The Jubilee Line’s history

The Jubilee Line is the Underground's newest line, but serves stations which originally opened over 100 years ago. Inaugurated on 1st May 1979, the Jubilee Line linked up the most recent sections of new tunnelling to open in central London - the four km (two and a half miles) of twin tunnels between Baker Street and Charing Cross - with the former Bakerloo Line branch between Baker Street and Stanmore. The section of the line between Finchley Road and Wembley Park was originally opened by the Metropolitan Railway in 1879/1880. The branch from Wembley Park to Stanmore, opened in 1932, was also originally part of the Metropolitan. Both the local service from Finchley Road to Wembley Park and the Stanmore branch became part of the Bakerloo Line in 1939, when the London Passenger Transport Board opened a new section of twin tube tunnels between Baker Street and Finchley Road with stations at St John's Wood and Swiss Cottage.

The east London Line’s history

The oldest part of the London Underground actually predates by 20 years the opening of the world's first Underground railway between Paddington and Farringdon Street in 1863. Sir Marc Brunel's historic twin tunnels under the Thames, opened for pedestrians in 1843, were laid with rail tracks linking Wapping to the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway at New Cross Gate, and reopened as the East London Railway in December 1869. The line was linked at Shoreditch to the Great Eastern Railway into Liverpool Street in 1876, and four years later the southern branch to New Cross was opened. When the line was electrified in 1913, the link into Liverpool Street was closed, and trains have since run from Shoreditch to New Cross and New Cross Gate only. In September 1991, the management of the line was merged with that of the Jubilee Line.

The East London Line closed in March 1995 for the refurbishment of Grade II* listed Thames Tunnel between Wapping and Rotherhithe and the construction of a new station at Canada Water which will provide interchange with the new extended Jubilee Line. Major upgrading work was also undertaken, most notably: platform refurbishment at Whitechapel, Shadwell, Wapping, Rotherhithe and Surrey Quays.

The installation or renewal of various communications systems such as dot matrix passenger information equipment at platform level, new tunnel telephones, station clocks, new radio systems and a new control centre at New Cross Dep? t; the replacement of the line's 11kv main traction power cable; complete line resignalling; bridge replacement and repair works; retaining wall strengthening at Surrey Quays and Rotherhithe; brickwork cleaning and repointing at a number of sites along the length of the line; renewal of the track drainage systems; the renewal of large sections of track; and refurbishment of the line's rolling stock. The line reopened between Whitechapel and New Cross/New Cross Gate in March 1998, with the final section between Whitechapel and Shoreditch reopening in September 1998.

Running the Line’s – Jubilee Line

London Underground is currently in the process of working towards the establishment of a public private partnership (PPP) designed to increase investment in the system. This follows the Government's announcement in March 1998 of its intention to divide London Underground into a publicly-owned operating company and three privately-owned infrastructure companies (Infracos) which will be contracted to maintain and enhance the infrastructure.

In order to facilitate the transition to the new PPP structure when the contractual arrangements are in place, the operational side of the Underground has been reorganised, with a structure based on individual lines or groups of lines replaced by one reflecting the proposed Infraco groupings. From September 1999, the Jubilee Line has been grouped with the Northern and Piccadilly Lines, with Mike Brown, Train Service Manager (JNP), and Howard Collins, Station Services Manager (JNP), jointly responsible for delivering train and station services which meet customers' requirements.

Train services on the Jubilee Line are currently monitored and controlled by a signalling centre at Baker Street (which also controls some of the services on the Metropolitan Line). In West London, a new Service Control Centre which controls the whole of the Jubilee Line has been opened as part of the extended Jubilee Line Project.

Running the Line’s – East London Line 32

From September 1999, the East London Line has been grouped with the Circle, District, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan Lines, with Kevin Hafter, Train Service Manager (Sub-Surface) and Rob Mason, Station Services Manager (Sub-Surface) are jointly responsible for delivering train and station services which meet customers' requirements. A new Control Centre for the East London Line has been provided at New Cross Depôt.

