Stories

Tom Eckersley: master graphic designer and king of collage. Read more about an influential poster designer with a distinctive style.

Abram Games was among the most influential poster designers of his generation. Learn more about his commissions for London Transport.

Edward McKnight Kauffer made his name as a master of poster design in the UK. Read more about the star designer of LT's posters.

London’s public transport system is known the world over. Learn how and why posters were first commissioned by the Underground.

Learn about LT's advertising across history, from enamel signs in the late nineteenth century to digital screens in the twenty-first

Hans Unger was one of the UK’s most important post-war graphic designers. Explore Unger’s lively and varied LT posters.

Since 2004, London Underground have commissioned a variety of British and international artists to create covers for their pocket Tube maps, representing one of the largest public art commissions in the UK.

Dora M. Batty (1891-1966) was one of the most prolific female artists commissioned by the Underground and London Transport, and created over fifty posters in a variety of different styles.

Discover the history of one of the most famous elements of London's transport heritage - Harry Beck's Underground map.

The Elizabeth line, originally known as Crossrail, opened in May 2022. Read more about ten of its brand new stations.

Tom Eckersley was an influential British graphic designer in the 20th century, who designed more than eighty posters for London Transport. His signature style combined bold, bright colours and flat graphic shapes.

These posters promote some of London’s cultural landmarks, fine architecture, and fantastic open spaces; all intricately linked with the evolution of the city’s transport network.

Discover posters from our collection celebrating London's architecture, featuring the capital’s landmarks, monuments, and design classics, both historic and contemporary.

In this longer read, discover how art deco style was used by many designers to create visually stunning Underground and London Transport posters in the 1920s and 1930s.

Discover posters from our collection that explore London Transport’s strong visual identity and branding while also reflecting leading modern and contemporary art and design movements.

Discover the rise of the West End, the growth of theatres, cinemas and restaurants and the explosion of the modern clubbing scene through London Transport's posters.

As the nights draw in and frost sparkles in the cold morning air, our thoughts turn to Christmas. The posters on display invite you to embrace the festive season.

Explore how London’s iconic Tube map has been used and adapted to celebrate the Capital’s history and people.

We focus on four London transport workers who feature in this map, created in a collaboration between the Black Cultural Archives and Transport for London, using London’s iconic Tube map to celebrate the contributions of Black people to London’s history and culture.

London Transport have commissioned a huge variety of artists and designers and promoted a wide range of artistic and graphic styles and techniques. See some examples of different types of posters in this Poster Parade.

Tom Eckersley: master graphic designer and king of collage. Read more about an influential poster designer with a distinctive style.

Abram Games was among the most influential poster designers of his generation. Learn more about his commissions for London Transport.

Edward McKnight Kauffer made his name as a master of poster design in the UK. Read more about the star designer of LT's posters.

Hans Unger was one of the UK’s most important post-war graphic designers. Explore Unger’s lively and varied LT posters.

A look back on the occasions when King Charles visited and travelled on London’s transport network.

Learn about London Transport’s role in Queen Elizabeth II's Coronation with photographs and posters from our collection.

In 2022, the Queen celebrated her Platinum Jubilee after 70 years on the throne. Take a look back on the occasions when the Queen visited and travelled on London’s transport network.

To support the Caribbean recruitment scheme in the 1950s - 70s, London Transport made promotional films portraying a positive view of the city new recruits were moving to. See these films in our collection.

We focus on four London transport workers who feature in this map, created in a collaboration between the Black Cultural Archives and Transport for London, using London’s iconic Tube map to celebrate the contributions of Black people to London’s history and culture.

Discover the hidden gardens across the Underground and the history of London Transport's garden competitions

Walter Spradbery was a prolific designer, painter and poet. Read about Spradbery's fruitful relationship with London Transport which spanned over three decades.

Tunnelling developed from mining. In the nineteenth century it was costly, unpredictable and very dangerous. Learn how James Greathead, developed a tool just for the job.

Learn how work on the south London Northern line Extension extension has also revealed surprising links between the Underground and the area’s queer history.

The London Transport Baker Street Canteen Training Centre opened in 1949. Learn how canteen staff gained a variety of skills, including food preparation, cookery skills, customer service and hygienic cleaning practices.

