The Bakerloo opened in 1906 as the Baker Street and Waterloo Railway. However, the route has its origins in a series of proposed railways dating back to 1891. The railway became a subsidiary to the Underground Electric Railway Companies of London (UECL) in 1902 and was quickly developed from there, the original railway ran between Baker Street and Waterloo, with extensions to Elephant and Castle and an extension with the North West London Railway (NWLR) to Watford Junction. The railway obtained a branch from the Metropolitan Railway in the 1930s, which now operates as the Jubilee line from 1979. The Bakerloo line remains a vital part of the London Underground network, spanning 23.2km (14.5 miles) and with 25 stations along its route.

Proposing the Baker Street and Waterloo railway

The idea of constructing an underground railway, the approximate route of the Bakerloo line today had been around since the turn of the century. A proposal was put forward in 1865 for the Waterloo and Whitehall railway, to construct a pneumatic railway between Great Scotland Yard and Waterloo. The project was abandoned after three years after a financial panic caused the company to collapse. The railway was incorporated by act of parliament in 1882 and had constructed a short 18m (60ft) tunnel underneath the Victoria Embankment.

The Baker Street and Waterloo railway published a pamphlet in 1906, which stated the idea of constructing the railway 'originally arose from the desire of a few businessmen in Westminster to get to and from Lords Cricket ground as quickly as possible'. The railway would allow them to see the last hours play without having to leave their offices early. The group quickly realised that a line running from north to south London was 'a long-felt want of the transport facilities' and 'would therefore provide a great financial success'. Inspired by the success of the City and South London Railway (CSLR) which opened in November 1890 and carried a large number of passengers in their first year, proving that this endeavour is feasible.

A bill was presented to parliament for the construction of the Baker Street and Waterloo Railway, in November 1891. The plan was to construct a deep-level railway from the junction of New Street (Melcombe Street today) and Dorset Square, west of Baker Street, to James Street (Spur Road toady), on the southern side of Waterloo. The railway would run from Baker Street and run eastwards beneath Marylebone Road, then enter a curve underneath Park Crescent and follow Portland Place, Langham Place and Regent Street to Waterloo station. A method of hauling trains had not yet been decided.

Three bills where entered to parliament in 1892, all of which inspired by the new underground railways. A committee was set-up to ensure a consistent approach across the proposed railways. The committee gathered evidence on matters regarding the construction and operation of a deep-level railway; the committee then made a series of recommendations on tunnel diameter, method of traction and granting of way-leaves. The committee rejected the Baker Street and Waterloo Railway proposal to construct stations on land that was owned by the Crown Estate and the Duke of Portland between Oxford Circus and Baker Street. Nonetheless the railway proceeded for normal parliamentary consideration and on 28 March 1893 the Baker Street and Waterloo railway Act 1893 received Royal Assent. The stations at Baker Street, Oxford Circus, Piccadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square, Embankment and Waterloo where permitted, a depot would also be constructed at the southern end of the railway at James Street and Lower Marsh.

The company had managed to obtain permission to construct an underground railway, however they needed to raise the required capital for the construction works. There where four other companies, which where inspired by the popularity of the underground railways, who where looking for funding in addition to the Baker Street and Waterloo Railway. These where the Waterloo and City Railway (W&CR), the Charing Cross Euston and Hampstead Railway (CCEHR) and the Great Northern and City Railway, all of whom had put their bills forward during 1892, and the Central London Railway (CLR) which received Royal Assent in 1891. The Waterloo and City Railway (W&CR) was the only planned railway with backing from the London and South Western Railway who guaranteed to pay a dividend, incurred very little difficulty in raising the required capital. The other railways struggled to raise the required capital for the construction of the railways.

A bill was presented to parliament during November 1897 to ask for a time extension on the compulsory purchase of the required land and to raise the required capital. The bill received Royal Assent on 7 August 1896 as the Baker Street and Waterloo Railway Act 1896, which authorised the required time extensions and the company to raise an additional £100,000 for the construction of the railway.

A deal was struck between the Baker Street and Waterloo Railway and London and Globe Finance Corporation (L&GFC) in November 1897, the company specialised in financing mining. The construction costs where estimated to be £1,615,000 (the equivalent to approximately £164 million today), the London and Globe Finance Corporation (L&GFC) was to manage and provide the required finds to construct the railway, they would take any profits from this process. The London and Globe Finance Corporation (L&GFC) replaced the board of directions at the Baker Street and Waterloo railway with its own and let construction contracts.

A large loss was fraudulently concealed by one of the corporation mines; the accounts for London and Globe Finance Corporation (L&GFC) and their subsidiary where altered. The Baker Street and Waterloo railway had a high expenditure, the London and Globe Finance Corporation (L&GFC) had paid approximately £650,000 (the equivalent of £63.4 million today) by November 1900. The company published a prospectus during November 1900, which projected the company would make £260,000 per year from passenger traffic, the cost of operating the railway would be approximately £100,000. This would leave £138,240 for dividends after paying interest payments. The fraud was quickly discovered and the London and Globe Finance Corporation (L&GFC) and many of its subsidiaries collapsed.

