UNDERGROUND ELECTRIC RAILWAYS

Identity Statement

Reference code(s)	: GB 0074 ACC/1297/UER
Held at	: London Metropolitan Archives   Click here to find out how to view this collection at https://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/lma ›
Full title	: UNDERGROUND ELECTRIC RAILWAYS
Date(s)	: 1902-1936
Level of description	: Collection
Extent	: 4.57 linear metres
Name of creator(s)	: Underground Electric Railways Company of London Ltd

Context

Administrative/Biographical 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.

Content

Scope and content/abstract:

Records of the Underground Electric Railways Company of London Limited, including minutes of Board meetings; minutes of General meetings; minuts of General Managers Conferences; minutes of the Finance Committee, Works Committee, Advisory Committee and General Purposes Committee; minutes of meetings of Stockholders; minutes of meetings of Executive Officers; registers of designs, trademarks and licences; registers of monthly expenditure; monthly traffic reports and statistics; financial reports; departmental reports; technical handbooks and staff manuals; papers relating to foreign visits by staff; diaries; and publications.

Access & Use

Language/scripts of material:
English

System of arrangement:

ACC/1297/UER/01: Minutes; ACC/1297/UER/04: Reports; ACC/1297/UER/19: Publications.

Conditions governing access:

Available for general access.

Conditions governing reproduction:

Copyright to these records rests with the depositor.

Finding aids:

Please see online catalogues at: http://search.lma.gov.uk/opac_lma/index.htm

Archival Information

Archival history:

Immediate source of acquisition:

Received in 1975 as part of an accession of records from London Transport.

Allied Materials

Related material:

Publication note:

Description Notes

Archivist's note:

Rules or conventions:
Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.

Date(s) of descriptions:
November 2009 to February 2010