Happy 150th Birthday, London Underground

WA Happy Birthday TubeThe world’s first underground railway is the London Underground, known lovingly as “The Tube“. It opened on January 9, 1863 and carried its first passenger the next day between Paddington and Farringdon. The Metropolitan Railway, as it was called then, ran for three miles (five kilometres) and had seven stops.

stamps 150 anniversaryA century and a half later, the Tube runs for 402 kilometres (250 miles), linking 270 stations and carries passengers on 1.1 billion journeys per year.

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, described the Tube as “arguably the best, and most iconic, underground transport system in the world“.

To celebrate the Anniversary, many activities and events have been planned. Some of them are:

2 pound coins 150 anniversaryA series of additional heritage rail trips using steam trains, two new two-pound coins and a set of 10 special stamps issued by Royal Mail.

Poster London TubeThe London Transport Museum is planning “Poster Art 150,” an exhibition of wellknown posters from the Tube’s illustrious design history. It opens on February 15, 2013.

 

 

Fun Facts:

  • 40,000 people rode the Tube on its first day in 1863.
  • During the morning rush hour London’s busiest Tube station is Waterloo, with 57,000 people entering during the three-hour peak. The busiest station in terms of passengers each year is also Waterloo with 82 million.
  • The Tube provides jobs for 19,000 people.
  • The London Transport symbol – a red circle with a horizontal blue bar is called “the roundel”, it first appeared in 1908.the roundel
  • “Mind the gap” is a warning to train passengers to take caution while crossing the gap between the train door and the station platform. It was introduced in 1969. The phrase is also associated with t-shirts that Transport for London sells featuring the phrase printed over a London Transport symbol.

Keep CalmTo visit the official site of the Tube, please remain calm and click à


 

 

 

 

 

An interesting video (might not be available in all countries):

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