The Baker Street and Waterloo Railway struggled with constructing the railway and funded the construction by making calls on the unpaid proportion of shares, the construction eventually stopped and the partly constructed tunnels where left derelict. Prior to the collapse, the London and Globe Finance Corporation (L&GFC)) had attempted to sell the shares it held in the Baker Street and Waterloo Railway to an American consortium for £500,000, however this was unsuccessful. However this attracted attention and after a series of negotiations with the administrators of the London and Globe Finance Corporation (L&GFC), Charles Yerkes purchased the Baker Street and Waterloo Railway for £360,000 (the equivalent to £35.3 million today). Charles Yerkes came to London in 1900 and purchased a group of struggling railways. The Baker Street and Waterloo Railway became a subsidiary of the Underground Electric Railway Companies of London (UECL) which was formed to contruct these railways and to electrify the Metropolitan District Railway. The Underground Electric Railway Companies of London (UECL) was capitalised with £5 million with the majority of shareholders living overseas, following further shares being issued, the company managed to raise £18 millon (the equivalent of £1.74 billion today) to invest across the company's projects.

The Baker Street and Waterloo Railway struggled with constructing the railway and funded the construction by making calls on the unpaid proportion of shares, the construction eventually stopped and the partly constructed tunnels where left derelict. Prior to the collapse, the London and Globe Finance Corporation (L&GFC) had attempted to sell the shares it held in the Baker Street and Waterloo Railway to an American consortium for £500,000, however this was unsuccessful. However this attracted attention and after a series of negotiations with the administrators of the London and Globe Finance Corporation (L&GFC), Charles Yerkes purchased the Baker Street and Waterloo Railway for £360,000 (the equivalent to £35.3 million today). Charles Yerkes came to London in 1900 and purchased a group of struggling railways. The Baker Street and Waterloo Railway became a subsidiary of the Underground Electric Railway Companies of London (UECL) which was formed to contruct these railways and to electrify the Metropolitan District Railway. The Underground Electric Railway Companies of London (UECL) was capitalised with £5 million with the majority of shareholders living overseas, following further shares being issued, the company managed to raise £18 millon (the equivalent of £1.74 billion today) to invest across the company's projects.

The details of a bill that was proposed in 1898 where published on 26 November 1897 by the New Cross and Waterloo Railway (NC&WR), which was an independent company who planned two separate routes that would connect directly to the Baker Street and Waterloo Railway and extend the railway from south-east from Waterloo and eastwards from Marylebone.

The southern section of the New Cross and Waterloo Railway (NC&WR) extentions where planned to connect with the tunnels of the Baker Street and Waterloo Railway underneath Belverdere Road, west of Waterloo station, and continue eastwards beneath the mainline station to a station constricted on Sandell Street, adjacent to Waterloo East station today. The railway would continue to Elephant and Castle, running beneath Waterloo Road, St Georges Circus and London Road. The railway then followed the New Kent Road and Old Kent Road as far as the mainline station operated by London Brighton and South Coast Railway (LB&SCR) at Old Kent Road (which closed in 1917). There where intermediate stations planned at St Georges Circus and Elephant and Castle, where an interchange would be provided for the City and South London Railway (CSLR) and a link for the London Chatham and Dover Railway station above, a new station would be constructed along New Kent Road at Munton Road, at the junction between New Kent Road and Old Kent Road, finally on Old Kent Road a station would be constructed at the junction between Mina Road, Bowles Road and Commercial Road (now Commercial Way). On the south side of the Old Kent Road, where the road crossed the Grand Surrey Canal at the junction with St James's Road, a power station would be constructed. This provided a delivery route for fuel and a source of water, the tunnels also planned to connect the Baker Street and Waterloo Railway depot, at Waterloo, to the New Cross and Waterloo Railway (NC&WR) enabling trains to enter and exit in two directions.

The New Cross and Waterloo Railway (NC&WR) planned a further extension to construct from the Baker Street and Waterloo Railway curve underneath Park Crescent, the curve would pass beneath Regent's Park and run along Longford Street and Drummond Street with a station at Seymour Street (now Eversholt Street) beneath Euston station. An immediate station was planned at the junction between Drummond Street and Hampstead Road.

Despite the bill being deposited to parliament there was no progress and the bill disappeared. The Baker Street and Waterloo Railway presented an alternative version of the Euston branch in a bill during 1899.

The Baker Street and Waterloo Railway continued to develop its route, although construction began in August 1898. A bill was published on 22 November 1898, which requested for additional time for the construction works, propose two further extensions to the planned railway and to modify the currently approved route of the railway.

The first extension was similar to the open proposed by the New Cross and Waterloo Railway (NC&WR) a year previously, to construct a branch beneath Park Crescent along the already approved route, however the railway would then follow a more northerly route running beneath Regents Park to cross the parks Outer Circle between Chester Road and Cumberland Gate, where a station would be constructed. The route would then follow the Cumberland Street West (Nash Street today), Cumberland Market, Cumberland Street East (Varndell Street today) and terminating at a station beneath Cardington Street to the west of Euston station.

