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 saw an end to years of speculation about its future. There is only one intermediate station, at Emerson Park. At the connection west of the station to the main line was severed in 1968. The branch has just one signal, on approach to Romford. There were plans to link the line from platform six at Upminster to the reception tracks of the London Underground depot there. This would have allowed the transfer of London Underground D78 Stock units onto the main line to be hauled away by diesel locomotive for refurbishment at the Ilford depot. These plans were scrapped when