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The Central line is a line of the London Underground, coloured red on the tube map. It is the second busiest line on the Underground after the Northern line with 183,512,000 passengers per annum. It is a deep-level "tube" line, running east-west through central London with its termini in the north-west and north-east of the capital at West Ruislip and Epping. The line has the greatest length of track on the Underground, but is not the longest continuous line.
The line traces its origins to the Central London Railway (CLR) incorporated in 1891 for a route between Shepherd's Bush and Bank. The railway opened to passengers on 30 July 1900 with trains initially hauled by electric locomotives, although complaints about the vibrations caused by the engines led to electric multiple unit operation being introduced within a few years. The distinctive station buildings, few of which survive, were designed by the architect Harry Bell Measures. The CLR was extended to Liverpool Street in 1912 and Ealing Broadway in 1920. The current name came into use in 1937 and the line was extended east and west from the central area taking over passenger services on former London & North Eastern Railway and Great Western Railway routes in the late 1940s. (Full article...)
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John Rennie (the Elder) (7 June 1761 – 4 October 1821) was a Scottish civil engineer who designed many bridges, canals, and docks. Rennie, a farmer's younger son, was born at Phantassie, near East Linton, East Lothian, Scotland. He showed a taste for mechanics at a very early age. After studying at the University of Edinburgh he worked briefly for James Watt in Staffordshire before moving to London in 1784. In London, he worked first as a mechanical engineer before setting up his own business in 1791 at Holland Street, Blackfriars and expanding into the designing of civil engineering projects.
Rennie designed many canals, bridges and docks around the United Kingdom and Ireland as well as harbours and lighthouses.
Amongst the projects designed by Rennie in London were previous versions of Vauxhall Bridge, Waterloo Bridge, Southwark Bridge and London Bridge and the London, East India and West India Docks.
After his death, Rennie's sons George and John founded the engineering company J. and G. Rennie. (Full article...)
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- ...that the cause of the Moorgate tube crash in February 1975 was never satisfactorily determined?
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Image 1The western departures concourse of King's Cross railway station.
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Image 2Clapham Common Underground station north and south-bound platforms on the Northern line.
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Image 3Rail, road and river traffic, seen from the London Eye.
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Image 4Vauxhall Bridge across the River Thames opened in 1906 and features sculptures by F. W. Pomeroy.
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Image 5"Boris Bikes" from the Santander Cycles hire scheme waiting for use at a docking station in Victoria.
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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 7Ruislip Lido Railway's 12-inch (300 mm) gauge locomotive "Mad Bess" hauling a passenger train.
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Image 8The 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 1055 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 11Hornsey Lane Bridge, Archway, more commonly known as "Suicide Bridge".
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Image 12Day (left) and Night (right) sculptures by Sir Jacob Epstein on the London Underground's headquarters at 55 Broadway.
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Image 13A tram of the London United Tramways at Boston Road, Hanwell, circa 1910.
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Image 14London 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 15The 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 17Qantas Boeing 747-400 about to land at Heathrow Airport, seen beyond the roofs of Myrtle Avenue, Hounslow.
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Image 18Early style tube roundel in mosaic at Maida Vale Underground station.
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Image 19Woolwich Ferry boats "John Burns" and "James Newman" on the River Thames, 2012.
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Image 20Sailing 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 21The New Routemaster built by Wrightbus has three entrances, two staircases and is designed to be reminiscent of the Routemaster.
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Image 22Tram 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 23London 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 24Original stations on the Metropolitan Railway from The Illustrated London News, 27 December 1862.
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Image 25TX4 London Taxi at Heathrow Airport.
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Image 26The south façade of King's Cross railway station London terminus of the East Coast Main Line.
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Image 29Helicopter landing at London Heliport, a jetty constructed in the River Thames in Battersea.
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Image 31Archer statue by Eric Aumonier at East Finchley Underground station.
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Image 32The original Hampton Court Bridge in 1753, the first of four on the site.
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Image 33Albert Bridge, opened in 1873, crosses the River Thames between Chelsea and Battersea.
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Image 35Hammersmith Bridge, opened in 1887, crosses the River Thames in west London.
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Image 36The Circle routes of Victorian London, comprising the Inner Circle, Middle Circle, Outer Circle and Super Outer Circle.
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Image 37Preserved AEC Routemaster coaches in London Transport Green Line livery.
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Image 38Southern approach to the Rotherhithe Tunnel that runs under the River Thames in east London between Rotherhithe and Limehouse.
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Image 39View of Old London Bridge, circa 1632 by Claude de Jongh.
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Image 40Central London Railway poster, published in 1905.
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Image 42Escalators 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 47Planes waiting at Heathrow Airport's Terminal 4.
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Image 48Arguably 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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