The second extension would continue the railway westwards from Marylebone, the railway would follow Great James Street and Bell Street (both called Bell Street today) to Corlett Street, where the railway would then turn southwards to reach the Grand Junction Canals Paddington Basin to the east of the mainline suburban station at Paddington operated by the Great Western Railway (GWR). The station would be constructed directly beneath the east-western arm of the basin before the railway continues north-west, running between the mainline station and the basin, before the tunnels merge into one. The single tunnel then continues passing beneath Regents Canal to the east of Little Venice, before continuing to the surface where a depot would be constructed on the northern side of Blomsfield Road. A power station was also planned at Paddington by the Baker Street and Waterloo Railway.

The final change was to modify the already approved route at Waterloo to move the final section of the railway southwards to terminate at the end of Addlington Street. These plans where aimed 'to tap the large traffic of the South London Tramways, and to link up by a direct line several of the most important railway termini', as the company stated in 1906.

The Metropolitan Railway viewed the plans to extend the railway northwards by the Baker Street and Waterloo Railway as a threat to its service and strongly opposed to the plans being approved. Despite the objections the bill received Royal Assent on 1 August 1899 as the Baker Street and Waterloo Railway Act 1899. The plans to change the planned route at Waterloo and the relevant time extensions where granted, with the remainder of the proposals not making the act.

An extension from Marylebone to Paddington was proposed in a further bill announced during November 1899. The plan was to extend the railway with the railway terminating east of the mainline station at Paddington, at the junction between Bishops Road (Bishops Bridge Road today) and Gloucester Terrace, where a station would be constructed beneath Bishops Road and a subway beneath Gloucester Terrace would connect the mainline station. The railway would also be extended from Waterloo beneath Westminster Bridge Road and St Georges Road to terminate at Elephant and Castle, where the station would allow for an interchange with the City and South London Railway (CSLR), as planned with the New Cross and Waterloo Railway (NC&WR) previously. A spur would be constructed to access a depot and a power station that would be constructed on the site of the School for the Indigent Blind south of St Georges Circus.

The extension to Paddington was aligned to allow for a westward extension to Royal Oak or Willesden, which where already served by the Metropolitan Railway who opposed the plans. The Baker Street and Waterloo Railway where successful with their plans to extend the railway and the Baker Street and Waterloo Railway Act 1900 archived Royal Assent on 6 August 1900.

A bill was published during November 1901 intended to make-up for the time lost following the collapse of the London and Globe Finance Corporation (L&GFC) and in an attempt to improve the finances of the Baker Street and Waterloo Railway, the bill sought a further time extension and permission to change its finding arrangements. The bill was approved and received Royal Assent on 18 November 1902 as the Baker Street and Waterloo Railway 1902.

The Underground Electric Railway Companies of London (UECL) announced bills for the Baker Street and Waterloo Railway, and its other railways seeking to transfer the permissions and powers of the companies for the Baker Street and Waterloo Railway and Charing Cross Euston and Hampstead Railway (CCEHR) to the Great Northern Piccadilly and Brompton Railway (GNPBR) in 1903. This merger was rejected by the government.

The Baker Street and Waterloo Railway bill also included a request for a further time extention and powers for the compulsory purchase of land for an electrical sub-station at Lambeth. These amendments to the Baker Street and Waterloo Railway where approved and received Royal Assent as two separate acts on 11 August 1903 as Baker Street and Waterloo Railway Act 1903 and Baker Street and Waterloo Railway (Extension of Time) Act 1903.

A bill was entered in 1904 to allow for the construction of new additional stations at Lambeth Regents Park and Edgware Road. These where permitted and received Royal Assent on 22 July 1904 as the Baker Street and Waterloo Railway Act 1904.

Creating the Baker Street and Waterloo railway

Construction on the Baker Street and Waterloo Railway began in the summer of 1898. The main construction site was located on a substantial pier erected on the river Thames a short distance south of the Hungerford Bridge. The site was described as 'a small village of workshops and offices and an electrical generating station to provide power for driving the machinery and for lighting purposes during construction'. The 15m (50ft) wide stage was erected 110m (370ft) from the Handerford Bridges first pier 46m (150ft) from the northern banks of the river Thames. The original intention was to begin the works close to the southern bank with a bridge to connect the stage to College Street (a road that no longer exists, on the site of the Jubilee Gardens today). However, test borings showed that there was a deep depression of gravel beneath the Thames, this was thought to be a consequence of dredging carried out by the Charing Cross and Waterloo project and led to the work-site being relocated to the northern side of the river.

Two caissons were sank into the river below the stage, the tunnels would be constructed in each direction. Construction on the northern tunnel began first in February 1899, quickly followed by the southern in March 1900. Tunnelling beneath the Thames was technically the most difficult part of the project, on several occasions the tunnels where breached and water sprouts up to 0.76m (2.5ft) above the river surface. The tunnels where constructed with an atmosphere of compressed air to prevent the water leaking into the tunnel during construction.

