The
Underground Electric Railways Company of London Limited (
UERL), known operationally as
The Underground for much of its existence, was established in 1902. It was the
holding companyA holding company is a company or firm that owns other companies' outstanding stock. It usually refers to a company which does not produce goods or services itself; rather, its purpose is to own shares of other companies. Holding companies allow the reduction of risk for the owners and can allow...
for the three deep-level "tube"
[A "tube" railway is an underground railway constructed in a circular tunnel by the use of a tunnelling shield]A tunnelling shield is a protective structure used in the excavation of tunnels through soil that is too soft or fluid to remain stable during the time it takes to line the tunnel with a support structure of concrete, cast iron or steel...
, usually deep below ground level. underground railway lines opened in London during 1906 and 1907: the
Baker Street and Waterloo RailwayThe Baker Street and Waterloo Railway , also known as the Bakerloo tube, was a railway company established in 1893 that constructed a deep-level underground "tube" railway in London...
, the Charing Cross, Euston and Hampstead Railway and the
Great Northern, Piccadilly and Brompton RailwayThe Great Northern, Piccadilly and Brompton Railway , also known as the Piccadilly tube, was a railway company established in 1902 that constructed a deep-level underground "tube" railway in London. The GNP&BR was formed through a merger of two older companies, the Brompton and Piccadilly Circus...
. It was also the parent company from 1902 of the
Metropolitan District RailwayThe Metropolitan District Railway was the predecessor of the District line of the London Underground. Set up on 29 July 1864, at first to complete the "Inner Circle" railway around central London, it was gradually extended into the suburbs...
, which it electrified between 1903 and 1905. The UERL is the main precursor of today's
London UndergroundThe London Underground is a rapid transit system serving a large part of Greater London and some parts of Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Essex in England...
; its three tube lines form the central sections of today's
BakerlooThe Bakerloo line is a line of the London Underground, coloured brown on the Tube map. It runs partly on the surface and partly at deep level, from Elephant and Castle in the south-east to Harrow & Wealdstone in the north-west of London. The line serves 25 stations, of which 15 are underground...
,
PiccadillyThe Piccadilly line is a line of the London Underground, coloured dark blue on the Tube map. It is the fifth busiest line on the Underground network judged by the number of passengers transported per year. It is mainly a deep-level line, running from the north to the west of London via Zone 1, with...
and
NorthernThe Northern line is a London Underground line. It is coloured black on the Tube map.For most of its length it is a deep-level tube line. The line carries 206,734,000 passengers per year. This is the highest number of any line on the London Underground system, but the Northern line is unique in...
lines.
The UERL struggled financially in the first years after the opening of its lines and narrowly avoided bankruptcy in 1908 by restructuring its debt. A policy of expansion by acquisition was followed before World War I, so that the company came to operate the majority of the underground railway lines in and around London. It also controlled large bus and tram fleets, the profits from which subsidised the financially weaker railways. After the war, railway extensions took the UERL's services out into suburban areas to stimulate additional passenger numbers, so that, by the early 1930s, the company's lines stretched beyond the
County of LondonThe County of London was a county of England from 1889 to 1965, corresponding to the area known today as Inner London. It was created as part of the general introduction of elected county government in England, by way of the Local Government Act 1888. The Act created an administrative County of...
and served destinations in
MiddlesexMiddlesex is one of the historic counties of England and the second smallest by area. The low-lying county contained the wealthy and politically independent City of London on its southern boundary and was dominated by it from a very early time...
,
EssexEssex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
,
HertfordshireHertfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford.The county is one of the Home Counties and lies inland, bordered by Greater London , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire and...
and
SurreySurrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
.
In the 1920s, competition from small unregulated bus operators reduced the profitability of the road transport operations, leading the UERL's directors to seek government regulation. This led to the establishment of the
London Passenger Transport BoardThe London Passenger Transport Board was the organisation responsible for public transport in London, UK, and its environs from 1933 to 1948...
in 1933, which absorbed the UERL and all of the independent and municipally operated railway, bus and tram services in the London area.
Background
The first deep-level tube railway, the
City & South London RailwayThe City and South London Railway was the first deep-level underground "tube" railway in the world, and the first major railway to use electric traction...
(C&SLR), opened in 1890. Its early success resulted in a rush of proposals to
ParliamentThe Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...
for other deep-level routes under the capital, but by 1901 only two more lines had opened: the Waterloo & City Railway (W&CR) in 1898 and the
Central London RailwayThe Central London Railway , also known as the Twopenny Tube, was a deep-level, underground "tube" railway that opened in London in 1900...
