UK Transport Wiki
Register
Advertisement
Piccadilly
Colour on map Dark blue
Year opened 1906
Line type Deep Tube
Rolling stock 1973 Tube Stock
6 cars per trainset
Stations served 53
Length (km) {{{LengthKm}}}
Length (miles) {{{LengthMiles}}}
Depots Cockfosters
Northfields
Journeys made 176,177,000 (per annum)
Rail lines of
Transport for London
London Underground lines
  Bakerloo
  Central
  Circle
  District
  Hammersmith & City
  Jubilee
  Metropolitan
  Northern
  Piccadilly
  Victoria
  Waterloo & City
Other lines
  Docklands Light Railway
  Tramlink
  Overground
Portal:London Transport London Transport Portal

The Piccadilly line is a line of the London Underground, coloured dark blue on the Tube map. It is the fifth busiest line on the Underground network judged by the number of passengers transported per year. It is mainly a deep-level line, running from the north to the west of London via Zone 1, with a number of surface sections mostly in its westernmost parts. Out of the 53 stations served, 25 are underground. It is the second longest line on the system, after the Central Line.

History

The beginnings

See Great Northern, Piccadilly and Brompton Railway for detailed histories of the Great Northern, Piccadilly & Brompton Railway (GNP&BR), the Great Northern & Strand Railway (GN&SR), and the Brompton & Piccadilly Circus Railway (B&PCR).

The Piccadilly line began as the Great Northern, Piccadilly & Brompton Railway (GNP&BR), one of several railways controlled by the Underground Electric Railways Company of London (UERL), whose chief director was Charles Tyson Yerkes, although he died before any of his schemes came to fruition.

The GNP&BR was formed from the merger of two earlier, but unbuilt, tube-railway companies taken over in 1901 by Yerkes' consortium: the Great Northern & Strand Railway (GN&SR) and the Brompton & Piccadilly Circus Railway (B&PCR). The GN&SR's and B&PCR's separate routes were linked with an additional section between Piccadilly Circus and Holborn. A section of the Metropolitan District Railway's scheme for a deep-level tube line between South Kensington and Earl's Court was also added in order to complete the route.

When the GNP&BR was formally opened on 15 December 1906, the line ran from the Great Northern Railway's station 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, which had been planned as the last section of the GN&SR before the amalgamation with the B&PCR 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 never happened. Although built with twin tunnels, single-line shuttling became the norm on the branch from 1918 on, with the eastern tunnel closed to traffic.

Later changes

On 1 July 1910, the GNP&BR and the other UERL-owned tube railways (the Baker Street and Waterloo Railway, the Charing Cross, Euston and Hampstead Railway) were merged, by private Act of Parliament,[1][2] to become the London Electric Railway Company.

On 10 December 1928, a rebuilt Piccadilly Circus station was opened. This included a sub-surface booking hall and eleven escalators, replacing the original lifts, and was the start of a considerable renovation of the whole railway, which included a comprehensive programme of station enlargement, on the same basis as the improvements at Piccadilly Circus.

Cockfosters extension

File:1973 Stock at Ruislip Manor 1.jpg

Piccadilly line train at Ruislip Manor station.

Main article: Piccadilly line extension to Cockfosters

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 Road in Harringay, but this was stopped by Frank Pick who felt that the bus and 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 (Template:Convert/mi): 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), in conjunction with the westward extension to Hounslow West
  • 19 July 1933: completion to Cockfosters

Westward extensions

Powers to link with existing tracks west of Hammersmith were originally obtained in 1913. A Parliamentary report of 1919 recommended through running to Richmond and Ealing. By the end of the 1920s the priority had shifted to serving the areas around Hounslow and north and west of Ealing. The outcome involved taking over the inner pair of tracks between Hammersmith and Acton Town as a non-stop service, while the Metropolitan District Railway would continue to provide the stopping service on the outer pair of tracks.[3] Construction of the linking sections started in 1930, and the services opened as follows.

  • to Uxbridge: the District Railway had operated services to Uxbridge since 1910. The District services were taken over by the Piccadilly line:
  • to Hounslow: the line from Acton Town was quadrupled to Northfields on 18 December 1932 and the Piccadilly line was extended:
    • 9 January 1933: to Northfields
    • 13 March 1933: to Hounslow West, in conjunction with the eastern extension to Enfield West.

