page_title: History of the London Underground
section_title: District and Metropolitan electrification
hierarchical_section_title: History of the London Underground / Electric underground railways (1900–1908) / District and Metropolitan electrification
caption_attribution_description: see image title - first number is figure or diagram number. See list of illustrations in source ( https://archive.org/stream/electricrailwaye01pars#page/n11/mode/2up ) for page number in source - relevent text content is near to image in the source
context_page_description: The history of the London Underground began in the 19th century with the construction of the Metropolitan Railway, the world's first underground railway. The Metropolitan Railway, which opened in 1863 using gas-lit wooden carriages hauled by steam locomotives, worked with the District Railway to complete London's Circle line in 1884. Both railways expanded, the Metropolitan eventually extending as far as Verney Junction in Buckinghamshire, more than 50 miles from Baker Street and the centre of London. The first deep-level tube line, the City and South London Railway, opened in 1890 with electric trains. This was followed by the Waterloo & City Railway in 1898, the Central London Railway in 1900, and the Great Northern and City Railway in 1904. The Underground Electric Railways Company of London was established in 1902 to fund the electrification of the District Railway and to complete and operate three tube lines, the Baker Street and Waterloo Railway, the Charing Cross, Euston and Hampstead Railway and the Great Northern, Piccadilly and Brompton Railway, which opened in 1906–07.
context_section_description: On the District and Metropolitan Railways, the use of steam locomotives led to smoke-filled stations and carriages that were unpopular with passengers and electrification was seen as the way forward. Electric traction was still in its infancy and agreement would be needed between the two companies because of the shared ownership of the inner circle. In 1901 a Metropolitan and District joint committee recommended the Ganz three-phase AC system with overhead wires. Initially this was accepted by both parties, until the District found an investor, the American Charles Yerkes, to finance the upgrade. Yerkes raised £1 million (1901 pounds adjusted by inflation are £109 million) and soon had control of the District Railway. His experiences in the United States led him to favour DC similar to that in use on the City & South London Railway and Central London Railway. The Metropolitan Railway protested about the change of plan, but after arbitration by the Board of Trade the DC system was adopted.
  The Metropolitan electrified its new line from Harrow to Uxbridge and the route to the inner circle at Baker Street, using separate positive and negative conductor rails energised at 550–600 V.  The District electrified its unopened line from Mill Hill Park (now Acton Town) to South Harrow and used this line to test its new trains and train drivers. Electric multiple units began running on the Metropolitan in January 1905 and by March all local services between Baker Street and Harrow were electric. Electric services began on the District Railway in June 1905 between Hounslow and South Acton. In July 1905 the District began running electric trains from Ealing to Whitechapel and on the same day the Met and the District both introduced electric units on the inner circle until later that day an incompatibility was found between the way the shoe-gear was mounted on the Met trains and the District track. The Met trains were withdrawn from the District lines and modified, full electric service starting on the circle line in September. In the same month, after withdrawing services over the un-electrified East London Railway and east of East Ham, the District were running electric services on all remaining routes. The GWR electrified the line between Paddington and Hammersmith and the branch from Latimer Road to Kensington (Addison Road). An electric service with jointly owned rolling stock started on the route in November 1906. In the same year, the Met suspended running on the East London Railway, terminating instead at the District's station at Whitechapel. The Metropolitan Railway beyond Harrow was not electrified so services were hauled by an electric locomotive from Baker Street and changed for a steam locomotive en route.
caption: Electrification – 1907 drawing of Metropolitan Railway – Ruislip and Harrow sub-stations
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