Talk:Circle line (London Underground)

Reason for the change in 2009 ?

The article doesn't mention any reasons for "breaking the circle" in 2009. I think that would be a good idea to mention, if possible. A rather long time ago now, I watched a TV-spot or something about people sleeping in the Circle Line. (and it had 24 hrs service [?]). Could this have had something to do with the 2009 change ? Boeing720 (talk) 19:19, 21 January 2018 (UTC)

No (and BTW it has never run a 24-hour service). The change was supposed to improve reliability, and it also doubled the frequency of service on the Paddington-Hammersmith stretch to meet increased passenger demand. -- Alarics (talk) 23:46, 21 January 2018 (UTC)

The reliability thing was a consequence of having trains constantly running in the same direction, with no long-duration stops. If a train became delayed for any reason, it would not be able to catch up with the timetable by shortening stops - since these were already as short as was feasible. If a train needed to be taken out of service for any reason, a replacement would need to be worked all the way from Hammersmith (where the depot was, and still is) to Edgware Road before it could take up Circle line service.

But by putting two reversals into each circuit, with a sufficiently-long timetabled layover between arrival at the terminus (Hammersmith or Edgware Road) and departure, time could soon be recovered. With the new plan, if a train is severely delayed into Hammersmith, another train can be brought into service to take up the working of the delayed train, which upon arrival can be sent to the depot, there to await the next severely-delayed train. --Redrose64 🌹 (talk) 00:48, 22 January 2018 (UTC)

Could usefully be added to the article, do you have a citeable source? Murgatroyd49 (talk) 12:19, 22 January 2018 (UTC)

Confused on new route

Do I understand correctly that a typical train leaves from Hammersmith. continuing from Edgware Road in a clockwise path completely around the former Circle route, reverses somehow at Edgware Road to then make an anticlockwise circle around the entire Circle, and finally terminates at Hammersmith? And with the same car at front of that trainset the whole time? (As opposed to the former scheme which had each trainset once a day divert to Aldgate East and then reverse as if in a triangle so the other end of the trainset is in front while continuing its original direction of travel around the loop.) Casey (talk) 00:00, 8 August 2023 (UTC)

Yes. It is exactly as it appears on the Tube Map. There is nothing mysterious about the reversing at either end. The driver just swaps from the cab at one end of the train to the other. --DanielRigal (talk) 00:13, 8 August 2023 (UTC)

It's not difficult for a driver to change ends, because all trains have at least two cabs including one at each end - the C stock had three, and the CO/CP stock (which preceded the C stock) had four. Drivers change ends in the same way that they do on all the other lines - they apply the electric parking brake, switch the cab out, leave the cab and lock the door, walk to the other end, unlock the cab, get in, switch the cab in, release the parking brake and proceed per signals and timetable. The S7 stock allows them to change ends by walking through the train, with older types they had to get out and walk along the platform. No new station facilities were required - Hammersmith has always been a terminus, and Edgware Road was already the terminus for District line services from Wimbledon. Edgware Road has four tracks and platforms which can all be used for through trains, and the centre two may also be used for trains terminating from the west (just west of the station, the four tracks come down to two, which are shared as far as Praed Street Junction, about 300 metres to the west). The three different services from Edgware Road already pooled their trains and drivers (the Circle and H&C had begun sharing their trains way back in June 1959, and the District's Edgware Road-Wimbledon service was brought into the pool in April 1978), so there was no change necessary to the fleet, and drivers didn't need to learn any new routes either. AFAIK the occasional Circle service does run via Aldgate East instead of Aldgate, this is to deliberately turn the train around in order to even out the wear on wheel flanges. --Redrose64 🌹 (talk) 09:35, 8 August 2023 (UTC)

Ah, I wondered if they still turned the stock round. Murgatroyd49 (talk) 09:42, 8 August 2023 (UTC)

Tnx to all for the replies — answering my underlying curiosity as to whether the trainsets were still being reversed occasionally at Aldgate East. I suppose any through passengers just stay aboard, flipping their seatbacks if necessary. Casey (talk) 11:40, 8 August 2023 (UTC)

flipping their seatbacks That's a thing done on trams. I don't know of any London Underground train which was ever fitted with such seats. The S7 stock, used on the Circle, District and Hammersmith & City, has fixed seating; moreover, it's all longitudinal so passengers face sideways. --Redrose64 🌹 (talk) 12:17, 8 August 2023 (UTC)