London Underground

The London Underground is an electric railway public transport network (a metro or subway system) that runs both above and below ground throughout the Greater London area. It is usually referred to by Londoners as either simply "the Underground" , or (more familiarly, due to the shape of its deep-bore tunnels) as "the Tube". It is the oldest and biggest such underground system in the world. Operations began on 10 January 1863 on the Metropolitan Railway; most of the initial route is now part of the Hammersmith & City Line.

Trivia

• An estimated half a million mice live on the Underground system, and can often be seen running around the tracks. TV personality Anthea Turner has written a series of children's books about these (London Underground mice).
• Only two people have had their coffins transported on the Underground: William Gladstone and Dr Barnardo.
• Regent's Park, Piccadilly Circus, Hyde Park Corner and Bank stations have no associated buildings at or above ground level, the stations, except for access stairs, being entirely underground.
• On 13 May 1924, a woman named Daisy Hammond gave birth on a Bakerloo Line train at Elephant and Castle. Press reports that the baby had been named Thelma Ursula Beatrice Eleanor were widely reprinted, and not debunked until 2000 when she was traced for a TV interview. In fact she was named Mary Ashfield Eleanor; the chairman of the Underground Group, Lord Ashfield, was her godfather.
• The record for visiting all 275 stations in the shortest possible time currently stands at 18 hours, 35 minutes and 43 seconds. It is held by Geoff Marshall and Neil Blake.http://www.geofftech.co.uk/
• St John's Wood is the only station which contains none of the letters of the word 'mackerel'.
• In January 2005 London Underground announced that it would play classical music at stations prone to loitering by youths. A trial had shown a 33% drop in abuse against staff. This had been first tried, with success, on the Tyne and Wear Metro. http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,1389041,00.html
• There are only two tube stations that have all five vowels in them—South Ealing and Mansion House. Heathrow Terminal 4 also contains all five vowels, if 4 is spelled out as four.
• A fragrance called "Madeleine" was introduced at St James's Park, Euston and Piccadilly Circus stations on 23 March 2001, in an effort to make the tube smell better. It was taken out of action on 24 March 2001, as it was making people feel sick.
• The Jubilee Line is the only line which intersects all others. The District Line meets all other lines except the Metropolitan Line—which it misses by approximately 20 m at Aldgate.
• Arsenal is the only tube station named after a London football club (it was previously known as Gillespie Road). West Ham comes close, but the full name of the football club is West Ham United.

More London Underground Tube Trivia.

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