Charing Cross, Euston and Hampstead Railway : Formal Opening : Saturday 22 June 1907 : Underground Electric Railways Company of London Ltd. : map
The large format brochure, reprinted from the description published in the Railway Times, marking the formal opening of the Charing Cross, Euston & Hampstead Railway that took place on Saturday 22 June 1907. The opening ceremony was undertaken by the then President of the Board of Trade, Rt. Hon. David Lloyd-George MP.
As the title page notes the opening of the line was the "completion of the great work of the Underground Electric Railways Company of London" and indeed, in terms of construction, it was. The UERL was formed in 1902 as the holding company for the construction of the three major tube lines that opened in 1906 and 1907; the CCE&HR had been preceded by the Baker St & Waterloo Railway and the Great North, Piccadilly & Brompton Railway in 1906. The company was the brain child of the American financier Charles Tyson Yerkes who, having arrived in London in 1900 following a long career in public transport in his native country, notably Chicago. As well as acquiring and financing the three 'deep tube' lines Yerkes had undertaken the investment to electrify the struggling, steam operated District Railway and to enable this, as well as powering his new tube lines, constructed the large scale power station at Lots Road in Chelsea, very much along American lines.
Yerkes' questionable financial methods, the high capital cost of building and equipping the UERL's lines along with the lower than anticipated passenger figures saw the UERL almost face bankruptcy in 1908 but improved management and restructuring saw the company not only survive but also, thanks to addition purchases and amalgamations of both railway, tramway and motor bus operators, prosper. As such the UERL, as holding company for a majority of public passenger transport in London, was effectively the core of the new London Passenger Transport Board that was formed in 1933.
The CCE&HR was, in time, thanks to various extensions including those in 1924/26 that saw it welded to the City & South London Railway to become the Northern line. The map shows the new line in association with the UERL's other interests and London's railways in general.
Charing Cross, Euston and Hampstead Railway : Formal Opening : Saturday 22 June 1907 : Underground Electric Railways Company of London Ltd. : map
The large format brochure, reprinted from the description published in the Railway Times, marking the formal opening of the Charing Cross, Euston & Hampstead Railway that took place on Saturday 22 June 1907. The opening ceremony was undertaken by the then President of the Board of Trade, Rt. Hon. David Lloyd-George MP.
As the title page notes the opening of the line was the "completion of the great work of the Underground Electric Railways Company of London" and indeed, in terms of construction, it was. The UERL was formed in 1902 as the holding company for the construction of the three major tube lines that opened in 1906 and 1907; the CCE&HR had been preceded by the Baker St & Waterloo Railway and the Great North, Piccadilly & Brompton Railway in 1906. The company was the brain child of the American financier Charles Tyson Yerkes who, having arrived in London in 1900 following a long career in public transport in his native country, notably Chicago. As well as acquiring and financing the three 'deep tube' lines Yerkes had undertaken the investment to electrify the struggling, steam operated District Railway and to enable this, as well as powering his new tube lines, constructed the large scale power station at Lots Road in Chelsea, very much along American lines.
Yerkes' questionable financial methods, the high capital cost of building and equipping the UERL's lines along with the lower than anticipated passenger figures saw the UERL almost face bankruptcy in 1908 but improved management and restructuring saw the company not only survive but also, thanks to addition purchases and amalgamations of both railway, tramway and motor bus operators, prosper. As such the UERL, as holding company for a majority of public passenger transport in London, was effectively the core of the new London Passenger Transport Board that was formed in 1933.
The CCE&HR was, in time, thanks to various extensions including those in 1924/26 that saw it welded to the City & South London Railway to become the Northern line. The map shows the new line in association with the UERL's other interests and London's railways in general.