Bakerloo line

The Bakerloo line is a London Underground route running 23.2 kilometres from Harrow & Wealdstone in north-west London to Elephant & Castle in the south. It passes through the West End and uses both deep-level tube tunnels and sections on the surface. Fifteen of its 25 stations lie below ground, printed in brown on the Tube map. Between Queen’s Park and Harrow & Wealdstone it shares tracks with the London Overground Lioness line. A short tunnel exists at the western end of Kensal Green. The line opened between 1906 and 1915 and carries more than 125 million passengers each year. Its stations below ground feature Art Nouveau decorative tiling by Leslie Green, while above-ground stations use red brick with stone detailing in Arts & Crafts style. The line’s name comes from the Baker Street and Waterloo Railway. In 1904 the mining entrepreneur Whitaker Wright died by suicide after his financial schemes failed. Charles Yerkes and the Underground Electric Railways Company of London then took over the project. Travellers find 1972 Stock trains, the oldest electric units in regular British service at 54 years old. Stations such as Edgware Road and Paddington offer interchanges with other rail routes. The line once served Watford Junction and Stanmore but these branches were transferred to other lines in 1979 and 1982. A 1931 plan to extend south to Camberwell was never built beyond sidings at Elephant & Castle. The line celebrated its centenary in 2006 with Edwardian-themed events at stations.