Last hurrah for steam travel in central London

A Victorian steam train carried passengers on the Underground for the final time in central London on Saturday 22 and Sunday 23 June as part of London Transport Museum and Transport for London’s (TfL) plans to celebrate 150 years of the District line. 

Three return journeys took place each day between Ealing Broadway and High Street Kensington, giving people the opportunity to experience what it would have been like to travel on District line when it first opened on Christmas Eve, 1868. 

Passengers boarding the steam train at Ealing Broadway were entertained by Victorian costumed actors and a vintage brass band, as onlookers waved goodbye from the platform.

This was the final time a heritage steam train will travel in central London on the Underground due to the installation of a new signalling system on the Circle, District, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan lines. 
When the upgrade is complete in 2023, it will provide increased capacity and make journeys faster and more comfortable across 40 per cent of the Tube network. 
 

Chris Nix, Assistant Director for Collections and Engagement at London Transport Museum said: “No other capital city has been shaped by transport the way London has, and these commemorative steam-powered trips have marked a special moment in the history of the Underground. For one last time, people experienced the sights and sounds of travelling by steam on the District line as they would have done when it first opened 150 years ago.”

Nigel Holness the Managing Director of London Underground said: “The ongoing transformation of the oldest parts of the Tube network into one of the most modern railways in the world will mean that it will be the last time steam trains will run through central London. The District line has been a vital part of London’s transport network for 150 years and it is wonderful to be part of this historic weekend and experience what Tube travel would have been like when the line first opened.”