Central line (London Underground) that the transport benefits of a Park Royal station on the Central line are not sufficiently high to justify the costs of construction. 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,
London Underground Electronic ticketing in the form of the contactless Oyster card was introduced in 2003. London Underground services on the East London line ceased in 2007 so that it could be extended and converted to London Overground operation, and in December 2009 the Circle line changed from serving a closed loop around the centre of London to a spiral also serving Hammersmith. Since September 2014, passengers have been able to use contactless cards on the Tube. Their use has grown very quickly and now over a million contactless transactions are made on the Underground every day. The Underground serves 270 stations.