Selected article
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The
Great Northern, Piccadilly and Brompton Railway (GNP&BR), also known as the Piccadilly tube, was a railway company established in 1902 that constructed a deep-level underground "tube" railway in London. Formed through a merger of two older companies, the Brompton and Piccadilly Circus Railway and the Great Northern and Strand Railway, it also incorporated part of a tube route planned by the
Metropolitan District Railway. The combined company was a subsidiary of the
Underground Electric Railways Company of London (UERL).
When it opened in 1906, the GNP&BR's line served 22 stations and ran for 14.17 kilometres (8.80 mi) between its western terminus at
Hammersmith and its northern terminus at
Finsbury Park. A short 720-metre (2,362 ft) branch connected
Holborn to the
Strand. Within the first year of opening it became apparent to the management and investors that the estimated passenger numbers for the GNP&BR and the other UERL lines were over-optimistic. Despite improved integration and cooperation with the other tube railways, the GNP&BR struggled financially. In 1933 it and the rest of the UERL were taken into
public ownership. Today, the GNP&BR's tunnels and stations form the core central section of the
London Underground's
Piccadilly line. (
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Selected biography
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Charles Tyson Yerkes (25 June 1837 – 29 December 1905) was an American financier. He played a major part in developing mass-transit systems in
Chicago and
London. Yerkes was born in the
Northern Liberties, a district of
Philadelphia, the son of a banker. At 17 he became a clerk in a grain
brokerage and at 22 set up his own firm and joined the Philadelphia
stock exchange. By 1865 he had moved into banking and specialized in selling municipal, state, and government
bonds. A large speculative trade with Philadelphia public money ended disastrously, and he was left insolvent and narrowly avoided being jailed. Having moved to Chicago in 1881, Yerkes became involved in public transportation when his consortium began taking over
street railway companies. His aim was to achieve a monopoly of public transport in the city and he used
bribery and
blackmail in order to further his ambition. Following an unsuccessful attempt to bribe the city council and state legislature into granting him a 100-year franchise for the tramway system, Yerkes sold his transport stocks in 1899 and moved to
New York.
In September 1900, he became involved in underground railways in London, buying the unbuilt
Charing Cross, Euston and Hampstead Railway. In 1902, he established the
Underground Electric Railways Company of London (UERL) which bought a number tube railway companies which had not been able to find finance. Money was quickly raised using complex financial instruments and the UERL built and opened four tube lines by 1907. Yerkes died in December 1905 shortly before the first of these, the
Baker Street and Waterloo Railway, opened in March 1906. Through subsequent acquisition and expansion, the UERL became the core of the
London Underground and London's main bus operator.
In addition to his railway's in London and Chicago, Yerkes is remembered through the
Yerkes Observatory in
Wisconsin and the
Yerkes crater on the Moon. (
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Did you know...
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- ...that the "
Mind the gap" announcement is played when trains stop at stations with curved platforms to warn passengers of gaps between the platform edge and the doors?
More Did you know...
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Related portals
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Selected pictures
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Image 1A
tram of the
London United Tramways at Boston Road,
Hanwell, circa 1910.
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Image 2Arguably the best-preserved disused station building in London, this is the former
Alexandra Palace station on the GNR Highgate branch (closed in 1954). It is now in use as a community centre (CUFOS).
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Image 5Original stations on the
Metropolitan Railway from
The Illustrated London News, 27 December 1862.
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Image 6London Underground
A60 Stock (left) and
1938 Stock (right) trains showing the difference in the sizes of the two types of rolling stock operated on the system. A60 stock trains operated on the surface and sub-surface sections of the
Metropolitan line from 1961 to 2012 and 1938 Stock operated on various deep level tube lines from 1938 to 1988.
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Image 7
Hornsey Lane Bridge,
Archway, more commonly known as "Suicide Bridge".
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Image 8Preserved
AEC Routemaster coaches in London Transport
Green Line livery.