(CLR) in 1900. Construction had started on one other line and then stopped following a financial crisis. The rest of the companies were struggling to raise funding.
The
Metropolitan District RailwayThe Metropolitan District Railway was the predecessor of the District line of the London Underground. Set up on 29 July 1864, at first to complete the "Inner Circle" railway around central London, it was gradually extended into the suburbs...
(MDR) was a sub-surface
[A "sub-surface" underground railway is constructed in a shallow roofed-over trench using the cut and cover method.] underground railway which had opened in 1868. Its steam-hauled services operated around the
Inner Circle and on branches to
HounslowHounslow West is a London Underground station in Hounslow in west London. The station is on the Heathrow branch of the Piccadilly Line, between Hatton Cross and Hounslow Central stations. The station is located on Bath Road about 600m from the junction of Bath Road, Great West Road and Great...
,
WimbledonWimbledon station is a National Rail, London Underground, and Tramlink station located in Wimbledon in the London Borough of Merton, and is the only London station that provides an interchange between rail, Underground, and Tramlink services...
,
RichmondRichmond station is a National Rail and London Underground station in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames in south west London which is managed by South West Trains....
,
EalingEaling Broadway is an east-west National Rail and London Underground station in Ealing in west London. The station is located in Haven Green , at the termination of The Broadway, and is in Travelcard Zone 3.-Services:...
, Whitechapel and New Cross. By 1901, the MDR was struggling to compete with emerging motor bus and electric
tramA tram is a passenger rail vehicle which runs on tracks along public urban streets and also sometimes on separate rights of way. It may also run between cities and/or towns , and/or partially grade separated even in the cities...
companies and the CLR which were eroding its passenger traffic. To become more competitive, the MDR was contemplating a programme of
electrificationA railway electrification system supplies electrical energy to railway locomotives and multiple units as well as trams so that they can operate without having an on-board prime mover. There are several different electrification systems in use throughout the world...
, although it was not financially strong enough to raise the capital to carry out the work on its own. It also had parliamentary approval for a congestion-relieving deep-level line that was to run beneath its existing route between
Gloucester Road-Deep-level station:By the beginning of the 20th century, the MDR had been extended to Richmond, Ealing Broadway, Hounslow West and Wimbledon in the west and to New Cross Gate in the east...
and
Mansion HouseMansion House is a London Underground station in the City of London, near Mansion House . It is a sub-surface station served by trains on the Circle and District Lines. It is between Blackfriars and Cannon Street stations. The station is located at the junction of Queen Victoria Street and Cannon...
.
By 1898, American financier
Charles YerkesCharles Tyson Yerkes was an American financier, born in Philadelphia. He played a major part in developing mass-transit systems in Chicago and London.-Philadelphia:...
had made a large fortune developing the electric tramway and
elevated railwayThe Loop is the two mile circuit of elevated railroad that forms the hub of the 'L' rapid transit system in Chicago, Illinois. The Loop is so named because the railroad loops around a rectangle formed by Lake Street , Wabash Avenue , Van Buren Street , and Wells Street...
systems in Chicago, but his questionable business methods, which included bribery and blackmail, had finally drawn the disapproving attention of the public. Yerkes had unsuccessfully attempted to bribe the city council and state legislature into granting him a 100-year franchise for the tramway system. Following a public backlash, he sold his Chicago investments and turned his attention to opportunities in London.
Acquisitions
Yerkes' first acquisition in London was the Charing Cross, Euston and Hampstead Railway (CCE&HR). The company had parliamentary permission to build a deep-level tube railway from
Charing CrossCharing Cross denotes the junction of Strand, Whitehall and Cockspur Street, just south of Trafalgar Square in central London, England. It is named after the now demolished Eleanor cross that stood there, in what was once the hamlet of Charing. The site of the cross is now occupied by an equestrian...
to
HampsteadHampstead is an area of London, England, north-west of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Camden in Inner London, it is known for its intellectual, liberal, artistic, musical and literary associations and for Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland...
and
HighgateHighgate is an area of North London on the north-eastern corner of Hampstead Heath.Highgate is one of the most expensive London suburbs in which to live. It has an active conservation body, the Highgate Society, to protect its character....
, but had been unable to raise the finance, selling only a tiny fraction of the shares available. Robert Perks, a solicitor for a number of railway companies and Member of Parliament for
LouthLouth was a county constituency in Lincolnshire which returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1885 until it was abolished for the 1983 general election....
, had suggested the CCE&HR to Yerkes and the American's consortium bought the company for £100,000 (approximately £ today) on 28 September 1900.
