District line Railway (L&SWR), and branches reached Ealing Broadway, Hounslow and Wimbledon. As part of the project that completed the Circle line in October 1884, the District began to serve Whitechapel. Services began running to Upminster in 1902, after a link to the London, Tilbury & Southend Railway (LT&SR) had been built. At the start of the 20th century the District was seeing increased competition from the new electric underground tube lines and trams, and the use of steam locomotives underground led to unpopular smoke-filled stations and carriages. The American Charles Yerkes, who was later to form the Underground Electric Railways of
Romford–Upminster line Romford–Upminster line The Romford–Upminster line is a railway branch line in Greater London that connects , on the Great Eastern Main Line, to , on the London, Tilbury and Southend Line and London Underground. The route is in length and there is one intermediate station at . The line is part of Network Rail Strategic Route 7, SRS 07.09, and is classified as a rural line. The line is single-track throughout, electrified at 25 kV AC, has a loading gauge of W6, and a maximum speed of . As of May 2015 services are operated by London Overground, with two