 1946
Mile End		01946-12-044 December 1946	Connects with District and Hammersmith & City lines. Opened in 1902 for District Railway services.[77]
Stratford		01946-12-044 December 1946	Connects with Jubilee line, London Overground, DLR and national rail services. Opened by Eastern Counties Railway (ECR) in 1839.[78]
Leyton		01947-05-055 May 1947	Opened as Low Leyton by ECR in 1856, renamed in 1868.[79]
Leytonstone		01947-05-055 May 1947	Opened by ECR in 1856.[80]
Wanstead		01947-12-1414 December 1947	Hainault loop
Redbridge		01947-12-1414 December 1947	Hainault loop
Gants Hill		01947-12-1414 December 1947	Hainault loop
Newbury Park		01947-12-1414 December 1947	Hainault loop	Opened 1903 on the GER Ilford to Woodford Fairlop Loop line.[81]
Barkingside		01948-05-3131 May 1948	Hainault loop	Opened 1903 on the GER Fairlop Loop, closed 1916–19.[82]
Fairlop		01948-05-3131 May 1948	Hainault loop	Opened 1903 on the GER Fairlop Loop.[83]
Hainault		01948-05-3131 May 1948	Hainault loop	Opened 1903 on the GER Fairlop Loop, closed 1908–30.[84]
Grange Hill		01948-11-2121 November 1948	Hainault loop	Opened 1903 on the GER Fairlop Loop.[85]
Chigwell		01948-11-2121 November 1948	Hainault loop	Opened 1903 on the GER Fairlop Loop.[83]
Roding Valley		01948-11-2121 November 1948	Hainault loop	Trains continue to Woodford. Opened 1936 by the LNER on the Fairlop Loop.[86]
Snaresbrook		01947-12-1414 December 1947	Opened as Snaresbrook & Wanstead by ECR in 1856, renamed Snaresbrook for Wanstead in 1929, renamed for the transfer to the Central line.[79]
South Woodford		01947-12-1414 December 1947	Opened by ECR in 1856 as George Lane, and renamed South Woodford (George Lane) in 1937, current name from 1950. "(George Lane)" still appears on some of the platform roundels.[87]
Woodford		01947-12-1414 December 1947	Opened by ECR in 1856.[80]
Buckhurst Hill		01948-11-2121 November 1948	Opened as a single line by ECR in 1856, moved slightly when line doubled in 1881/2.[88]
Loughton		01948-11-2121 November 1948	Opened by ECR in 1856, moved when line was extended to Ongar in 1865.[80]
Debden		01949-09-2525 September 1949	Opened by GER in 1865 as Chigwell Road, renamed Chigwell Lane later the same year. Closed 1916–19, named changed when transferred to Central line.[89]
Theydon Bois		01949-09-2525 September 1949	Opened by GER in 1865 as Theydon, renamed later the same year.[90]
Epping		01949-09-2525 September 1949	Opened by GER in 1865.[91]

Former stations

• Denham; never connected
• Harefield Road; never opened
• Wood Lane; closed 22 November 1947^[69]
• British Museum; 24 September 1933^[69]
• North Weald; first served 25 September 1949; closed 30 September 1994.^[69]
• Blake Hall; first served 25 September 1949; closed: 31 October 1981.^[69]
• Ongar; first served 25 September 1949; closed 30 September 1994.^[69]

Future plans

The proposed Crossrail 2 line, running from south-west to north-east London and due to open by 2030, was planned for a number of years to be taking over the Epping branch of the Central line between Leytonstone and Epping.^[92] As of 2013 the preferred route options for the line no longer include this proposal.^[93]

The London Overground East London line was extended in 2010, including a new Shoreditch High Street station. The Central line runs directly below this station and it has long been proposed to provide an interchange. The station would lie between Liverpool Street and Bethnal Green, which is one of the longest gaps between stations in central London. Although there would be many benefits to this interchange, it was ruled out on grounds of the disruption it would cause to the Central line while being built, creating high levels of overcrowding and heavily increasing journey times. TfL has since stated that the proposal will be revisited and it might be possible once Crossrail has been completed in 2018.^{[citation needed]}

The Central line was the first Underground line to receive a complete refurbishment in the early 1990s, including the introduction of new rolling stock.^[94] A new generation of deep-level tube trains is planned for the mid-2020s, starting with the Piccadilly line and followed by the Central line.^[95]

The London Borough of Hillingdon is planning to lobby TfL to extend the line to Uxbridge, linking the Central line to the Metropolitan and Picadilly lines near Ruislip depot. TfL has stated that the link would become viable only when the Metropolitan line's signalling is upgraded in 2017.^[96] Such an extension would mean that Central line trains to Uxbridge would not serve West Ruislip station.

The developers of the First Central business park at Park Royal, west London, were planning a new station between North Acton and Hanger Lane. This would have served the business park and provided a walking distance interchange with Park Royal station on the Piccadilly line.^[97] This is not being actively pursued; London Underground has said that the transport benefits of a Park Royal station on the Central line are not sufficiently high to justify the costs of construction.^[98]

References

Notes

Books

• Brown, Joe (1 October 2012). London Railway Atlas (3rd ed.). Ian Allan Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7110-3728-1. 
• Badsey-Ellis, Antony (2005). London's Lost Tube Schemes. Capital Transport. ISBN 1-85414-293-3. 
• Bruce, J Graeme (1988). The London Underground Tube Stock. Shepperton: Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-1707-7. 
• Croome, D.; Jackson, A (1993). Rails Through The Clay — A History Of London's Tube Railways (2nd ed.). Capital Transport. ISBN 1-85414-151-1. 
• Day, John R; Reed, John (2010) [1963]. The Story of London's Underground (11th ed.). Capital Transport. ISBN 978-1-85414-341-9. 
• Green, Oliver (1987). The London Underground — An illustrated history. Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-1720-4. 
• Leboff, David (1994). London Underground Stations. Ian Allan. ISBN 978-0-7110-2226-3. 
• Rose, Douglas (December 2007) [1980]. The London Underground: A Diagrammatic History (8th ed.). Capital Transport. ISBN 978-1-85414-315-0. 

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Central Line.

• Central line facts – Transport for London page with line facts and brief history
• Clive's Underground Line Guide
• A History of the London Tube Maps – 1914 tube map showing proposed extension to Gunnersbury
• Epping Ongar Railway – The company currently owning the Epping and Ongar branch and running trains on it.

v t e Central line Stations Epping Theydon Bois Debden Loughton Buckhurst Hill Woodford South Woodford Snaresbrook Leytonstone Leyton Stratford Mile End Bethnal Green Liverpool Street Bank St Paul's Chancery Lane Holborn Tottenham Court Road Oxford Circus Bond Street Marble Arch Lancaster Gate Queensway Notting Hill Gate Holland Park Shepherd's Bush White City East Acton North Acton Hainault loop Roding Valley Chigwell Grange Hill Hainault Fairlop Barkingside Newbury Park Gants Hill Redbridge Wanstead Ealing branch Ealing Broadway West Acton Ruislip branch Hanger Lane Perivale Greenford Northolt South Ruislip Ruislip Gardens West Ruislip Click to enlarge Rolling stock 1992 Stock History Former stations Blake Hall British Museum North Weald Ongar Wood Lane Former companies Central London Railway Great Eastern Railway Great Western Railway Abandoned plans Richmond extension Denham extension Denham Harefield Road Former rolling stock 1900/1903 Stock 1915 Stock 1920 Stock Standard Stock 1935 Stock 1960 Stock 1962 Stock Proposed stations First Central Uxbridge London Underground Transport for London London Transport portal