Editing District line (section)

== History ==
{{Main|History of the District line}}

=== District Railway ===
{{Main|District Railway}}
The Metropolitan District Railway (commonly known as the District Railway) was formed to build and operate part of an underground 'inner circle' connecting London's railway termini. The first line opened in December 1868, with services from South Kensington to Westminster; these were operated by the [[Metropolitan Railway]] using wooden carriages hauled by [[steam locomotive]]s. By 1871, when the District began operating its own trains, the railway had extended to West Brompton and a terminus at [[Mansion House tube station|Mansion House]].{{sfn|Green|1987|pp=8–10}} A curve from [[Earl's Court tube station|Earl's Court]] onto the [[West London Railway]] was used by the [[London & North Western Railway]] (L&NWR) for a service to {{rws|Broad Street|England}} and the [[Great Western Railway]] for a service to Moorgate via Paddington.{{sfn|Horne|2006|p=15}} Between 1 March 1883 and 30 September 1885, the District Railway ran trains between Mansion House and [[Windsor & Eton Central railway station|Windsor]], via Paddington. Stations after Ealing Broadway (the current terminus) were West Ealing, Hanwell, Southall, Hayes & Harlington, West Drayton, Langley, Slough, and Windsor. The service was discontinued because it was uneconomic.{{sfn|Rose|2007}}{{sfn|Day|Reed|2010|p=26}}

Hammersmith was reached from Earl's Court, services were extended to Richmond over the tracks of the [[London and South Western Railway]] (L&SWR), and branches reached Ealing Broadway, Hounslow and Wimbledon. As part of the project that completed the [[Circle line (London Underground)|Circle line]] in October 1884, the District began to serve [[Whitechapel station|Whitechapel]].{{sfn|Green|1987|p=12}} Services began running to Upminster in 1902, after a link to the [[London, Tilbury & Southend Railway]] (LT&SR) had been built.{{sfn|Green|1987|p=28}}

[[File:Experimental Train.jpg|thumb|The jointly owned experimental passenger train that ran for six months in 1900|alt=A three-quarter black-and-white photograph of a train standing at a station, showing the end carriage with windows at the end.]]

At the start of the 20th century, the District was seeing increased competition from the new electric underground tube lines and trams, and the use of steam locomotives underground led to unpopular smoke-filled stations and carriages.{{sfn|Green|1987|p=28}} The American [[Charles Yerkes]], who was later to form the [[Underground Electric Railways of London]], financed the necessary electrification of the railway, and the first electric services ran from Ealing to South Harrow in 1903.{{sfn|Green|1987|pp=24–27}} Electric multiple-units were introduced on other services in 1905, and East Ham became the eastern terminus. Electric locomotives were used on the L&NWR services from Mansion House to Earl's Court, and in later years exchanged for a steam locomotive on LT&SR services from Southend to Ealing Broadway at Barking.{{sfn|Green|1987|p=28}}

Hounslow and Uxbridge were served by 2 or 3-car shuttles from Mill Hill Park (now Acton Town); some trains also served South Acton and central London in the peaks.{{sfn|Horne|2006|p=44}} Services were extended again to Barking in 1908 and Upminster in 1932.{{sfn|Horne|2006|pp=45, 61}} In 1932 [[Piccadilly line]] trains were extended from Hammersmith to South Harrow, taking over the District service from Acton Town to South Harrow, although the District continued to provide a shuttle from South Harrow to Uxbridge.{{sfn|Horne|2006|p=58}} In 1933, Piccadilly line trains reached Hounslow West, the District continuing to run services with an off-peak shuttle from South Acton to Hounslow.{{sfn|Horne|2006|p=60}}

=== London Transport ===
On 1 July 1933, the District Railway amalgamated with other Underground railways, tramway companies and bus operators to form the [[London Passenger Transport Board]], and from 23 October 1933 Piccadilly line trains ran through to Uxbridge and the District line shuttle was withdrawn.{{sfn|Horne|2006|p=65}} Most of the trailer cars on the District line were the 1904–1905 [[London Underground B Stock|B Stock]] type with wooden bodies, but motor cars were less than fifteen years old. The 1935–1940 [[New Works Programme]] saw the [[London Underground Q Stock|Q Stock]] formed from these motor cars, upgraded with electro-pneumatic brakes and guard controlled air-operated doors, and the trailers replaced with new vehicles.{{sfn|Bruce|1983|p=36, 83, 96}} The off-peak District line services on the Hounslow branch were withdrawn on 29 April 1935 and South Acton served by a shuttle to Acton Town.{{sfn|Horne|2006|p=60}}

