The
Circle line is a
London Underground service in a spiralling shape, running from Hammersmith to Edgware Road and then looping once around central London back to Edgware Road. The railway is below ground in the central section and on the loop east of Paddingdon, and, unlike London's deep-level tube railways, the railway tunnels are just below the surface and of similar size to those on British main lines. Coloured yellow on the
tube map, the line serves 36 stations, including most of London's main line
railway termini. Most of the route and all of the stations are shared with the
District,
Hammersmith & City and
Metropolitan lines. On the Circle line and the Hammersmith & City line combined, over 114 million passenger journeys are made each year. 21 of the 36 stations are below ground.