Tunnel Vision – The History of the Metropolitan Railway 1863 to 2023 by Colin Brading
The presentation began with a ‘journey planner’ mapping out what Colin would cover in his talk, from the introduction and origins, through expansion and electrification, and suburban development, right up to the present day. Some present day statistics were given like the current length of around 42 miles and 34 stations. Reliable figures for post pandemic passenger numbers were not available. Maps and photographs were used as illustration throughout.
Rolling stock on today’s Metropolitan Line is comprised of 8-car S8 units although Colin’s connection goes back much further. He grew up near the line just a short distance from Northwood Hills Station and the primary school playground, adjacent to the track, was an excellent place to spot trains during break times. Further experience involved train spotting and travel to university, followed by working as a railway engineer on the line. He later worked for BR at Reading.
We were taken on a fully illustrated journey along the extent of what was the Metropolitan Railway (MR) including those sections that are no longer part of the present day London Underground Metropolitan Line. Only the central London section is underground; the lines from Finchley Road onwards are above ground.
Why build an underground railway? By the mid 19th century it was generally recognised that congestion in London was a major problem and Colin showed an interesting quote from the London Transport Museum “ if things continue in this way, we shall have to double deck the entire city…”. Railways were just starting to come into the outskirts of London as illustrated on an old map which clearly showed how they all stopped short of the centre and Colin explained this decision, it was thought unnecessary. However, various schemes for the centre were considered with one idea involving building a big central station linking all the railways – which never happened. What if? Charles Pearson was looking at the problems and in 1854 an Act of Parliament empowered the building of the Metropolitan Railway with John Fowler as chief engineer. The first section through Farringdon was delayed by the Crimean War which had resulted in there being little money available, delaying construction, completion and the official opening in 1863. Initial construction used the cut and cover method as the first tunnels were relatively shallow. This was very disruptive especially when things went wrong and we were shown some excellent photographs as illustration. There was also huge social disruption although it was claimed at the time that only 300 people were displaced. That equates to 300 landlords as the number of tenants actually living there was close to 12,000. John Fowler is perhaps less well known than some of his contemporaries but was, nonetheless, an amazing engineer who saw the project through to completion. Another photograph showed the opening celebration sadly missing Charles Pearson who had died in 1862, and prime minister William Gladstone who declined the invitation on the basis that he was getting old and wished to spend his remaining years above ground.
There were details of services and growth of passenger traffic as the line was extended to connect up to St Pancras and Kings Cross, with a view to connecting up to other mainlines as well. It extended east to Moorgate and west to South Kensington with an old map showing what is known today as the Circle Line, the more southerly section being operated by a different company. There was little cooperation between Sir Edward Watkin (Metropolitan) and James Staats Forbes (Metropolitan and District) which caused a number of problems for passengers with complicated ticketing arrangements.
The entire railway was originally manually signalled using lock and block sections and included 47 signal boxes with a few surviving to the present day. It was only a few years before the signalling system was automated when it became clear that there were too many trains for a manual system.
Trains were originally steam operated and there was much debate about steam and smoke in confined spaces which led to John Fowler trying to design something better. He designed a condensing steam locomotive known as Fowler’s Ghost and Colin explained how this worked. It was initially trialled on the Great Western Railway (GWR) as they had invested in the project, but GWR and the Metropolitan fell out resulting in GWR withdrawing all their rolling stock leaving the Metropolitan in the position of having to very quickly look elsewhere. After borrowing what was required to keep going, it became apparent that they needed their own locomotives and sourced a number from Bayer Peacock which were used to operate the services right up until electrification. The MR eventually built its own works at Neasden.
The late 1880s saw completion of the central circle, in spite of the partnership disputes, and by the turn of the 19th century there were quite a few branches including extensions out to Harrow, Pinner, Chesham and Amersham. The MR continued development out into the countryside of the home counties, covering both passenger and freight workings, with photographs showing the very rural landscape. Much of this is no longer part of today’s Metropolitan Line.
It became widely recognised that electrification was needed with new technology available to make it practical. There was discussion of overhead electric versus 3rd rail electric and after trials the DC 3rd and 4th rail system was chosen with electrification coming into use in the early 20th century. The line to Uxbridge was completed in 1904 with electric rails in place although it took a little longer before these could be used; by 1905 electrification had reached as far as Harrow. There were further details of rolling stock, basic wooden platforms at the early rural stations and the new Electric Multiple Units (EMUs) - some of the first to have electric lights. Also of interest was the inclusion of a pullman carriage in the middle of some commuter services. These did not, unfortunately, survive WWII.
Colin showed a map of the MR at the peak of its extent going out as far as Verney Junction. There was nothing there then but countryside, much the same today. The railway extended out to Quainton Road and the Brill Branch where the MR took over operations on the Aylesbury and Buckinghamshire Railway for a number of years. There was a scheme to extend the Brill to Oxford which never happened, an interesting ‘what if….’.
Further developments in central London, with some shared track workings between the MR and Great Central Railway (GCR), engendered speculation that Watkins had still greater plans as illustrated by another diagrammatic map showing possible links to a channel tunnel to France extending the GCR/MR shared workings, through the centre of London, and south to a channel tunnel leading on to Europe – another great ‘what if….’.
The line acted as a catalyst for development all along the railway, especially as the MR owned the land, selling it off to developers who built houses for people who would then use the railway to commute into London, a win-win situation for the MR and the start of Metroland. The MR saw itself largely as a mainline railway and fought against being taken over by the London Passenger Transport Board but, after building the line out to Stanmore (now part of the Jubilee Line), it was eventually absorbed in 1935. Operations, electrification, rolling stock and traction showing development over time, and the contrasting working practices right up until the present day were very enlightening. Fortunately, London Transport were farsighted with preserved rolling stock, both steam and electric locomotives and coaching stock, which are used today to help celebrate the history of the London Underground.
This was a full presentation well illustrated with photographs and maps. Unfortunately, there was no time for questions & answers. The vote of thanks given by Tom Kolisch who highlighted how everyone was enthralled and remained awake throughout! Much was learned in this informative and excellent presentation.