The Heart of London...

I am not talking about a particular area of the capital city, but a huge part of London's infrastructure, without which, the city would - literally - grind to a halt.  I am, of course, talking about the London Underground system, or as we call it, "the tube".  I know Londoners are quite happy to complain about the overcrowding, delays etc, but I really don't know what they would do without it; I know I miss it...

In January 1863, the Metropolitan Railway opened the world's first underground railway, by operating a service from Paddington to Farringdon.  Since then, the system has continued to expand and develop, and now has a total of 11 lines, with 250 miles of track, serving 270 stations.  Strangely enough, 52% of the London Underground does not run underground!

Going Underground by Jesus Solana is licensed under CC BY 2.0

In central London, one is never more than a short walk from a tube station, and the system covers an incredibly large suburban area also.  Only six of the 32 London Boroughs are not served by the Underground, and there are fourteen stations outside the official boundary of Greater London.  In addition, there are a number of stations that interchange with the standard British Rail service, which makes it easy to travel from one end of the country to the other, connecting via the tube.

Aside from the transportation aspect, the tube is much-loved for an aesthetically pleasing mix of old and new, with some fabulous station architecture, delightfully tiled tunnels and walls, and a plethora of superb posters and artwork.

Here is an assortment of facts and figures about the London Underground.

The oldest stations went into operation on 10th January, 1863.  These are : Baker Street, Euston Square, Farringdon (resited in 1865), Great Portland Street, King's Cross / St Pancras, and Paddington.

The newest stations are Wood Lane (which opened on 12th October, 2008), and Heathrow Terminal 5 (27th March 2008).

Today (15th December) is the anniversary of the opening of the following stations (on the Piccadilly Line) in 1906 : Arsenal, Caledononian Road, Finsbury Park, Green Park, Holborn, Holloway Road, Hyde Park Corner, Knightsbridge, Leicester Square,

The busiest station in 2013 was Waterloo (Bakerloo, Jubilee, Northern, and Waterloo & City Lines), used by more than 89,000,000 passengers.  Roding Valley (Central Line) was the quietest, with only 240,000 passengers using the station in 2013.

The longest direct journey on the tube is the 34.1 mile journey from West Ruislip to Epping on the Central Line.

Baker Street station has ten platforms - the most of any station.

Over 1000 bodies are buried beneath Aldgate Station, in a plague pit from 1665.

There are 60 stations on the District Line.

An average of 2.7 million journeys are made on the tube every day.

The first train of the day leaves Osterley for Heathrow Airport (Piccadilly Line) at 4.45am.

The Jubilee Line is the only one to connect with all the other Underground Lines.

There are approximately 50 suicides a year on the London Underground.

Cadbury's Whole Nut is the biggest selling chocolate bar from vending machines at stations.

Mansion House and South Ealing are the only station names to use all five vowels.

The longest continuous tunnel (17.3 miles) runs from East Finchley to Morden (vis Bank) on the Northern Line).

On 3rd March, 1943, 173 people were killed in a crush while entering the air-raid shelter at Bank station.

IMGP2783 by Matt Buck is licensed under CC BY 2.0