You are in London for only one day, yet you still wonder what it feels like to be an average Londoner traveling between 11 lines and 272 stations each time. Thrilled, you grab a cup of English tea, march to the nearest station and purchase a single journey ticket at the price of 5.50-6.00 pounds. While the thought of spending this amount on the cheapest mode of transportation is baffling, keep in mind that nearly 5 million owners of an “Oyster card” pay nearly half the price every day!
History.
As a result of the Industrial Revolution, the number of working-class people increased to the point that the city was overcrowded, with some people living in slums in the middle of the city. The Metropolitan Line was introduced in 1863 as a way to alleviate the unpleasant consequences of overloaded streets, such as the rapid spread of various illnesses, unequal distribution of vehicles, and the appearance of slums.
Thus on January 10th of 1863, the Metropolitan line (encompassing 7 stations from Paddington to Farringdon) was established.
PRESENT-DAY METRO
As mentioned earlier, today the London Underground System has 11 lines (The Elizabeth Line will be fully operating in March): Bakerloo. Central, Circle, District, Elizabeth, Hammersmith City, Jubilee, Metropolitan, Northern, Piccadilly, Victoria, Waterloo & City.
Bakerloo Line
Rooted in two failed projects of the second half of the 19th century, the Bakerloo line was originally called “Baker Street & Waterloo Railway” (hence the name is a portmanteau of previous stations). Being a subsurface line, Bakerloo has 25 stations, 15 of which serve underground.
The history of Bakerloo is indeed interesting: several businessmen complained that they could not get from and to the Lord’s Cricket ground on time, creating a need to construct a line that would transport them much quicker. While this is not a confirmed story, we do know for a fact that when the mining entrepreneur was convicted in 1904 due to financial issues, he committed suicide at the Royal Courts of Justice. The work was thus delayed until Charles Yerkes and the underground Electric Railways Company of London (UERL) decided to continue the project.
Central Line
It would be reasonable to call this line a “paradox”; while it is the busiest line in London, one of its stations is the least visited among all 272 - Roding Valley - roughly 200000 passengers per year. Many of the 49 stations in the Central Line are unique, one of which is Leytonstone Station. Starting from the entrance, it is designed with various mosaic pictures taken from Alfred Hitchcock’s movies. Another hidden fact can be found in Bethnal Green: 173 people were killed during air raids in 1943. Moreover, there is a clock that has an underground emblem instead of numbers!
Moreover, Central Line is the second after the Victoria line to use automated operation technology which started as early as in the 1990s.
Circle Line
As the name suggests, the Circle line was in the shape of a closed circle until December 2009, when it was extended to Hammersmith. Serving 36 stations, this line is unique not only for its distinct shape but also for Euston square, where it is possible to use the metro without passing through ticket barriers.
The headquarters that formerly ran the whole underground system like UERL until 1933, London Transport (1933-1984), London Regional Transport (1984-2000), and Transport for London (2000-2020) were located on Broadway 55 at St. James Park station. It was announced that the building is going to be transferred into a luxurious hotel. Thanks to its history, Broadway 55 is a momentous miracle of architecture. Yet it should not be the only fascination for people invested in buildings, there is also “The Thin Building” situated in South Kensington.
District Line
Here is the line serving the largest number of stations on the London Underground - 60!
If you are traveling with little money left in your pockets, then good news: tea at East Ham costs only 2 pence.
Pretty sure that everyone knows The River Thames. How about the River Westbourne? It has been put in a pipe at Sloane’s Square above trains and stays there up to this day. Speaking of liquid, the Bayswater station is what I consider the most thrilling one. In 1863, when the Metropolitan Railway Company passed through this area, they had to destroy two houses located at number 23 and 24 Leinster Gardens. The locals were concerned about the created space and asked if it was possible to construct a “fake building”, to which they received a positive reply.
Elizabeth Line
Encompassing 41 stations, the Elizabeth line was officially opened on May 17th, 2022 by Queen Elizabeth II herself. Despite this, the full route is not available yet and will most likely be available in May of 2023. With this line, the pressure has been taken off from the Central and Jubilee lines since it connects Canary Wharf and Stratford.
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*Huge thanks to Geoff Marshall’s channel for all the detailed information.
Written by Aliyeva Gulchin
31.08.2022
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