Perks was also a large shareholder in Yerkes' next target, the MDR. By March 1901, the syndicate had acquired a controlling interest in the MDR and made a proposal for its electrification. Yerkes established the Metropolitan District Electric Traction Company (MDETC) on 15 July 1901 with himself as managing director. The company raised £1 million (£ today) to carry out the electrification works including the construction of the generating station and supplying the new electric rolling stock. In September 1901, Perks became the MDR's chairman.
The Brompton and Piccadilly Circus Railway (B&PCR) was a tube railway company which had been purchased by the MDR in 1898, but had remained a separate financial entity. It had permission to construct a line from
South KensingtonSouth Kensington is a London Underground station in Kensington, west London. It is served by the District, Circle and Piccadilly lines. On the District and Circle lines, the station is between Gloucester Road and Sloane Square, and on the Piccadilly Line, it is between Gloucester Road and...
to
Piccadilly CircusPiccadilly Circus tube station is the London Underground station located directly beneath Piccadilly Circus itself, with entrances at every corner...
, but had not raised the capital to do so. At South Kensington it was to connect to the deep level line planned by the MDR. On 12 September 1901, the MDR-controlled board of the B&PCR sold the company to the MDETC. In the same month, the B&PCR took over the Great Northern and Strand Railway (GN&SR), a tube railway with permission to build a line from
StrandAldwych is a closed London Underground station in the City of Westminster, originally opened as Strand in 1907. It was the terminus and only station on the short Piccadilly line branch from Holborn that was a relic of the merger of two railway schemes. The disused station building is close to the...
to
Finsbury ParkFinsbury Park Station is a busy transport interchange in North London. The interchange consists of an interconnected National Rail station, London Underground station and two bus stations. The main entrances are by the eastern bus station on Station Place...
. The routes of the B&PCR and GN&SR were subsequently linked and combined with part of the MDR's tube route to create the
Great Northern, Piccadilly and Brompton RailwayThe Great Northern, Piccadilly and Brompton Railway , also known as the Piccadilly tube, was a railway company established in 1902 that constructed a deep-level underground "tube" railway in London. The GNP&BR was formed through a merger of two older companies, the Brompton and Piccadilly Circus...
(GNP&BR).
Yerkes' final purchase was the
Baker Street and Waterloo RailwayThe Baker Street and Waterloo Railway , also known as the Bakerloo tube, was a railway company established in 1893 that constructed a deep-level underground "tube" railway in London...
(BS&WR) in March 1902 for £360,000 (£ today). The BS&WR had permission to construct a line from Paddington to
Elephant & CastleElephant & Castle tube station is a station on the London Underground system. It is located in the London Borough of Southwark and on the boundary of Travelcard Zone 1 and 2...
and, unlike his other tube railway purchases, construction work had started in 1898. Substantial progress had been made before it was stopped following the collapse of the BS&WR's parent company, the London & Globe Finance Corporation, due to the fraud of its managing director
Whitaker WrightJames Whitaker Wright was an exceptionally wealthy English mining company owner. He became infamous when he committed suicide at the Royal Courts of Justice in London immediately following his conviction for fraud....
in 1900. With a varied collection of companies under his control, Yerkes established the UERL in April 1902 to take control of them all and manage the planned works, and took the position of chairman. On 8 June 1902, the UERL took over the MDETC and paid off the company's shareholders with cash and UERL shares.
Finances
The UERL was set up with an initial
capitalisationInvestment has different meanings in finance and economics. Finance investment is putting money into something with the expectation of gain, that upon thorough analysis, has a high degree of security for the principal amount, as well as security of return, within an expected period of time...
of £5 million (£ today). The company was backed by three merchant banks, Speyer Brothers in London, Speyer & Co. in New York and Old Colony Trust Company in Boston, each of which was to receive £250,000 from the capital raised. Almost 60 per cent of the initial share offering was bought in the United States, with a third sold in Britain and the rest mainly in the Netherlands. Further capital was soon needed for the construction works and additional share and bond issues followed. The UERL eventually raised a total of £18 million (£ today).
Like many of Yerkes' schemes in the United States, the structure of the UERL's finances was highly complex and involved the use of novel financial instruments. One method, used by Yerkes to raise £7 million, was "profit-sharing secured notes", a form of bond which was secured against the value of shares. They were sold at a 4 per cent discount, paid 5 per cent interest and were due for repayment in 1908. The assumption was that shares would inevitably rise in value once the UERL's tube railways were operational and producing a profit. Investors in the notes would gain the double benefit of the growth in share price and interest.