[[File:R Stock painted and unpainted at South Kensington.jpg|thumb|left|An R Stock train composed of a mixture of unpainted aluminium and (white) painted steel cars]]

The [[London, Midland and Scottish Railway]] (LMS) had taken over the L&NWR railway's service from Earl's Court and by the [[Second World War]] this had been cut back to an electric Earl's Court to Willesden Junction shuttle.{{sfn|Horne|2006|p=60}} Following bombing of the West London Line in 1940, the LMS and the Metropolitan line services over the [[West London Line]] were both suspended. This left the [[Olympia (London)|Olympia exhibition centre]] without a railway service, so after the war the Kensington Addison Road station was renamed [[Kensington (Olympia)]] and served by a District line shuttle from Earl's Court.{{sfn|Horne|2006|p=73}} [[London Underground R Stock|R Stock]], composed of new cars and the Q Stock trailers that had been built in 1938, replaced the trains with hand-operated sliding doors that remained.{{sfn|Horne|2006|pp=74–75}} The new trains were built between 1949 and 1959,{{sfn|Horne|2006|p=75}} and after 1952 trains were constructed from aluminium, saving weight. One train was left unpainted as an experiment and considered a success, so between 1963 and 1968 trains were left unpainted or painted white or grey to match.{{sfn|Bruce|1983|pp=100–101}} The transfer of [[London Underground O and P Stock|CO/CP Stock]] from the Metropolitan line in the early 1960s allowed some of the Q stock to be scrapped.{{sfn|Bruce|1983|p=97}} The slow tracks on the former LT&SR line to Upminster were shared with steam locomotive hauled goods and passenger services, until 1961 when the District took over exclusive use of the DC electrified lines.{{sfn|Horne|2006|pp=80–82}}

The South Acton shuttle was withdrawn on 28 February 1959, followed by the peak hour District line through service to Hounslow on 9 October 1964.{{sfn|Horne|2006|p=88}} The whole District line service could not run through Aldgate East as this station was also served by Hammersmith & City trains, so some trains terminated at a bay platform at Mansion House, leaving the line east to Tower Hill overcrowded. Tower Hill station was also cramped, so the station was rebuilt with three platforms on a new site. This opened in 1967 and a year later trains reversed at the new station.{{sfn|Horne|2006|pp=88–89}}

Services were operated with 6 cars off-peak and 8 cars during peak hours until 1971, when trains were reformed as fixed 7-car trains, and some 6-car trains for the Edgware Road branch.{{sfn|Bruce|1983|pp=103, 118}} The CO/CP and R Stock were replaced in the late 1970s by new trains with unpainted aluminium bodies.<ref name="RSI">{{cite web|title=Rolling Stock Information Sheets |url=http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/foi/Rolling_stock_Data_Sheet_2nd_Edition.pdf |access-date=26 November 2012 |publisher=London Underground |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131004231025/http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/foi/Rolling_stock_Data_Sheet_2nd_Edition.pdf |archive-date=4 October 2013}}</ref> A shorter train was needed on the Edgware Road branch due to the platform lengths so more of the [[London Underground C69 and C77 Stock|C stock]] units, then already in use on the Circle and Hammersmith and City lines, were built.{{sfn|Bruce|1983|p=117}} The rest of the District line could use longer trains and new [[D Stock]] trains were introduced between 1979 and 1983.<ref name="RSI" /> [[Driver-only operation]] of the trains was proposed in 1972, but due to conflict with the trade unions was not introduced on the District line until 1985.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Croome|first1=Desmond F.|last2=Jackson|first2=Alan Arthur|title=Rails Through the Clay: A History of London's Tube Railways|year=1993|publisher=Capital Transport|page=468|isbn=978-1-85414-151-4}}</ref> In 2003, the infrastructure of the District line was partly privatised in a [[public–private partnership]], managed by the [[Metronet (British infrastructure company)|Metronet]] consortium. Metronet went into [[Administration (law)|administration]] in 2007 and the local government body [[Transport for London]] took over responsibilities.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/london-underground-ppp-performance-report-2009-2010.pdf |title=PPP Performance Report |date=2009–2010 |publisher=Transport for London |access-date=7 March 2012 |pages=7–8 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120426034334/http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/london-underground-ppp-performance-report-2009-2010.pdf |archive-date=26 April 2012}}</ref>