中央倫敦鐵路

1900年至1933年的倫敦中央鐵路線路圖

中央倫敦鐵路（英語：Central London Railway，CLR），又被稱為「兩便士地鐵」（英語：Twopenny Tube），是倫敦歷史上一條深層地鐵線路，其路線相當於今日倫敦地鐵的中央線中部部分。

倫敦中央鐵路公司設立於1889年。在於1895年成功籌資後，中央線於1896年至1900年間完成施工。1913年，倫敦中央鐵路被倫敦地鐵公司收購。開通初期的中央鐵路長達9.14公里（5.68英里）全部區間都位於地下，而且是複線鐵路；全程共有13個車站，西起牧羊叢，東至英格蘭銀行，而車輛段和供電站則位於西端終點站的北邊。在改建為環線的計劃被否決後，本線在1908年向西延長到了伍德巷站，又在1912年延長到了利物浦街車站。到1920年，本線又沿着大西部鐵路延長到了伊靈，里程也增加到了17.57公里（10.92英里）。

建造過程

籌劃(1889–1892)

未能實現的1889年計劃

1889年11月，中央倫敦鐵路發佈了一份關於私人法案的告示。相關法案隨後被展示於1890年的議會立法期間。法案建議修建一條地下電氣化鐵路；線路兩端起點分別位於貝斯沃特里的皇后路和貝斯沃特路口和倫敦城里的威廉王街，經過貝斯沃特路、牛津街、霍本高街、霍本、霍本高架橋、紐蓋特、齊普賽街和家禽街，並連接當時還在施工的城市及南倫敦鐵路(C&SLR)。車站則分別位於皇后路、大理石拱門、牛津圓環、托特納姆宮路、南安普頓道、霍本圓環、聖馬丁大道和威廉王街地下。

隧道的設計直徑為11英尺（3.4米），由盾構機開鑿，再由鑄鐵板砌成；在車站區域，隧道的直徑會根據設計，在22英尺（6.7米）和29英尺（8.8米）之間變化。變電站和車輛段則選址在皇后路西側的一個1.5英畝（0.61公頃）的空地處。每個車站都將有從街面到地下站台的液壓電梯。

然而，此計劃遭到了多方的反對。

• 大都會鐵路和區域鐵路的反對最為強烈。由於中央鐵路的走向與內環線相近，兩家公司擔心客流量會被分流。
• 倫敦市法團擔心施工會像C&SLR的建造一樣，再次引起沉降，並影響路線周圍的建築。
• 聖保羅座堂的主任牧師和教士們擔心施工會損毀教堂的地基。
• 約瑟夫·巴扎爾傑特爵士擔心隧道會損壞城市的排水系統。

最後法案雖然在下議院通過，卻被上議院否決。上議院建議推遲表決，直到C&SLR開通，其運營情況得到評估之後。

被批准的1891年計劃

1890年11月，C&SLR開通後，CLR向次年的立法期間提交了一份新的法案。同時，線路西端也延長至牧羊叢的東側並經過諾丁山門和荷蘭公園大道，而車輛段和供電站也改為伍德路的東側、終點站的北端。該線路西端被延長後可以運營到諾丁山高街即現在的諾丁山門站和荷蘭公園大道站下，最後到Shepherd's Bush即現在的Shepherd's Bush Green的東邊角落。線路的車庫和電站北重新安置在了Wood Lane站東邊作為北方終點。

已隱藏部分未翻譯內容，歡迎參與翻譯。

The route was extended at the western end to run under Notting Hill High Street (now Notting Hill Gate) and Holland Park Avenue to end at the eastern corner of Shepherd's Bush Green, with the depot and power station site relocated to be north of the terminus on the east side of Wood Lane. The westward extension of the route was inspired by the route of abandoned plans for the London Central Subway, a sub-surface railway that was briefly proposed in early 1890 to run directly below the roadway on a similar route to the CLR. The eastern terminus was changed to Cornhill and the proposed Southampton Row station was replaced by one in Bloomsbury. Intermediate stations were added at Lansdowne Road, Notting Hill Gate, Davies Street (which the CLR planned to extend northwards to meet Oxford Street) and at Chancery Lane. The earlier plan to connect to the C&SLR was dropped and the diameter of the CLR's tunnels was increased to 11英尺6英寸（3.51米）. This time the bill was approved by both Houses of Parliament and received Royal Assent on 5 August 1891 as the Central London Railway Act, 1891. In November 1891, the CLR publicised another bill. The eastern end of the line was re-routed north-east and extended to end under the Great Eastern Railway's (GER's) terminus at Liverpool Street station with the Cornhill terminus dropped and a new station proposed at the Royal Exchange. The proposals received assent as the Central London Railway Act, 1892 on 28 June 1892.

Route approved in 1892

The money to build the CLR was obtained through a syndicate of financiers including Ernest Cassel, Henry Oppenheim, Darius Ogden Mills, and members of the Rothschild family. On 22 March 1894, the syndicate incorporated a contractor to construct the railway, the Electric Traction Company Limited (ETCL), which agreed a construction cost of £2,544,000 (approximately £3.08億 today) plus £700,000 in 4 per cent debenture stock. When the syndicate offered 285,000 CLR company shares for sale at £10 each in June 1895, only 14 per cent was bought by the British public, which was cautious of such investments following failures of similar railway schemes. Some shares were sold in Europe and the United States, but the unsold remainder was bought by members of the syndicate or by the ETCL.

參考文獻

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