It's exactly 25 years today since London Underground's Jubilee Line opened, on Tuesday 1st May 1979. Prince Charles made the very first journey, the day before, travelling one stop from Green Park to Charing Cross then riding a special train all the way back up the line to Stanmore. To celebrate the silver jubilee of the silver-coloured Jubilee line, diamond geezer will be taking a virtual journey along the line over the next month, station by station from Stanmore to Stratford, starting tomorrow.
The Jubilee line runs through some of London's oldest tube stations, but also through the newest. The line developed in a number of stages, first as part of the Metropolitan railway, then as part of the Bakerloo line, then as what was due to be called the Fleet line, and finally along the Jubilee line extension through Docklands. The Jubilee line follows a single path with no branches or junctions, although it's a very wiggly and indirect route. This is also the only London Underground line to link with every other. Let me run through the line's history with you (and if you need a map to follow, try here):
1868: The Metropolitan & St John's Wood Railway opens between Baker Street and Swiss Cottage, five years after the opening of London's very first Underground railway.
1879: The line is extended to West Hampstead and, the following year, as far as Harrow.
1880s onwards: The Metropolitan Railway purchases lots of land for housing alongside the line - Metroland is born.
1932: The branch line from Wembley Park to Stanmore is opened.
1939: The Stanmore branch, and all local services between Wembley Park and Baker Street, are transferred from the Metropolitan line to the Bakerloo line. Trains run through new tunnels between Finchley Road and Baker Street, and on to Elephant & Castle.
1940s to 1960s: There are several plans for a new NW-SE tube line to relieve congestion on the Bakerloo line. None proceed.
1971: Royal Assent is finally given to construction of the Fleet line from Baker Street to Lewisham.
1972: Work begins building new tunnels from Baker Street to Bond Street, Green Park and Charing Cross. But no further.
1977: The new Conservative administration at the GLC decrees that the Fleet line will be renamed the Jubilee line, in honour of the Queen's silver jubilee. May 1st 1979: The Jubilee line opens, taking over the Bakerloo line tracks between Stanmore and Baker Street, then running on through new tunnels to Charing Cross.
1999 The Jubilee line is extended from Green Park to Stratford, including some award-winning civil engineering and station architecture.
So, come take a ride with me down the silver Jubilee line. It only takes an hour to travel the whole line from end to end, a total of 24 miles. The route passes from leafy suburbia to West End bustle, from the seat of government to the heart of Docklands, and from the 1948 Olympic Stadium to (possibly) the site for 2012. Climb aboard one of those tiny tube trains with the special whining engine, mind the huge doors along the platform edge, and let's be off. The next station is.... Stanmore.
Silver Jubilee
1868: The Metropolitan & St John's Wood Railway opens between Baker Street and Swiss Cottage, five years after the opening of London's very first Underground railway.
So, come take a ride with me down the silver Jubilee line. It only takes an hour to travel the whole line from end to end, a total of 24 miles. The route passes from leafy suburbia to West End bustle, from the seat of government to the heart of Docklands, and from the 1948 Olympic Stadium to (possibly) the site for 2012. Climb aboard one of those tiny tube trains with the special whining engine, mind the huge doors along the platform edge, and let's be off. The next station is.... Stanmore.
