London Underground | london underground train
LondonUndergroundshistorydatesbackto1863whentheworldsfirstundergroundrailway,theMetropolitanRailway,openedbetweenPaddingtonandFarringdonservingsixintermediatestations.SincethentheUndergroundnetwork,affectionatelynicknamedtheTubebygenerationsofLondoners,hasgrownto270stationsand11linesstretchingdeepintotheCapitalssuburbs,andbeyond.ThedevelopmentofLondonintothepreeminentworldcityduringthe19th,20thand21stcenturieswouldnothavebeenpossiblewithoutthemobilityprovidedbytheUnderground.DiggingdownMucho...
London Undergrounds history dates back to 1863 when the worlds first underground railway, the Metropolitan Railway, opened between Paddington and Farringdon serving six intermediate stations. Since then the Underground network, affectionately nicknamed the Tube by generations of Londoners, has grown to 270 stations and 11 lines stretching deep into the Capitals suburbs, and beyond.
The development of London into the preeminent world city during the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries would not have been possible without the mobility provided by the Underground.
Digging downMuch of the central London network was completed in the first 50 years, all through private development. In this period the first group of routes were built in shallow cut-and-cover tunnels along existing thoroughfares and needed plenty of vents to allow smoke and steam from the engines to escape. Around the turn of the twentieth century the development of electric traction allowed much deeper tunnels t...