These extensions are notable for the Art Deco architecture of many of their stations, often designed by Charles Holden.

Victoria line

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.

Heathrow extension

File:PiccadilieLIneTrain.JPG

Inside a Piccadilly line carriage

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.

During 7 January 2005 until 17 September 2006, the loop via Heathrow Terminal 4 was closed to allow the connection of a spur line to the now operational Heathrow Terminal 5 station. All underground services reverted to two-way working into Terminals 1, 2 and 3, which again became the temporary terminus; shuttle buses served Terminal 4 from the Hatton Cross bus station. For a brief period in the summer of 2006, the line terminated at Hatton Cross and shuttle buses also ran to Terminals 1, 2, 3 while the track configuration and tunnels were altered for the Terminal 5 link from that station. The station at Terminal 5 opened on 27 March 2008 on the same day Terminal 5 opened.

2005 terrorist attack

Main article: 7 July 2005 London bombings

On 7 July 2005, a Piccadilly line train was attacked by suicide bomber Germaine Lindsay. The blast occurred at 08:50 BST while the train was between King's Cross St. Pancras and Russell Square. It was part of a co-ordinated attack on London's transport network, and was synchronised with three other attacks — two on the Circle line and one on a bus at Tavistock Square. A small high-explosive device, concealed in a rucksack, was used.

The Piccadilly line bomb resulted in the largest number of fatalities, with 26 people reported killed. Evacuation proved difficult as it is a deep-level line, difficult for the emergency services to reach. Parts of the line re-opened on 8 July, and full service was restored on 4 August, four weeks after the bomb.

Infrastructure

Rolling stock

File:1973ts trains at Rayners Lane.jpg

Piccadilly line trains of 1973 stock at Rayners Lane station

Like virtually all Underground lines, the Piccadilly line is operated by a single type of rolling stock, in this case the 1973 tube stock, in the standard London Underground livery of blue, white and red. Seventy-six trains out of a fleet of 88 are needed to run the line's peak service, and one unit (166-566-366) was severely damaged by the terrorist attack of 7 July 2005. The stock was recently refurbished, and was due for replacement by 2014,[4] but the order for new trains was cancelled in July 2010.[5]

The line was previously worked by 1959 stock, 1956 stock, 1938 stock, standard tube stock and 1906 gate stock.

The line has two depots, at Northfieldsmap 55 and Cockfosters.map 54 There are sidings at Oakwood, South Harrow, Arnos Grove, Rayners Lane, Down Street, Wood Green, Acton Town, Ruislip and Uxbridge.

Signalling

The line is controlled from the control centre at Earl's Court, which it used to share with the District line. It is in need of resignalling, and this work is planned to be carried out by 2014.

Service pattern

The current service pattern is:

6 trains per hour Cockfosters – Heathrow Terminal 5 (via Terminals 1, 2, 3)
6 trains per hour Cockfosters – Heathrow Terminal 4 (returning around the loop and serving Terminals 1, 2, 3)
3 trains per hour Cockfosters – Uxbridge
3 trains per hour Cockfosters – Rayners Lane
6 trains per hour Arnos Grove – Northfields

Half of the Uxbridge trains turn back at Rayners Lane: a 10-minute service runs between Acton and Rayners Lane, with a 20-minute service to Uxbridge (this section is supplemented by the Metropolitan line).

Often late evening services terminate at Oakwood instead of Cockfosters.

Trains will also make an additional stop at Turnham Green during early mornings and late evenings but will not stop at the station during the main part of the day.

Other services operate at times, especially at the start and towards the end of the traffic day.

Map

Stations

Template:Piccadilly Line

File:Step-free access notification (Piccadilly line).png

Notice explaining about step-free access. This can be found inside every Piccadilly line train.

File:Going to Covent Garden? notification.png

Notice explaining alternative routes to Covent Garden. This can be found inside every Piccadilly line train.

(In order from east to west.)

