London Underground Bakerloo line history in four maps

The route, which first opened in 1906, between Baker Street and Lambeth North, was originally called the Baker Street & Waterloo Railway.

But it did not take long for the somewhat unwieldy name to be shortened. Bakerloo was coined by the London Evening News, and quickly stuck.

The line was soon extended to what remains its southern terminus – Elephant & Castle. By June 1907, it had 11 stations in total, having also reached Edgware Road.

• READ MORE - A brief history of the Piccadilly line in four forgotten maps

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

The Baker Street & Waterloo Railway first opened in 1906 (Image: TfL Corporate Archives)

Further extensions continued during the First World War, carrying passengers through north London and as far as Watford Junction.

After the formation of London Transport in 1933, even more changes were made to the line’s route.

Bakerloo line trains started running on Metropolitan Railway track to Stanmore in 1939, and St John’s Wood and Swiss Cottage stations were built to service this route.

Tube map from 1965 showing the Stanmore railway branch as part of the Bakerloo line (Image: TfL Corporate Archives)

This branch was marked out as part of the Bakerloo line for the next 40 years, before it was transferred to the newly-created Jubilee line in 1979.

The other northern branch was also cut back shortly afterwards, with services no longer terminating at Watford Junction, but instead ending at Stonebridge Park.

Trains travelling as far as Harrow & Wealdstone were quickly reinstated, with the route known to passengers today fully in operation by 1989.

Tube map from 1994 showing the Bakerloo line as it looks today (Image: TfL Corporate Archives)

There have been no substantial changes to the line over the subsequent 35 years or so, although there could soon be a southern extension of the route in the near future.

Transport for London (TfL) says that it wants to expand the Bakerloo line so that it travels as far as Lewisham via Old Kent Road.

This would also see trains stop at Burgess Park and New Cross Gate, and could even see the line extended further into south east London.

Map showing a potential southern extension of the Bakerloo line to Lewisham (Image: TfL)

There are also plans to upgrade the existing fleet of trains, which first came into operation 50 years ago and is the oldest of any Underground line.

Today, the Bakerloo line covers 23km of track, and calls at 25 stations.

Make sure to check our website at the same time next week to find out about the history of the Victoria line.