Central line (London Underground) Central line (London Underground) The Central line is a London Underground line that runs through central London, from , Essex, in the north-east to and in the west. Coloured red on the Tube map, the line serves 49 stations over , which makes it the longest Tube line. It is also one of only two lines on the Underground network to cross the Greater London boundary, the other being the Metropolitan line. One of London's deep-level railways, Central line trains are smaller than those on British main lines. The line was opened as the Central London Railway in 1900, crossing
London Underground infrastructure were originally maple wood, then aluminium from 1963, and this had been replaced with plastic or rubber following an increase in serious injuries following falls. However, following the King's Cross fire, aluminium treads have been used. There are 426 escalators on the London Underground system and the longest, at , is at Angel. The shortest, at Stratford, gives a vertical rise of . There are 184 lifts across the Underground, with 72 stations having step-free access from street to train. Major efforts have taken place to improve accessibility across the Underground, with the Jubilee line extension having lifts from opening