Circle line (London Underground) with the other London Underground sub-surface lines: the Hammersmith & City line from Hammersmith to just before Aldgate; the Metropolitan line from Baker Street to Aldgate; and the District line from Tower Hill station to Edgware Road station. The line is electrified with a four-rail DC system: a central conductor rail is energised at and a rail outside the running rail at , giving a potential difference of . The running rails are not electrified. Much of the double track railway from the Hammersmith terminus to Westbourne Park station is on a high brick viaduct. East of Westbourne Park the
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.