Clive's
UndergrounD Line Guides
Clive's
UndergrounD Line Guides
"'Then there was an 'issing sound and a voice said "Minador"'"
- The Scarlet Capsule
The Goon Show
Piccadilly
Line History |
 Dates |
 Features |
 Services |
 Topology |
 Layout |
 Depots |
 Connections |
 Rolling stock |
The original Piccadilly Line - from Finsbury Park to Hammersmith - was formed by merging three separate proposals. From east to west, these were:
The District purchased the B&PCR in 1898. In 1901 the Yerkes Group took over all three propsals before any construction had been started and combined them into the Great Northern, Piccadilly & Brompton Railway. The B&PCR route had been altered by the District at the west end so as to meet the DLD at South Kensington (with a sharp curve), and was now altered at the east end to meet the GN&SR at Holborn. The planned DLD route was extended in the west to emerge at Barons Court and was abandoned east of South Kensington once it became clear that the Piccadilly combined with an electrified District could handle the traffic. The junction in the eastbound tunnel is still visible at the end of the platform; there was also a separate westbound DLD platform, but this seems to have disappeared during a recent reconstruction of the station.
At the eastern end of the line, the GNR considered the territory beyond Finsbury Park their own. Therefore when they agreed to hand over the route to Yerkes, they retained ownership of the tube station (under their main-line one) and demanded a veto over any extension northwards. Thus Finsbury Park became the terminus of the line and, despite increasing congestion of road traffic, the GNR and their successor the LNER refused consent for any extension for many years (they also did the same to the Great Northern & City Railway, described under the Northern Line). Eventually public opinion became strong enough to force the matter, and in the 1930s the line was rapidly extended into the suburbs.
Also in the 1930s, the District Line was suffering congestion on its city section, which was being fed from the west by no less than 5 branches plus the Circle. Therefore the Piccadilly was extended over two of these (to Hounslow and to Uxbridge), giving a second outlet for the traffic. The original layout between the tube mouths (at Barons Court) and Hammersmith had the Piccadilly tracks on the north side of the District; both this section and the tracks westwards to Acton Town were now rearranged, with the Piccadilly Line running between the District tracks. West of Acton Town, both lines continued to serve the Hounslow branch (until 1964), but the Rayners Lane branch was totally taken over, with all District service being withdrawn in two stages, firstly to South Harrow and then, after nationalisation, all the way to Uxbridge (the original powers to run beyond South Harrow applied explicitly to the MDR, and the Yerkes group were unwilling to take the legal risk of running any other trains that way).
During World War II, the closed station at Down Street was converted into the headquarters of the Railway Executive - the body that controlled all railways during and immediately after the war. Walls were built along the platform edges, and the resulting space was converted to offices. Access was normally from the surface, but trains could also be stopped to allow people in and out of the driver's cab. Brompton Road was also converted and used for London Anti-Aircraft Control; later it was a Territorial Army training centre and may have been used by the Auxiliary Fire Service.
In the 1970s the Hounslow branch was extended to Heathrow Airport, which at the time consisted of three terminals grouped around a central point. In the 1980s a fourth terminal was added on the south side of the airport and the line was extended in a loop to serve it; the loop was made longer than strictly necessary so as to serve the planned location of the fifth terminal. However Terminal 5 was eventually built much further west and, therefore, the original route was extended directly to it while leaving the loop in place to serve Terminal 4. Because of unstable ground, it was not possible to construct the junction between the loop and the extension while trains were running and so the loop was closed for the duration of the works.
The erstwhile Aldwych branch has always been a curiosity. It was left over from the GN&SR route when the Piccadilly to Holborn section was added, and it remains unclear why it was ever built. Although the GN&SR powers to build north of Finsbury Park were formally abandoned, the same didn't happen here. It is possible that attempts were made but Parliament rejected them; if so, no record has been left.
