Underground or overground?
Things you didn't know about the tube
The largest subterranean railway in the world – the Tube - has been servicing locals and visitors since 1863 and is as iconic as Westminster Abbey, London ‘bobbies’ and the ‘Bloody Tower’ – that is the one on the north side of the river as opposed to London Bridge version (the Shard). Each year over a billion users ride the underground and without it London would be gridlocked under the weight of black cabs, red buses and white vans. When using the system for the first time it is easy to get instantly bewildered but just follow our guide and your visit using London’s Underground network of 249 miles of track and 270 stations will not be too painful. It is the quickest way around town and the most direct route from A to B but sadly it is not always comfortable.
The Tube is as up-to-date as possible with the introduction of Oyster cards, automatic barriers and WI-FI dragging the system into the 21st century but it is far from infallible. Way back when Harry Beck’s Tube map was first introduced, with the introduction of the Victoria line in the 1960s, the system has at least provided an easy route for first timers to navigate. If you want to investigate the network’s long, varied and frequently bizarre history there is plenty of reference material available but for now this article will hopefully provide a ‘de-facto’ guide for getting about beneath the pavements.
However, we will let you into a dark secret, for much of the tube is not an underground after all because more than half of its 249 miles of track actually operate in broad daylight. Its underground moniker is a complete sham for much of it travels on the surface. To be fair it used to be subterranean but due to its exponential growth across the city’s urban sprawl it has much more space to run free so please do not feel cheated by this misnomer. For those statisticians among you the longest subterranean journey that you can make is 17.3 miles taking about an hour on the Northern Line from Finchley to Morden – but a word of warning it is much over-rated.
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