Electrification of the Metropolitan District Railway
Before its takeover, the MDR had carried out some joint electrification experiments with the
Metropolitan RailwayMetropolitan Railway can refer to:* Metropolitan line, part of the London Underground* Metropolitan Railway, the first underground railway to be built in London...
(MR), the other sub-surface line with which the MDR shared the
Inner Circle. A section of track between
Earl's CourtEarl's Court tube station is a London Underground station in Earls Court. The station is located between Earls Court Road and Warwick Road . It is on the boundary of Travelcard Zone 1 and 2 and is in both zones....
and
High Street KensingtonHigh Street Kensington is a London Underground station at Kensington High Street.The station is on the Circle Line between Gloucester Road and Notting Hill Gate, and the District Line between Earl's Court and Notting Hill Gate. It is in Travelcard Zone 1....
was electrified with a four-rail system and a jointly owned test train operated a shuttle service between February and November 1900. Having proven the practicality of electric traction, the two companies set up a joint committee to select a supplier of equipment for the electrification of their networks.
The committee's preferred system was a 3,000
voltThe volt is the SI derived unit for electric potential, electric potential difference, and electromotive force. The volt is named in honor of the Italian physicist Alessandro Volta , who invented the voltaic pile, possibly the first chemical battery.- Definition :A single volt is defined as the...
,
three-phaseIn electrical engineering, three-phase electric power systems have at least three conductors carrying voltage waveforms that are radians offset in time...
alternating currentIn alternating current the movement of electric charge periodically reverses direction. In direct current , the flow of electric charge is only in one direction....
system proposed by
HungarianHungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
electrical engineering company
GanzThe Ganz electric works in Budapest is probably best known for the manufacture of tramcars, but was also a pioneer in the application of three-phase alternating current to electric railways. Ganz also made / makes: ships , bridge steel structures , high voltage equipment...
. The system delivered current by overhead conductor wires and was cheaper than alternatives using power rails and required fewer electrical sub-stations. An experimental line had been constructed by Ganz in
BudapestBudapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
, although the system had not yet been adopted for the full-scale operation of a railway. Before the appointment of Ganz could be finalised, Yerkes took control of the MDR. He and his engineers preferred the low voltage
direct currentDirect current is the unidirectional flow of electric charge. Direct current is produced by such sources as batteries, thermocouples, solar cells, and commutator-type electric machines of the dynamo type. Direct current may flow in a conductor such as a wire, but can also flow through...
conductor rail system they had worked with in the United States and were intending to use on the tube lines when they were constructed; they rejected the Ganz system putting the MDR and the MDETC into dispute with the MR which wanted to proceed with the Ganz system. After some acrimonious debate between the two companies, some of which was carried out in public through the letters pages of
The TimesThe Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
newspaper, the dispute went to arbitration at the
Board of TradeThe Board of Trade is a committee of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom, originating as a committee of inquiry in the 17th century and evolving gradually into a government department with a diverse range of functions...
. The decision was made in December 1901 to use the four-rail system, although the arbitrator,
Alfred LytteltonAlfred Lyttelton QC was a British politician and sportsman who excelled at both football and cricket. During his time at university he participated in Varsity Matches in five sports: cricket , football , athletics , rackets and real tennis , displaying an ability that made him...
, was critical of the MDR's unilateral decision.
Victorious, the MDETC quickly began the electrification of the MDR's tracks, starting with an extension from
Ealing CommonEaling Common is a London Underground station on the Uxbridge branch of the Piccadilly Line, and on the Ealing Broadway branch of the District Line...
to
South HarrowSouth Harrow is a London Underground station on the Uxbridge branch of the Piccadilly Line. The station is between Sudbury Hill and Rayners Lane. It is located on Northolt Road . The station is in Travelcard Zone 5...
that opened with its first electric service in June 1903. Conversion of the rest of the MDR's tracks was completed in mid-1905, although failure to coordinate installations with the MR meant that the first electric services on the
Inner Circle from 1 July 1905 were disrupted for several months due to equipment failures on the MR's trains. Power came from the UERL's own
Lots Road Power StationLots Road Power Station is a disused coal and later oil-fired power station on the River Thames at Lots Road in Chelsea, London in the south-west of The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, which supplied electricity to the London Underground system...
on
Chelsea CreekCounter's Creek is a largely subterranean stream that arises in Kensal Green, west London and flows south into the River Thames on the Tideway at Sands End, Chelsea...
