The London Underground

The first underground railway system in the world was in London. It opened in 1863 and ran 4 miles (6.5 km) from the west of London to the City in the east. The first lines were built close to the surface and used steam trains. Then they built deeper tunnels and the electric underground railway opened in 1890. This system was called the Tube, still the most popular name for the London Underground. Some of the Tube stations are so deep that they were used as air-raid shelters during the Second World War when hundreds of families would spend the night in the stations.

One million people commute into central London every day. Sixty per cent of these people use the Tube, mainly because the London Underground system extends far into the suburbs. The Northern Line, running from north to south, covers 18 miles (28 km); the Piccadilly Line, running from east to west is 47 miles (76 km) long.

Michael Vaughan-Rees, Geraldine Sweeney, Picot Cassidy: In Britain; Cornelsen Verlag, 2000, page 66