The branch is located directly under the Kingsway and its tram subway, which were being constructed at about the same time as the Piccadilly. Tunnelling for the branch had to wait until they were finished, and it opened after the rest of the line. Before construction even started the Yerkes group applied to have it extended to Temple, but they were only allowed to go as far as the south side of the Strand.
Further adding to the mystery is the strange track layout. Though the branch was constructed as double track, it was done in a way that meant it could not be integrated with the rest of the line. The eastern ("southbound") track connected to the northbound at Holborn, while the western track terminated in a separate bay. Furthermore, the two tracks were connected by only a single crossover just south of Holborn. The platforms at both stations were also much shorter than those on the rest of the line.
With this layout the only sensible thing to do was to operate the branch as a shuttle between Holborn and Aldwych (during peak hours until 1912 there was one shuttle on each track) and this is how it operated for its entire life; the only exceptions were a few Aldwych to Finsbury Park trains (eastbound only) to serve theatre-goers, withdrawn in 1908. In 1917 the line was singled, using the western of the original tracks for most of its length but the crossover and the eastern one at Holborn.
A number of plans were made to extend the branch to Waterloo, but none came to fruition; it would also have been saved had the Jubilee Line been extended via Fleet Street as originally planned, rather than via Waterloo. The branch was closed during World War II (and the tunnels were used to hold valuables from the British Museum). From then on all was downhill: after 1958-06-07 trains ran only in the weekday peak hours, apart from a 07:00 to 14:00 Saturday service which survived until 1962-06-16. Final closure came in 1994 as a way to avoid the cost of replacing the lifts at Aldwych.
After being taken out of use by the 1917 modifications, the eastern platform at Aldwych was used for design work, as well as appearing (under many names) in various films, while the bay at Holborn was apparently converted into university accommodation and then laboratories; currently part is a canteen while another part holds an electricity substation.
The lines from Barons Court to Hounslow West and to Uxbridge have a long history before the Piccadilly reached them or took them over. This history is covered on the District and Metropolitan Line pages and is not duplicated here.
Ravenscourt Park, Stamford Brook, and Chiswick Park stations have never been served by the Piccadilly Line, and they are not counted as stations for the purposes of this page.
| 1906-12-15 | [15] | Finsbury Park to Barons Court opened |
| Barons Court to Hammersmith (2) started [Piccadilly service] | ||
| 1907-01-08 |  |
South Kensington |
| 1907-03-15 | |
Down Street |
| 1907-04-11 | |
Covent Garden |
| 1907-11-30 | 0 | Holborn to Aldwych opened |
| 1908-10-03 | Through trains from Aldwych to Finsbury Park withdrawn | |
| 1926-05-04 |  |
Brompton Road (General Strike) |
| 1926-10-04 | |
Brompton Road |
| 1932-05-21 | |
Down Street |
| 1932-07-04 | Hammersmith (2) to South Harrow started [Piccadilly service] | |
 |
Turnham Green[1] | |
| 1932-09-17 | |
York Road |
| 1932-09-19 | 4 | Arnos Grove to Finsbury Park opened |
| 1933-01-09 | Acton Town to Northfields started [Piccadilly service] | |
|
South Ealing | |
| 1933-03-13 | Northfields to Hounslow West started [Piccadilly service] | |
| 1933-03-13 | 1 | Oakwood to Arnos Grove opened |
| 1933-07-31 | 0 | Cockfosters to Oakwood opened |
| 1933-10-23 | South Harrow to Uxbridge started [Piccadilly service] | |
| 1934-03-25 |  |
Osterley |
| 1934-07-29 | |
Brompton Road |
| 1935-04-29 | |
South Ealing [Piccadilly service] |
| 1935-07-05 | |
South Harrow |
| 1938-12-04 |  |