. Originally planned by the B&PCR, construction of the power station began in 1902 and finished in December 1904. It became operational on 1 February 1905, generating three-phase alternating current at 11,000 volts, which was converted to 550 volts direct current at track-side transformers located around the network. The power station was constructed large enough to power all of the UERL's lines once they opened plus others later. By the time the last of the MDR's steam trains were retired on 5 November 1905, the UERL had spent £1.7 million (£ today) on the electrification of the line.
Construction of the tube railways
With funds in place, construction of the BS&WR was quickly restarted. 50 per cent of the tunnelling and 25 per cent of the station work had been completed before work had been stopped, and by February 1904 virtually all of the tunnels and underground parts of the stations between Elephant & Castle and
MaryleboneMarylebone station , also known as London Marylebone, is a central London railway terminus and London Underground complex. It stands midway between the mainline stations at Euston and Paddington, about 1 mile from each...
were complete and works on the station buildings were under way. Construction of the GNP&BR and the CCE&HR began in July 1902 and proceeded quickly so that the UERL was able to record in its annual report in October 1904 that 80 per cent of the GNP&BR's and 75 per cent of the CCE&HR's tunnels had been completed.
Following the pattern adopted by the earlier tube lines, each of the UERL's lines was constructed as a pair of circular tunnels using
tunnelling shieldA tunnelling shield is a protective structure used in the excavation of tunnels through soil that is too soft or fluid to remain stable during the time it takes to line the tunnel with a support structure of concrete, cast iron or steel...
s with segmental cast iron tunnel linings bolted together and
groutGrout is a construction material used to embed rebars in masonry walls, connect sections of pre-cast concrete, fill voids, and seal joints . Grout is generally composed of a mixture of water, cement, sand, often color tint, and sometimes fine gravel...
ed into place as the shield advanced. Generally the tunnels followed surface roads and were constructed side by side, but where the width of the road above was insufficient, tunnels were placed one above the other. Stations on all three lines were provided with surface buildings designed by the UERL's architect
Leslie GreenLeslie William Green was an English architect known especially 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 a standardised style modified for each site. These consisted of two-storey steel-framed buildings faced with red glazed
terracottaGlazed architectural terra-cotta is a ceramic masonry building material popular in the United States from the late 19th century until the 1930s, and still one of the most common building materials found in U.S. urban environments...
blocks with wide semi-circular windows on the upper floor.
[Stations which did not have surface buildings by Leslie Green were Regent's Park]Regent's Park tube station is a London Underground station by Regent's Park. It is on the Bakerloo line, between Baker Street and Oxford Circus...
, Trafalgar Square, EmbankmentEmbankment is a London Underground station in the City of Westminster, known by various names during its history. It is served by the Circle, District, Northern and Bakerloo lines. On the Northern and Bakerloo lines, the station is between Waterloo and Charing Cross stations; on the Circle and...
and WaterlooWaterloo tube station is a London Underground station located at Waterloo station. It is the second busiest station on the network and is served by the Bakerloo, Jubilee, Northern and the Waterloo & City lines...
on the BS&WR, Finsbury ParkFinsbury Park Station is a busy transport interchange in North London. The interchange consists of an interconnected National Rail station, London Underground station and two bus stations. The main entrances are by the eastern bus station on Station Place...
, Earl's CourtEarl's Court tube station is a London Underground station in Earls Court. The station is located between Earls Court Road and Warwick Road . It is on the boundary of Travelcard Zone 1 and 2 and is in both zones....
, Barons CourtBarons Court is a London Underground station in West Kensington, Greater London. This station services the District Line and the Piccadilly Line. The station is located on Gliddon Road, a short distance from Talgarth Road in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham...
and Hammersmith on the GNP&BR and Tottenham Court RoadTottenham Court Road is a London Underground station in central London. It is an interchange between the Central line and the branch of the Northern line.On the Central line it is between and , and on the Northern line it is between and...
and Charing CrossCharing Cross tube station is a London Underground station at Charing Cross in the City of Westminster with entrances located in Trafalgar Square and The Strand. The station is served by the Northern and Bakerloo lines and provides an interchange with the National Rail network at station...
on the CCE&HR. For these stations the tube line was accessed either from an existing station building or from a pedestrian subwayIn England and Wales, the Republic of Ireland, Hong Kong and some Commonwealth countries , the term subway normally refers to a specially constructed underpass for pedestrians and/or cyclists beneath a road or railway, allowing them to reach the other side in safety.The term is also used in the...
under the street. The stations had flat roofs and were designed to accommodate upward extension for commercial development. Most stations were provided with between two and four
liftsAn elevator is a type of vertical transport equipment that efficiently moves people or goods between floors of a building, vessel or other structures...
and an emergency spiral staircase in a separate shaft. At platform level, the wall tiling featured the station name and an individual geometric pattern and colour scheme designed by Green.
