The Great Northern, Piccadilly and Brompton Railway (GNP&BR), also known as the Piccadilly tube, was a railway company established in 1902 that constructed a deep-level underground "tube" railway in London, England.A "tube" railway is an underground railway constructed in a cylindrical tunnel by the use of a tunnelling shield, usually deep below ground level. The GNP&BR was formed through a merger of two older companies, the Brompton and Piccadilly Circus Railway (B&PCR) and the Great Northern and Strand Railway (GN&SR). It also incorporated part of a tube route planned by a third company, the District Railway (DR). The combined company was a subsidiary of the Underground Electric Railways Company of London (UERL).
The B&PCR and the GN&SR were established in 1896 and 1898 respectively, but construction of both railways was delayed while funding was sought. In 1902 the UERL, which already controlled the DR, took control of both companies and quickly raised the funds, mainly from foreign investors. A number of different routes were planned, but most were rejected by the Parliament of the United Kingdom.
When it opened in 1906, the GNP&BR's line served 22 stations and ran for between its western terminus at Hammersmith and its northern terminus at Finsbury Park. A short branch connected Holborn to the Strand. Most of the route was in a pair of tunnels, with at the western end constructed above ground.Length of line calculated from distances given at Within the first year of opening it became apparent to the management and investors that the estimated passenger numbers for the GNP&BR and the other UERL lines were over-optimistic. Despite improved integration and cooperation with the other tube railways, the GNP&BR struggled financially. In 1933 it and the rest of the UERL were taken into public ownership. Today, the GNP&BR's tunnels and stations form the core central section of the London Underground's Piccadilly line.
Establishment
Origins
Brompton and Piccadilly Circus Railway, 1896
In November 1896 notice was published that a private bill was to be presented to Parliament for the construction of the Brompton and Piccadilly Circus Railway (B&PCR). The line was planned to run entirely underground between Air Street near Piccadilly Circus and the south end of Exhibition Road, South Kensington. The route was to run beneath Piccadilly, Knightsbridge, Brompton Road and Thurloe Place, with intermediate stations at Dover Street, Down Street, Hyde Park Corner, Knightsbridge and Brompton Road. A short branch to the east of the South Kensington terminus was planned to a depot south of Brompton Road at the end of Yeoman Row. Electricity to operate the trains was to be provided from a generating station to be built about a mile south of the South Kensington terminus on the north bank of the River Thames at Lots Road, West Brompton.Badsey-Ellis 2005, p. 71. Having been approved by Parliament, the bill received royal assent as the (60 & 61 Vict. c. cxcii)60 & 61 Vict. c. cxcii "An Act for incorporating the Brompton and Piccadilly Circus Railway Company and for empowering them to construct an Underground Railway from Piccadilly Circus to South Kensington and for other purposes." on 6 August 1897.
District Railway deep-level tube, 1896
Also announced in November 1896 was a bill to be presented by the District Railway (DR) for a tube railway to be constructed beneath its existing sub-surface line between Gloucester Road and Mansion House stations. The DR operated a steam railway, running in cut and cover tunnels, and planned to ease congestion along its heavily used route by constructing an express line with just a single intermediate station at Charing Cross (now Embankment). The express line was to surface west of Gloucester Road and connect to the DR's existing line at Earl's Court. Since, like the B&PCR, the DR's deep tube line would be operated with electric trains, the DR planned to build a generating station adjacent to its Walham Green station (now Fulham Broadway).Badsey-Ellis 2005, pp. 70–71. The bill received assent on 6 August 1897 as the (60 & 61 Vict. c. ccxlvii).
Great Northern and Strand Railway, 1898
In November 1898 the Great Northern and Strand Railway (GN&SR) was announced as a tube railway, to run from Wood Green to Stanhope Street, north of the Strand. The GN&SR was backed by the Great Northern Railway (GNR), the main line railway operating from King's Cross station. The GNR saw the new company as a means of relieving congestion on its route. The GN&SR was to run beneath the GNR's main line from Wood Green station (now Alexandra Palace) to Finsbury Park station. It was then planned to run south-west through Holloway to King's Cross, and then south to Bloomsbury and Holborn. Intermediate stations were planned at the GNR's Hornsey, Harringay and Finsbury Park stations, and at Holloway, York Road, King's Cross, Russell Square and Holborn.Badsey-Ellis 2005, p. 77. A power station was planned next to the GNR's tracks at Gillespie Road. When the London County Council planned the construction of Kingsway and Aldwych, Stanhope Street was scheduled for demolition so the southern terminus was relocated to the junction of the two new roads. The bill was enacted on 1 August 1899 as the (62 & 63 Vict. c. cciii).
Search for finance, 1896–1903 Although the three companies had permission to construct their railways, they still had to raise the capital for the construction works in a competitive market.
