New Works Programme
Encyclopedia
The "New Works Programme, 1935 - 1940" was the major investment programme delivered by the London Passenger Transport Board
(LPTB), commonly known as London Transport, which had been created in 1933 to coordinate underground train, tram
, trolleybus
and bus
services in the capital and the surrounding areas. The programme was to develop many aspects of the public transport services run by the LPTB and the suburban rail services of the Great Western Railway
(GWR) and London and North Eastern Railway
(LNER). The investment was largely backed by government assistance as well as by the issuing of financial bonds and was estimated to cost £42,286,000 in 1936(approximately £ today).
delayed, then prevented its completion. The Central Line tunnel relining works were completed in 1938 and the replacement of the line's power supply was completed in 1940. The Bakerloo Line service to Stanmore started on 20 November 1939. The 1938 tube stock came into operation as intended although the extensions they were built for were not completed at once.
Progress on the Northern Line works enabled the extension from to come into service as far as on 3 July 1939 (excluding Highgate station), where interchanges were made with the LNER services. Underground services to High Barnet commenced on 14 April 1940. Highgate station came into use on 19 January 1941 and services started operating on the branch to Mill Hill East
on 18 May 1941. The outstanding electrification works on the remainder of the LNER's branch from Finsbury Park to Highgate, from Highgate to Alexandra Palace
and from Mill Hill East to Edgware were halted. Works on the extension beyond Edgware were also stopped, although the construction of the new depot
at Aldenham
was completed and the buildings were used to construct Halifax bomber aircraft for the RAF. Other parts of the land purchased for the Bushey Heath extension were farmed during the war to provide food for London Transport canteens.
On the Central Line, works on the eastern extension had progressed furthest with tunnels constructed to and from to . These were put into service as air-raid shelters (with disastrous results at Bethnal Green) and as underground factories operated by Plessey
.
The cases for the Northern Line extension to and the continuation of the Central Line extension beyond West Ruislip to Denham were damaged by the introduction of the Town & Country Planning Act, 1947 which led to the creation of Metropolitan Green Belt
around the capital including areas of land through which the new lines were planned and which had been intended for development as housing. Plans for the Bushey Heath Extension were reduced to an extension to in 1949. In 1953, the decision was made to cancel this part as well.
The GN&C branch had transferred to the Northern Line before the war and remained under its control after the war, but it was never integrated into the rest of the line. The completion of the electrification of the LNER's remaining tracks from Finsbury Park to Alexandra Palace and from Mill Hill East to Edgware was abandoned, and equipment already installed was removed for reuse elsewhere. The bridge just east of Mill Hill East was rebuilt with provision for a second track, which was never laid. The Finsbury Park to Alexandra Park section remained with the LNER, and then British Railways, until it was closed in 1954. The Mill Hill to Edgware section, which had been closed to passenger traffic, remained in use as a single track goods line until 1964.
The electrification of the Metropolitan Line from Rickmansworth to Amersham and Chesham was not completed until 12 September 1960. and the quadrupling of the tracks was not completed until 1961, but only to a point north of Moor Park
. The complete resignalling of the line north of was done by 1959. As electrification did not take place all the way north to Aylesbury
, the Metropolitan line service north of Amersham was withdrawn in 1961. The Plan to convert Locomotive hauled steam stock to Electric working was abandoned, and New EMUs, designed in the 1950s, replaced existing steam and electric locomotives from 1960. They were called the A60 stock.
The tram to trolleybus replacement scheme was halted shortly after the outbreak of war, with the final conversion taking place on 10 December 1939. The remaining tram routes, mainly in south London, were not finally replaced until 6 July 1952, and then by diesel buses, rather than trolleybuses. The Aldenham site
was converted for use as a bus overhaul works for all London Transport buses and opened in 1955.
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London Passenger Transport Board
The London Passenger Transport Board was the organisation responsible for public transport in London, UK, and its environs from 1933 to 1948...
(LPTB), commonly known as London Transport, which had been created in 1933 to coordinate underground train, tram
Trams in London
There have been two separate generations of trams in London, from 1860 to 1952 and from 2000. Between 1952 and 2000, no trams ran at all in London.- Horse trams :...