Cockfosters branch

Cockfosters branch
Station Image Opened Additional information
Cockfosters File:Cockfosters Tube Station 2007.jpg 31 July 1933 One of the two depots is located heremap 1
Oakwood Handicapped/disabled access File:Oakwood tube station better.jpg 13 March 1933 Opened as Enfield West; renamed Enfield West Oakwood 3 May 1934; renamed 1 September 1946map 2
Southgate File:Southgate station building2.JPG 13 March 1933 in deep-level tunnelmap 3
Arnos Grove File:Arnos Grove stn building.JPG 19 September 1932 Trains may terminate here: there are several sidings for stabling trainsmap 4
Tunnel section commences
Bounds Green File:Bounds Green stn building.jpg 19 September 1932 map 5
Wood Green File:Wood Green tube station 070414.JPG 19 September 1932 map 6
Turnpike Lane File:Turnpike Lane stn building.JPG 19 September 1932 map 7
Manor House File:Manor House stn main entrance.JPG 19 September 1932 map 8
Original Section
Finsbury Park File:National Rail logo.svg File:Finsbury Park tube stn entrance Station Place.JPG 15 December 1906 map 9
Arsenal File:Arsenal station entrance.JPG 15 December 1906 Opened as Gillespie Road; renamed Arsenal (Highbury Hill) 31 October 1932; the suffix was later dropped in 1960map 10
Holloway Road File:Holloway Road stn building02.jpg 15 December 1906 map 11
Caledonian Road Handicapped/disabled access File:Caledonian Road stn building.JPG 15 December 1906 map 12
King's Cross St. Pancras Handicapped/disabled access File:National Rail logo.svg File:King's Cross St Pancras tube stn Euston Rd NE entrance.JPG 15 December 1906 Opened as King's Cross; renamed King's Cross for St. Pancras 1927; renamed 1933map 13
Russell Square File:Russell Square station.jpg 15 December 1906 map 14
Holborn File:Holborn Tube Station - April 2006.jpg 15 December 1906 Renamed Holborn (Kingsway) 22 May 1933; the suffix was later dropped.map 15
Covent Garden File:Covent Garden stn building.JPG 11 April 1907 map 16
Leicester Square File:Leicester Square stn northwest entrance.JPG 15 December 1906 map 17
Piccadilly Circus File:Piccadilly Circus Tube Station Entrance.jpg 15 December 1906 map 18
Green Park File:Green Park stn building.JPG 15 December 1906 Opened as Dover Street; renamed 18 September 1933map 19
Hyde Park Corner File:Hyde Park Corner stn southwest entrance.JPG 15 December 1906 In the event of disruption, trains may terminate here via a crossovermap 20
Knightsbridge File:Knightsbridge station east entrance.JPG 15 December 1906 map 21
South Kensington File:South Kensington station.jpg 8 January 1907 map 22
Gloucester Road File:GlocesterRoadTube.jpg 15 December 1906 map 23
Earl's Court Handicapped/disabled access File:EarlsCourtEntrance2.jpg 15 December 1906 map 24
Tunnel section ends
Barons Court File:Barons-court-tube.jpg 15 December 1906 map 25
Hammersmith Handicapped/disabled access File:Hammersmith entrance District and Piccadilly lines.jpg 15 December 1906 map 26

Extension to Hounslow and Uxbridge

Extension to Hounslow and Uxbridge
Station Image Opened Additional information
Turnham Green File:Turnham Green stn building.JPG 1 January 1869 Originally the London and South Western Railway; first served by the Piccadilly line 23 June 1963map 27
Acton Town Handicapped/disabled access File:ActonTown1.jpg 1 July 1879 Originally the Metropolitan District Railway, later District line; first served by the Piccadilly line 4 July 1932map 28
The line splits here into two branches — the Heathrow branch and the Uxbridge branch.