By the early 1950s LT's catering department operated 165 canteens across Greater London. Discover how Croydon Food Production Centre was at the heart of improvements introduced to help canteens struggling to meet demand.

For much of the twentieth century, London’s transport companies provided canteens for staff to take a break, eat and relax. Discover what was required to keep the workforce well fed and fit for keeping the Capital moving.

Laura Knight was one of the most popular British artists of her lifetime, with her success paving the way for greater recognition of women artists. Learn about Knight's poster commissions for London Underground and London Transport.

Transport for London staff reflect on the Windrush generation. An online exhibition created and curated by the Staff Network Group, reflecting on personal experiences and those of their community in poetry.

Discover David Langdon's Billy Brown of London Town - a smartly dressed cartoon character who showed people how to behave and stay safe when travelling around the city during the Second World War.

Both men and women were recruited through London Transport's direct recruitment campaign from the Caribbean. Read about how Black women have contributed to London Transport over the years, from canteen staff to bus drivers and beyond.

Vernon Robertson was a senior engineer in the transport sector whose career was punctuated by war. Learn how he served as London Transport’s most senior engineer, overseeing the company’s engineering activities during the Blitz.

During the Second World War Britain formed the Home Guard, a secondary defence force in support of the Army. Learn how around 1.5 million men volunteered to serve part-time, often alongside their civilian role.

During the First World War, around 18,000 women took on roles in London’s transport companies, helping keep the city moving. Read about Ellen Bulfield, one of the very first female conductors to join the LGOC.

After opening in 1907, Down Street was a little-known Underground station on today’s Piccadilly line. Read how Down Street was discretely repurposed for an essential and secretive wartime use.

During both world wars, Britain had to re-purpose much of its industry to the manufacture of weapons, munitions and other vital materials. Read how London Transport adapted its manufacturing capacity for the war effort
during the Second World War.

London bus driver Charles Lee was one of the first drivers to serve in the First World War along with his bus. Read his story and how London buses were requisitioned for wartime use overseas.

As the Second World War became increasingly likely, Britain began to prepare for devastating bombing raids. A key part of this was an evacuation scheme. Read how London Transport was tasked with quickly moving people to the countryside or for onward travel.

During the Second World War, Plessey defence electronics company built a secret factory in newly constructed Underground tunnels at the eastern end of the Central line. Read more about the factory within the Central line tunnels.

With London suffering major air raids during the Second World War, the London Underground became a natural source of shelter. Read how deep-level Tube stations sheltered thousands every night during the intensive bombing of the Blitz.

James Woodards, known as Jim, was a 28-year old bus driver with the London General Omnibus Company (LGOC) when the First World War broke out in August 1914. Read his story here.

In the years leading up to the First World War, posters were used as a vital tool to promote the network. But as soon as the war broke out in 1914, Underground posters were also rapidly produced to publicise the war effort. View ten Underground posters from the First World War.

At the time of the Second World War, London Transport (LT) had a reputation as a commissioner of high-quality posters. Learn how the outbreak of war in 1939 changed how posters were produced to support the war effort.

Discover David Langdon's Billy Brown of London Town - a smartly dressed cartoon character who showed people how to behave and stay safe when travelling around the city during the Second World War.

In both world wars, the London Underground network provided much needed shelter from the horrors of air raids. Read about sheltering during wartime and how thousands of Londoners found shelter in Tube stations.

At the heart of one of the world’s great cities, London’s transport performed a vital role in both world wars. Here we explore ten ways in which London’s transport contributed to the British war effort.

In both world wars, women actively and readily filled the gap created in London’s transport services when men joined the forces in large numbers. Read all about the variety of roles women undertook during the two world wars.

The end of each of the two world wars was met with a complex mix of emotions across Britain. London’s transport companies remembered lost friends and colleagues, commemorated their wartime contribution and got on with the business of moving people around the city.

In both the First and Second World Wars, London was at the heart of two huge war efforts. The city needed a functioning transport network, yet this had to be achieved with fewer vehicles, an altered workforce and with bombs raining from the sky.

Like all countries involved during wartime, Britain had to mobilise people and material very quickly for the fighting fronts. London’s transport played a major part in this process in both world wars. Read all about the preparations needed in going to war.

Learn how competition fostered further developments in the story of London buses between the wars, 1918 – 1939.