Uxbridge |
| 1939-08-31 | |
Arsenal, King's Cross St. Pancras, Green Park, Hyde Park Corner, Knightsbridge |
| 1939-11-17 | |
King's Cross St. Pancras |
| 1939-12-01 | |
Arsenal, Green Park, Knightsbridge |
| 1939-12-08 | |
Hyde Park Corner |
| 1940-09-21 | Holborn to Aldwych closed | |
| 1940-10-13 | Cockfosters to Wood Green closed (bomb at Bounds Green) | |
| 1940-10-14 | Wood Green to King's Cross St. Pancras closed (bomb at Holloway Road) | |
| 1940-12-05 | [6] | Wood Green to King's Cross St. Pancras reopened |
 |
York Road | |
| 1940-12-09 | 2 | Arnos Grove to Cockfosters reopened |
| 1940-12-16 | 1 | Wood Green to Arnos Grove reopened |
| 1944-03-02 | Ealing Common to South Harrow closed (bomb near Alperton) | |
| Acton Town to Ealing Common withdrawn (in consequence) | ||
| 1944-03-07 | 5 | Ealing Common to South Harrow reopened |
| Acton Town to Ealing Common restored | ||
| 1946-07-01 | 0 | Holborn to Aldwych reopened |
| 1963-06-23 | |
Turnham Green[1] |
| 1975-07-14 | |
Hounslow West |
| 1975-07-19 | 0 | Hounslow West to Hatton Cross opened |
| 1977-12-16 | 0 | Hatton Cross to Heathrow Terminals 1, 2, 3 opened |
| 1985-11-20 | Passenger train erroneously sent around Heathrow Terminal 4 loop | |
| 1986-04-07 | [0] | Heathrow Terminal 4 loop opened |
| 1986-04-12 | |
Heathrow Terminal 4 |
| 1987-08-30 | |
Gloucester Road (lift replacement) |
| 1989-05-21 | |
Gloucester Road |
| 1992-12-06 | |
Hillingdon |
| 1994-09-30 | Holborn to Aldwych closed | |
| 1996-09-28 | |
Turnham Green[1] |
| 1997-01-26 | |
Turnham Green[1] |
| 1997-06-01 | |
Holborn (escalator problems) |
| 1997-06-30 | |
Holborn |
| 1997-11-22 | |
Earl's Court (escalator renewal) |
| 1998-04-06 | |
Earl's Court |
| 2000-09-15 | |
Knightsbridge (escalator problems) |
| 2000-09-18 | |
King's Cross St. Pancras (escalator problems) |
| 2000-10-10 | |
King's Cross St. Pancras |
| 2000-10-11 | |
Knightsbridge |
| 2001-11-23 | |
Earl's Court (escalator renewal) |
| 2002-03-05 | |
Earl's Court |
| 2002-11-22 | |
Caledonian Road, Covent Garden, Gloucester Road, Holloway Road, Russell Square (firefighters' strike) |
| 2002-11-30 | |
Caledonian Road, Covent Garden, Gloucester Road, Holloway Road, Russell Square |
| 2003-03-05 | |
Russell Square (lift problems) |
| 2003-03-18 | |
Russell Square |
| 2005-01-02 | |
Ruislip Manor, eastbound only (reconstruction) |
| 2005-01-06 | Heathrow Terminal 4 loop closed (Terminal 5 works) | |
| 2005-04-27 | |
Ealing Common, Sudbury Hill, both eastbound only |
| 2005-05-07 | ? |
Ealing Common, Sudbury Hill, both eastbound only |
| 2005-05-08 | |
Ealing Common, Sudbury Hill, both westbound only |
| 2005-05-21 | ? |
Ealing Common, Sudbury Hill, both westbound only |
| 2005-07-07 | Arnos Grove to Hyde Park Corner closed (bomb explosion on train between King's Cross St.Pancras and Russell Square) | |
| Rayners Lane to Uxbridge withdrawn (in consequence) | ||
|
Ruislip Manor, westbound only (reconstruction) | |
| 2005-07-09 | |
Ruislip Manor, eastbound only |
| 2005-08-04 | [15] | Arnos Grove to Hyde Park Corner reopened |
|
York Road, Down Street | |
| Rayners Lane to Uxbridge restored | ||
|
Ruislip Manor, eastbound only | |
| 2005-12-22 | |
Ruislip Manor, westbound only |
| 2006-07-22 | |
Arsenal |
| 2006-08-07 | ? |
Arsenal |
| 2006-09-17 | 1 | Heathrow Terminal 4 loop reopened |
| 2006-10-01 | |
Arsenal (eastbound only) |
| 2006-10-07 | |
Arsenal (eastbound only) |
| 2006-10-08 | |
Arsenal (westbound only) |
| 2006-10-14 | |
Arsenal (westbound only) |
| 2007-02-17 | |
Arsenal |
| 2007-03-03 | |
Arsenal |
| 2008-03-27 | 0 | Heathrow Terminals 1, 2, 3 to Heathrow Terminal 5 opened |
[1] Turnham Green has never been a regular stop for Piccadilly services. For those periods it is shown as open, trains stopped only in the early morning, late evening, and - at some periods - all day Sunday, presumably to improve connections to and from the District Line Richmond branch.
