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Circle line

*** Shopping-Tip: Circle line
{{otheruses}} {{Infobox TfL line| Line=Circle Line| ColourName=Yellow| TextColour=Black| YearOpened=1884| DeepOrSurface=Sub-Surface| RollingStock=London Underground C69 Stock C Stock| StationsServed=27| LengthKm=22.5| LengthMiles=14| AnnualPassengers=68,485,000| Depots=Hammersmith
Neasden| }} The '''Circle Line''' of the London Underground became known as such in 1949, when it was separated from its parent lines, the Metropolitan Line and the District Line, although it had been shown on Underground maps since 1947. In the north, east and west of central London, the Circle Line approximately outlines Travelcard Zone 1, though in the south there is a substantial portion of the zone outside the Circle Line. It and the two-stop Waterloo & City Line are the only lines completely within Zone 1. As the name implies, trains run continuously on the line. A complete journey around the line takes approximately one hour. It has 27 stations and 14 miles (22.5 km) of track. There are usually quicker routes on other lines when travelling from south to north or vice versa.

History
: ''see main article'' Metropolitan and Metropolitan District Railways The Circle Line was authorised when Acts of Parliament in 1853 and 1854 empowered the Metropolitan and the Metropolitan District Railways to complete an Inner Circle in London. There was some animosity between the two railways and it was not until 6 October 1884 that the Inner Circle became a reality. Electrification of the line - which until then had been worked by steam locomotives - was started with an experimental section in 1900. Some disagreement over the power supply delayed electrification, and the first trains using that power were introduced gradually over the 11 days to 24 September 1905. The Inner Circle was followed by the ''Outer Circle'', then the ''Middle Circle''; for a short time there was even a ''Super Outer Circle''. None of these was ever a complete circle: the Outer Circle, for example, from 1872 until 1908 followed the North London Railway North London and West London Railways from Broad Street station to Willesden Junction station Willesden Junction and Addison Road (now Kensington (Olympia) station Kensington (Olympia)), then ran onto the District Line District to terminate at Mansion House tube station Mansion House. Today Silverlink trains follow a similar half-circle route from Richmond tube station Richmond to east London, and plans to complete an outer rail loop have been relaunched under the name Orbirail. [http://www.alwaystouchout.com/project/43]

7 July 2005 Terrorist Attack
On 7 July 2005, two Circle Line trains were bombed. The blasts occurred almost simultaneously at 08:50 British Summer Time BST, one between Liverpool Street station Liverpool Street and Aldgate tube station Aldgate and the other on a train at Edgware Road tube station Edgware Road, damaging that train, and causing a tunnel to collapse on another train passing through the station. Following the attacks, the whole of the Circle Line was closed. While most other lines re-opened on 8 July, the Circle line remained closed for several weeks, reopening a little less than a month after the attacks, on 4 August. At least 14 people were killed by the blasts in the Circle Line. A third attack occurred on the Piccadilly Line between King's Cross St Pancras and Russell Square. ''See 7 July 2005 London bombings 7 July 2005 London Bombings for more information''

Trains
All Circle line trains are in the distinctive London Underground livery of Red, White and Blue and are the larger size of the two sizes used on the network.

Map

Image:Circle Line no text.png 550px

Tower Hill tube station Tower Hill

Monument tube station Monument

Cannon Street tube station Cannon
Street

Mansion House tube station Mansion
House

Blackfriars tube station Blackfriars

Temple tube station Temple

Embankment tube station Embankment

Westminster tube station Westminster

St. James's Park tube station St. James's Park

Victoria tube station VictoriaNR

Sloane Square tube station Sloane Square