Tonight:
4°c
Circle line changes shape and heads off to Hammersmith
Paul Waugh5 Mar 2009
The Circle line is to be extended to Hammersmith for commuters on one of the Tube's most unreliable routes.
In the most radical change since the service was first created more than 120 years ago, trains will be redirected to create what Underground insiders are already calling the “Lasso line”.
From December, Circle line trains will start in Hammersmith, run along the current Hammersmith & City line to Edgware Road and then do a clockwise lap of the Circle line and head back to Hammersmith. They would then do the journey anti-clockwise.
At present the Hammersmith & City line has only seven trains an hour. Under the new service, there will be Tubes every four minutes.
Engineers believe the change will have a positive effect on the whole network, which is often jammed at peak times by the “backing up” of Circle line trains stuck in tunnels.
The 14-mile line, which was created in 1884, carries 75 million passengers a year but its circular pattern means it suffers from crippling delays when a train breaks down or is hit by a signal failure. Unlike other lines, it lacks a maintenance depot on its route.
Under the new plans, the service will double the number of trains running to Hammersmith. It will feed demand in west London, including the new station at Wood Lane near Westfield shopping centre. Residents in south-west London will benefit as the extra capacity will mean more District line trains from Wimbledon to the City.
The East End will also get more trains as the Hammersmith & City line will be extended to Barking and Plaistow rather than Aldgate at present.
The only downside is that there will no longer be an automatic through service between the west and north sides of the current Circle. Those passengers will have to change trains at Edgware Road, but Tube chiefs say scheduling will mean most travellers will be able to switch to a neighbouring platform instead of using footbridges. The plans have been designed to accommodate new faster and longer “S-stock” trains which come on stream next year and in 2013.
The changes have been confirmed in a Transport for London letter to Hammersmith and Fulham's Tory MP Greg Hands. Mr Hands said: “I am delighted. If the proposal delivers what it says, then it's only surprising that nobody has thought of this sooner.” Howard Collins, chief operating officer London Underground, said: “The changes to service patterns on the Circle line will come into effect in December 2009 and will improve the reliability of the line, enabling services to recover more quickly if there is a disruption.
“The added benefit will be the improved service on the Hammersmith & City line from Edgware Road round to Hammersmith, almost doubling the frequency on that route.”
Reader views (40)
Who would have believed it? They have taken the world's worst Metro service and made it even poorer/more unreliable. All the negative comments above are 100%right.
It really winds me up to hear that standard announcement on all the stations: "All Underground lines have a good service today". At only 8 trains per hour, the Circle Line service is always very poor. Any decent Metro service in a large city runs at intervals of no more than 2 minutes.
- Joseph Pestell, Newbury, UK, 14/01/2010 14:18
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Dear 'Charlie' "This is terrible....This has added at least 10 minutes to my journey (waiting for another train etc) and am now going to have to start driving instead..."
aahhh.. the patience of Londoners...
- Justin Huntingdon, london, 17/12/2009 17:37
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As a resident in Notting Hill, when the changes were announced, I was peeved to lose my direct service to King's Cross, but recognised the benefit to those people on the Hammersmith and City Line.
It has been an unmitigated disaster. Edgware Road can't cope with reversing all the District AND Circle Line trains, people in the West have lost their direct service to the North, the District and Circle Line station at Paddington is now almost useless, while the Hammersmith and City Line platforms are even more overcrowded than ever.
Why not reverse the Circle Line at Aldgate rather than Edgware Road, preventing ALL these problems and keeping the extended service to Hammersmith. Simply start the trains at Hammersmith, send them clockwise round the circle as now, but instead of stopping at Edgware Road, going on as far as Aldgate before reversing?
- Peter, London, 17/12/2009 13:18
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This is terrible. As a daily commuter from South Ken to Baker street I now have to take 2 trains. This morning I had to wait 10 mins in a tunnel before pulling into Egware Road for a platform to clear up and on the way home, you have to cross the footbridge to the other platform for a circle line train! I am OUTRAGED. The circle line train is suppossed to be going around in a circle. This has added at least 10 minutes to my journey (waiting for another train etc) and am now going to have to start driving instead, which defeats the entire purpose of these new said "improvements".
- Charlie, London, 14/12/2009 20:29
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The key problem will be Edgware Road. The way that the track and points are currently laid out, already causes congestion, as it appears that the "up" and "down" lines cross in order to "split" (currently allowing the H&C Line to end up in H'smith and District Line to proceed down the old "Circle" to Wimbledon via High St Ken). With another line "terminating" at Edgware Road (unless the District Line from Wimbledon terminates at High St Ken like the Olympia trains), this station will be too crowded (by trains). If then, trains don't run on time, further down, Baker St, another merger of lines, will cause chaos.
Not thought through, although - in principle - the idea is good to ease overcrowing between H'smith and Paddington (simpler solution to me would have been to increase H&C line frequency simply to run just like the lassoo line, i.e. the complete circle is still served, say 10 minute intervals, with a H&C line train "thrown in" to serve the lassoo.
