Hammersmith & City Line

The Hammersmith and City line is a line of the London Underground, coloured salmon pink on the London Underground Map, running between Hammersmith in West London and Barking in East London. Formerly part of the Metropolitan line, part of it is the oldest underground railway in the world, as it includes the first part of the London Underground, the section between Paddington and Farringdon, which opened on January 10, 1863. It ranks 10th out of the 11 lines in passenger numbers. Out of the 28 stations served, 14 are underground. The original line opened on the June 13, 1864, although Hammersmith moved to a different location in 1868. With the exception of the two-stop Waterloo & City Line and the East London Line (which is no longer a part of the Underground) it is the least used line on the Underground (as well as the least used sub-surface line).

History
The line was a branch of the Metropolitan line until 1988, though in later years it was increasingly operated as a separate line, with the sections not used by the rest of the Metropolitan line (from Hammersmith to Baker Street and from Liverpool Street to Barking) not included on the main Metropolitan line maps. This is also reflected in the line's use of C-stock equipment, as opposed to the A-stock used on the 'main' Metropolitan Line.

The name derives from the Hammersmith and City Railway (H&CR), a 5-km (3-mile) section between Hammersmith (Grove Road) station and Westbourne Park that opened in 1864 and was built and operated jointly by the Metropolitan and Great Western Railways between 1864 and 1868.

Because the changeover is relatively recent, there are many stations on the line with permanent tiles and metal maps that still state that the Metropolitan Line runs there (for example, Bromley-by-Bow station with the District Line); the Hammersmith and City Line taking over many parts of the Metropolitan Line has confined it to the north-west, resulting in it having no interchange with the District Line.

Trains
All Hammersmith & City line trains are in the distinctive London Underground livery of red, white and blue and are formed of C stock. The line shares trains with the Circle and District (Wimbledon-Edgware Road branch) lines.

Stations
in order from west to east

merges with Circle line and the District line merges with Metropolitan line separates from Circle and Metropolitan lines, joins District line
 * Hammersmith (change for District Line and Piccadilly Line)
 * Goldhawk Road
 * Shepherd's Bush
 * Wood Lane (under construction)
 * Latimer Road
 * Ladbroke Grove
 * Westbourne Park
 * Royal Oak
 * Paddington Trains to Heathrow )
 * Edgware Road (change for Circle line and District Line trains; terminus of District line.)
 * Baker Street (change for Bakerloo Line, Jubilee Line and Metropolitan Line trains)
 * Great Portland Street
 * Euston Square Euston )
 * King's Cross St Pancras Trains to Gatwick and Luton )
 * Farringdon Trains to Gatwick and Luton )
 * Barbican
 * [[Moorgate Station|Moorgate]
 * Liverpool Street Trains to Stansted )
 * Aldgate East
 * Whitechapel (the terminus on Sundays)
 * Stepney Green
 * Mile End
 * Bow Road
 * Bromley-by-Bow
 * West Ham
 * Plaistow
 * Upton Park
 * East Ham
 * Barking

Future plans
A new station is under construction between Shepherd's Bush and Latimer Road, to be called Wood Lane on the site (if not very close) of the old station which burnt down in 1959, and was on the other side of the road from BBC Television Centre. The building has been designed by Ian Ritchie Architects, who previously designed Bermondsey Station. It is due to open in 2008, and is the first new tube station to be added to an existing stretch of line for over 70 years. There were Wood Lane stations on the Central Line, which closed in 1947, and on the Metropolitan Line (now Hammersmith & City line), which was open 1908–1914 and 1920–1959.

Shepherd's Bush station on the Hammersmith & City line will be renamed Shepherd's Bush Market to avoid confusion with the Central line Shepherd's Bush.

The Hammersmith and City line may merge with the Circle Line in 2011 to form a spiral route. The new route would run from Hammersmith to Paddington and then do a complete loop of the current Circle line, terminating at Edgware Road. This would mean fewer delays than the existing orbital route. On the current Circle line one delayed train tends to affect all following trains. Having a terminus at Edgware Road, rather than the orbital route, would avoid this. The Hammersmith & City line's route from Liverpool Street to Barking would be taken over by the Metropolitan Line, forming a new route from Uxbridge to Barking.