Happy Birthday London Underground

On January 10, 1863 the London Underground became the first underground rail system in the world. In 1890 the world’s first electric trains began operating there as well. The original track ran between London Paddington station and Farringdon station. Today, the Underground, or “Tube”, has 270 active stations and 250 miles of track, making it the longest metro system in the Western hemisphere and the second longest in the world after the Shanghai Metro.

You, too, can celebrate by visiting London and checking out how it works.

For the home page for the London Transport system, visit http://www.tfl.gov.uk/ There is lots of good information about the transport cards, and the advice to check ahead on the web site to see if the line you are thinking of using is closed for renovation. The 10-year project for updating the lines and the stations is disrupting travel, but we give London Transport kudos for trying to advise travelers in advance for the disruptions.

Here is a great link for travelers: http://www.tfl.gov.uk/gettingaround/15101.aspx

For a nice map of the system: http://www.bbc.co.uk/london/travel/downloads/tube_map.html

Personally, next time I visit London, I am heading straight to the London Museum of Transport. They  have an amazing poster collection. Here are details: http://www.ltmcollection.org/posters/index.html.

Do you have a favorite line on the London tube? Or a favorite memory? Love to hear from you.