- Alex K, London UK, 14/12/2009 07:40
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There is a saying "You can only please some people some of the time" While the Circle line extension will bring some improvements for those who travel to Hammersmith, some people will lose out (mainly those who travel to High Street Kensington and Notting Hill Gate from the eastern side of the Circle via Baker Street. Maybe TfL should run through Circle Line trains to said stations during peak hours only.
- J. Tye, London., 26/11/2009 23:25
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Uninspiring article. Poor journalistic standards from the Evening Standard yet again. I appiled for a job there and woz told my dyslexia wasn't bad enough.
- Julian, Wimbledon, London, 26/11/2009 22:25
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Circle line trains will start from Hammersmith, run to Edgware Road, do a full clockwise circle back to Edgware Road WHERE THEY WILL REVERSE and then do a full anti-clockwise circle back to Edgware Road before continuing back to Hammersmith.
Oh, and by the way, some Hammersmith and City line trains already go to Barking.
- David Potts, london, 26/11/2009 22:25
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Julian of Wimbledon. Uninspiring!? What were you expecting? It's a report about tube lines. I doubt they are up for a Pulitzer.
- Pete, London, 26/11/2009 22:25
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the clue is in the title, - "Circle Line". The district line to Wimbledon from Edgeware road is not mentioned
- Ciaran, Islington, London, 26/11/2009 22:25
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Um, they're messing with history here. Is that a good idea?
- Fara, London, 26/11/2009 22:25
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Oh no, change at Edgware Road!
You can sit there for decades without any announcements as it is.
- Steve, Gloucestershire, 26/11/2009 22:25
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Did the article not mean to say Metropolitan Line as there will not be a Hammersmith & City line in the new plans?
- Sa, London, 26/11/2009 22:25
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I can't see how making these changes does anything to stop holdups due to faulty signals and broken down trains. LUL is treating its "customers" like cattle - again! Everyone from the west side of the Circle will have to change at Edgware Road - in both directions. All the home-going commuters from the city will arrive at Paddington H&C where the single staircase can't cope NOW and mill around blocking the stairs and bridge rather than walking all the way back to the concourse.
Do the businesses at Paddington Station know that all their rush-hour clients are going to be at the other end of the station.
- Perplexed Of Paddington!, London UK, 26/11/2009 22:25
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"The East End will also get more trains as the Hammersmith & City line will be extended to Barking and Plaistow rather than Aldgate at present."
The H&C Line already goes to Plaistow and Barking and has done for as long as I can remember.
- Escobar A-Lop-Lop, Camden County, 26/11/2009 22:25
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Excellent news!
- Sally Roberts, Hammersmith, London, United Kingdom, 26/11/2009 22:25
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I really want the H + C line replaced with the metropolitan line taking over to barking. There is no need of the H + C line anymore! Plus the met line needs updating as well as so many dusruptions occur on it. The circle, hammersmith and met lines are all bad as each other!
- Mitesh, Harrow, London, 26/11/2009 22:25
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"The East End will also get more trains as the Hammersmith & City line will be extended to Barking and Plaistow rather than Aldgate at present."
Do you mean the Metropolitan Line? There's been talk for some time about running an Uxbridge to Barking service.
- Sg, London, 26/11/2009 22:25
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If I've read this correct, there will be extra carriages on the most congested part of the district line (Wimbledon) branch in 9months time.
This is packed from 7am onwards and stupidly busy at 10pm
Although it's been a lot better recently as so many people have lost their jobs
- The Womble, Wimbledon, 26/11/2009 22:25
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Christina, sorry I'm afraid you are not thinking through...Hammersmith Sation on the H&C line is not the same station as on the District line. The H&C station is a terminus and has no other lines going through it.
- Escobar A-Lop-Lop, Camden County, 26/11/2009 22:25
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Wot??? You mean no "new tube line" to Wandsworth or Clapham Junction? But surely they can't go back on their endlessly repeated assurances that...oh, forget it...
- Kardinal Birkutzki, london, 26/11/2009 22:25
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Christina Speight, the proposal is for the Circle trains to start at the Hammersmith terminus of the present H&C line, join the present Circle at Edgware Road, go once around the Circle to Edgware Road a second time where they will terminate. They will then go in the reverse direction back around the Circle then back to Hammersmith H&C. They won't go to Hammersmith District at all.
- Roy, England, 26/11/2009 22:25
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Everytime I use the circle line there's delays, luckily I dont use all the time, recon its worth a try! I dont think the plans have been kept under wraps though this was mentioned last year!
Theres talk of changing the Northern Line too! All trains would be:
Morden - Bank - High Barnet/Mill Hill East and seperately Kennington - Edgeware, a complete split of the lines - that i dont want to happen!
- Simon James, London, 26/11/2009 22:25
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This really messes up the Circle Line pub crawl. You might end up in a dead end rather than back at the start!
- Michael, London, 26/11/2009 22:25
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WHERE do the clockwise Circle line trains do their reversing in Hammersmith District Line ?