, trolleybus
Trolleybus
A trolleybus is an electric bus that draws its electricity from overhead wires using spring-loaded trolley poles. Two wires and poles are required to complete the electrical circuit...
and bus
Bus
A bus is a road vehicle designed to carry passengers. Buses can have a capacity as high as 300 passengers. The most common type of bus is the single-decker bus, with larger loads carried by double-decker buses and articulated buses, and smaller loads carried by midibuses and minibuses; coaches are...
services in the capital and the surrounding areas. The programme was to develop many aspects of the public transport services run by the LPTB and the suburban rail services of the Great Western Railway
Great Western Railway
The Great Western Railway was a British railway company that linked London with the south-west and west of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament in 1835 and ran its first trains in 1838...
(GWR) and London and North Eastern Railway
London and North Eastern Railway
The London and North Eastern Railway was the second-largest of the "Big Four" railway companies created by the Railways Act 1921 in Britain...
(LNER). The investment was largely backed by government assistance as well as by the issuing of financial bonds and was estimated to cost £42,286,000 in 1936(approximately £ today).
London Underground
The Programme saw major reconstructions of many central area Underground stations, with escalators being installed to replace lifts as well as extensions of several tube lines, and connection to and electrification of a number of suburban lines. These included:- Metropolitan LineMetropolitan LineThe Metropolitan line is part of the London Underground. It is coloured in Transport for London's Corporate Magenta on the Tube map and in other branding. It was the first underground railway in the world, opening as the Metropolitan Railway on 10 January 1863...
(The majority of projects were initially planned by the Metropolitan RailwayMetropolitan railwayMetropolitan Railway can refer to:* Metropolitan line, part of the London Underground* Metropolitan Railway, the first underground railway to be built in London...
, the owner of the line prior to nationalisation in 1933.)- provision of additional parallel tracks between and
- electrificationElectrificationElectrification originally referred to the build out of the electrical generating and distribution systems which occurred in the United States, England and other countries from the mid 1880's until around 1940 and is in progress in developing countries. This also included the change over from line...
of the tracks from Rickmansworth to and - installation of colourlight signals on the line between Rickmansworth and Aylesbury and platform extensions for stations on this stretch of the line
- Bakerloo LineBakerloo LineThe Bakerloo line is a line of the London Underground, coloured brown on the Tube map. It runs partly on the surface and partly at deep level, from Elephant and Castle in the south-east to Harrow & Wealdstone in the north-west of London. The line serves 25 stations, of which 15 are underground...
- new tunnels to form a branch from to where they connected with and took over the realigned slow tracks of the Metropolitan Line to and the branch
- new Bakerloo Line stations at and between and Baker Street to replace three closing stations on the Metropolitan Line.
- Northern LineNorthern LineThe Northern line is a London Underground line. It is coloured black on the Tube map.For most of its length it is a deep-level tube line. The line carries 206,734,000 passengers per year. This is the highest number of any line on the London Underground system, but the Northern line is unique in...
(The Northern Heights Plan)- transfer of the Metropolitan Line's Great Northern & CityNorthern City LineThe Northern City Line is a railway line from Moorgate to Finsbury Park in London, once part of the Great Northern Electrics line. It should not be confused with the City branch of the Northern line, nor with the North London Line...
(GN&C) branch to Northern Line operation - connection of the GN&C branch at to the LNER's line to the Edgware, High Barnet and Alexandra PalaceEdgware, Highgate and London RailwayThe Edgware, Highgate and London Railway was a railway in north London. The railway was a precursor of parts of London Underground's Northern Line and was, in the 1930s the core of an ambitious expansion plan for that line which was thwarted by the Second World War...
- construction of new tunnels from (then Highgate) to and to connect to the and branches.
- extension from Edgware to
- transfer of the Metropolitan Line's Great Northern & City
- Central LineCentral LineThe Central line is a London Underground line, coloured red on the tube map. It is a deep-level "tube" line, running east-west across London, and, at , has the greatest total length of track of any line on the Underground. Of the 49 stations served, 20 are below ground...
