It's Salmon! It's the Hammersmith & City Line
Let us introduce you to the second oldest line on the Underground. You know, the SALMON pink one!
Ok, so officially the colour is PMS 197, but round here we know it as salmon pink and it's the official colour of the Hammersmith & City line - otherwise known as the H&C!
First Contract for the Building of the Hammersmith and City Railway (1862-06-29) by Hammersmith and City RailwayTfL Corporate Archives
Opening in 1864, the H&C's history is inextricably intertwined with 3 other Underground lines - the Metropolitan, the District, and the Circle
Tube Map 2017 (2017) by Transport for LondonTfL Corporate Archives
Despite being the second oldest line on the network, the H&C has no unique stations - they're all shared with at least 1 other line
Hammersmith Underground Station (1933-09-15) by Topical PressTfL Corporate Archives
The Hammersmith & City Railway, as it was originally called, was not intended as a main line. It was designed as feeder to the Metropolitan Railway (today's Metropolitan line)
Kensington Addison Road Underground Station (1933-09-02) by Topical PressTfL Corporate Archives
It ran from Paddington to Hammersmith, through Notting Hill and Shepherd’s Bush. There was also a branch from Latimer Road to Kensington Olympia, then known as Addison Road
Diagram of Hammersmith & City Railway (1875-12-15)TfL Corporate Archives
The Metropolitan Railway ran the trains to Hammersmith and the Great Western Railway ran the trains to Kensington. In 1867 the line became jointly owned by the 2 companies
District Reliance
The Hammersmith & City service was extended in 1884 to run to Whitechapel, and in 1936 to run to Barking. In both cases, the service was reliant on the tracks of another line - the District line
From 1933, the H&C service was operated solely by Metropolitan line stock (the Metropolitan and the H&C now being part of the newly formed London Passenger Transport Board).
The Kensington branch closed in 1940 due to war damage and never re-opened, creating the H&C route line that remains to this day.
Underground Map 1966 (1966-07-30) by London Transport BoardTfL Corporate Archives
No Separate Identity
Because the H&C service was fully operated by Metropolitan stock, it didn't have its own colour on the tube map
Underground Map 1993 (1993-11-15) by London Regional TransportTfL Corporate Archives
Recognition at Last!
In 1990, the H&C was finally given it's own colour on the tube map - a distinctive salmon pink!
Always reliant on other rolling stock and using the tracks of other lines for virtually its entire route, the H&C nonetheless did have a handful of stations that only it ran from.
This changed in 2009 when the 'loop' of the Circle line was broken.
Hammersmith and City Car Line Diagram (2017-04-19) by Transport for LondonTfL Corporate Archives
The Spiral
When the Circle loop was broken, its services spiralled off to run to Hammersmith. The result was that the H&C now had no stations it could call uniquely its own
Two S-Stock trains in platform at Hammersmith (2019-03-29) by Transport for LondonTfL Corporate Archives
A 2012-2014 programme saw S7 stock replace the C69 and C77
S7 trains are 25% longer than the ones they replaced, and have no doors between cars. This involved redesigning the signalling at the key site of Edgware Road to cope with trains of both lengths
Passengers boarding S7 Stock at Hammersmith (2019-03-29) by Transport for LondonTfL Corporate Archives
Did you know that the H&C passes through 9 London boroughs?
From west to east: Hammersmith and Fulham, Kensington and Chelsea, Westminster, Camden, Islington, City of London, Tower Hamlets, Newham, and Barking and Dagenham
Story compiled by TfL using information in records at the Transport for London Corporate Archives. The Corporate Archives seeks to preserve and make accessible records, not to interpret them. A wider range of material is available for physical consultation.
Permission is granted to reproduce for personal and educational use only.
