District Line

East to west underground service. Need to change often if one wants to get around.
Faster than buses.

The District line is a London Underground service that crosses Greater London from east to west. From Upminster, the eastern terminus, the line runs through Central London to Earl’s Court before dividing into three western branches, to Ealing Broadway, Wimbledon and Richmond. There is a short branch that goes from Earl’s Court to Kensington (Olympia). A branch also runs north from Earl’s Court to Edgware Road via Paddington. Coloured green on the tube map, the line serves 60 stations in 40 miles (64 km), and with bridges across the Thames on the Wimbledon and Richmond branches is the only London Underground line to cross the river in this way. The track and stations between Barking and Aldgate East are shared with the Hammersmith & City line, and between Tower Hill and Gloucester Road and on the Edgware Road branch with the Circle line. Some of the stations are shared with the Piccadilly line. Of the 60 stations served, 25 are below ground. Unlike London’s deep-​level tube railways, the railway tunnels are just below the surface, and the trains are of a similar size to those on British main lines.

Like a hydra with five heads, the District line runs from Upminster in the east to Edgware Road, Ealing Broadway, Richmond, Kensington Olympia and Wimbledon at the western end. Amazingly, it used to go even further — out to Windsor and to Southend-​on-​Sea until WWII. It is one of the older tube lines and is a «shallow» line where it is underground.
Is it usually late with trains bunched up with large gaps between them? Does it have unexplained delays? Are the trains hot and humid and crowded? All of these. And yet, it’s the line with the most traffic on the whole of the tube.
Many, but not all, stations are step-​free.

Is it slow? Hell yes!
Is it realiable? No, not really.
So why am I giving it a 4???
It gets me to work without having to change trains at Holborn and saves me from suffocating to death on the overcrowded and superheated Piccadilly and Central Line trains.
I have many trains to choose from as I get on at Earl’s Court station.
Plus I usually am able to get a seat as long as I get on after 8:30 or before 8:00. Not too bad!

Yup it’s one of the most confusing Tube lines on the London Underground.
It has an interesting history, being the second line to be opened with the first trains running on 24^th December, 1868 between South Kensington and Westminster. Over the years, it had multiple extensions and side lines opened and closed to end up with the weird configuration we have today.
There are a lot of end stations, so make sure that you check the front of the trains before boarding to make sure you get on the right one! At least there are a lot of indicator boards telling you the destinations of the next few trains.
There are still a few problems — the scheduling of trains at Earl’s Court is weird with multiple trains to one destination passing through before you get trains going to other destinations.
Also, at night-​time, you frequently get trains which terminate before the end destination.
Of interest, this line never goes underground, so you can get some mobile coverage throughout your journey

Hate your job? Then take the District line to work – it’s almost guaranteed that you’ll be late every day. Leaving Central London is usually okay, but getting in? Prepare for delays, other people’s perspiration and some seriously moist air.
The District line is also great if you’re into frottage and/​or looking for evidence of the decline of social mores in the United Kingdom.

I feel like I’m on some old steam engine train, without the nostalgic charm, when I’m (forced to) take the District Line. Slow, always delayed… dreadful.

Spent a week in Paris riding the Metro. Never once took the wrong train — even though we really don’t know French all that well. Spent 2 days in London, and ended up taking the wrong train several times — all of them on the District Line. ??? Had our trusty little Tube map with us and still got lost. My husband is a human GPS (it’s freaky) and even he was getting frustrated with which train to take and where to run to catch it. Crazy. Every time we wanted to go somewhere and found out that we had to take the ‘green line’ we were dreading it before we even made our way to the station.

