- published: 08 Oct 2009
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The London Underground (often shortened to the Underground) is a rapid transit system in the United Kingdom, serving a large part of Greater London and some parts of Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Essex. It incorporates the oldest section of underground railway in the world, which opened in 1863 and now forms part of the Circle, Hammersmith & City, and Metropolitan lines; and the first line to operate electric trains, in 1890, now part of the Northern line.
The Underground system is also colloquially called the Tube. As commonly used today both by Londoners and in most official publicity, this term embraces the entire system. Originally, though, it applied only to the deep-level lines with trains of a smaller and more circular cross-section, and served to distinguish them from the sub-surface "cut-and-cover" lines that were built first and originally used steam locomotives.
The earlier lines of the present London Underground network were built by various private companies. They became part of an integrated transport system in 1933 when the London Passenger Transport Board (LPTB) or London Transport was created. The underground network became a separate entity in 1985, when the UK Government created London Underground Limited (LUL). Since 2003 LUL has been a wholly owned subsidiary of Transport for London (TfL), the statutory corporation responsible for most aspects of the transport system in Greater London, which is run by a board and a commissioner appointed by the Mayor of London.
The Jam - Down In The Tube Station At Midnight
The Secret Station - Aldwych
Jay Foreman - Every Tube Station Song
Race The Tube - Sprint
British Museum Tube Station - Abandoned - London.
Forgotten secret wartime Tube station opened - BBC News
Ghost Stations in London - Former Underground Stations
Fight at Northolt tube station
"The strangest things happen on the London Underground!"
Down Street Underground Ghost Station
Inside St Mary's disused underground station (BBC Radio 4)
Guys Skis Down Tube Escalator
How to get more from our improved Tube station ticket machines
Evacuation of Embankment Tube station in London (like in a Sci-Fi movie)