The company would use the river as a stage to remove the excavated soil and transport this by barge rather than transporting the material though the streets. The tunnels where also completed at stations, most notably at Piccadilly Circus. There was a remarkable degree of accuracy for the bored tunnels with the tunnel being dug from southwards Piccadilly Circus meeting underneath Haymarket with the tunnel being dug from the Thames, there was a deviation of 1.9cm (¾in).

The tunnels where formed from 2.22cm (⅞in) thick cast iron segments which locked together to form a ring 3.66m (12ft) in diameter, as a ring was finished, grout was injected though the holes to form a single segment and to fill any voids that where left from the tunnelling process to avoid any unnecessary subsidence to the streets and buildings above.

The northbound tunnelling had reached Trafalgar Square and some of the stations had started to be constructed by November 1899, when the collapse of the London and Globe Finance Corporation (L&GFC) in 1900 led to the works gradually halting.

The Underground Electric Railway Companies of London (UECL) took over the works in April 1902, 50% of the tunnelling had been completed, along with 25% of the station works. The works restarted and proceeded at 22.25m (73ft) per week. Virtually all the tunnelling and underground sections of the stations between Elephant and Castle and Marylebone further to works on the station buildings had been completed by February 1904. The additional stations where incorporated into the works and the station at Oxford Circus was altered following a Board of Trade inspection. The first test trains began running at the end of 1905. Although the Baker Street and Waterloo Railway has the necessary permissions to construct the railway as far as Paddington, no works where completed beyond Edgware Road.

The Baker Street and Waterloo Railway would use the Westinghouse automatic signalling system, which would operate though an electrical circuit on the track; the system would operate signals based on the location of the train, this signalling included an arm that was raised on a red signal. If a train proceeded beyond a red signal, then the lever would activate a trip-cock on the train applying the breaks automatically.

The stations where designed in the Underground Electric Railway Companies of London (UECL) design, by the architect Leslie Green, this consisted of a two-story steel-framed building faced with reg glazed terracotta blocks, there where large semi-circular windows on the upper floors. The stations where constructed with a flat roof to enable additional stories to be constructed above the station for commercial properties. maximising the air-rights to the property. Every station was constructed with between two and four lift shafts and an emergency spiral staircase in a separate shaft. The platforms where equip with wall tilling featuring the station name and an individual geometric patten and colour scheme.

Embankment station was constructed in a different style because the station had a large passageway down to the platforms. However the platforms where designed in the same way.

The electrical supply, was intended to be supplied by an electrical power generating station located at St Georges Road in Southwark. This idea was abandoned in 1902 and the Underground Electric Railway Companies of London (UECL) would provide the power required from its power station at Lotts Road.

Six ventilation fans where installed along the line to allow fresh air to circulate in the tunnels and stations, the stale air would be ventilated though the station shafts. To reduce the risk of fire, the station platforms where constructed from concrete and iron, the sleepers on the railway where made from fireproof Australian Eucalyptus Marginata and Jarrah wood.

The layout of the track was different from previous underground railways that had been constructed, the traditional method included laying the track on timber baulks across the tunnel with the bottom of the tube left open, this would cause an unacceptable level of vibrations for the Baker Street and Waterloo Railway. To resolve this the sleepers where mounted to supports constructed from sand and cement grout, the sleeper ends would then be resting on a comparably softly broken stone ballast beneath the running rails; a drain was installed parallel to the rails beneath the middle of the track. The rails themselves are shorter than other places on the underground network because the length of the rails was dictated by the size of she shafts and their ability to be tuned around, the tracks where 11m (35ft) long. The power for the railway was supplied though a third (positive) and a fourth (negative) rail, the same as used on the Metropolitan District Railway (MDR).

Opening the Baker Street and Waterloo Railway

The Baker Street and Waterloo Railway was officially opened by Sir Edwin Cornwall, Chairman of the London County Council, on 10 March 1906. The railway opened with stations at Baker Street, Regents Park, Oxford Circus, Piccadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square (now Charing Cross), Embankment, Waterloo and Kennington Road (later Westminster Bridge, today Lambeth Road). The station at Elephant and Castle opened on 5 August 1906, the railway ran for a total of 5.81km (3.61 miles).

The section to Edgware Road was completed and brought into service in two stages, Grand Central (now Marylebone) and Edgware Road on 15 June 1907. During construction, before opening this section of the route to the public, trains operated beyond Baker Street as out of service, reversing at a crossover towards the east of the station at Marylebone.

Shortly after opening, the London Evening News colonist ‘Quex‘ came up with the abbreviated ‘bakerloo‘, which was officially apoted by the railway during July 1906, appearing on contempory maps at the time. The abbreviation was deplored by The Railway Magazine, who complained ‘some latitude is allowable, perhaps, to halfpenny papers, in the use of nicknames, but for a railway itself to addopt its gutter title, is not what we expenct from a railway company. English railway officers have more dignaty than to act in this matter‘.

