Sign up to FREE email alerts from MyLondon - London Underground News Subscribe Thank you for subscribing See our privacy notice Invalid Email

At one time there was a plan to add an entire new Tube line to London's Underground network.

There's already 270 Tube stations as it is, but there may have been even more.

The plan, originally published in 1897, was to run the line from the City down to Brixton , flowing under the Thames.

Called the City & Brixton Line, it would have consisted of stops at some stations that currently exist to serve other lines and a bunch of completely new stations.

So people in Brixton would no longer have to chance at Stockwell or elsewhere to get to the City, they could have just zoomed on up without changing.

(Image: TFL)

Plus we bet it would have eased the number of people who travel on the Northern Line, which is unbearable during commuter times.

What would the line have looked like?

The line was meant to start at King William Street in the City, in between today's Bank Station and Monument station.

It would then have headed under the Thames, following the former City and South London Railway route, which is now the Bank branch of the Northern Line.

On the other side of the river, the line would have stopped at a new station at London Bridge, planned only for this line, before moving on to a completely new station at St George's Circus, a road junction in Southwark, leading in all sorts of directions.

It would have gone on to stop at new stations at Lambeth Road and Kennington Cross before meeting the (now) Northern line at Oval.

(Image: TFL)

At this point the lines would have split again, stopping at Lorn Road, off the Brixton Road and close to Slade Gardens, before finally reaching its end at Brixton.

Why didn't it go ahead?

At the time the fact this line failed would have been quite a big deal since the Victoria Line did not extend to Brixton, as it does now, for another 70 years.

The plan was for the new City & Brixton Railway to use the tunnels of the City and South London Railway, as that was about to be abandoned.

Its proposals received Royal Assent on July 1, (1898) through the City and Brixton Railway Act.

Yet despite all this effort, the line was never able to raise enough funds to start building it.

Then in 1902 two bills were presented to parliament for the complete or partial abandonment of the railway but both were dropped before getting through parliament.

Get WhatsApp news alerts to your phone We've set up a new WhatsApp group so you can receive the latest London headlines straight to your phone. To receive one message a day with the main headlines, as well as breaking news alerts, send one of the following to 07900 342671 on WhatsApp, depending on where you want to receive news from: LONDON NEWS

CENTRAL LONDON NEWS

NORTH LONDON NEWS

EAST LONDON NEWS

SOUTH LONDON NEWS

WEST LONDON NEWS Then add the number to your phone contacts book as 'MyLondon'. You must do this or you will not receive the messages. You will receive one message a day. You can reply with the word STOP at any time. Your phone number won't be shared with other members of the group.

Instead of this happening the City & South London Railway actually took over with the intention of altering the plan but, again, it just never happened.

It was not until 1971 that the Victoria Line extended down to Brixton, making the travel we can do now much quicker.

There's just one thing we're left wondering - what colour the line would have been?