This unusual map of the London Underground, printed only in red and black, was likely published for internal use. The focus of the map appears to be the extensions to the network which had been approved in 1937. These include the eastern extension to the Central Line from Liverpool Street to Theydon Bois, Epping, and Ongar, the western extension to Perivale, West Ruislip, and Denham (stopped at West Ruislip), and the Northern Line extensions to High Barnet and Aldenham (later scrapped).

These expansions were part of a coordinated effort by London Transport and the UK government to combat the difficult economic conditions caused by the Great Depression through an enormous program of government-backed public works. Known as the New Works Programme, over £42 million was invested in upgrading, overhauling, and expanding the Underground network. New stations were built, lifts and escalators were installed in older stations, new track was laid, and brand new trains (the famous 1938 stock) were introduced. Running from 1935 to 1940 and only interrupted by the war, this 5-year program was an enormous success with most of its aims achieved. This map shows a few unrealized goals, including the extension of the Central Line westwards beyond West Ruislip to Denham in Buckinghamshire and the 'Northern Heights Plan', which involved extending the Northern Line beyond Edgeware to Bushey Heath and Aldenham and connecting Finsbury Park to Alexandra Palace, Edgeware, and High Barnet by taking over former Great Northern & City railway lines.

A large inset map in the lower-right corner shows the Inner Circle area of central London in greater detail. The back of the map is blank, again suggesting that this was not intended for public distribution.

Curiously, we have seen another example of this map with a different print code, but also printed in 1937 which shows West Ruislip as the end of the Central Line, not Denham, and shows Edgeware as the end of the Northern Line. This second map has both the lines and the station names printed in red, but the river is printed in blue. It is unclear why two different versions of this map would have been printed, especially as the Denham and Bushey Heath expansions were only abandoned after the Second World War.

Printed colour. [LDN7198]