District line

The District line is a line of the London Underground, coloured green on the Tube map. It is a "sub-surface" line, running through the central area in shallow cut-and-cover tunnels. It is the busiest of the sub-surface lines and the third busiest overall on the Underground network. Out of the 60 stations served, 25 are underground. Two of the four (Richmond and Wimbledon) western branches of the route are also the only lines across the entire network to cross the Thames by bridge and not by tunnel. Although the District line is only the fourth longest line on the network, it serves more stations than any other line.

History
The District line was built by the Metropolitan District Railway (MDR) and opened in stages from 1868. The MDR was later bought by Charles Yerkes, forming part of the "Underground" group until it was nationalised in the 1930s. It had branches to Uxbridge and Hounslow West, but both are now operated by the Piccadilly line. Eastbound services ran as far as the seaside town of Southend-on-Sea in Essex from 1 June 1910 and to Shoeburyness from 1911, until 30 September 1939. Between 1 March 1883 and 30 September 1885 the line also served stations from Ealing Broadway to Windsor, running on the Great Western Main Line.

Trains
Most of the District line's services use sub-surface D stock, although the Wimbledon to Edgware Road service uses C stock due to shorter platform lengths between High Street Kensington and Edgware Road. The D stock has been refurbished, having received the standard Underground livery of red, white and blue, replacing the previous unpainted aluminium finish which is prone to damage by graffiti vandals. The stock also received a complete interior refurbishment and was fitted with CCTV and passenger information displays. The trains are maintained at Ealing Common Depot and Upminster Depot.

Stations


In order from west to east

Closed stations

 * Hounslow Town tube station, opened 1 May 1883, replaced by Hounslow East on 2 May 1909
 * Mark Lane, Main line, opened 1884, replaced by Tower Hill 4 February 1967
 * South Acton, Ealing branch, opened 1880, closed 28 February 1959
 * St. Mary's, Main line, opened 3 March 1884, closed 30 April 1938
 * Tower of London, Main line, opened 1882, closed 1884

Current service pattern
The following off-peak service pattern currently runs on the District line
 * 6 trains per hour Ealing Broadway - Tower Hill
 * 6 trains per hour Richmond - Upminster
 * 6 trains per hour Wimbledon - Upminster
 * 6 trains per hour Wimbledon - Edgware Road
 * 4 trains per hour Kensington (Olympia) - High Street Kensington

Safety
In early 2009, three safety failures occurred on the line. All of them were recorded to have involved trains which passed signals showing red. In August 2009 it was reported that the line had been given a period of less than a month to improve safety features or face possible legal action, involving temporary line closures.

Interavailabilty
c2c also serves Upminster, Barking, West Ham and Fenchurch Street (for Tower Hill). Tickets are interavailable between the two operators with Oyster cards (including pay as you go) accepted on this part of c2c's route. South West Trains services occasionally operate on the Wimbledon Branch between East Putney and Wimbledon, often due to engineering works or problems on the mainline, although trains do not stop at any of the intermediate stations.

In popular culture

 * The fictional Walford East tube station in the BBC television series EastEnders is on the District line, taking the place of Bromley-by-Bow. From 4 February 2010 EastEnders will use shots of District line trains to superimpose on their episodes to show the trains running into the fictional station of Walford East which is part of the set.
 * Sheffield band Milburn wrote a song called 'The District Line' which refers to London.

Maps

 * Richmond - 51.46306°N, -0.3°W
 * Kew Gardens - 51.47722°N, -0.28528°W
 * Gunnersbury - 51.49167°N, -0.275°W
 * Ealing Broadway - 51.51472°N, -0.30167°W
 * Ealing Common - 51.51028°N, -0.28806°W
 * Acton Town - 51.50278°N, -0.28°W
 * Chiswick Park - 51.49472°N, -0.26778°W
 * Turnham Green - 51.49528°N, -0.255°W
 * Stamford Brook - 51.495°N, -0.24583°W
 * Ravenscourt Park - 51.49417°N, -0.23583°W
 * Hammersmith - 51.49417°N, -0.225°W
 * Barons Court - 51.49056°N, -0.21361°W
 * West Kensington - 51.49083°N, -0.20639°W
 * Wimbledon - 51.42333°N, -0.20417°W
 * Wimbledon Park - 51.43389°N, -0.2°W
 * Southfields - 51.445°N, -0.20694°W
 * East Putney - 51.45861°N, -0.21139°W
 * Putney Bridge - 51.46833°N, -0.20889°W
 * Parsons Green - 51.47528°N, -0.20111°W
 * Fulham Broadway - 51.48056°N, -0.19472°W
 * West Brompton - 51.48667°N, -0.19583°W
 * Kensington (Olympia) - 51.49861°N, -0.21083°W
 * High Street Kensington - 51.50083°N, -0.1925°W
 * Notting Hill Gate - 51.50889°N, -0.19694°W
 * Bayswater - 51.51194°N, -0.18806°W
 * London Paddington - 51.51722°N, -0.1775°W
 * Edgware Road - 51.52°N, -0.16778°W
 * Earl's Court - 51.49139°N, -0.19472°W
 * Gloucester Road - 51.49472°N, -0.18306°W
 * South Kensington - 51.49417°N, -0.17389°W
 * Sloane Square - 51.4925°N, -0.15667°W


 * London Victoria - 51.49667°N, -0.14472°W
 * St. James's Park - 51.49944°N, -0.13444°W
 * Westminster - 51.50111°N, -0.125°W
 * Embankment - 51.50694°N, -0.12194°W
 * Temple - 51.51111°N, -0.11444°W
 * Blackfriars - 51.51167°N, -0.10306°W
 * Mansion House - 51.51222°N, -0.09417°W
 * Cannon Street - 51.51028°N, -0.09083°W
 * Bank-Monument - 51.51306°N, -0.08806°W
 * Tower Hill - 51.51°N, -0.07611°W
 * Aldgate East - 51.51528°N, -0.07222°W
 * Whitechapel - 51.51889°N, -0.06111°W
 * Stepney Green - 51.52194°N, -0.04639°W
 * Mile End - 51.525°N, -0.03306°W
 * Bow Road - 51.52722°N, -0.02472°W
 * Bromley-by-Bow - 51.52389°N, -0.01139°W
 * West Ham - 51.52806°N, 0.00389°W
 * Plaistow - 51.53139°N, 0.01722°W
 * Upton Park - 51.535°N, 0.03444°W
 * East Ham - 51.53889°N, 0.05167°W
 * Barking - 51.53917°N, 0.08167°W
 * Upney - 51.53861°N, 0.10139°W
 * Becontree - 51.54028°N, 0.12694°W
 * Dagenham Heathway - 51.54167°N, 0.14694°W
 * Dagenham East - 51.54444°N, 0.16556°W
 * Elm Park - 51.54972°N, 0.19778°W
 * Hornchurch - 51.55306°N, 0.21889°W
 * Upminster Bridge - 51.55806°N, 0.23417°W
 * Upminster - 51.55889°N, 0.25111°W
 * Ealing Common Depot - 51.50667°N, -0.28528°W
 * Upminster Depot - 51.56056°N, 0.26444°W