- Christina Speight, west london
Er they don't go through Hammersmith Distict line - they go through the Hammersmith and city line - they are two seperate stations on completely different alignments. I think that they've 'thought this through' rather better than you have
- Tony, London, 26/11/2009 22:25
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Yes--this is welcome but plse plse plse....I very much doubt if this will clear the clog up between Edgware Road and Baker St during peak periods and I dread the foxed look of passengers asked --once more--to change platforms at Edgware Road having sat endlessly in carriages listening to announcements of why there are delays or changes to destinations.
- William Grierson, Kimpton-UK, 26/11/2009 22:25
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Does this extension REPLACE the H&C, or is it in addition to it? The article doesn't make it clear. IF the H&C is scrapped, they could extend the Wimbledon - Edgware Road service to Whitechapel/Barking. If not, then Edgware Road will clog up with Circle & District Line trains reversing.
- Nick, Edinburgh, Scotland, 26/11/2009 22:25
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This looks very much like the end of the Wimbledon - Edgware Road trains. There cannot be the capacity at Edgware Road to reverse twice as many trains as now, and the 'extra capacity' from Wimbledon to the City suggests a reduction in Edgware Road trains on the Wimbledon branch. As usual we only get told the 'good' news...........
- Mark, Surbiton, Surrey, 26/11/2009 22:25
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Tony is wrong here, the circle, district and Hammersmith and city share a common bit of track west of Edgware Road, until just before Paddington. Although there is probably space for an extra track here since this bit of line was originally built to Brunels Broad gauge. There are additional platforms at Edgware Road that enable trains to reverse currently used by the district line from Wimbledon.
I suspect that when it gets too congested around Edgware Road TFL will start reversing clockwise trains at High Street Ken instead of Edgware Road.
- Brian Blackmore, Coventry (ex-Londoner), 26/11/2009 22:25
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WHERE do the clockwise Circle line trains do their reversing in Hammersmith District Line ? This will disrupt the main service through Hammersmith to Ealing and Richmond. Passengers from stations from Embankment to Gloucester Road will have to go to Earls Court, go right across the station, to get a Wimbledon line train to Edgware Road, Paddington and Baker Street. High St Kensington will be isolated with fewer trains since they will get no circle line and have to rely on Wimbledon-Edgware Road only
This hasn't been thought through!
- Christina Speight, west london, 26/11/2009 22:25
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How about naming it the "Downward Spiral" Line?
- Robert C, London UK, 26/11/2009 22:25
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While this change may make a short term improvement the basic problem of several lines having to use flat junctions will remain. Us Londoners all know about waiting at Aldgate but for tourists they get anxious about what is happening.
There were once upon a time plans to put the district line into a tunnel in west London but this never happened, the Piccadilly line was built instead.
Long term we need to introduce grade seperation something that may become possible on the eastern side once Thameslink stops serving Moorgate.
This might allow a new stretch of line between Farringdon and Aldgate to take Hammersmith & City Trains on a seperate alignment with new deeper platforms at Moorgate, Liverpool Street and Aldgate East.
Also if Heathrow does get a 3rd runway then extension of the district line to Heathrow will also be needed.
If a new section of line were built between South Kensington and Hammersmith we might then have a larger circle line with the line to Edware Road becoming District Line only.
- Melvyn Windebank, Canvey Island, Essex, 26/11/2009 22:25
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This is just tinkering to make use of the 'new' White City Station for the shopping centre there. If they really wanted to do something, why not add in southbound curves at Paddington and westbound ones at Baker Street to make the entire set up useful instead of reversals? After all, this was on the original agenda when they were first constructed.
- Arthur The Gooner, Isle of wight (ex Metrolander), 26/11/2009 22:25
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Does this mean there will be a reduced Wimbledon to Edgware Road service? Or perhaps it will be scrapped altogether leaving far fewer options from Earl's Court.
- Sam, SW15, 26/11/2009 22:25
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So this new piece of line really a siding so that they can clear broken down trains but good luck to anyone it makes life a little easier for on the network.I will often walk rather than go onto the tube network.As summer approaches and the stiffling heat will once again make life a misery for travellers.
- Mike Melbourne, Bedford England, 26/11/2009 22:25
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The Hammersmith & City line already runs to Plaistow and Barking. I think you meant to report that those H&C trains that current terminate at Aldgate East (or perhaps you meant Whitechapel?) will now continue to Plaistow and Barking.
- Richard, Plaistow, 26/11/2009 22:25
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This is great. The Hammersmith and City line is a good link to and from Paddington so an increase in frequency of service will be a great help.
- Concerned, Caerleon, South Wales, 26/11/2009 22:25
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"The changes have been kept under wraps by the Underground for nearly a year"
Not if you read Modern Railways they weren't. They covered this ages ago. It's called the 'Teacup Line' there. It's a good idea, though - it's annoying to get to Paddington and have to wait ages for a Hammersmith train.
- Tom, London, UK, 26/11/2009 22:25
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Many people have already christened this as the 'T cup' line.
- Paul B, London, 26/11/2009 22:25
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They have been talking about this for years and years. I'm glad they have finally done something about it. It will be interesting to see if this leads to an improved service on the "Circle" line, it's worth a try.
- John, United Kingdom, 26/11/2009 22:25
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