Heathrow branch

Continuing from Acton Town
Station Image Opened Additional information
South Ealing File:South Ealing stn building.JPG 1 May 1883 Originally the Metropolitan District Railway, later District line; first served by the Piccadilly line 29 April 1935map 29
Northfields File:Northfields station building.JPG 16 April 1908 Originally the District line (one of the two depots is here and some trains terminate here); first served by the Piccadilly line 9 January 1933map 30
Boston Manor File:Boston Manor stn building.JPG 1 May 1883 Originally the District line; first served by the Piccadilly line 13 March 1933map 31
Osterley File:Osterley station building2.JPG 23 March 1934 map 32
Hounslow East Handicapped/disabled access File:Hounslow East stn building.JPG 2 May 1909 Opened as Hounslow Town by the District line renamed 1 December 1925; first served by the Piccadilly line 13 March 1933map 33
Hounslow Central File:Hounslow Central building.JPG 1 April 1886 Opened as Heston-Hounslow by the District line, renamed 1 December 1925; first served by the Piccadilly line 13 March 1933map 34
Tunnel section recommences
Hounslow West Handicapped/disabled access File:Hounslow West stn building.JPG 21 July 1884 Opened as Hounslow Barracks) by the District line, renamed 1 December 1925; first served by the Piccadilly line 13 March 1933, resited 19 July 1975map 35
Hatton Cross File:Hatton Cross stn northern entrance.JPG 19 July 1975 map 36
Heathrow Terminal 4 Handicapped/disabled access File:Heathrow Terminal 4 tube entrance.JPG 12 April 1986 map 37
Heathrow Terminals 1, 2, 3 Handicapped/disabled access File:Heathrow Terms 123 entrance.JPG 16 December 1977 Opened as Heathrow Central; renamed Heathrow Central Terminals 1,2,3 on 3 September 1983; renamed 12 April 1986map 38
Heathrow Terminal 5 Handicapped/disabled access File:Heathrow Terminal 5 Underground entrance.JPG 27 March 2008 map 39

Just beyond Heathrow Terminals 1, 2, 3 tube station, the line goes into a new section to serve Heathrow Terminal 5 tube station, which opened in March 2008. Half of all Heathrow trains use the loop and serve Terminal 4 and the other half omit Terminal 4 and serve Terminal 5.[6]

Uxbridge branch

Continuing from Acton Town
Station Image Opened Additional information
Ealing Common File:Ealing Common stn building.JPG 1 July 1879 Originally the District line; first served by the Piccadilly line 4 July 1932map 40
North Ealing File:North Ealing stn building.JPG 23 June 1903 Originally the District line; first served by the Piccadilly line 4 July 1932map 41
Park Royal File:Park Royal stn building.JPG 6 July 1931 Originally the District line; first served by the Piccadilly line 4 July 1932; renamed Park Royal (Hanger Hill) 1 March 1936; renamed 1947map 42
Alperton File:Alperton station building.JPG 28 June 1903 Opened as Perivale-Alperton by the District line; renamed 7 October 1910; first served by the Piccadilly line 4 July 1932map 43
Sudbury Town Handicapped/disabled access File:Sudbury Town stn main entrance.JPG 28 June 1903 Originally the District line; first served by the Piccadilly line 4 July 1932map 44
Sudbury Hill (File:National Rail logo.svg Sudbury Hill Harrow) File:Sudbury Hill stn building.JPG 28 June 1903 Originally the District line; first served by the Piccadilly line 4 July 1932map 45
South Harrow File:South Harrow stn southern entrance.JPG 28 June 1903 Originally the District line; first served by the Piccadilly line 4 July 1932; closed when re-located 4 July 1935; re-opened 5 July 1935map 46
Rayners Lane File:Rayners Lane stn building.JPG 1 March 1910 Originally the District line; first served by the Piccadilly line 23 October 1933 (from here to Uxbridge trains share track with Metropolitan line, and some trains terminate here)map 47
Eastcote File:Eastcote tube station 1.jpg 1 March 1910 Originally the District line; first served by the Piccadilly line 23 October 1933map 48
Ruislip Manor File:Ruislip Manor tube station 1.jpg 5 August 1912 Originally the District line; first served by the Piccadilly line 23 October 1933map 49
Ruislip File:Ruislip station building.JPG 1 March 1910 Originally the District line; first served by the Piccadilly line 23 October 1933 (some trains terminate here in Monday-Friday peak hours)map 50
Ickenham File:Ickenham tube station 1.jpg 1 March 1910 Originally the District line; first served by the Piccadilly line 23 October 1933map 51
Hillingdon Handicapped/disabled access File:Hillingdon stn entrance.JPG 10 December 1923 Originally the District line; first served by the Piccadilly line 23 October 1933; renamed Hillingdon (Swakeleys) April, 1934; the suffix was later dropped; closed when re-located 5 December 1992; re-opened 6 December 1992map 52
Uxbridge Handicapped/disabled access File:Uxbridge station entrance.JPG 1 March 1910 Terminus. Originally the District line; first served by the Piccadilly line 23 October 1933; closed when re-located 3 December 1938; re-opened 4 December 1938map 53