The central section, the Heathrow area from just west of Hatton Cross station, and a short section of track around Southgate station are in tube. From Hounslow West to Hatton Cross is a subsurface tunnel, though there is a small surface section between Hounslow West and Hatton Cross where the line crosses the River Crane. There is also a short tunnel west of Hammersmith station.
The line emerges from tube east of Barons Court, and the Piccadilly tracks run between the District tracks from the tube mouths to Acton Town. There are four tracks from Acton Town to Northfields: two "fast" and two "local". There is now no distinction between these, but for some years the eastbound local was used as a test track and was not in normal service.
The layout at Acton Town is complex:
To Ealing Common (station and depot)
EB WB Depot access
\ \ \
\ \ \
\ \ \ [--------------\
\ \ \ \
\ \ \---------------\ \---*-----*-----------
Eastbound local \ \ \ / ##### \ EB Dist.
-------------] \ \--------------*---*-----* ##### \
Eastbound fast \ / \ ##### \ EB Picc.
------------------] \ [---------*-*-------------*---------*-------
Westbound fast \ ----*
--------------------] \ [-------*--------------*----------*-------
Westbound local \ / ##### / WB Picc.
------------------\ \--*-----------------/ ##### /
\ \ ##### / WB Dist.
\--------*------------------------*-----------
[sidings at the east end of the station omitted]
At Northfields the westbound track dives under Northfields depot access track, after which the line is double track again to Hatton Cross.
The route to Heathrow Terminal 5 is double track, while the Terminal 4 loop is single track with trains running in the clockwise (decreasing kilometrage) direction only. The loop connects only to the westbound at Hatton Cross, while at the Terminals 1,2,3 end it connects to both tracks (though, of course, only the eastbound is normally used). The tube section of the extension was all built with a diameter of 3.81m (12'6"). The first section of tunnel after Hatton Cross is, unusually, "tube-and-cover" - a large hole was dug into which a prefabricated tube was placed; the hole was then filled in.
The Holborn to Aldwych section was single track, connecting only to the eastbound line at Holborn. The track remains, though unused.
Though the line is described as east/westbound throughout, the section from Cockfosters to Holborn was formerly known as north/southbound, and evidence of this remains in old signs and the platform numbering.
At the eastern end, most trains terminate at Cockfosters and a few at Arnos Grove; some also enter or leave service at Oakwood. At the western end, the situation is more complex. Heathrow gets a service of 12tph throughout the day, running alternately to Terminal 5 and round the Terminal 4 loop. At Terminal 5, trains reverse (empty) in the sidings and then stand for up to 7 minutes in the eastbound platform; trains running round the loop stand at Terminal 4 for 8 minutes so as to slot correctly into the service. (Between the openings of Terminals 4 and 5, all trains except a few at the start and end of service ran around the loop and the westbound track from Hatton Cross was mostly unused.) In the peaks, the Uxbridge branch also sees 12tph, splitting equally between Uxbridge, Ruislip, and Rayners Lane as their terminus. Off-peak there are 6tph to Rayners Lane, half of them extending to Uxbridge. At the start and end of service, and for the first hour or two at weekends, trains on the Uxbridge branch terminate at Acton Town, requiring a change to reach stations further east.
