The London Underground

The London Underground network is the oldest subway system in the world. Its construction, led by Sir Marc Brunel, started in 1843 and it was finally opened twenty years later. Nowadays, the total length of the London Underground network is 250 miles, and it has expanded up to 11 lines across the city.

The Underground has been changing over the decades, and today it’s one of the most effective systems in the world. In the history of the Tube, as it is also known because of the shape of the trains, there are many interesting facts about it: the trains can run at a speed of around 20.5 miles per hour; however, trains can reach a speed of 60 mph on the Metropolitan line.

The number of users has been changing over the years, but there are four Underground stations which have always been very crowded: Waterloo, Oxford Circus, Victoria Station and King’s Cross, with over 90 million passengers a year.

Users have been taking the Tube for many decades, and whenever we think about it, we might picture an underground system of tunnels. Nonetheless, only 45% of the system is under ground as the other part of trains run across the open air.

Throughout these decades, the London Underground has been changing, in terms of design and architecture. The old stations built more than a hundred years ago, look very different today.

Hampstead station opened in 1907, has changed a bit. It has been changing throughout the years. However, the refurbishments haven’t transformed its red tiles and peaceful look.

On the other hand, Green Park station opened as “Dover Street” in 1906 has expanded to become one of the most useful interchanges on the Tube. Initially served by the Piccadilly Circus Line, this station became part of the Victoria line in 1969 and the Jubilee one, ten years later.

As it was previously mentioned, Oxford Circus is one of the busiest stations in the London Underground system. It opened in 1906 since there were so many users it could not cope with the load, so it had to go through an extensive reconstruction six years later. Oxford Circus has been experiencing a lot of changes over the years, and a second expansion took place in 1923.