The London Underground – or “tube” as it is affectionately known to locals and tourists alike, is the oldest and one of the most extensive mass transit systems in the world. The system boasts 82 miles of tunnels, 250 miles of track and over 100 stations, many of which are architectural masterpieces. To the millions of Londoners who take it to work each day, it is hardly exotic; but some of the station names have an undeniable intriguing ring to them. You can’t help wonder what lies above ground as you speed through the stations named Swiss Cottage, Elephant & Castle and Temple. London’s celebrated underground has confidently entered the 21st century with the recent addition of new lines running south and east of the center and major renovations for many older stations.
London’s first underground railway opened in 1863 and ran for a modest four miles. Today, if you travel on the Circle Line between Paddington and Farringdon, you are literally retracing the tracks of that first historic train journey. The trains were hauled by steam locomotives and the tunnels were cut by the “cut and cover” method of digging a huge trench, laying the tracks and then putting a roof over them. In 1870 the first line constructed by actually boring a tunnel, was opened. It ran under the River Thames – a considerable engineering feat at the time. In 1913 the main London post office opened a section of underground railway to run in a huge circle, connecting London’s main rail stations and post office. Today, driverless trains carrying 30,000 bags of mail still run daily through these tunnels.
The "Tube" Expands Between the Wars
The Underground’s growth years came in the years between the two world wars. As London and its suburbs grew ever outwards, the underground became an increasingly important and efficient means of transporting large numbers of workers to and from the city. Endless rows of identical houses were constructed in an attempt to house all these workers. Some of those suburban stations have names which capture the idyllic feeling of the countryside that was once there before the housing boom – Maida Vale, Wood Green, Burnt Oak and Parsons Green. A new term was coined to describe the ideal way of living that could be found at the end of the line – London’s far-flung suburbs became known as “Metroland” after a phrase in a poem by John Betjeman. Metroland represented the best of both worlds – country living with easy access to the city.