The service on the railway was operated by 108 cars manufactured for the Underground Electric Railway Companies of London (UECL), which where transported to the railway by rail. However, the Baker Street and Waterloo Railway had no external railway connections, to resolve this the cars were transported across the city by horse-drawn wagons to their destinations and London Road depot.

The carriages operated as an electrical multiple unit train without steam locomotives. Passengers would board and disembark through folding lattice gates at each end of the carriage, the gates where operated by gate-men who rode on the outside platforms and announced station names as the train arrived. The design was used on the Great Northern Piccadilly and Brompton Railway (GNPBR) and Charing Cross Euston and Hampstead Railway (CCEHR) becoming known as the 1906 stock, or gate stock. The trains where stabled at London Road depot south of Kennington Road station.

The railway operated between 05:30 in the morning, to 12:30 in the morning during the weekdays and Saturdays; the service on Sunday operated from 07:30 in the morning, until 12 noon.

When the railway opened it operated a 2d flat faire system, with ‘workman‘s tickets‘ being available as a return up to 7:58 in the morning and a book of 25 tickets available for 4s. However, these flat faires where abandoned in July 1906 with graded fairs between 1d and 3d. Season tickets where introduced in November 1906, along with trough tickets with the Metropolitan District Railway (MDR) with an interchange at Charing Cross. Through tickets for use on the Central London Railway (CLR) where not introduced until December 1907, season tickets on the Baker Street and Waterloo Railway where abolished in October 1908 and replaced with strip tickets, sold in sets of six, which could be used on the Baker Street and Waterloo Railway, Charing Cross Euston and Hampstead Railway (CCEHR) and Great Northern Piccadilly and Brompton Railway (GNPBR).

The service frequency during middle of 1906 was as follows:

Weekday service including Sundays

Sunday service

The railway did not bring the success the Underground Electric Railway Companies of London (UECL) was planning for, the Baker Street and Waterloo Railway was projected to carry 35 million journeys in its first year. The railway only carried 20.5 million passengers, only 60% of the projected passenger footfall. The Underground Electric Railway Companies of London (UECL) had over predicted the number of passenger journeys that all of their railways would carry, including the newly electrified Metropolitan District Railway (MDR). The railways only achieved approximately 50% of the pre-opening footfall predictions.

The railway was popular on the first day of service with 37,000 passengers. However, this began to drop in the months following the opening, the railway carried between 20,000 and 30,000 passengers a day. As a result the Baker Street and Waterloo Railway reduced the number of cars per train to three cars during peak hours and two cars during off-peak hours. The newspaper the Daily Mail, in April 1906 reported tat the Baker Street and Waterloo Railway carried fewer than one hundred passengers per train during peak hours.

The railway suffered its first fatality only two weeks after its opening, when the conductor John Creagh was crushed between a train and the tunnel wall at Kennington Road station on 26 March 1906.

The lower than predicted passenger numbers where partly caused by the introduction of electronic trams and motor buses which replaced the slower horse-drawn road transport. The newspaper the Daily Mirror noted at the end of April 1906, that the Baker Street and Waterloo Railway offered bad value in comparison to the alternative modes of transportation, both modes cost 1d, however passengers disliked the distances they had to walk between the lifts and trains. These problems hassled all of the underground railway operators and resulted in a lower revenue being generated making it difficult for the Underground Electric Railway Companies of London (UECL) to pay back its loans and to pay dividends to their shareholders.

In an effort to improve their finances, the Underground Electric Railway Companies of London (UECL), City and South London Railway (CSLR), Central London Railway (CLR) and Great Northern and City Railway introduced fare arrangements and began to incorporate themselves into a single identity. The first ‘UndergrounD‘ signs began to appear in Central London from 1908. The Waterloo and City Railway (W&CR) was not incorporated into this uniform identity because it was owned by the mainline operator London and South Western Railway (L&SWR).

Although the railways presented themselves as a single incorporated service, the Underground Electric Railway Companies of London (UECL) railways remained separate legal identities with their own management structures, shareholder and dividend structures. Administration across the group was duplicated, and in order to reduce their expenditure and to streamline their management structures the Underground Electric Railway Companies of London (UECL) announced in a bill during 1909, that the group of companies would be consolidated into a single entity. The railways would retain their individual identities, however be incorporated as the London Electric Railway (LER). The bill was authorised by the government and received Royal Assent on 26 July 1910 as the London Electric Railway Amalgamation Act 1910.

Extending the Baker Street and Waterloo Railway

The Baker Street and Waterloo Railway planned a westwards extension to Willdesden Junction in 1900, however a final route had not been decided beyond Paddington therefore the company postponed construction while it considered its options. A bill was announced during November 1905, which replaced the route from Edgware Road to Paddington with a new alignment, the tunnels crossing beneath the Paddington Basin with the station underneath London Street. The tunnels would continue south-east beyond the station and its buildings, to end beneath the junction of Grand Junction and Devonport Street (Sussex Gardens today).

