Today is the day that London Underground celebrates 150 years of operation. On 9 January 1863, the first underground journey took place between Paddington and Farringdon on the Metropolitan Railway. Regular passenger services started the next day, and Londoners have gone underground in their millions since then. But is the Metropolitan Line a true ‘underground’ line? And how did its northern most terminus end up just […]
Underground Overground
In August, I sang the praises of Andrew Martin’s book ‘Underground, Overground: A Passenger’s History of the Tube’. At the end of that post I promised a follow up covering the Americanisation of the lexicon of travel, Brunel and the war winning boots and state funerals on the Tube. Six months is no time at all in a blog, so here (finally) is the follow up! […]
Going underground II
I love the London Underground. The map, the posters, the slightly unnerving feeling that the Central Line train is coming into the station a little bit too fast and the relief that no one has thrown themselves on the tracks. My love for the network is not sullied by having to use it all the time – I don’t use the Tube to get to work. […]