Jubilee Line Trains and Stations

The origins of the Jubilee Line show in the varied station architecture, ranging back in time from the bright and cheerful late 1970s tube style (platform level) at Baker Street and south to Charing Cross, through late 1930s style at Kilburn and Dollis Hill, early 1930s Metropolitan suburban style at Kingsbury, Canons Park and Stanmore, 1920s Metropolitan urban style at Willesden Green and 1880 Metropolitan rural style at Neasden.

Depôts and Sidings

Jubilee Line trains are maintained in the main depô t at Stratford Market. There are also sidings for stabling trains at Stanmore, and reversing sidings are provided at West Hampstead, Willesden Green and Wembley Park.

The Jubilee Line extension

The extension of the Jubilee Line was recommended in the East London Rail study published in 1989. The Government secured an undertaking for a significant private sector contribution towards the cost of the project from major developers in Docklands. In November 1989 the Government authorised London Underground to deposit a Bill before Parliament to extend the Jubilee Line from Green Park to Stratford. Royal Assent to the Bill was obtained in March 1992 for the £3.5 billion Project (at current prices). Of this total £2 billion will be directly funded by ring-fenced grant; the remainder will be met from London Transport's core resources (which include substantial Government grant) and from private sector contributions of over £400 million. The project, putting the developing Docklands area on the Underground map, was given the formal go-ahead by the Secretary of State for Transport in October 1993. The then Prime Minister, the Rt Hon John Major MP, drove the first pile of the extension at a start-of-work ceremony at Canary Wharf on Wednesday 8th December 1993.

The extension opened in three stages during 1999 : Stratford to North Greenwich in late Spring; North Greenwich to Waterloo, late Summer; and Waterloo to Green Park, which allowed through services to run from Stratford to Stanmore, opened on Saturday 20th November 1999.

The new section is 16 km (10 miles) long, making the extended Jubilee Line from Stanmore to Stratford 36 km (22.5 miles) long. From Green Park, there are twin-tube tunnels with stations at Westminster, Waterloo, Southwark, London Bridge, Bermondsey, Canada Water, Canary Wharf and North Greenwich. After crossing under the River Thames for a fourth time, the line comes to the surface at Canning Town and runs north to Stratford following the existing Silverlink Train Services route, with an intermediate station at West Ham. The existing section between Green Park and Charing Cross will be retained for emergency use or for special services.

New trains, known as 1996 tube stock were introduced into service during 1998. The fleet consists of 59 of these state-of-the-art six-car trains which provide the full service over the extended line from Stanmore to Stratford. There is also a new depô t at Stratford Market, although some routine engineering work will also continue to be undertaken at Neasden.

The extended line brings many benefits, with dramatically reduced journey times and useful interchange facilities with existing Underground lines and other rail lines including the Docklands Light Railway.

Extensions to the East London Line 33

There are proposed extensions to the north and south of the East London line. The northern extension runs from Whitechapel to Dalston and then, subject to agreement with Railtrack, over the existing Railtrack line to Highbury and Islington. The southern extension proposals are examining extending services to a number of destinations such as Croydon via New Cross Gate, Clapham Junction and Wimbledon via the disused alignment south of Surrey Quays to the South London line. Both proposals include bringing sections of disused trackbed back into service.

A formal application to seek the necessary powers under the Transport and Works Act to build the northern extension was made in December 1993. A public inquiry was held the following autumn, and in January 1997 the Secretary of State for Transport announced his approval for the scheme to go ahead. As part of the northern extension a new station will be built on the former goods yard site at Bishopsgate, 400 metres (0.25 mile) from Shoreditch station which will be closed. The planning powers also include the provision for a replacement for New Cross Dep? t at Silwood, south of Surrey Quays station. LUL is currently preparing the necessary work to support the southern extensions Transport & Works Act order application.

The current programme assumes approval of the order by the end of 2000. It is then proposed to start construction of both the northern and southern extensions during 2001 with the extended line open for passenger services during 2004.

Further Informations

If you want to comment on Jubilee and East London Line services, or wish to know more about these lines, please contact:

Customer Services
Jubilee & East London Lines
6th Floor
30 The South Colonnade
Canary Wharf
London E14 5EU
Telephone 020 7308 2800