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Image 9Tram 2548 calls at
Arena tram stop. This is one of the trams on the
Tramlink network centred on
Croydon in south London.
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Image 10View of
Old London Bridge, circa 1632 by
Claude de Jongh.
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Image 12
Hammersmith Bridge, opened in 1887, crosses the
River Thames in west London.
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Image 13The newly constructed junction of the
Westway (
A40) and the
West Cross Route (
A3220) at
White City, circa 1970. Continuation of the West Cross Route northwards under the roundabout was cancelled leaving two short unused stubs for the slip roads that would have been provided for traffic joining or leaving the northern section.
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Image 14Archer statue by
Eric Aumonier at
East Finchley Underground station.
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Image 15
Central London Railway poster, published in 1905.
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Image 16
Woolwich Ferry boats "John Burns" and "James Newman" on the River Thames, 2012.
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Image 17
Qantas
Boeing 747-400 about to land at
Heathrow Airport, seen beyond the roofs of Myrtle Avenue,
Hounslow.
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Image 21
TX4 London Taxi at
Heathrow Airport.
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Image 22
Albert Bridge, opened in 1873, crosses the
River Thames between
Chelsea and
Battersea.
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Image 23
55 Broadway, headquarters of the
UERL and its successors, is a Grade I
listed building in Westminster designed by
Charles Holden.
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Image 24Helicopter landing at
London Heliport, a jetty constructed in the
River Thames in
Battersea.
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Image 25The original
Hampton Court Bridge in 1753, the first of four on the site.
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Image 26Sailing ships at
West India Docks on the
Isle of Dogs in 1810. The docks opened in 1802 and closed in 1980 and have since been redeveloped as the
Canary Wharf development.
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Image 27The multi-level junction between the
M23 and
M25 motorways near
Merstham in
Surrey. The M23 passes over the M25 with bridges carrying interchange slip roads for the two motorways in between.
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Image 28The south façade of
King's Cross railway station London terminus of the
East Coast Main Line.
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Image 29The Circle routes of Victorian London, comprising the
Inner Circle,
Middle Circle,
Outer Circle and
Super Outer Circle.
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Image 31London Underground
Battery-electric locomotive L16 designed to operate over tracks where the
traction current is turned off for maintenance work.
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Image 32
London General Omnibus Company
B-type bus B340 built in 1911 by
AEC. One of a number of London buses purchased by the British military during
World War I, this vehicle was operated on the
Western Front.
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Image 33Day (left) and Night (right) sculptures by Sir
Jacob Epstein on the
London Underground's headquarters at
55 Broadway.
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Image 34Escalators at
Westminster Underground station descend between beams and columns of the
station box to reach the deep-level
Jubilee line platforms.
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Image 37
Ruislip Lido Railway's 12-inch (300 mm) gauge locomotive "Mad Bess" hauling a passenger train.
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Image 38Rail, road and river traffic, seen from the
London Eye.
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Image 39The
New Routemaster built by
Wrightbus has three entrances, two staircases and is designed to be reminiscent of the
Routemaster.
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Image 41Southern approach to the
Rotherhithe Tunnel that runs under the
River Thames in east London between
Rotherhithe and
Limehouse.
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Image 42The western departures concourse of
King's Cross railway station.
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Image 43Early style tube roundel in mosaic at
Maida Vale Underground station.
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Image 45
Vauxhall Bridge across the
River Thames opened in 1906 and features sculptures by
F. W. Pomeroy.
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Image 46"Boris Bikes" from the
Santander Cycles hire scheme waiting for use at a docking station in Victoria.
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Image 47
Clapham Common Underground station north and south-bound platforms on the
Northern line.
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All Selected pictures
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In the news
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Archive
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Anniversaries
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- 21 June
- 1898 – A wave from the launch of
HMS Albion at
Leamouth collapses a stand occupied by spectators, leading to the drowning of 34 people.
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