Until 1991-10-27, a few eastbound trains at the start and end of service hours terminated in the eastbound platform at West Kensington, running from and to Barons Court via the District tracks. Similarly, some trains at start and end of service have run via the District tracks between Hammersmith and Acton Town; this appears to have stopped in the mid-1990s.
It is claimed that on Sunday mornings in the mid-1990s a few early trains ran fast from Hatton Cross to Acton Town, stopping only at Northfields.
Minimum running times are 90 minutes from Cockfosters to Uxbridge, 75 minutes to Hatton Cross, and 83 minutes to Heathrow Terminal 5. It takes about 12 minutes to run from Hatton Cross round the Terminal 4 loop and back to Hatton Cross, but as described above nearly all trains have an extended stop at Terminal 4.
U---------R--1 <= West East =>
\
\
\
2--L
\
c--*-a---X---------T---------------H---------------C
/ / /
| / A
\-b-/
A = Aldwych
C = Cockfosters
H = Holborn
L = Hangar Lane Junction
R = Rayners Lane Junction
T = Acton Town
U = Uxbridge
X = Hatton Cross
a = Heathrow Terminals 1, 2, 3
b = Heathrow Terminal 4
c = Heathrow Terminal 5
1 = Metropolitan Line to Harrow-on-the-Hill
2 = District Line to Ealing Broadway
Westbound is upwards on the page and eastbound is downwards.
| 69.7 | [-] | ![[Z6]](li/zone6.gif) |
[End of reversing sidings] | |||
| 050758 | 69.4 | [= ^=^W=E] |   |
Heathrow Terminal 5 | ||
| 063759 | 67.5 | [-] | [PiccEx junction] | |||
| 075758 | 67.17 | [B=B] | |
Heathrow Terminals 1, 2, 3 | ||
| 65.08 | [-] | [Terminal 4 loop junction] | ||||
| 096753 | 64.99 | [IP] | ![[Z5/6]](li/zone56.gif) |
Hatton Cross | ||
| 122761 | 62.08 | [IP] | ![[Z5]](li/zone5.gif) |
Hounslow West | ||
| 62.04 | [-] | [tunnel mouths] | ||||
| 136759 | 60.64 | [IP] | ![[Z4]](li/zone4.gif) |
Hounslow Central | ||
| 142762 | 59.90 | [OP] | |
Hounslow East | ||
| 145771 | 58.93 | [OP] | |
Osterley | ||
| 58.63 | [OP] | ((Osterley & Spring Grove)) | ||||
| 163787 | 56.50 | [OP] | |
Boston Manor | ||
| 171792 | 55.59 | [W=WE=E] | ![[Z3]](li/zone3.gif) |
Northfields | ||
| 175793 | 55.11 | [W=WE=E X] | |
South Ealing | ||
| 194795 | 52.91 | [W=WE=E] | |
Acton Town | ||
| 203787 | 51.72 | [=wWEe=] | |
{Chiswick Park} | ||
| 207788 | 51.25 | [-] | [Turnham Green Junction (eastbound)] | |||
| 212788 | 50.83 | [-] | [Turnham Green Junction (westbound)] | |||
| 213788 | 50.71 | [w=WE=e] | ![[Z2/3]](li/zone23.gif) |
Turnham Green | ||
| 218788 | 50.18 | [w=WEe=] | ![[Z2]](li/zone2.gif) |
{Stamford Brook} | ||
| 225787 | 49.44 | [w=WE=e] | |
{Ravenscourt Park} | ||
| 231787 | 48.84 | [-] | [Studland Road Junction] | |||
| 48.81 | [-] | [tunnel west portal] | ||||
| 48.57 | [-] | [tunnel east portal] | ||||
| 234785 | 48.51 | [w=WE=e] | |
Hammersmith (2) | ||
| 241783 | 47!84 | [w=WE=e] | |
Barons Court | ||
| 47.41 | [-] | [tube mouths] | ||||
| 255785 | 46.22 | [CPX4] | ![[Z1/2]](li/zone12.gif) |
Earl's Court | ||
| 262788 | 45.42 | [CP3] | ![[Z1]](li/zone1.gif) |
Gloucester Road | ||
| 268788 | 44.72 | [=W =E +2] | |
South Kensington | ||
| 271790 | 44.2 | [CP] | (Brompton Road) | |||