The UERL used a
WestinghouseWestinghouse Electric was an American manufacturing company. It was founded in 1886 as Westinghouse Electric Company and later renamed Westinghouse Electric Corporation by George Westinghouse. The company purchased CBS in 1995 and became CBS Corporation in 1997...
automatic signalling system operated through electrified
track circuitA track circuit is a simple electrical device used to detect the absence of a train on rail tracks, used to inform signallers and control relevant signals.- Principles and operation :...
s. This controlled signals based on the presence or absence of a train on the track ahead. Signals incorporated an arm that was raised when the signal was red. If a train failed to stop at a red signal, the arm would activate a "
tripcockPart of a railway signalling system, a train stop or trip stop is a train protection device that automatically stops a train if it attempts to pass a signal when the signal aspect and operating rules prohibit such movement, or if it attempts to pass at an excessive speed.- Basic operation :The...
" on the train; applying the brakes automatically.
Early struggle for survival
Apart from the electrification of the MDR, Yerkes did not live to see the completion of the fast-paced construction works that he set in motion; he died in New York on 29 December 1905 and was replaced as UERL chairman by
Edgar SpeyerSir Edgar Speyer, 1st Baronet was an American-born financier and philanthropist. He became a British subject in 1892 and was chairman of Speyer Brothers, the British branch of his family's international finance house, and a partner in the German and American branches...
. Speyer was chairman of the UERL's backer Speyer Brothers and a partner in Speyer & Co.
Sir George GibbSir George Stegmann Gibb was a Scottish transport administrator who served as the general manager of the North Eastern Railway, managing director of the Underground Electric Railways Company of London, and as chairman of the former British Road Board.-Early life:George Gibb was born in Aberdeen,...
, general manager of the
North Eastern RailwayThe North Eastern Railway , was an English railway company. It was incorporated in 1854, when four existing companies were combined, and was absorbed into the London and North Eastern Railway at the Grouping in 1923...
, was appointed managing director. The BS&WR opened to passengers on 10 March 1906. The GNP&BR followed on 15 December 1906, with the CCE&HR on 22 June 1907. The three tube lines quickly came to be known as the Bakerloo Tube, Piccadilly Tube and Hampstead Tube.
Yerkes also did not live to see the UERL's financial struggle during the first years after the opening of the new lines. Because of greatly over-optimistic pre-opening predictions of passenger numbers, the lines failed to generate the income expected and needed to fund the interest payments on the UERL's substantial borrowings. In the Bakerloo Tube's first twelve months of operation, it carried 20.5 million passengers, less than sixty per cent of the 35 million that had been predicted during the planning of the line. The Piccadilly Tube achieved 26 million of a predicted 60 million and the Hampstead Tube managed 25 million of a predicted 50 million. For the MDR, the UERL had predicted an increase to 100 million passengers after electrification, but achieved 55 million. The lower than expected passenger numbers were partly due to competition between the UERL's lines and those of the other tube and sub-surface railway companies, and the further spread of electric trams and motor buses, replacing slower, horse-drawn road transport, took a large number of passengers away from the trains. The low price of tickets also depressed income.
The crisis point for the UERL was the need to redeem the five-year profit-sharing secured notes on 30 June 1908. The UERL did not have the money. Speyer unsuccessfully tried to persuade the
London County CouncilLondon County Council was the principal local government body for the County of London, throughout its 1889–1965 existence, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today known as Inner London and was replaced by the Greater London Council...
(LCC) to inject £5 million into the UERL and used some of his own bank's money to pay-off disgruntled shareholders threatening bankruptcy proceedings. Eventually, Speyer and Gibb managed to obtain agreement from the shareholders to convert the notes into long-term debt to be repaid in 1933 and 1948.
Consolidation
As Speyer and Gibb worked to restructure the debt, the UERL's general manager,
Albert StanleyAlbert Henry Stanley, 1st Baron Ashfield, PC, TD , born Albert Henry Knattriess, was a British-American who was managing director, then chairman of the Underground Electric Railways Company of London from 1910 to 1933 and chairman of the London Passenger Transport Board from 1933 to 1947.Although...
, appointed by Gibb in 1907, began to increase the UERL's income by improving management structures. With commercial manager
Frank PickFrank Pick LLB Hon. RIBA was a British transport administrator. After qualifying as a solicitor in 1902, he worked at the North Eastern Railway, before moving to the Underground Electric Railways Company of London in 1906...
