London

England, United Kingdom (Europe)

Date of opening [d.m.y]	10.01.1863
Network length	408 km (253.57 mi)
Number of stations	275
Number of lines	12
Stations per line	22.92
Avg. station distance*	1.48 km (0.92 mi)
Avg. line length	34.00 km (21.13 mi)
*with transfer stations counted once
World Metro List by J. Serradell, 1/2008.

System known as	Underground
Annual ridership	1014 million (2007) [source]
Track orientation	Left
Air-conditioned trains	No
Walk-through trains	Yes (DLR)
Rubber-tyred trains	No
Driverless lines	Docklands Light Rail (since 1987)
Platform screen doors	Jubilee Line extension
Metro Features List

Metro Arts and Architecture

Examples of good station design:

	London London's Underground ('tube') was not only the world's first metro but also the first to have a corporate design, including the Johnston typeface (Edward Johnston 1916), the roundel logo (Frank Pick 1918), and the diagrammatic map (Henry C. Beck 1933). This groundbreaking concept is still in use today almost unmodified [ltmuseum.co.uk] and has influenced many other metros. Photo: Notting Hill Gate station on the Circle Line, dating back to 1868.
	There are some examples of interesting station architecture in London outside the city centre. Charles Holden is responsible for the design of fifty underground stations as well as London Transport's headquarters at 55 Broadway [tube.tfl.gov.uk]. For the Piccadilly Line stretch to Cockfosters, Holden developed a modernist approach in the 1930's. The original art deco furnishing of that time is surviving in some of the stations. Photo: Cylindrical entrance building of Southgate station, built in 1933.
	There are works of art in some of London's tube stations [tube.tfl.gov.uk]. The Jubilee Line Extension's spacious stations built in 1999 have been distinctly designed by a couple of famous architects, including Foster & Partners, Ian Ritchie and Michael Hopkins [tube.tfl.gov.uk], [lrb.co.uk], [trainweb.org], [wilson]. Photo: The daylit intermediate concourse of Southwark station (1999) by McCormac Jamieson Prichard architects.

Departure Procedure and Sounds

A faint chirping sound before the doors close. Announcements differ: Jubilee Line ("Please mind the doors"), Northern Line ("Stand back from the doors"), Bakerloo Line ("This train is about to depart, please mind the doors"; this is rarely said though), the rest just seem to make a beeping noise or on the Central Line just a loud kind of screech... When the train comes to a halt, there's sometimes the famous recurring "Mind the gap!" by an automated male voice (wav), sometimes a single "Mind the gap between the train and the platform" by a female voice (wav from emmaclarke.com).

London

Jubilee Line train departing from Canary Wharf station.

Length: 13 sec.

Metro Fonts

Typefaces that have been designed exclusively for this metro:

Font	Designer	Year	Sample	Availability	Reference
Johnston	Edward Johnston	1916		paratype.com, p22.com	wikipedia.org

Metro Museums

London Transport Museum. Conserving and explaining the capital city's transport heritage, offering an understanding of the capital's past and future development. LTM aims to be the world's leading museum of urban transport. Since 1973. Location: Historic flower market building.
Address: Covent Garden Piazza, London, WC2E 7BB. At Covent Garden metro station.
Hours: Saturday to Thursday 10.00 to 18.00 (last admission 17.15), Friday 11.00 to 21.00. Admission: 10 GBP. Features: museum store, café, library, educational programmes, lectures, special events.
Reference: ltmuseum.co.uk (official website).

Museum Depot. Holds the majority of the London Transport Museum's collections which are not on display in Covent Garden. Houses over 370,000 items of all types, including many original works of art used for the Museum's celebrated poster collection, vehicles, signs, models, photographs, engineering drawings and uniforms. On 6000 square metres these form one of the most comprehensive and important records of urban transport anywhere in the world.
Address: 118-120 Gunnersbury Lane, London W3 8BQ. At Acton Town metro station.
Hours: Only during special events.
Reference: ltmuseum.co.uk (official website).

Archaeology

The Jubilee Line Extension Project has cooperated from the early planning stages in 1992 with the Museum of London Archaeology. The successful cooperation helped to prevent unplanned delays and lead to valuable discoveries about London's history [5].

Other Rail Transport in London

Docklands Light Rail
London London Overground (suburban metro)

London Overground (suburban metro)

Metros to Beaches

English Channel (Atlantic Ocean): Frequent suburban line services from King's Cross, City Thameslink, London Bridge or Victoria station to Brighton (trip takes approx. 50-70 minutes) or from Gatwick airport to Brighton (30 minutes). The London, Tilbury and Southend line goes to Southend and Margate, popular resorts on the Essex coast.

Photo Tours

London photo tour

Handpicked Resources

Museum of London Archaeology Service 1998.	The Big Dig. Archaeology and the Jubilee Line Extension.
londonstation.com	Underground stations in hand-coloured photographs
dougrose.co.uk	London's Underground Edwardian Tile Patterns.
Lee, Frank	flee.com Artistic photo essay in black and white
Powell, Kenneth	The Jubilee Line Extension. Laurence King 2000.
Taylor, David J.	New Architecture for the Underground: Planning for the Future. Capital Transport 2001.

Useful Links for London Underground

Search (Google) (will most likely bring up London Underground's official website)
System maps (Google Images)
City map (Google Maps) (might show metro stations when zoomed in)
Images (Google Images)
Search urbanrail.net
Wikipedia page
London city information (Wikipedia)

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