- relining of the tunnels and lengthening of station platforms between and to increase speeds and allow longer trains
- replacement of the line's non-standard track power supply with the Underground's normal fourth rail system
- western extension from to connect to and take over the GWR's suburban line to
- eastern extension from Liverpool Street via to connect to and take over the LNER's lines to , and
- Rolling stock
- design and construction of a new fleet of trains, the 1938 stockLondon Underground 1938 StockThe 1938 Tube Stock is a London Underground tube stock design. The trains were built by Metro-Cammell and Birmingham RC&W, and were used on the London Underground until 1988. During their long lives they worked on the Bakerloo, Piccadilly, Northern, East London and Central lines...
, to operate on the Central Line and Northern Line extensions. - Further Conversion of existing locomotive hauled "Dreadnaught" coaches to Electric Working for the newly electrified Metropolitan Mainline to Aylesbury. Extra "T" stock driving motor coaches had been constructed to allow for this. This scheme was abandoned and later new stock was designed. When rolled out, this was to be the A60 stock.
- Design and construction of a new fleet of trains for the Hammersmith and City Line,the "O" stock
- Provision of similar new trains for the Metropolitan line to Uxbridge, the "P" stock,
- Conversion of existing hand worked door stock to air-door operation and the construction of some new stock for the District Line, the "Q" stock program.
- design and construction of a new fleet of trains, the 1938 stock
- Infrastructure
- improvements to the power supply system from Lots Road Power StationLots Road Power StationLots Road Power Station is a disused coal and later oil-fired power station on the River Thames at Lots Road in Chelsea, London in the south-west of The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, which supplied electricity to the London Underground system...
- improvements to and rebuilding of many busy central area stations including the installation of escalatorEscalatorAn escalator is a moving staircase – a conveyor transport device for carrying people between floors of a building. The device consists of a motor-driven chain of individual, linked steps that move up or down on tracks, allowing the step treads to remain horizontal.Escalators are used around the...
s to replace liftsElevatorAn elevator is a type of vertical transport equipment that efficiently moves people or goods between floors of a building, vessel or other structures...
- improvements to the power supply system from Lots Road Power Station
Road transport
On the city's roads, the Programme was to see the large-scale abandonment of trams and their replacement by trolleybuses, creating the world's largest trolleybus system at that date.Before and during World War II
Substantial and rapid progress was made on the network across the capital before the advent of World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
delayed, then prevented its completion. The Central Line tunnel relining works were completed in 1938 and the replacement of the line's power supply was completed in 1940. The Bakerloo Line service to Stanmore started on 20 November 1939. The 1938 tube stock came into operation as intended although the extensions they were built for were not completed at once.
Progress on the Northern Line works enabled the extension from to come into service as far as on 3 July 1939 (excluding Highgate station), where interchanges were made with the LNER services. Underground services to High Barnet commenced on 14 April 1940. Highgate station came into use on 19 January 1941 and services started operating on the branch to Mill Hill East
Mill Hill East tube station
Mill Hill East tube station is a London Underground station in Mill Hill in North London.The station is on the High Barnet branch of the Northern Line, and is the terminus, and only station, of a branch from Finchley Central station...
on 18 May 1941. The outstanding electrification works on the remainder of the LNER's branch from Finsbury Park to Highgate, from Highgate to Alexandra Palace
Alexandra Palace railway station (Muswell Hill branch)
Alexandra Palace railway station is a former station in the grounds of Alexandra Palace in the Muswell Hill area of north London...
and from Mill Hill East to Edgware were halted. Works on the extension beyond Edgware were also stopped, although the construction of the new depot
Bushey Heath tube station
Bushey Heath tube station was an unbuilt London Underground station in Bushey Heath, Hertfordshire. The planned location of the station was at the junction of the A41 and A411 roads.-History:...
at Aldenham
Bushey Heath tube station
Bushey Heath tube station was an unbuilt London Underground station in Bushey Heath, Hertfordshire. The planned location of the station was at the junction of the A41 and A411 roads.-History:...
was completed and the buildings were used to construct Halifax bomber aircraft for the RAF. Other parts of the land purchased for the Bushey Heath extension were farmed during the war to provide food for London Transport canteens.