| 278796 | 43.49 | [CPX] | |
Knightsbridge | ||
| 282798 | 42.97 | [CPX] | |
Hyde Park Corner | ||
| 286800 | 42.48 | [CP] | (Down Street) | |||
| 289802 | 41.91 | [CP] | |
Green Park | ||
| 296806 | 41.37 | [CPX2] | |
Piccadilly Circus | ||
| 299808 | 40.84 | [CP] | |
Leicester Square | ||
| 302810 | 40.58 | [CP] | |
Covent Garden | ||
| 305815 | 40.01 | [=3Wb5==4E] | |
Holborn | ||
| 39.89 | [-] | [Aldwych branch junction] | ||||
| 301821 | 39.26 | [OP] | |
Russell Square | ||
| 38.42 | [-] | [King's Cross Loop Junction] | ||||
| 302829 | 38.34 | [CPX4] | |
King's Cross St. Pancras | ||
| 37.7 | [CP] | (York Road) | ||||
| 305849 | 36.38 | [CP] | |
Caledonian Road | ||
| 309854 | 35.78 | [CP] | |
Holloway Road | ||
| 314861 | 35.04 | [CP] | |
Arsenal | ||
| 313867 | 34.34 | [s==W n==E] | |
Finsbury Park | ||
| 320874 | 33.30 | [CP] | |
Manor House | ||
| 315896 | 30.98 | [CP#] | |
Turnpike Lane | ||
| 310904 | 29.99 | [CP] | |
Wood Green | ||
| 300915 | 28.46 | [CP] | ![[Z3/4]](li/zone34.gif) |
Bounds Green | ||
| 294918 | 27.80 | [-] | [tube mouths] | |||
| 293925 | 27.21 | [W=2B3=E] | |
Arnos Grove | ||
| 292937 | 25.91 | [-] | [tube mouths] | |||
| 296942 | 25.26 | [CP] | |
Southgate | ||
| 298944 | 25.06 | [-] | [tube mouths] | |||
| 293959 | 23.39 | [IPX] | |
Oakwood | ||
| 281963 | 22.04 | [V=2V3=V] | |
Cockfosters | ||
| 096753 | 73=36 | [IP] | |
Hatton Cross | ||
| 73.27 | [-] | [Terminal 4 loop junction] | ||||
| 080745 | 71.53 | [=W] | |
Heathrow Terminal 4 | ||
| 063759 | 67.5 | [-] | [Terminal 4 loop junction] | |||
| 67.79 | [-] | [end of single line section] | ||||
| 075758 | 67.17 | [B=B] | |
Heathrow Terminals 1, 2, 3 | ||
| 055841 | 73.03 | [T1=2T2=3T] | |
Uxbridge | ||
| 075850 | 70.93 | [OP] | |
Hillingdon | ||
| 70.86 | [OP] | ((Hillingdon Swakeleys)) | ||||
| 081858 | 69.85 | [OP] | |
Ickenham | ||
| 086864 | 69.11 | [-] | [Ruislip siding entrance] | |||
| 095869 | 68.00 | [OP] | |
Ruislip | ||
| 101872 | 67.28 | [OP] | |
Ruislip Manor | ||
| 112876 | 66.14 | [OP] | |
Eastcote | ||
| 129875 | 64.41 | [OP] | |
Rayners Lane | ||
| 131874 | 64.33 | [-] | [Rayners Lane Junction] | |||
| 143863 | 62.57 | [OP] | |
South Harrow | ||
| 144862 | 62.40 | @@@ | ((South Harrow)) | |||
| 154855 | 61.15 | [OP] | |
Sudbury Hill | ||
| 168848 | 59.50 | [OP#] | |
Sudbury Town | ||
| 180837 | 57.93 | [OP] | |
Alperton | ||
| 187828 | [OP] | ((Park Royal & Twyford Abbey)) | ||||
| 191822 | 55.95 | [OP] | |
Park Royal | ||
| 189812 | 54.88 | [OP] | |
North Ealing | ||
| 188810 | 54.56 | [-] | [Hanger Lane Junction] | |||
| 189803 | 53.94 | [OP] | |
Ealing Common | ||
| 194795 | 52.91 | [W=WE=E] | |
Acton Town | ||
| 308809 | 40.61 | [= T=] | (Aldwych) | |||
| 40.2 | [-] | [former crossover] | ||||
| 305815 | 40.01 | [=3sB5==4n] | |
Holborn | ||
| 39.89 | [-] | [Aldwych branch junction] | ||||
The line is served by two depots. Cockfosters Depot is on the west side of the line between Cockfosters and Oakwood stations, and can be entered from either end. Northfields Depot is on the south side of the line between Northfields and Boston Manor station; the main entry and exit is at the former, where trains can enter and leave without fouling the running lines, while there is a single track connection westwards just west of Boston Manor station.
