Crowds gather to watch the first steam train on the Underground for 118 years

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It was as if the London Underground district line had been transported back to its founding years this weekend as steam graced its tracks for the first time since 1901 - and what is set to be the last time as tube signalling is upgraded.

One of the seven original Metropolitan Railway E Class locomotives, built between 1996 and 1901, returned to the line today to mark 150 years of the district line which first opened on Christmas Eve 1868.

The heritage event offered enthusiasts the change to ride the steam train one way down the track from Ealing Broadway and High Street Kensington for the price of £180 a ticket.   

Riders enjoyed a 90-minute return journey and are now able to say they travelled on the last ever steam journey in central London.

An electric locomotive named No.12 Sarah Siddons, built in the 1920's, was used for the return journey. 

New tube signalling upgrades will mean such heritage journeys will be put to an end as locomotives will struggle to be compatible with the technology. 

At the platform in Ealing Broadway performers reenacted the scene, with women in bonnets carrying baskets nattered to the driver. 

A brass band were also present on the platform playing tunes from the period including Rule, Britannia and Country Gardens to further immerse passengers into the 19th century transport experience.

Six restored carriages pulled the eager punters behind the Metropolitan 1. Locomotive, including the only surviving first class carriage from the original Metropolitan railway, built in 1892 and withdrawn in 1905.