Down the Tubes

Down the London tube system to be precise, the oldest system in the world, 150 years old last month, and still going strong. Although we moan and grumble about it, it really is an exceptional service and is incredibly reliable. It has its faults of course, but its advantages really do outweigh its disadvantages.

So today was another London Walk, this one having been put together by Fiona, the guide, and its only being run in February, just to test it out I guess. But I was more than glad to be undercover today, particularly after the cold and snow of yesterday, and with a few others, I spent several hours being guided round stations and tunnels and discovering stuff that I'd never noticed before. Most of the facts came from the guide too as I really didn't know much about this system which I use, or have used most days of my working life.

I suppose the thing with the tube system is that it is a transport system designed to get you from A to B. And because you're always en route to somewhere or something, you rarely take in many of the aesthetics of the place, let alone quirky little things on platforms or in tunnels. But it stands to reason that being so old, and the first one in the world, the London underground must have some interesting stuff associated with it it. Of course it must......

...... things like some parliamentary Act way back in the mid 1800s when railways started, declaring that any railway terminus in London must be built on the ten outskirts of the city, not in the centre where rich landowners had property, which is why none of the London termini are actually in the city centre, although with today's sprawl, they seem quite close in. But back then, the land on which they were built were fields and open land right on the edge of urbanisation.

That of course meant that you could get to London, but not across it that easily as there was only horse drawn public transport and little  traffic regulation or organisation. There were no such things such as bus stops, as buses would stop anywhere if hailed, and this led to traffic blocks. Everybody walked to work back then, but foot travel limited the distance that people could live away from work. So when somebody realised that a city transport system would really make a difference, ideas started to take shape.

Several people proposed an underground railway. The Metropolitan Line was the first one, which came in from the north, tunnels generally following the line of the road and being dug from the surface, lined with brick, then covered. This was relatively cheap as no buildings on the surface were affected. Originally, the tube lines were glass covered, but then they were covered. But as the idea really took off and the tube system started to be developed under the city, tunnelling became the norm. Marc Brunel developed a tunnelling shield to help them, which was perfected by several others,  and today forms the basis of modern tunnelling equipment.

The Metropolitan Line goes through Baker Street Station, which is famous for the Sherlock Holmes stories.

It is also quite a spectacular station. The  shaft things above the platform originally went up to street level and acted as a light source, but with the advent of electric light in the late 1800s, were sealed.

Access to and from the lines was originally by lift as well ( all stations) which was something else enabled by the development of electricity. That also meant that many stations had domed roofs because that is where the winding gear was located.

But lifts meant crowds of people waiting around, and hence delays, so moving stairs were needed.  However, the first moving staircase was spiral ( how cool is that?) but the bloke who developed it sold his idea to Otis who then developed escalators as we know them. The longest one on the Underground system is at Angel on the Northern Line.

For years, different lines were owned by different companies and it wasn't until 1933 that you could just buy a ticket and get on a train and get to your destination by any route. This was particularly difficult on parts of the Circle Line which coincided with some of the District Line. But after 1933, the lines were all colour coded and open to all.

Wooden escalators were finally removed from the underground system after the fatal fire at Kings Cross in November 1987. Most people who died in that fire (31) were caught in the fireball that came up the escalator and into the main hall at Kings Cross.

Although that was clearly a terrible event, it is one of the only major incidents in the underground's long history, which given its age and the amount of passengers it caries on a daily basis, is impressive in terms of safety. The Moorgate crash in the 1970s was another incident, whilst subsequent events have resulted from outside actions such as terrorism.

Two different styles of station are evident on the London Underground. Some like Covent Garden sport brown and green tiling both inside and out. This is the work of Leslie Green.

These buildings are generally flat topped and enabled building on top.

Later stations have a different style, and were the work of Charles Holden.  They often incorporate shops and wide concourses, such as found at Picadilly circus.The Underground headquarters at St James' Park Station in Victoria were also designed by him., as were many of the Commonwealth war graves in Belgium and France.

The deepest station below sea level is Waterloo. That one surprised me. The deepest under land is highgate in north London. That's because the land rises although the tube line remains level.

Tube stations near the Thames have floodgates that can be lowered should flooding be feared. They are tested regularly and were first brought in during WW2 when it was feared that if V2 rockets landed in or around the Thames, water would penetrate the tunnels, and cause widespread damage and death.