District line

The District line runs across London from Upminster in the east to Edgware Road in the west, passing through Earl’s Court where it splits into branches towards Wimbledon and Richmond. Printed in green on the Tube map, it serves sixty stations over forty miles and crosses the Thames twice on bridges used by the Wimbledon and Richmond branches. Between Barking and Aldgate East it shares tracks with the Hammersmith & City line, and parts of the Edgware Road branch run alongside the Circle line. The tunnels lie just below the surface, so the trains resemble those on main lines rather than deep-level Tube stock.

The line began as the Metropolitan District Railway in December 1868, running from South Kensington to Westminster with steam trains in wooden carriages. American financier Charles Yerkes funded the change to electric power, and electric services started in 1905. By 1933 the railway became part of the London Passenger Transport Board, and in 1985 one-person operation replaced guards. It is now the busiest of the sub-surface lines and the fifth-busiest on the whole Underground, carrying more than 250 million passengers a year.

Travellers find stations with platforms wide enough for main-line trains, and the route offers views of London’s rooftops and parks. At Earl’s Court the line divides, giving access to Wimbledon’s tennis grounds and Richmond’s riverside walks. The Wimbledon branch crosses the Thames on a bridge opened for the 1908 service, while the Richmond branch passes through Turnham Green before reaching its leafy terminus.