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The London Underground is an all-electric urban passenger transport railway system that covers much of the Greater London metropolitan area. It is the world's oldest underground railway system, and it is the largest in terms of route length. Despite its name, more than half of the network is actually on the surface and the subsurface sections are limited mainly to central London. It is also commonly referred to as the Tube, because of the cylindrical cross-section of the system's deep-bore tunnels. Service began in 1863 on what was called the Metropolitan Railway, most of which is now part of the Hammersmith & City line. The system was a resounding success right from the start, with roughly 40,000 passengers were carried that day and trains running every ten minutes. This led to the rapid expansion of the system. Each successive decade saw the addition of more lines and the extension of existing lines, and this trend continues even today. The total number of passenger journeys is now close to one billion per year as a result of the large size of the system and its important role in the passenger transport in London. Created October 28, 2006. |