Category Tube
The Underground, commonly known as the Tube, is the way a vast number of people get around, whether visitors or residents of London. It's unfortunately expensive, crowded at rush hour (and closing time), and patchy in its coverage; it's also probably the best value method out there. Sometimes it doesn't work; see the status page at London Transport.
Bits of it are getting on for 150 years old, and it also contains some of the oldest deep tubes in the world. The Tube map and Tube roundel are design classics known the world over.
Lines can be split into two main groups: Subsurface lines were built by 'cut and cover', even in the centre of London. These are the oldest lines on the network. Tube lines are the ones that go deep underground, with the vast majority of the central London sections dug in the 'tube boom' between 1900 and 1915. The London Underground page on Wikipedia has an interesting [table of the lines' names, colours, years of opening and type, as well as a detailed history of the system.
Tube things on OGL
- View all pages in Category Tube (a big list!)
- Adjacent Stations - save yourself some time
- Buskers on the Tube
- Tube Stations Retaining Original Decor
- Tube/Station Name Changes
- Tube Etiquette
- Rush Hour
- Ticket touts
- Changing trains
- Disused Tube stations
- Give Away Your Travelcard!
The Tube on the Web
- The official website
- LUL service update
- TFL graphical map of current Tube delays (no longer exists, formerly http://map.tfl.gov.uk/realtime.asp)
- Journeyplanner website for planning your journey in london by Tube, Bus, Rail, Boat, DLR, ...
- tubeplanner.com
- Clive's UndergrounD Line Guides
- Going Underground has fun facts and ephemera.
- Interchange stations on the London Underground - why are some stations marked as interchanges but not others?
- Tubeprune Tube PRofessionals Underground NEtwork
- British Transport Police
- Air conditioning/ventilation on the Tube
- Lost property
- Geoff's Tube Challenge page - visit every Tube station in one day...
- London Underground Blog Fun daily diary of a commuter on the London Underground
- Animals on the Underground No, you haven't just had too much to drink, there really are elephants in them there maps.
Tube Frequently Asked Questions
- What does the "Inspector Sands" announcement mean?1
- Why does it take so long to repair escalators?
- What are "delays due to passenger action"?
- How quickly could you visit every Tube station in one day?
- What happens when the alarm handle is pulled?
- How are the tube fares calculated?
1 I heard the "Inspector Sands" announcement at Bank station. Having read the blurb on the Guardian "Any Answers" page (see link above), my first thought was "Yikes!" My second thought was "Double Yikes!" owing to the fact that there was a Firemen's strike on. Then, the doors closed on the tube train I was on and it departed the platform. -- IvorW
As someone comments on that Guardian page, "I often hear it at Notting Hill Gate". I can verify this; I have to admit that it's quite worrying. At least they've finally got rid of the wooden escalators now, though. -- Earle
I've heard calls for "Inspector Sands" a few times at Stratford Station. Often they seem to want him to go to the control room. --mstevens