, Stanley instigated a plan to increase passenger numbers; developing the "Underground" brand and establishing a joint booking system and coordinated fares throughout all of London's underground railways, including those not controlled by the UERL.
In 1909, the UERL overcame the objections of previously reluctant American investors, and announced a parliamentary
billA bill is a proposed law under consideration by a legislature. A bill does not become law until it is passed by the legislature and, in most cases, approved by the executive. Once a bill has been enacted into law, it is called an act or a statute....
for the formal merger of the Bakerloo, Hampstead and Piccadilly Tube lines into a single company, the London Electric Railway Company (LER). This bill received
Royal AssentThe granting of royal assent refers to the method by which any constitutional monarch formally approves and promulgates an act of his or her nation's parliament, thus making it a law...
and was enacted on 26 July 1910 as the
London Electric Railway Amalgamation Act, 1910, The MDR was not merged with the tube lines and remained a separate company.
As managing director of the UERL from 1910, Stanley led further transport consolidation with the UERL's take-over of
London General Omnibus CompanyThe London General Omnibus Company or LGOC, was the principal bus operator in London between 1855 and 1933. It was also, for a short period between 1909 and 1912, a motor bus manufacturer.- Overview :...
(LGOC) in 1912 and the CLR and the C&SLR on 1 January 1913. The LGOC was the dominant bus operator in the capital and its high profitability (it paid dividends of 18 per cent compared with Underground Group companies' dividends of 1 to 3 per cent) subsidised the rest of the group. Through the UERL's shareholding in the London and Suburban Traction Company (LSTC), which it owned jointly with
British Electric TractionBritish Electric Traction Company Limited, renamed BET plc in 1985, was a large British industrial conglomerate. It was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index but was acquired by Rentokil in 1996, and the merged company is now known as Rentokil Initial.- Early history :The company was founded as...
, the UERL took control in 1913 of the
London United TramwaysLondon United Tramways Company Limited was an operator of trams and trolleybuses in the western and southern suburbs of London, UK, from 1894 to 1933, when it passed to the London Passenger Transport Board.-Origins:...
, the
Metropolitan Electric TramwaysThe Metropolitan Electric Tramways Company Limited operated electric tram services in suburban areas of Middlesex and Hertfordshire from 1904 to 1933, when its services passed to the London Passenger Transport Board....
and the South Metropolitan Electric Tramways. The UERL also took control of bus builder AEC. The much enlarged group became known as the Combine. Only the MR (and its subsidiaries the Great Northern & City Railway and the East London Railway) and the W&CR remained outside of the Underground Group's control.
Extensions and improvements
Another way in which the UERL tried to improve income was the construction of extensions to its lines to generate additional passenger traffic, often through the stimulation of new housing developments in the areas through which the lines ran.
The MDR was extended to
UxbridgeUxbridge is a London Underground station in Uxbridge in the London Borough of Hillingdon, north-west London. The station is the terminus of the Uxbridge branches of both the Metropolitan Line and the Piccadilly Line. The next station towards London is Hillingdon. The station is 15.5 miles west of...
in 1910, by a connection made to the MR. In 1913, the Bakerloo Tube was extended to Paddington and to
Queen's ParkQueen's Park station is a station served by London Underground and London Overground. It is in West Kilburn at the southern end of Salusbury Road, near the public park from which it takes its name...
and
Watford JunctionOn 23 January 1975, an express train from Manchester to Euston derailed just south of Watford Junction after striking some stillages that had fallen on to the track. It then collided with a sleeper service from Euston to Glasgow. The driver of the Manchester train was killed, and eight passengers...
four years later. The Hampstead tube was extended a short distance at its southern end to provide an interchange with the Bakerloo and the MDR at
EmbankmentEmbankment is a London Underground station in the City of Westminster, known by various names during its history. It is served by the Circle, District, Northern and Bakerloo lines. On the Northern and Bakerloo lines, the station is between Waterloo and Charing Cross stations; on the Circle and...
in 1914. It was extended at its northern end from
Golders GreenGolders Green tube station is a London Underground station in Golders Green, north London. The station is on the Edgware branch of the Northern Line between Hampstead and Brent Cross...
into the Middlesex countryside to reach
EdgwareEdgware tube station is a London Underground station in Edgware, in the London Borough of Barnet, in North London. The station is the terminus of the Edgware branch of the Northern Line and the next station towards central London is . Edgware is in Travelcard Zone 5.-Location:The station is in...
in 1924. In 1926, the Hampstead tube was extended south to connect to the C&SLR at
KenningtonKennington tube station is a London Underground station in Newington/ Walworth on Kennington Park Road, on both the Charing Cross and Bank branches of the Northern Line. Its neighbours to the north are Waterloo on the Charing Cross branch and Elephant & Castle on the Bank branch; the next station...
in conjunction with a reconstruction of the C&SLR and its 1926 extension from
Clapham CommonClapham Common tube station is a station on London Underground's Northern Line. It lies between Clapham North and Clapham South stations and is in Travelcard Zone 2.-History:...
to
MordenMorden is a London Underground station in Morden in the London Borough of Merton. The station is the southern terminus for the Northern line and is the most southerly station on the Underground network. The next station north is...
