• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • About
    • First Time Here?
    • Archive
    • London Blogs
  • Blog
  • Travel
    • London Theater Tickets
    • Shopping
    • Tips
    • Tours
    • Transport
    • Maps
    • Parks
    • Resources
    • Restaurants
    • Top 10 London
  • Culture
    • Art
    • Buildings
    • Food
    • London Books
    • Movies
    • Museums
    • Music
    • Pubs
  • Londonism
    • Reviews
    • Fun London
    • Iconic London
    • Life in London
    • London Realities
    • Moving to London
    • Politics
  • The Tube
  • London History
    • Great London Buildings
    • Great Londoners
  • Contact
  • Guidebooks
    • 101 London Travel Tips – Guidebook
    • 101 Free Things to do in London

Londontopia

The Website for People Who Love London

You are here: Home / History / Tube Histories: A Brief History of the Metropolitan Line

Tube Histories: A Brief History of the Metropolitan Line

Mar 17, 2022 By John Rabon Leave a Comment

Welcome to a new series on the histories of each of the London Underground lines.  Of course, if we’re going to start anywhere, why not start with the line that began it all?  The Metropolitan Line has been around since opening in 1863 and was the first underground transport railway anywhere in the world.  This gives the Met the richest history of any public transport in London and on the planet.  Join us as we take you on a journey through the history of the Metropolitan Line and kick off a fantastic new series on Londontopia.

The Metropolitan Line began as the Metropolitan Railway, a goods and services railway that went from the city’s heart to the Middlesex suburbs.  With the advent of the Industrial Revolution, more and more people flocked to London from the countryside looking for work, growing the city exponentially.  This, of course, also led to a massive amount of traffic and the need for new railways that helped carry people into the city.  As Parliament searched for a solution, Charles Pearson became the champion of an underground railway, succeeding in the passage of the North Metropolitan Railway Act in 1854.

The next several years were spent raising funds for the railway’s construction which began in 1860.  Construction used the “cut and cover” method, where a shallow trench was dug and then covered over.  During construction, several accidents befell the line, including a Greater Northern Railway train running off the uncompleted tracks in 1860; in 1861 the excavation in Euston collapsed the tunnel and caused damage to surrounding buildings, and in 1862 a sewer burst flooded excavations of the tunnel.  Construction finished towards the Spring of 1862 after costing a total of £1.3 million.  The first trip across the entire line then took place in May 1862.

The coming of the new year marked the opening of the Met to the public, and the new transportation line was an immediate success.  The original line was only 3.75 miles and ran from Paddington to Farrington Road, but the success meant the line quickly expanded to St. Pancras and Moorgate Street.  The Met’s management didn’t see themselves as a commuter railway originally but a major competitor for the more traditional railway lines.  Only ten years after opening, the Metropolitan Line expanded out to Hammersmith, Kensington, and South Kensington.  The lines continued to shift as new underground railways were introduced to the city and the London Underground came to be more of a travel service between the suburbs and the city. 

The 20th Century saw a number of changes to the line, including the introduction of electricity in 1900, though this was halted during World War II, and steam locomotives ran on the Metropolitan until 1961.  In 1933, the Met was consolidated with all the other Underground railways to form the London Passenger Transport Board, officially changing its name from Metropolitan Railway to the Metropolitan Line.  This effectively shut the door on the Met becoming a major railway in its own right, and as Greater London expanded further through the next few decades, new fast-service lanes were added to reach even deeper into the London suburbs. 

In 1988, the East London and Hammersmith & City Lines split off to form their own branches of the Tube.  Some parts of the line were privatized into a public-private partnership with Metronet in 2003, but that only lasted four years until Metronet went into administration (a process similar to bankruptcy in the US) in 2007 and Transport for London took full control once again.  Today the Metropolitan Line runs all the way from Aldgate to Chesham in Buckinghamshire.  Approximately 54 million riders use it every year, proving that the oldest of the Underground’s lines is still one of its most popular. 

John Rabon
Author: John Rabon

John is a regular writer for Anglotopia and its sister websites. He is currently engaged in finding a way to move books slightly to the left without the embarrassment of being walked in on by Eddie Izzard. For any comments, questions, or complaints, please contact the Lord Mayor of London, Boris Johnson's haircut.

close

Free London News

Get the latest news on London history, culture, travel, exhibitions, and more right in your inbox!

Check your inbox or spam folder to confirm your subscription.

Share this:

  • Print
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • Reddit
  • Pocket

Filed Under: History, The Tube

Subscribe to Our Free London Updates

Free London News

Get the latest news on London history, culture, travel, exhibitions, and more right in your inbox!

Check your inbox or spam folder to confirm your subscription.

About John Rabon

John is a regular writer for Anglotopia and its sister websites. He is currently engaged in finding a way to move books slightly to the left without the embarrassment of being walked in on by Eddie Izzard. For any comments, questions, or complaints, please contact the Lord Mayor of London, Boris Johnson's haircut.

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Subscribe to Our Free London Updates

Free London News

Get the latest news on London history, culture, travel, exhibitions, and more right in your inbox!

Check your inbox or spam folder to confirm your subscription.

Get the Anglotopia/Londontopia App

Our Advertisers

If you are a mobile gamer, you may want to take a look at UK’s new mobile casinos and slots reviewed by NewCasinoUK.

