In fact, the majority of the initial route was just a rebranding of the Stanmore branch of the Bakerloo line, which had also been served by Metropolitan line trains earlier in its history.
This means trains had been running on much of the Jubilee line almost 50 years before it officially opened.
However, there was some new track built as part of the launch, with 4km tunnels connecting Baker Street to Charing Cross, the line’s original terminus.
Over the coming weeks, we’ll be using maps to tell you the story of each of London’s Tube lines. The images used in this story have been provided by TfL Corporate Archives. To find out more about the history of the London Underground visit TfL’s Google Arts and Culture page – https://artsandculture.google.com/story/welcome-to-tfl-tfl-archives/wAWRESAnwnAAnQ?hl=en
During the planning and construction phase of the line it had an entirely different name – Fleet – after the River Fleet.
But the line’s name was ultimately chosen after Queen Elizabeth II’s 1977 Silver Jubilee.
Over the next 20 years, various expansion proposals were suggested, including an extension to Fenchurch Street and into south east London.
But when the time finally came to add more track to the Jubilee line, it was the Docklands that were earmarked for the new stations.
The area had grown into a new financial centre and needed greater transport capacity.
Construction on the extension started in 1993 and opened in stages between May and December 1999.
The new route split from the existing track after Green Park, which meant that Jubilee line trains no longer called at Charing Cross.
In total, 11 new stops were added to the Jubilee line from Westminster to Stratford.
All of these stations were designed to be “future-proof” with wide passageways, platform edge doors and step-free access.
In 2016, the line was added to the Night Tube and four years later, sections of the route became the first on the Underground network to support 4G mobile reception.
Today, the route spans 36km of track and calls at 27 stations, transporting passengers on rolling stock from 1997.
The Jubilee line is the newest of London Underground’s 11 routes, although Transport for London’s network has expanded considerably since, with the launch of the DLR, London Overground and Elizabeth line.
