page_title: Baker Street tube station
section_title: Metropolitan Railway - the first underground railway
hierarchical_section_title: Baker Street tube station / History / Metropolitan Railway - the first underground railway
caption_attribution_description: Exterior view of Baker Street Metropolitan Railway station, 1862
context_page_description: Baker Street is a London Underground station at the junction of Baker Street and the Marylebone Road in the City of Westminster. It is one of the original stations of the Metropolitan Railway, the world's first underground railway, opened on 10 January 1863.
  The station is in Travelcard Zone 1 and is served by five lines. On the Circle and Hammersmith & City lines it is between Great Portland Street and Edgware Road. On the Metropolitan line it is between Great Portland Street and Finchley Road. On the Bakerloo line it is between Regent's Park and Marylebone, and on the Jubilee line it is between Bond Street and St. John's Wood.
context_section_description: In the first half of the 19th century, the population and physical extent of London grew greatly. The congested streets and the distance to the City from the stations to the north and west prompted many attempts to get parliamentary approval to build new railway lines into the City. In 1852, Charles Pearson planned a railway from Farringdon to King's Cross. Although the plan was supported by the City, the railway companies were not interested and the company struggled to proceed. The Bayswater, Paddington, and Holborn Bridge Railway Company was established to connect the Great Western Railway's (GWR) Paddington station to Pearson's route at King's Cross. A bill was published in November 1852 and in January 1853 the directors held their first meeting and appointed John Fowler as its engineer. Several bills were submitted for a route between Paddington and Farringdon. The company's name was also to be changed again, to Metropolitan Railway and the route was approved on 7 August 1854.
  Construction began in March 1860; using the "cut-and-cover" method to dig the tunnel. Despite having several accidents during construction, work was complete by the end of 1862 at a cost of £1.3 million. Rail services through the station opened to the public on Saturday, 10 January 1863.
  In the next few years, extensions of the line were made at both ends with connections from Paddington to the GWR's Hammersmith and City Railway (H&CR) and at Gloucester Road to the District Railway (DR). From 1871, the MR and the DR operated a joint Inner Circle service between Mansion House and Moorgate Street.
caption: The original Baker Street station entrances on each side of Marylebone Road, 1862
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