A very short history of the Underground
Introduction
The world’s first underground railway opened in London in 1863, as a way of reducing street congestion. It was soon followed by a related railway company, in 1868, but their owners fell out and the railways became rivals rather than partners, delaying progress. These were what we call sub-surface lines, built by digging a long trench, laying track and covering it over again. Initially, these early underground railways used steam trains.
The technology for the safe tunnelling of tubes deeper below London had been developed by 1870, but the first successful tube railway was not practical until electric power and safe lifts were perfected in the late 1880s. There was interest in this novel mode of transport, but investors were still cautious. The next Tubes did not open for nearly 10 years. Later schemes also struggled to raise money but were helped by the intervention of an American financier. These new linked lines opened in 1906-7, completing the core of the modern Tube system.
In 1908, the separate companies started to work together to promote the system as a coherent network under the UndergrounD brand. Gradually most of the companies merged and the network expanded, as the population of London soared. The station architecture of the 1930s is highly regarded.
In 1933 all London’s public transport – buses, trams and trolleybuses, as well as the Underground railways – came under public ownership, and decisions about services could be fully coordinated for the first time. A massive plan to upgrade and expand services was prepared in 1935, but the work was interrupted by the Second World War. Some of these were revived in the difficult post-war economic climate, but others were not.
A new Tube had been suggested in 1943, but delays meant that the new Victoria line did not serve its first passengers until 1968. Another new line, the Jubilee, was added in 1979. It terminated in central London and later was extended eastwards in 1999. The Tube reached Heathrow Airport in 1977.
The 150th anniversary of the Underground was celebrated in 2013 with a series of events, including a steam locomotive and 19th century carriages making a journey through central London. The Underground now has 11 lines covering 402km and serving 272 stations, handling up to five million passenger journeys a day. All-night weekend services started on some lines in 2016. At peak times, there are more than 543 trains in service, with the fastest line running 40 trains an hour.
Discover the Underground
Learn more about the Elizabeth line, London’s first accessible railway and the result of the biggest infrastructure project in a generation.
The Metropolitan line is the oldest underground railway in the world. The Metropolitan Railway opened in January 1863 and was an immediate success, though its construction took nearly two years and caused huge disruption in the streets. Read more about the Metropolitan line.
As the second oldest Underground line, the District has a complicated history. Once the most sprawling of railways, with links and deals with many others. Read more about the District line.
The Northern line serves some of the busiest commuter routes on the Underground, joining the suburbs of north and south London to the West End and the City. Read about the history of the Northern line.
The Victoria line was the first deep-level Underground line to be built across central London for more than 50 years. Read more about the Victoria line.
London’s second tube railway is also its smallest, with only two stations and a name that tells you most of what you need to know. Read more about the Waterloo & City line.
The original Hammersmith & City line opened in 1864 and now serves 29 stations. It includes some of the oldest sections of the Underground, but since 2019 it has been controlled by the most modern Automatic Train Control technology. Read more about the Hammersmith & City line.
The Circle line today is not so much a circle as a loose spiral, but its existence is fundamental to the history of the Underground. Read more about the history of the Circle line.
The Bakerloo opened in 1906. It has been through more changes than most other Tube lines and its history is linked to both the oldest line on the Underground, the Metropolitan, and the youngest, the Jubilee. Read more about the history of the Bakerloo line.
The Jubilee line covers 36km of track from Stanmore in the north-western suburbs into the West End and eastwards, via Waterloo and Canary Wharf, to Stratford. Read more about the Jubilee line.
The Piccadilly is the second longest line on the Underground after the Central line, but it has more stations, which are closer together on average. Read more about the the Piccadilly line.
The Central line opened as the Central London Railway in 1900. Today it runs from Epping in suburban Essex through central London to the west London suburbs. Read more about the Central line.
