The Met's early success prompted a flurry of applications to parliament in 1863 for new railways in London, many competing for similar routes. The House of Lords established a select committee that recommended an "inner circuit of railway that should abut, if not actually join, nearly all of the principal railway termini in the Metropolis". Proposals to extend the Met were accepted, and the committee agreed a proposal that a new company, the Metropolitan District Railway (commonly known as the District Railway), be formed to complete the circuit. Initially, the District and the Met were closely associated and it was intended that they would merge. The Met's chairman and three other directors were on the board of the District, John Fowler was the engineer of both companies. The construction works for the extensions were let as a single contract and the Met initially operated all the services. Struggling under the burden of high construction costs, the District's level of debt meant that merger was no longer attractive to the Met and its directors resigned from the District's board. To improve its finances, the District terminated the operating agreement and began operating its own trains. Conflict between the Met and the District and the expense of construction delayed further progress on the completion of the "inner circle". In 1879, the Met now wishing to access the South Eastern Railway via the East London Railway (ELR), an Act of Parliament was obtained to complete the circle and link to the ELR. After an official opening ceremony on 17 September and trial running, a complete Circle line service started on 6 October 1884.