Portal:London transport/Selected article/Archive/21

The Metropolitan Railway (MR) and the District Railway (DR) were the first two underground railways to be constructed in London, starting in the 1860s, and the first of the world's metro systems. Although separate and independent companies and often fierce rivals, the histories of the two are inextricably linked through their joint construction of the Inner Circle (now the Circle line). Apart from their shared route around the Inner Circle, the MR and DR extended branch lines far from central London. The MR developed its main route to the north-west reaching as far as Verney Junction in Buckinghamshire, Uxbridge in Middlesex and Watford in Hertfordshire. The railway's new stations stimulated the large scale suburban development known as "Metro-land". The DR extended its services east, south and west, serving Richmond and Wimbledon in Surrey, Ealing in Middlesex and Southend-on-Sea in Essex. Both now part of the London Underground, the MR's tracks are now the Metropolitan line and Hammersmith & City line and the DR's are the District line. (Full article...)