The Underground, London Tube system is a great way to travel thru London. it’s very crowded and during rush hours, people are moving quite fast and everyone seems trained to stand to the right to allow faster pedestrians the right of way to walk up the escalators on the left. These tunnels are over 200 feet deep, therefore, the escalators are quite steep. You feel as if it’s a voyage into the center of the earth.
About 7 million people live in and around London, making it one of the largest European cities. It’s similiar to our BART system, but even more crowded. You can get a tube pass for several days and use it like our BART ticket. Musicians will play or sing underground at some of the stations and you can hear the music echo thru the tube. Watch out for pickpockets, they can spot a tourist quickly. You know, the ones with their maps, cameras, doe eyes looking lost or up at the signs, oblivious to the hands going into their purses and pant/​coat pockets.
In 2007, riding the Tube cost 4 pounds ($ 8 USD) but you can purchase tickets from newspaper stands which sell tickets for $ 1.00 and booklets of 6 one-​way tickets. Sometimes, it’s better to take the Underground to get around London. The cars here do not believe pedestrians have the right of way, they will run you over if you pause, or even if you have the green light! In other words, you pass their car on a green light and they still have a red light and the drivers start moving before you’ve finished crossing the pedestrian cross-​walk. It’s no wonder I saw very few disabled or elderly people around town. They probably all got mowed down!
Inside the tube or tunnels, the areas are usually dirty and street persons often sleep inside them. And signs are everywhere, warning you of pick-​pockets. PBS (Channel 9) recently did a special on the ghosts which haunt different stations of the Underground. Most of it anecdotal, from retired employees who used to work the lines, especially night shift staff. All would report the room temperature dropping to freezing and the hair on their arms, backs and neck standing up when a spirit would be close by. Brrrrrrrrrhhhhh.

The green line…
I give this line a 2 star! If you happen to live in Richmond, Putney or Fulham there is one thing you are dreading — to get on the District Line each morning for work. Between 8−9am you will have the most difficult time to squeeze yourself in and if you are claustrophobic, this is not a situation you want to get yourself into.
If you happen to have a flight to catch, depending on the District Line, be aware of the moments of panic. The doors with the steamed windows of the District Line open and nobody gets out, the contrary, you hardly can squeeze yourself in, let alone to find a space for your hand luggage and suitcase!
You have to fight like a lion to not miss your flight, especially when you know the next train is as packed as the first. I only can give you some words of advice, try to walk to the end of the station, there sometimes you have more space or take the bus.
Now this is the situation during the week, there are the Chelsea football match at the weekends. Then you get stuck on the train as well as on the bus at Fulham Broadway! However, if you have passed Earls Court, which can be daunting minutes smelling the bad breath of your neighbours morning coffee, you have already made more then half of your journey! Congratulations!

I always try to avoid the District Line like an annoying little sibling. Actually, my siblings aren’t annoying, but I imagine if they were, I might, at times, stay away from them too.
Why such harsh words? In my humble opinion, one as humble as chicken soup, the District line is SLOW. Maybe it’s stops are further apart than other lines, but I am of the personal opinion that the line just runs at its own tortoise-​esque pace. If I can cut across the city by some other route, I’m very likely to do so.
Also, has anyone told you about trying to get to Olympia? You have to change at Earl’s court to a very special Olympia branch of the district line to get to Olympia. What no one tells you is that in the time you spend waiting for one of the Olympia-​bound trains to arrive (which is something they do not do as often as one might like) you could just walk to the station and save the time waiting.
However, the District line does make a key loop around the city, even if the circle line does too, so it does come in handy when you need a quick east-​west fix. And hey, who doesn’t love things that are green?

You may be wondering why I am reviewing underground tube lines. Well, each of London’s tube lines has a different personality. Some are good, some are very bad. I’m going to give you a top ten run down on what’s, what of London underground travel.
At number ten we have the District Line. You should avoid this line if you can. The updates on train arrivals on the platform are infrequent. They only come up three minutes before the trains arrive. This means potential lengthy waits before you even know when your train is coming. The wait is usually long. Once on the train an annoying reoccurring habit is that the train often stops before platforms and just sits there. It is infuriating. The old rickety feeling of the line and train is down to the trains being old and rickety.
The District Line services east London well. If you are a city boy/​girl your EC zone one stops may be handy. West you have the strangely complex Earls Court. Does anyone understand what platform leads where? I’ve been in London for years and I haven’t a clue how to navigate Earls Courts platforms and screens.
For those of you living in Putney, this is your only tube line home. I feel your pain. In my mind there is nothing good to say about this line. If you can take another route do. But if you must take the District Line train, give yourself an extra 30mins to your journey time.