The Baker Street and Waterloo Railway published in a pamphlet publicising the extention to Padditionton in 1906 and exclaimed:

It will thus be seen that the advantages which this line will afford for getting quickly and cheaply from one point of London to another are without parallel. It will link up many of the most important Railway termini, give a connection with twelve other Railway systems, and connect the vast tramway system of the South of London, thus bringing the Theatres and other places of amusement, as well as the chief shopping centres, within easy reach of outer London and the suburbs.

These changes where permitted and the Baker Street and Waterloo Railway Act 1906 received Royal Assent 4 August 1906. However, the railways south-eastern alignment was not suitable to extend the railway and no effort was made to construct the extensions.

The Baker Street and Waterloo Railway attempted to obtain permission to extend the railway over the planned extension to the North West London Railway (NWLR) in 1908. The existing permission would permit the construction of an underground railway running from Cricklewood to Victoria station. A bill was announced in November 1908 the North West London Railway (NWLR) to construct a 757m (2,484ft) connection between its unconstructed route beneath Edgware Road and the Baker Street and Waterloo Railway Edgware Road station. The North West London Railway (NWLR) route to Victoria was going to be abandoned south of the connection with the Baker Street and Waterloo Railway planned route to Paddington which was constructed as a shuttle from Edgware Road, which was provided with two additional platforms to enable this service. The Baker Street and Waterloo Railway was going to construct the extention and operated the service over the combined route, with intermediate stations at St Johns Wood Road, Abercorn Place, Belsize Road (close to the LNWR station), Brondesbury (where an interchange with the North West London Railway (NWLR) station and close to the Metropolitan Railway station at Kilburn), Minster Road and Cricklewood.

The Baker Street and Waterloo Railway entered a bill proposing their changes to the existing plans. The Great Western Railway (GWR) objected to the plan to reduce the service to Paddington to a shuttle and the Metropolitan Railway objected to the connection of the two railways because this would increase the competition between the thing though Kilburn. Parliment projected the proposals to connect the Baker Street and Waterloo Railway and North West London Railway (NWLR) and the changes announced to the route. The permissions to construct expired and no works had been carried out, the Baker Street and Waterloo Railway withdrew its bill.

The London Eletric Railway (LER) announced the publication of a bill in November 1910, the bill revived the plans to extend to Paddington. The revived route would run 890m (2,920ft) into a tight curve from Edgware Road station, initially heading south before turning to head north-west, which would be more practice for a further extension to the railway. The bill was supported by the Great Western Railway (GWR), who provided £18,000. The plans where approved and the bill received Royal Assent on 2 June 1911 as the London Electric Railway Act 1911.

Construction began quickly in August 1911 and was completed in just over two years. The extension opened on 1 December 1913, with a station at Paddington, the new station was equip with escalators rather than lifts following their successful implementation at Earls Court on the Metropolitan District Railway (MDR) in 1911.

The North West London Railway (NWLR) had obtained parliamentary permission to extend their mainline services into London with the construction of a pair of electrified tracks alongside the exiting mainline between Watford Junction and Queens Park, Kilburn and a new underground section beneath its terminus at Euston during 1907. The tunnel at Euston was to end with an underground station 1,450m (4,760ft) long loop beneath the mainline station.

The North West London Railway (NWLR) began its construction of its new tracks on the surface in 1909. However, by 1911, the railway had amended its plans to omit its undergound sections and split the proposed services into three. The first section was to follow the existing route into Euston with new electrified tracks, the second section would connect to the North London Railway at Chalk Farm and continue on electrified tracks to Broad Street station in the City of London. The third section would involve extending the Baker Street and Waterloo Railway from Paddington to Queens Park.

The Baker Street and Waterloo Railway extension was still being constructed and the London Electric Railway published a bill during November 1911 for the continuation of the railway to Queens Park. The extension would continue to the railway northwards from Paddington, passing beneath Little Venice to Maida Vale before curving north-west to Kilburn and then run parallel with the North West London Railway (NWLR) mainline, before continuing the short distance to Queens Park where the railway would surface. The extension would be provided with three intermediate stations; one at Warwick Avenue, on the junction between Warrington Avenue, Clifton Villas and Clifton Gardens; another at the junction between Elgin and Randolph Avenues called Mada Vale; and one on the Cambridge Avenue called Kilburn Park. The North West London Railway (NWLR) gave a loan of £1 million to the London Electric Railway at a 4% interest in perpetuity to finance the extension the bill received Royal Assent on 7 August 1912 as the London Electric Railway 1912.

The outbreak of the First World War slowed progress on the railway from Paddington and the railway was not completed until early 1915. The three new station, like Paddington station, where constructed with escalators rather than lifts, the stations at Maida Vale and Kilburn Park where provided with station buildings designed by Leslie Green, however without an upper story because they where no longer needed for housing of lift gear. The station at Warwick Avenue was accessed though a subway beneath the street. The station at Queens Park was rebuilt by the North West London Railway (NWLR) to allow for additional platforms to be used by the Baker Street and Waterloo Railway and its own electric services, two train sheds for rolling stock were also constructed at each side of the station.

