Origins The railway had its origins in a scheme promoted by the
Metropolitan Railway (the Met), under chairman
Edward Watkin, to connect
St Mary's station in Whitechapel with the
London, Tilbury and Southend Railway (LTSR) at Campbell Road in Bromley via underground railway. The purpose of the proposed line was to relieve pressure on the LTSR terminus at
Fenchurch Street by routing local trains onto the Met. The Met and LTSR agreed to jointly promote the scheme in 1883. The route trains would take to reach the Met avoided Whitechapel station and 850 yards of track that were both exclusively owned by the
District Railway (DR). However, trains would still need to pass through a section of the Metropolitan and Metropolitan District Joint Railway. The DR was able to block Metropolitan/LTSR through services on this basis and chairman
James Staats Forbes made clear his intention to oppose the necessary legislation for the new line. The LTSR withdrew from the partnership with the Met. In 1897 the DR revived the scheme, seeking permission from shareholders in February and receiving legislative consent in August. The DR scheme was identical, except trains would run to their Whitechapel station and the line would not avoid it. Further legislation in 1898 established a joint committee of the DR and LTSR. They agreed to jointly fund the new line and a third act in 1900 confirmed how it would be operated.
Construction 286 people were displaced to build the railway. They were rehoused in 1901 in the Wellington Buildings flats that were constructed on Wellington Street. Whitechapel DR station was closed for reconstruction on 2 February 1902 and was transferred to W&BR ownership. The railway included a bridge over the
East London Railway to the east of Whitechapel station. Most of the railway was in
cut-and-cover tunnel under Whitechapel Road and Mile End Road. It passed under the
Regent's Canal in a short section of
bored tunnel. East of Bow Road, the railway inclined at 1 in 40
gradient to meet up with the LTSR. Signalling was provided by
Saxby and Farmer to DR specifications. The line opened on 2 June 1902. It linked a short section of DR track to the west of
Whitechapel station with the LTSR at the above-ground Campbell Road Junction at
Bromley, to the west of
Bromley station. long platforms were built to accommodate LTSR trains. The line from Whitechapel to Campbell Road Junction, and on to
East Ham, was fully
fourth-rail electrified on 20 August 1905.
Management diagram of the Whitechapel area in 1906|alt=Map shows central and east London with coloured lines. The W&BR is shown between the District and LTSR. From 1902 to 1950 the W&BR was owned as a
joint venture. Initially the arrangement was between the DR and the LTSR. They formed a joint board, headquartered in the LTSR offices. The board consisted of three directors from each company and included the chairman of each of them. The line was initially operated by a joint committee. Both companies went through a series of amalgamations over time. The LTSR was purchased by the
Midland Railway (MR) in 1912. In 1920 the joint committee was dissolved and thereafter the DR operated the line on behalf of the W&BR. The MR was subsequently grouped into the
London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) in 1923 and was nationalised in 1948 as part of
British Railways. The DR was part of the
Underground Electric Railways Company of London and was absorbed into the
London Passenger Transport Board in 1933. This was nationalised as the
London Transport Executive in 1948. Both the
Railway Executive and the London Transport Executive were subsidiaries of the
British Transport Commission. The
Transport Act 1947 provided for complete ownership of the W&BR to pass to the London Transport Executive and this took place on 23 January 1950.
Services The DR had running rights as far east as Bromley. Regular steam services to East Ham were provided by the DR with joint stock, with some trains going as far as Upminster. After electrification, services terminated at East Ham from 30 September 1905 and Barking from 1 April 1908. The LTSR had running rights as far west as Whitechapel and operated a return Whitechapel to Southend steam service on Sundays during the summer of 1905. They were the only LTSR passenger services that ran on the W&BR. Failing to establish a suitable terminus, the LTSR gave up plans to run regular services over the W&BR to destinations west of Whitechapel in 1908. Fares to Fenchurch Street via the LTSR and
Mark Lane via the W&BR were the same and tickets were interchangeable. A regular jointly-operated Ealing Broadway to Southend through service was run daily from 1910 to 1939, with traction west of Barking provided by the DR's electric locomotives. The LMS extended the electrified local tracks east from Barking and electric DR trains reached Upminster on 12 September 1932. The
Metropolitan line provided a peak time service from 1936, in effect finally realising the original Met/LTSR proposal. On 30 July 1990, the Metropolitan line service running over the Whitechapel and Bow section gained a separate identity as the
Hammersmith & City line. From 13 December 2009, off-peak Hammersmith & City line service was extended from Whitechapel to Barking with a daily all-day service. ==Design==