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The Central London Railway (CLR), also known as the Twopenny Tube, was a deep-level, underground "tube" railway that opened in London in 1900. Today, the CLR's tunnels and stations form the central section of the London Underground's Central line.
The railway company was established in 1889, funding for construction was obtained in 1895 through a syndicate of financiers and work took place from 1896 to 1900. When opened, the CLR served 13 stations and ran completely underground in a pair of tunnels for 9.14 kilometres (5.68 mi) between its western terminus at Shepherd's Bush and its eastern terminus at the Bank of England, with a depot and power station to the north of the western terminus. After a rejected proposal to turn the line into a loop, it was extended at the western end to Wood Lane in 1908 and at the eastern end to Liverpool Street station in 1912. In 1920, it was extended along a Great Western Railway line to Ealing to serve a total distance of 17.57 kilometres (10.92 mi).
After initially making good returns for investors, the CLR suffered a decline in passenger numbers due to increased competition from other underground railway lines and new motorised buses. In 1913, it was taken over by the Underground Electric Railways Company of London (UERL), operator of the majority of London's underground railways. In 1933 the CLR was taken into public ownership along with the UERL. (Full article...)
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Selected biography
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Leslie Green (6 January 1875—31 August 1908) was an English architect known for his design of iconic stations constructed on the London Underground railway system in central London during the first decade of the 20th century. In 1903 he was appointed as Architect for the Underground Electric Railways Company of London (UERL) to design stations for three underground railway lines then under construction — the Great Northern, Piccadilly and Brompton Railway, the Baker Street and Waterloo Railway and the Charing Cross, Euston and Hampstead Railway, which, respectively, became parts of the present day Piccadilly line, Bakerloo line and Northern line.
The station buildings were designed to a uniform Arts and Crafts style which was adapted to suit the individual station location and were clad in non-loadbearing ox-blood red glazed terracotta blocks, with the ground floor divided into wide bays by columns and featured large semi-circular windows at first floor level and a heavy dentilated cornice above.
The railways were to open in 1906 and 1907 and the pressure of producing designs and supervising the works to so many stations in such a short period of time, placed a strain on Green's health. He was elected a Fellow of the RIBA in 1907. but died in 1908 at the age of 33. (Full article...)
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Did you know...
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- ...that at 44 tons, the locomotives of the Central London Railway's first underground trains were so heavy that they shook buildings as they passed 60 feet below and were scrapped after three years?
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Image 1London General Omnibus Company B-type bus B340 built in 1911 by AEC. One of a number of London buses purchased by the British military during World War I, this vehicle was operated on the Western Front.
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Image 2Southern approach to the Rotherhithe Tunnel that runs under the River Thames in east London between Rotherhithe and Limehouse.
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Image 3Archer statue by Eric Aumonier at East Finchley Underground station.
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Image 4Vauxhall Bridge across the River Thames opened in 1906 and features sculptures by F. W. Pomeroy.
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Image 5Arguably the best-preserved disused station building in London, this is the former Alexandra Palace station on the GNR Highgate branch (closed in 1954). It is now in use as a community centre (CUFOS).
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Image 7Qantas Boeing 747-400 about to land at Heathrow Airport, seen beyond the roofs of Myrtle Avenue, Hounslow.
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Image 8The south façade of King's Cross railway station London terminus of the East Coast Main Line.
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Image 9View of Old London Bridge, circa 1632 by Claude de Jongh.
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Image 11London Underground Battery-electric locomotive L16 designed to operate over tracks where the traction current is turned off for maintenance work.
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Image 13Sailing ships at West India Docks on the Isle of Dogs in 1810. The docks opened in 1802 and closed in 1980 and have since been redeveloped as the Canary Wharf development.
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Image 15The Circle routes of Victorian London, comprising the Inner Circle, Middle Circle, Outer Circle and Super Outer Circle.
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Image 16Helicopter landing at London Heliport, a jetty constructed in the River Thames in Battersea.
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Image 19Original stations on the Metropolitan Railway from The Illustrated London News, 27 December 1862.
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Image 20The original Hampton Court Bridge in 1753, the first of four on the site.
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Image 21Woolwich Ferry boats "John Burns" and "James Newman" on the River Thames, 2012.
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Image 22Preserved AEC Routemaster coaches in London Transport Green Line livery.
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Image 23"Boris Bikes" from the Santander Cycles hire scheme waiting for use at a docking station in Victoria.
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Image 24Early style tube roundel in mosaic at Maida Vale Underground station.
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Image 25TX4 London Taxi at Heathrow Airport.
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Image 26Tram 2548 calls at Arena tram stop. This is one of the trams on the Tramlink network centred on Croydon in south London.
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Image 27Planes waiting at Heathrow Airport's Terminal 4.
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Image 28The western departures concourse of King's Cross railway station.
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Image 29Hornsey Lane Bridge, Archway, more commonly known as "Suicide Bridge".
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Image 30Hammersmith Bridge, opened in 1887, crosses the River Thames in west London.
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Image 31The New Routemaster built by Wrightbus has three entrances, two staircases and is designed to be reminiscent of the Routemaster.
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Image 33A tram of the London United Tramways at Boston Road, Hanwell, circa 1910.
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Image 36Central London Railway poster, published in 1905.
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Image 37Escalators at Westminster Underground station descend between beams and columns of the station box to reach the deep-level Jubilee line platforms.
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Image 39The multi-level junction between the M23 and M25 motorways near Merstham in Surrey. The M23 passes over the M25 with bridges carrying interchange slip roads for the two motorways in between.
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Image 40Day (left) and Night (right) sculptures by Sir Jacob Epstein on the London Underground's headquarters at 55 Broadway.
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Image 4255 Broadway, headquarters of the UERL and its successors, is a Grade I listed building in Westminster designed by Charles Holden.
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Image 43Rail, road and river traffic, seen from the London Eye.
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Image 44Ruislip Lido Railway's 12-inch (300 mm) gauge locomotive "Mad Bess" hauling a passenger train.
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Image 46The newly constructed junction of the Westway ( A40) and the West Cross Route ( A3220) at White City, circa 1970. Continuation of the West Cross Route northwards under the roundabout was cancelled leaving two short unused stubs for the slip roads that would have been provided for traffic joining or leaving the northern section.
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Image 47London Underground A60 Stock (left) and 1938 Stock (right) trains showing the difference in the sizes of the two types of rolling stock operated on the system. A60 stock trains operated on the surface and sub-surface sections of the Metropolitan line from 1961 to 2012 and 1938 Stock operated on various deep level tube lines from 1938 to 1988.
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Image 48Albert Bridge, opened in 1873, crosses the River Thames between Chelsea and Battersea.
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Image 49Clapham Common Underground station north and south-bound platforms on the Northern line.
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