Central Line

Line History:

The Central Line opened on 30th July 1900, as a cross-London route from Bank to Shepherd's Bush and was extremely well patronised. A flat fare of two old pence (2d) assisted its popularity and some members of the press dubbed the line the "Twopenny Tube". The flat fare lasted until the end of June 1907 when a threepenny fare was introduced for longer journeys. In 1908, the line was extended west to Wood Lane to serve the adjacent White City Exhibition site, and four years later was extended from Bank to Liverpool Street. In 1920, the line was further extended to the west as far as Ealing Broadway. The Second World War intervened before plans for more ambitious extensions at each end of the line could be implemented, but these plans were revived after the War. New tracks next to the existing main line railway were brought into use from North Acton to West Ruislip, as were new tunnels from Liverpool Street to Leyton and from Leytonstone to Newbury Park. North of both of these tunnels the Cen tral took over existing suburban lines, to Ongar via Epping, and to Woodford via Hainault. The Epping to Ongar shuttle service, which was run under contract by British Rail until 1957, was closed in 1994.

Stations and Trains:

The Central Line's 74 km (46 miles) make it the Underground's longest line. It serves 49 stations and requires 72 trains to operate the full peak period service. The 85 trains, known as 1992 tube stock and manufactured by ABB Transportation in Derby, are the newest on the Underground. Their performance and design specifications were developed following detailed engineering appraisal and market research involving prototype trains which ran on the Jubilee Line. Major features of these new trains are the smoother ride, acceleration and braking, an air suspension system, higher speeds, wider externally-mounted passenger-operated doors, brighter material design with large windows in the ends of cars, longer trains for increased capacity, new passenger-to-driver emergency communication facilities, automatic audible station announcements and closed-circuit television in the new-style cab to allow operators to monitor what is happening on platforms.

Depots:

The overhaul of trains takes place at a large depot at West Ruislip. Train maintenance work is also carried out at this depot as well as at Hainault depot. A smaller depot at White City is used to stable trains at night, and there are stabling sidings at Woodford and Loughton.

Central route map:

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