By 1899, there were five other tube railway companies with permission to construct railways that were raising funds – the Baker Street and Waterloo Railway (BS&WR), the Charing Cross, Euston and Hampstead Railway (CCE&HR), the Great Northern and City Railway (GN&CR), the Central London Railway (CLR) and the City and Brixton Railway. The already operating City & South London Railway (C&SLR) was also looking for money for extensions to its existing route and numerous others proposed, but unapproved underground railway companies were also seeking investors.
Foreign investors came to the rescue of the DR, B&PCR and GN&SR: American financier Charles Yerkes, who had been lucratively involved in the development of Chicago's tramway system in the 1880s and 1890s, saw the opportunity to make similar investments in London. In March 1901 he and his backers purchased a majority of the shares of the DR and, in September 1901, took over the B&PCR and the GN&SR. With the companies under his control, Yerkes established the UERL to raise funds to build the tube railways and to electrify the DR. The UERL was capitalised at £5 million with the majority of shares sold to overseas investors. Further share issues followed, which raised a total of £18 million by 1903 (equivalent to approximately £ today) for use across all of the UERL's projects.
Planning the route, 1898–1905
B&PCR bill, 1899
During the progress of their 1896 bills through parliament, the DR and the B&PCR established a relationship through a successful joint campaign of opposition to a competing proposal from the City & West End Railway. This was for a tube railway running from Hammersmith to Cannon Street, which would have duplicated parts of the DR's and the B&PCR's approved routes.Badsey-Ellis 2005, pp. 73–74. In late 1898, this common interest led to the purchase of the B&PCR by the DR. In November 1898 a bill for the B&PCR was announced, which sought permission for short extensions at each end of its route: at its eastern end, from Piccadilly Circus to Cranbourn Street and, at the western end, connections between the B&PCR's tunnels and those of the DR's deep tube line.Badsey-Ellis 2005, p. 85. Parliament rejected the eastern extension, but permitted the connection between the two lines and approved a capital injection from the DR into the B&PCR. The bill received royal assent on 9 August 1899 as the (62 & 63 Vict. c. cclxii).
DR and B&PCR bills, 1900
In November 1899, the DR published a notice of a bill for the 1900 parliamentary session. The company was still unable to proceed with the construction of its proposed deep line, and the new bill included provisions for extensions of time for this line and for those of the B&PCR. The bill included construction and operation of the power station at the Lots Road site previously chosen by the B&PCR. The B&PCR also published notice for a bill requesting an extension of time, but this was later withdrawn and the extension request in the DR bill was used. The time extensions were granted in the (63 & 64 Vict. c. cclxxiii), which received assent on 6 August 1900.
B&PCR bill, 1901
In November 1900, the B&PCR published a notice of a bill for the 1901 session, in which it sought permission for two extensions. The first, eastward, took a more northerly route than the rejected 1899 extension to Cranbourn Street: it was to run via Shaftesbury Avenue, Hart Street (now Bloomsbury Way), Bloomsbury Square, Theobalds Road and Rosebery Avenue, to Angel, Islington where it terminated under Islington High Street. Where the line crossed other tube routes, stations were planned: at Cambridge Circus to interchange with the planned CCE&HR, and at Museum Street near to the CLR's recently opened British Museum station.Badsey-Ellis 2005, p. 96. The second extension took the line south-west from South Kensington, via Fulham Road, to connect to the DR's line south of Walham Green station (now Fulham Broadway). The bill also included provisions for the B&PCR to take over responsibility for construction of the section of the DR's deep-level line from South Kensington to Earl's Court, and for a further extension of time.
The opening of the CLR on 30 July 1900 had stimulated interest in underground railways, and the B&PCR's bill was submitted to Parliament at the same time as a large number of other bills for tube lines in the capital. To review these bills, Parliament established a joint committee under Lord Windsor.Badsey-Ellis 2005, p. 93. Only the part of B&PCR's first extension as far as Museum Street was considered by the committee. The section to The Angel was held back, pending the findings of a separate committee which was investigating problems of vibration experienced on the CLR. The extension to Fulham was not discussed. By the time the committee had produced its report, the parliamentary session was almost over so the promoters of the bills were asked to resubmit them for the following 1902 session.Badsey-Ellis 2005, p. 111.
B&PCR, GN&SR and DR bills, 1902
In November 1901, the B&PCR published details of its bill for the 1902 session. The extension to The Angel was dropped, and a different route eastwards from Piccadilly Circus was planned. Once again this ran to Cranbourn Street, but it continued under Long Acre and Great Queen Street to meet and connect to the GN&SR's tunnels at Little Queen Street (now the northern part of Kingsway) just south of the GN&SR's planned Holborn station. The B&PCR planned stations at Wardour Street, Cranbourn Street and Covent Garden.