Identity area
Type of entity
Authorized form of name
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Description area
Dates of existence
History
Underground Electric Railways Company of London Limited was founded in 1902 by American Charles Yerkes, who had made a substantial profits investing in public transport in the city of Chicago. The company bought existing railway companies involved in the construction of deep-level tube railway lines, including the Metropolitan District Railway; Baker Street and Waterloo Railway; Charing Cross, Euston and Hampstead Railway and the Great Northern, Piccadilly and Brompton Railway. The lines constructed by these companies now form the District Line, Bakerloo Line, Northern Line and Piccadilly Line.
The Underground Electric Railways Company began to act together with other railway companies, including the Central London Railway and the Great Northern and City Railway; representing themselves as the Underground Group and agreeing on fare structures. In 1909 the Underground Electric Railways Company applied for and was granted permission to merge the Metropolitan District Railway; Baker Street and Waterloo Railway; Charing Cross, Euston and Hampstead Railway and the Great Northern, Piccadilly and Brompton Railway companies into one company, the London Electric Railway Company. In 1913 the company purchased the City and South London Railway and the Central London Railway, bringing all but three of the exisiting underground lines into common ownership.
The Underground Electric Railways Company also purchased bus and tram service providers including the London General Omnibus Company; London and Suburban Traction Company; London United Tramways; Metropolitan Electric Tramways; and South Metropolitan Electric Tramways.
In the 1920s the group was struggling financially. Chairman Lord Ashfield lobbied for greater regulation of transport services in the London area - leading ultimately to the liquidation of the Underground Electric Railways Company when the London Passenger Transport Board was formed in 1933. This was a public corporation which took control of the company and several others within the London Passenger Transport Area.