The tracks where completed to Queens Park, however delays in completing the extension led to a staged opening of the stations:

The route north of Queens Park, the additional lines had been opened by the North West London Railway (NWLR) between Willesden Junction and Watford Junction during 1912 and 1913. This included new stations at Harlesden, Stonebridge Park, North Wembley, Kenton and Headstone Lane, the new tracks where opened on 10 May 1915 and the Baker Street and Waterloo Railway services where extended to there. The service was extended to Watford Junction on 16 April 1917, giving the railway a total distance of 33.34km (20.72 miles)

The London Electric Railway supplemented the existing rolling stock, to allow for the extension to Queens Park, by supplying 14 new carriages and spare 1906 or gate stock for the Great Northern Piccadilly and Brompton Railway (GNPBR). These new cars where dubbed the 1914 stock and where the first to have doors in the side of the carriages as well as at the ends.

The longer extention to Watford Junction needed additional rolling stock, the London Electric Railway and North West London Railway (NWLR) ordered 72 new carriages, however the outbreak of the First World War delayed the order and while the Baker Street and Waterloo Railway was waiting for the order, the railway used spare 1915 stock carriages which where ordered for the unfinished extensions to the Central London Railway (CLR) to Ealing Broadway and spare 1906 or Gate stock from the Great Northern Piccadilly and Brompton Railway (GNPBR).

The delivery of the new carriages for the Watford services became known as the Watford Joint stock because of their joint ownership with the North West London Railway (NWLR), which began operating in 1920, the carriages where painted in the North West London Railway (NWLR) ivory to distinguish them from the other rolling stock operating on the Baker Street and Waterloo Railway at the time.

The southern terminus for the Baker Street and Waterloo Railway at Elephant and Castle presented nan opportunity to extend the railway further to provide a service to Camberwell and other destinations in south-east London. The Lord Mayor of London announced in 1913, a proposal to extend the Baker Street and Waterloo Railway to Crystal Palace via Camberwell Green, Dulwich and Sydenham Hill, however nothing came of the plan.

The London Electric Railway costed an extension to Camberwell, Dulwich and Sydenham in 1921 and announced plans for an extension in 1922. The plan was to construct an extension to Orpington via Loughborogh Junction and Catford, which where considered. A route to Rushey Green via Dulwich was suggested in 1928, however nothing happened with the plans. Although the London and Home Counties Traffic Advisory Committee approved an extension to Camberwell in 1926.

An extension to Camberwell was approved in 1931 as a part of the London Electric Metropolitan District and Central London Railway Companies (Works) Act 1931. The route would follow the Walworth Road and Caberwell Road south of Elephant and Castle, with immediate stations at Albany Road beneath Denmark Hill road at Camberwell, the station at Elephant and Castle would be rebuilt to allow for an additional third platform, a new ticket hall and escalators. However, the works where never started due to financial constraints.

Operating the Baker Street and Waterloo Railway

There was a major issue with overcrowding at interchange stations that where made with underground railways and efforts where made in a number of places to improve passenger movements thought the stations. Works where carried out at Oxford Circus, Embankment and Baker Street to install escalators and to construct larger ticket halls in 1914. Further works where undergone in 1923 at Oxford Circus to allow for a combined Baker Street and Waterloo Railway and Central London Railway (CLR) ticket hall with additional escalators serving the Central London Railway (CLR). Works where carried out at Trafalgar Square and Waterloo in 1926 to add escalators to the station and to allow for an extension to the stations as a part of the new Charing Cross Euston and Hampstead Railway (CCEHR) extension to Kennington. Piccadilly Circus station was reconstructed between 1925 and 1926, the works included the construction of a new circular ticket hall, which was excavated beneath the road junction with multiple subway connections from points around the circus and with two sets of escalators down to the Baker Street and Waterloo Railway and Great Northern Piccadilly and Brompton Railway (GNPBR) platforms where installed.

The underground railways continued to struggle financially, despite closer co-operation and improvements made to the Baker Street and Waterloo Railway stations and other sections of the network. The Underground Electric Railway Companies of London (UECL) ownership of the London General Omnibus Company (LGOC) since 1912 and the profits the company made where being used to subsidise the costs of the railways, however increasing competition eroded the profits of the company and had a negative impact on the profitability of the entire Underground Electric Railway Companies of London (UECL) group.

In a bid to protect the profitability of the Underground Electric Railway Companies of London (UECL) group, the chairman of the group, Lord Ashfield, lobbied the government to regulate transport services within the London area. A series of legislative incentives where made for this starting in 1923, with a series of debates about the level of regulation and public control under the transport services should be brought. Ashfield aimed for regulation what would give the Underground Electric Railway Companies of London (UECL) group protection from competition and allow the group to take control of the substantial tram network which was operated by the London County Council. After a series of false starts over seven years, a bill was announced at the end on 1930 for a public corporation that would take control of the Underground Electric Railway Companies of London (UECL), the Metropolitan Railway and the bus and tram operators within the metropolitan area of London to be designated the London Passenger Transport Area. The formation a board was a compromise public ownership rather than nationalisation, and became into existance on 1 July 1933, as the London Transport Passenger Board (LTPB), liquidating the London Electric Railway and all other underground companies.

