Central Line

The Central Line is the longest single line on the London Underground, running from Essex in the north-east, through the City of London and the City of Westminster, and out to Ealing Broadway in the west and West Ruislip in the east. Marked in red on the standard tube map, and by convention marked as dead straight east-to-west from Chancery Lane to Ealing Broadway. There was formerly a branch further into Essex, to Ongar, but it closed some years ago, and was the subject of a failed attempt at a preserved railway. It now looks very much as though that section of the line will not re-open.

Apologies to iain, whose WU this one supersedes, though only barely.

On this map, east is at the top. The overall look of the Central Line is U-shaped, with Central London at the bottom of the 'U'.

          Epping
             |
        Theydon Bois
             |
         Debden
             |
         Loughton
             |
       Buckhurst Hill
             |
             |
             |    /--Roding Valley------Chigwell
             |   /                             \
             |  /                               \
         Woodford                                \
             |                             Grange Hill
     South Woodford                               |
             |                                Hainault
             |                                    |
        Snaresbrook                          Fairlop
             |                                    |
             |                               Barkingside
             |                                   /
             |                               Newbury Park
             |                                /
             |                          Gants Hill
             |  Wanstead-----Redbridge-----/
             |   /
             |  /
             | /
             |/
             |
       Leytonstone
             |
          Leyton
             |
         Stratford
             |
         Mile End
             |
       Bethnal Green
             |
       Liverpool Street
             |
           Bank
             |
        St. Paul's
             |
      Chancery Lane
             |
         Holborn
             |
    Tottenham Court Road
             |
        Oxford Circus
             |
        Bond Street
             |
        Marble Arch
             |
       Lancaster Gate
             |
         Queensway
             |
      Notting Hill Gate
             |
        Holland Park
             |
        Shepherd's Bush
             |
         White City
             |
         East Acton
             |
         North Acton
            /\
           /  \
          /    \
         /      \
West Acton  Hanger Lane
        |         \
Ealing Broadway    \
                Perivale
                    |
                Greenford
                    |
                Northolt
                    |
              South Ruislip
                    |
             Ruislip Gardens
                    |
              West Ruislip

Interchange with the Jubilee Line at Stratford and Bond Street; with the Docklands Light Railway at Stratford and Bank/Monument; with the Hammersmith and City Line at Mile End and Liverpool Street; with the District Line at Mile End, Bank/Monument, Notting Hill Gate and Ealing Broadway; with the Metropolitan Line at Liverpool Street; with the Circle Line at Liverpool Street, Bank/Monument and Notting Hill Gate; with the Northern Line at Bank and Tottenham Court Road; with the Waterloo and City Line at Bank; with the Piccadilly Line at Holborn; and with the Victoria Line and the Bakerloo Line at Oxford Circus.

National Rail connections at Stratford, Liverpool Street, Ealing Broadway, Greenford, South Ruislip and West Ruislip.

Tunnel vision, deep below the kraken roars,
The train shivers in, the tin opener spins,
Sardines spill out onto the station floor,

You get slapped down
if you push against the salmon rush,
Is it the heat, the crush?
the tourists, the smell?
That remind me so much of hell?
Or perhaps it's because we're
hundreds of personal space invaders
and yet no one gets a GAME OVER

I shoot pure words but even that
seems to fail to pop these bubbles
that we float about in,

To all this I say one thing, though you may think me a sap,
No. I will not mind the gap.