Closed stations

File:Aldwych branch (en).svg

The Aldwych branch

  • Aldwych opened on 30 November 1907 as the Strand tube station. It was at the end of a branch line from the main line at Holborn. An evening through-northbound 'Theatre' train ran until 1910. From 1917 onwards, it was served only by a shuttle from Holborn. In the same year it was renamed Aldwych when Charing Cross on the Northern line was renamed Strand. It was temporarily closed in 1940 during World War II to be used as an air-raid shelter. It re-opened in 1946. The possibility of extending the branch to Waterloo was discussed, but the scheme never proceeded.[7] Aldwych was finally closed on 30 September 1994; the level of use was said to be too low to justify the £1 million in estimated costs of a complete replacement of the lifts. The station is regularly used by film makers.
  • Park Royal & Twyford Abbey opened 23 June 1903; closed 5 July 1931. Although on the route of the current Piccadilly line, a short distance north of the present Park Royal station, it was never served by Piccadilly line trains. It was opened by the District line, the original operator of the line between Ealing Common and South Harrow, and was closed and replaced by the present Park Royal station before the Piccadilly line started running trains to South Harrow in 1932.
  • York Road opened 15 December 1906; closed 19 September 1932, between King's Cross St Pancras and Caledonian Road. It has been suggested[8] that this station may be reopened to serve new developments on the nearby Kings Cross railway lands, but this idea is not being progressed at present. The road the station served, 'York Road', has since been renamed 'York Way'.

Future

The Piccadilly line was to be upgraded in 2014-15 and would have had new trains named 2014 tube stock as well as new signalling. This would have increased the line's capacity by some 24%.[9] Bids for the rolling-stock order were submitted in 2008. However, after the acquisition of Tube Lines by Transport for London in June 2010, this order was cancelled.[5]

See also

  • Leslie Green — architect of the Great Northern, Piccadilly & Brompton Railway's early stations
  • Vauxhall Cross tube station — fictional Piccadilly line tube station

Maps

Sources

  • Barker, T. C.; Robbins, Michael (1974). A History of London Transport: Volume two — the Twentieth Century to 1970. George Allen & Unwin Ltd. 

References

  1. Template:London Gazette
  2. The merger was carried out by transferring the assets of the CCE&HR and the BS&WR to the GNP&BR and renaming the GNP&BR as the London Electric Railway.
  3. Barker & Robbins, p.252
  4. Tube Lines invites expressions of interest from manufacturers for new Piccadilly line trains. Tubelines (15 January 2007). Retrieved on 17 August 2007.
  5. 5.0 5.1 Template:Cite news
  6. Piccadilly line's new timetable. Transport for London (8 January 2008). Archived from the original on 27 February 2008. Retrieved on 2008-01-16.
  7. Template:Cite news
  8. York Way Station. Alwaystouchout.com (11 January 2006). Retrieved on 2008-07-11.
  9. "Transforming the Piccadilly Line", Transport for London.

External links

Template:London Heathrow Airport

Template:Use dmy dates

ca:Piccadilly Line cs:Piccadilly Line (linka metra v Londýně) da:Piccadilly line de:Piccadilly Line et:Piccadilly Line es:Piccadilly Line fr:Piccadilly line gan:必卡底利線 hi:पिकडिली लाइन it:Piccadilly Line he:קו פיקדילי ka:პიკადილის ხაზი hu:Piccadilly line ms:Aliran Piccadilly nl:Piccadilly Line ja:ピカデリー線 no:Piccadilly-linjen nn:Piccadilly-linja pl:Piccadilly Line pt:Piccadilly line ru:Линия Пикадилли simple:Piccadilly line sk:Piccadilly Line fi:Piccadilly Line th:สายพิคคาดิลลี่ zh:皮卡迪利線

Advertisement