Stanmore Branch

The Metropolitan Railway was suffering from congestion which was caused by the limited capacity of the tracks between Baker Street and Finchley Road stations by the mid 1930s. The London Transport Passenger Board (LTPB) announced a network wide works program called the New Works Programme which included a series of works between 1935 and 1940. The works included a series of changes to the Metropolitan Railway to Stanmore, in a bid to relieve the congestion on the Metropolitan Railway. This entailed constructing a new section on deep-level tunnel between the platforms of the Baker Street and Waterloo Railway at Baker Street to Finchley Road; this would replace the Metropolitan Railway service and close the stations at Lords, Marlborough Road and Swiss Cottage replacing them with two stations at St Johns Wood and Swiss Cottage.

The Metropolitan Railway services to Stanmore where transferred to the Baker Street and Waterloo Railway on 20 November 1939.

The Baker Street and Waterloo Railway branch was in service until 1 May 1979, when it was withdrawn because there where similar congestion issues at Baker Street station caused by the branches converging at the station. The branch became the Jubilee line which was created from the construction of two new tunnels to Charring Cross station from Baker Street.

Bakerloo line today

Today the Bakerloo line covers 23.2km (14.5 miles) and serves 25 stations, 15 stations are ran by London Underground and 10 stations are ran by National Rail.

The Bakerloo line from its opening until 1917 operated with the conductor rails reviesed, the outside rail was negitive and the centre rail was positive, this was a result of the shared power with the Metropolitan Railway. The outside conductor rails had a tendancy of leaking into the tunnel wall, where as the Metropolitan District Railway (MDR) had a similar problem. This was resolved by reversing the rails on the railways, the two lines where sepoarated with the North West London Railway (NWLR) began its new line service between Euston and Watford Junction.

The Bakerloo line celebrated its centenary on 10 March 2006, this event was marked by a series of events along the railways route.

The southern section of the Bakerloo line was always intended to be extended, a route that had been proposed in 1931 as a part of the London Electric Metropolitan District and Central London Railway Companies (works) Act 1931 would have taken the Bakerloo line from Elephant and Castle to Camberwell and Denmark Hill. The extension was costed by the London Transport Passenger Board (LTPB) in April 1937 and the cost was estimated to be £5 million (approximately £320 million today), the board subsequently announced the extension was postponed due to the rising costs of raw materials until the finances of the board had improved. A short extension of the sidings at Elephant and Castle was completed, however no other works where completed before the Second World War. The powers for the extension where renewed by the government in 1947, under the Special Enactments (Extension of Time) Act 1940, other than a London Underground map published in 1949 showed the extension to Camberwell, however no other works where completed. The station describers at Warwick Avenue station showed Camberwell as the final destination of the line, until they where replaced in the 1990s.

The plans to extend the Bakerloo line to Camberwell where revived by the Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, in 2006 when the plans where being considered within twenty years. However, this remains in the proposal stage and there are no firm commitments. In Transport for London's 'Transport T2025 Transport Vision for a growing city' shows the ambition to split the Northern line, with the Charing Cross branch terminating at Camberwell, through an extension south-east. In this event, an extention to the Bakerloo line would not be necessary however an extension to Battersea Power Station is currently being constructed on the Northern line, once again raising the possibility for the Bakerloo line.

During July 2011 Network Rail published a report called the London and South East Route Utilisation Strategy which recommended extending the Bakerloo line from Elephant and Castle to Lewisham and then taking over the existing mainline tracks to Hayes, increasing the capacity of the railways into Charing Cross. The local authority, Lewisham Council, in August 2010 published a transport study which recommended an extension to Lewisham via Peckham for the Bakerloo line, an extension to Hayes would be considered as a long-term ambition.

A route along the Old Kent Road has become favoured over a route to Camberwell because this is due for redevelopment along the route. The extention has been given a planned date of 2040 with initial train frequencies of 27 Trains Per Hour from Catford Bridge, 15 Trains Per Hour from Hayes and 6 Trains Per Hour continuing to Beckenham Cord. The project was costed at between £2.2 and £2.6 billion. A branch has been proposed beyond Bechanham Junction to extend though to Grove Park via Bromley town centre. Transport for London, in December 2015, reported on its assessment of various options andn suggested a route to Lewisham via the Old Kent Road, rather than via Camberwell, with its assessment showing that the extension could be opened as early as 2030. An extension beyond Lewisham to Hayes and Bromley would be a later ambition of the project, with Camberwell being served by a new Thameslink station on National Rail.

A former plan for London projected that the Bakerloo line would be extended from Harrow and Wealdstone to Watford Junction by 2026, restoring the lines pre-1982 service. The railway is currently shared with London Overground services from Queens Park, however this proposal would see the route excursively served by the Balerloo line. The best and final bid documentation for the Croxley Rail Link project indicates that this proposal to extend the Bakerloo line to Watford Junction is now unlikely and on hold indefinitely because of funding and business case constraints.