Metropolitan line

The Metropolitan line, colloquially known as the Met, is a London Underground line between Aldgate in the City of London and Amersham and Chesham in Buckinghamshire, with branches to Watford in Hertfordshire and Uxbridge in Hillingdon. Printed in magenta on the tube map, the line is 41.4 miles (66.7 km) long and serves 34 stations. Between Aldgate and Finchley Road, the track lies mostly in shallow "cut and cover" tunnels, apart from short sections at Barbican and Farringdon stations. The rest of the line is above ground, with a loading gauge similar to those of main lines. Almost 94 million passenger journeys were made on the line in 2019. This line is one of two Underground lines that cross the Greater London boundary and proceed outwards into the Home Counties, the other being the Central line. It is the only Underground line with an express service at peak times; the longer distance between stations means trains can achieve the system's highest speeds, up to 62 miles per hour (100 km/h), on some sections. In 1863, the Metropolitan Railway was the world's first underground railway. It first ran between Paddington and Farringdon, with wooden carriages and steam locomotives, subsequently extending north-westwards into the Middlesex countryside, where it stimulated the development of new suburbs. Harrow was reached in 1880, and ultimately the line continued as far as Verney Junction, in Buckinghamshire, more than 50 miles (80 km) from Baker Street. From the end of the 19th century, the railway shared tracks with the Great Central Railway out of Marylebone. The central London lines were electrified by 1907, but electric locomotives were exchanged for steam locomotives on trains heading north of Harrow. After the railway was absorbed by the London Passenger Transport Board in 1933, the line was cut back to Aylesbury. Steam...