. The CLR was extended to
Ealing BroadwayEaling Broadway is an east-west National Rail and London Underground station in Ealing in west London. The station is located in Haven Green , at the termination of The Broadway, and is in Travelcard Zone 3.-Services:...
in 1920. Permission for an extension of the line to Richmond was obtained in 1913 and again in 1920, but was not used. Later, during 1932 and 1933, the Piccadilly Tube was extended at both ends: in the north from Finsbury Park to
CockfostersCockfosters is a London Underground station on the Piccadilly Line for which it is the northern terminus. The station is located on Cockfosters Road approximately 9 miles from central London and serves Cockfosters in the London Borough of Barnet although it is actually located a short distance...
, and in the west from Hammersmith to Hounslow and Uxbridge using the MDR's tracks.
In addition, a programme of modernising many of the Underground's busiest central London stations was started; providing them with escalators to replace lifts. New and refurbished rolling stock was gradually introduced on a number of lines with automatic sliding doors along the length of the carriages instead of manual end gates, reducing boarding times. By the middle of the 1920s, the organisation had expanded to such an extent that a large, new headquarters building designed by
Charles HoldenCharles Henry Holden, Litt. D., FRIBA, MRTPI, RDI was a Bolton-born English architect best known for designing many London Underground stations during the 1920s and 1930s, for Bristol Central Library, the Underground Electric Railways Company of London's headquarters at 55 Broadway and for the...
was constructed at 55 Broadway over
St. James's Park stationSt James's Park is a London Underground station near St James's Park in the City of Westminster. It is served by the District and Circle Lines and is between Victoria and Westminster stations. It is in Travelcard Zone 1....
.
Move to public ownership
Starting in the early 1920s, competition from numerous small bus companies, nicknamed "pirates" because they operated irregular routes and plundered the LGOC's passengers, eroded the profitability of the Combine's bus operations. This had a negative impact on the profitability of the whole group. Stanley
lobbiedLobbying is the act of attempting to influence decisions made by officials in the government, most often legislators or members of regulatory agencies. Lobbying is done by various people or groups, from private-sector individuals or corporations, fellow legislators or government officials, or...
the government for regulation of transport services in the London area. Starting in 1923, a series of legislative initiatives were made in this direction, with Stanley and
LabourThe Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
politician
Herbert MorrisonHerbert Stanley Morrison, Baron Morrison of Lambeth, CH, PC was a British Labour politician; he held a various number of senior positions in the Cabinet, including Home Secretary, Foreign Secretary and Deputy Prime Minister.-Early life:Morrison was the son of a police constable and was born in...
,
London County CouncilLondon County Council was the principal local government body for the County of London, throughout its 1889–1965 existence, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today known as Inner London and was replaced by the Greater London Council...
lor (and later member of parliament and Minister of Transport) at the forefront of debates as to the level of regulation and public control under which transport services should be brought. Stanley aimed for regulation that would give the UERL group protection from competition and allow it to take substantive control of the
LCC's tram systemThe London County Council Tramways was an extensive network of public street tramways that was operated by the council throughout the County of London, UK, from 1899 to 1933, when they were taken over by the London Passenger Transport Board....
; Morrison preferred full public ownership. After seven years of false starts, a bill was announced at the end of 1930 for the formation of the
London Passenger Transport BoardThe London Passenger Transport Board was the organisation responsible for public transport in London, UK, and its environs from 1933 to 1948...
(LPTB), a public corporation that would take control of the UERL, the Metropolitan Railway and all bus and tram operators within an area designated as the London Passenger Transport Area. As Stanley had done with shareholders in 1910 over the consolidation of the three UERL controlled tube lines, he used his persuasiveness to obtain their agreements to the government buy-out of their stock.
The Board was a compromise – public ownership but not full
nationalisationNationalisation, also spelled nationalization, is the process of taking an industry or assets into government ownership by a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to private assets, but may also mean assets owned by lower levels of government, such as municipalities, being...
– and came into existence on 1 July 1933, with Stanley as chairman and Pick as Chief Executive.
See also