Join the London Forum

  • Mudlarking
  • MY FAVOURITE PLACE IN LONDON
  • What's Your Favorite Place in London?
  • Paddington Station

London Guide

  • Ten Cheap Things You Can Do in London on a Budget
  • Ten London Exhibitions to Look Forward to in 2023
  • London’s Non-Free Museums: Your Guide to London’s Museums That Charge Admission
  • Trip Planning: Top 10 Exhibitions To Plan Your 2018 Trips to London Around
  • London Guide: Our Favorite Restaurants in London – London Restaurant Recommendations for Americans – What’s Your Favorite?

Connect With Us

  • Facebook
  • RSS Feed
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Support Londontopia

Search our Extensive Archive

Top 10 London

  • Ten Unusual Exhibits to See in London
  • London Pubs: Ten Thameside Pubs for a Pint and a View
  • Top 10 London: Ten More Things to Do Along the River Thames
  • Top 10 London: Top Ten Shopping Centers in London
  • Museums of London: Ten Overlooked London Museums
  • Top 10 London: Top Ten Things to See and Do in Haggerston
  • Top 10 London: Top Ten Things to See and Do in Haringey
  • Top 10 London: Top Ten Things to See and Do in Redbridge
  • Top 10 London: Top Ten Things to See and Do in Hillingdon
  • Top 10 London: Top Ten Things to Do in Canonbury

Recent Posts

  • Natural History Museum named most visited indoor UK attraction again
  • The Ugly Duchess: Beauty and Satire in the Renaissance at the National Gallery
  • Gatwick returns to profit as air travel bounces back
  • Sir Mark Rylance brings role as Dr Semmelweis to West End
  • Shire horses prepare Tower of London moat for next wildflower display
  • In Video: Watch pianist Lang Lang perform at St Pancras station
  • Heathrow ready for ‘successful Easter getaway’ after chaos of 2022
  • More than 40,000 plant species now stored in Kew Gardens’ seed bank
  • Ten of the Best Fish & Chips Restaurants in London
  • Judi Dench hails ‘heroic’ Ada Salter as blue plaque unveiled

Best Posts on Londontopia

  • 101 London Travel Tips
  • Top 100 London Attractions
  • How to Find the Cheapest Airfares to London
  • 10 Things NOT to do in London
  • Best London Guidebooks
  • 101 Free Things to do in London
  • London Lingo – A London Word Dictionary
  • Top 7 Tips for Doing London on the Cheap
  • Top 11 Myths American Believe about London
  • Guide to Eating in London
  • Best Times of Year to Travel to London
  • London Packing Tips
  • Top 11 Movies Set in London
  • Top Attractions off the Tourist Track
  • Top 5 Most Amazing London Hotels
  • Top 10 Hostels in London
  • Best Views in London Restuarants
  • London Taxi Ettiquette
  • Top 12 London Views
  • Great Fire of London
  • A Guide to Five of London’s Bridges
  • 10 Random Facts and Figures about Trafalgar Square
  • Top 100 British Slang Words

London Places to Explore

Bloomsbury Buckingham Palace Canary Wharf City of London Covent Garden Cutty Sark Greenwich Hampstead Hampton Court Palace Heathrow Houses of Parliament Hyde Park Imperial War Museum Islington Kensington Kensington Palace Leicester Square London London Eye London Transport Museum Museum of London National Gallery Notting Hill Piccadilly Circus Putney Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park Regent's Street Royal Academy Selfridges Somerset House Southbank Southwark St Pancras St Paul's Cathedral Tate Britain Tate Modern The City Tower Bridge Tower of London Trafalgar Square V&A Wandsworth West End Westminster Westminster Abbey

SIGN-UP FOR FREE LONDON WEEKLY UPDATES!

Please enter a valid email address
That address is already in use
The security code entered was incorrect
Thanks for signing up

Recent Videos

Walk Around London Virtually Right Now – Watched Walker is the YouTube Channel We All Need Right Now

Jason Hawkes Shares a Beautiful Video of London From Above That We All Need Right now

London Tube: You’ve Got to Watch This Amazing Mesmerizing Animation That Shows the Real Geography of the London Underground

Video: The Basics of Crossrail – London’s New Underground Line

London History: The Place Where Old London Double Decker Buses Went to Die

London Video: A Look at the Great Smog of London

10 Interesting Facts about the Hammersmith and City Line

Nearly half of Londoners have used Elizabeth line so far – survey

Tube and London bus fares to rise by nearly 6% from March

What is Crossrail 2 and What is Its Current Status?

London Alert: Strike by London Underground workers to go ahead after last-minute talks fail

London Mayor hails Elizabeth line as direct routes and Sunday services begin

Footer

About Londontopia

Londontopia is simply the website for people who love London. It was founded by Jonathan & Jackie Thomas from Anglotopia.net as a place to post articles solely focused on London and its environs. Keep up with all the latest London news at Londontopia! This site is geared towards people who love to visit London and our primary audience is North American but everyone is welcome!

When We’re in London Next

We don’t currently have any travel plans to London but hope to visit at some point in 2021.

  • SEO Backlinks
  • Travel Blog

SIGN-UP FOR FREE LONDON WEEKLY UPDATES!

Please enter a valid email address
That address is already in use
The security code entered was incorrect
Thanks for signing up

Copyright © 2023 Anglotopia, LLC · Website Developed by Anglotopia, LLC · Log in