Nicknamed the Tube by generations of Londoners, underground transit has grown to 270 stations and 11 lines stretching deep into the city’s suburbs and beyond. The mobility provided by these railways is responsible for London’s development into the preeminent world city that it has been since the 19th century.

In 1863, the world’s first underground railway, the Metropolitan Railway, began its services. It stretched from Paddington Station to Farringdon, with six intermediate stations. When the structures were completed, workers constructed routes in shallow, cut-and-cover tunnels dug and then covered with backfill material. For fifty years, private development finished most of the central London network. During this period, the first group of routes was carved out in shallow tunnels along existing thoroughfares. Workers installed vents to permit the escaping of the steam and smoke from the engines. 

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