The Piccadilly is the best connected of the tube lines. There are connections to the Victoria and Northern Lines, described under those lines. Between Barons Court and Hammersmith, District Line trains can transfer to the Piccadilly Line and vice versa. Finally, the line shares tracks with the District from Acton Town to Hangar Lane Junction, and with the Metropolitan from Rayners Lane Junction to Uxbridge.
The line is operated by 1973 Tube Stock, designed with extra luggage space for airport travellers. The trains are made of two 3-car units; single units have only one cab and are restricted to depots. Trains are being refurbished, and unrefurbished and refurbished units may not be coupled together. The refurbished units contain an auxiliary static converter which can interfere with signalling equipment, and this must be isolated before the train can run on any line other than those specially immunised (the Piccadilly Line, the District Line from Gloucester Road to Ealing Common, and the Metropolitan Line from Harrow-on-the-Hill to Uxbridge).
1959 and 1972 Tube Stock may operate on any part of the line. The latter can only enter the sidings at Arnos Grove and platform 1 at Cockfosters as a single 4-car unit without passengers.
1967 Tube Stock (with tripcocks) may run empty. 8-car trains are forbidden to enter Cockfosters station, the sidings at Acton Town, Arnos Grove, Barons Court, Down Street, South Harrow, and Wood Green, or Northfields Depot (other than siding 7). Because of signalling problems only 4-car trains without passengers may run west of Northfields or on the local westbound line from Acton Town.
Subsurface stock may run from the crossovers west of Barons Court to
Northfields, and A and C stock may also run to Rayners Lane, though restricted
to 15 mph when passing under three specific bridges:
- D4 (between South Harrow and Sudbury Hill)
- D24 (between Park Royal and North Ealing)
- D62 (Acton Town station westbound)
There are restricted clearances in certain parts of Northfields Depot. A
stock may run in 4-car units only (and only double-ended units may carry
passengers) east of Acton Town, on the westbound local line to Northfields, and
in Northfields depot (other than siding 7) and the sidings at Acton Town, Barons
Court, and South Harrow.
The Aldwych branch may only be used by 3-car double ended units of 1973 Tube Stock operating under an engineering possession.
Height detectors are mounted a short distance west of Barons Court on the eastbound track, and will prevent a subsurface stock train from being run into the Piccadilly platforms at the station or, more importantly, the tube section. These consist of U-shaped glass tubes silvered on the inside (previously they contained mercury) arranged so that an overheight train will smash them, breaking a circuit. Such tubes are also mounted between Hounslow Central and Hounslow West stations.
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