

A website about things to do in London

9 January 2013

Rather English - Celebrate 150 years of the Tube

Though there's some dispute about on which day the anniversary technically falls, we can be certain that roughly 150 years ago the world's first underground railway started along the line between Paddington (Bishop's Road) and Farringdon Street.

It's a line that has served us pretty well ever since, and a very high proportion of people who have been in London over that time will have at some point found themselves crammed into a loud carriage underground, staring through a window as the nothingness flashes by. The first underground was a remarkable engineering achievement, using steam trains to transport people along cut-and-cover tunnels just beneath the surface, and this coming Sunday a steam train will once again make the journey. If you want to see it, Ian has the details.

For more, see www.tfl.gov.uk/tube150

^Picture © bortescristian used under a Creative Commons license^


1 comment:

  1. This story got a lot of coverage in the ABC news broadcasts this morning. I spent a lot of time in London over the years and was fascinated, so I expect that would be true for other Australians as well. Or perhaps it was because the Tube became a model for underground railways everywhere.