On the Central Line, works on the eastern extension had progressed furthest with tunnels constructed to and from to . These were put into service as air-raid shelters (with disastrous results at Bethnal Green) and as underground factories operated by Plessey
Plessey
The Plessey Company plc was a British-based international electronics, defence and telecommunications company. It originated in 1917, growing and diversifying into electronics. It expanded after the second world war by acquisition of companies and formed overseas companies...
.
Postwar changes
After the war, a prioritisation of the limited resources available to London Transport saw the Central Line extensions progressed, with the first new section in the east opening to Stratford in 1946 and the services to and starting in 1948 and 1949. Initially, plans were put in place to complete the Northern Heights project during 1947 and 1948 and the plans for the extension to Bushey Heath were revised and parliamentary powers were renewed in 1947 for most of the outstanding New Works Programme.The cases for the Northern Line extension to and the continuation of the Central Line extension beyond West Ruislip to Denham were damaged by the introduction of the Town & Country Planning Act, 1947 which led to the creation of Metropolitan Green Belt
Metropolitan Green Belt
The Metropolitan Green Belt is a statutory green belt around London, England. It includes designated parts of Greater London and the surrounding counties of Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent and Surrey in the South East and East of England regions.-History:The...
around the capital including areas of land through which the new lines were planned and which had been intended for development as housing. Plans for the Bushey Heath Extension were reduced to an extension to in 1949. In 1953, the decision was made to cancel this part as well.
The GN&C branch had transferred to the Northern Line before the war and remained under its control after the war, but it was never integrated into the rest of the line. The completion of the electrification of the LNER's remaining tracks from Finsbury Park to Alexandra Palace and from Mill Hill East to Edgware was abandoned, and equipment already installed was removed for reuse elsewhere. The bridge just east of Mill Hill East was rebuilt with provision for a second track, which was never laid. The Finsbury Park to Alexandra Park section remained with the LNER, and then British Railways, until it was closed in 1954. The Mill Hill to Edgware section, which had been closed to passenger traffic, remained in use as a single track goods line until 1964.
The electrification of the Metropolitan Line from Rickmansworth to Amersham and Chesham was not completed until 12 September 1960. and the quadrupling of the tracks was not completed until 1961, but only to a point north of Moor Park
Moor Park tube station
Moor Park is a London Underground station in the Three Rivers district of Hertfordshire. The station is outside the Greater London boundary but is in both Zone 6 and Zone 7....
. The complete resignalling of the line north of was done by 1959. As electrification did not take place all the way north to Aylesbury
Aylesbury
Aylesbury is the county town of Buckinghamshire in South East England. However the town also falls into a geographical region known as the South Midlands an area that ecompasses the north of the South East, and the southern extremities of the East Midlands...
, the Metropolitan line service north of Amersham was withdrawn in 1961. The Plan to convert Locomotive hauled steam stock to Electric working was abandoned, and New EMUs, designed in the 1950s, replaced existing steam and electric locomotives from 1960. They were called the A60 stock.
The tram to trolleybus replacement scheme was halted shortly after the outbreak of war, with the final conversion taking place on 10 December 1939. The remaining tram routes, mainly in south London, were not finally replaced until 6 July 1952, and then by diesel buses, rather than trolleybuses. The Aldenham site
Aldenham Works
The Aldenham Works, or Aldenham Bus Overhaul Works, was the main London Transport Bus overhaul works. It was located on the edge of the Hertfordshire village of Elstree and not Aldenham despite being officially called Aldenham Works. In its heyday, 50 buses a week were overhauled there, and it was...
was converted for use as a bus overhaul works for all London Transport buses and opened in 1955.
External links
- A History of the London Tube Maps, Map from 1939 showing extensions of Northern, Central and Bakerloo Lines and a pre-war schedule of estimated dates for the opening of new services
- Abandoned Tube stations, Northern Heights
- London Transport Museum Photographic Archive
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