Shopping on line can be easy, simple and save you lots of money. It can also take a lot of your time, frustrate you, and result in unwanted purchases. Now the same can be said for regular high street shopping, but with the vast opportunity presented by the Internet it will pay you to spend a few minutes reading this and understanding how to better optimize your London Underground shopping experience:

1. Compare - without doubt the biggest advantage that the London Underground offers shoppers today is the ability to compare thousands of London Underground at a time. This is a great thing, but not necessarily all the time! Too much can be daunting at times so take advantage of the great comparison sites and where possible let them do the hard work for you.

2. Research - if it has been said it will be on the internet. Ignorance is no longer a justifiable reason for buying the wrong thing. Take the time to research in detail everything that you could possible want to know about

3. Testimonials - don't know anybody that has bought a London Underground? Wrong! If the London Underground is good the internet will let you know. Use the Internet as a friend and get testimonials before you buy.

4. Questions - Got a question about London Underground then search the Forums, FAQ's, Blogs etc. Don't be afraid to ask .....

5. Reputation - Never heard of the company selling London Underground? Don't worry, no reason why you should know every company in the world, but you know someone that does! Use the internet to find out what people are saying about London Underground and build up a picture of their reputation for sales, returns, customer service, delivery etc.

6. Returns - still worried that even after all of the above your London Underground wont be what you want? Check out the returns policy. There is so much competition now that someone, somewhere is bound to offer the terms that you are comfortable with.

7. Feedback - happy with your London Underground then let people know, after all you are depending on others people input in your buying decision, so why not give a little back.

8. Security - check for the yellow padlock on the London Underground site before you buy, and the s after http:/ /i.e. https:// = a secure site

9. Contact - got a question about London Underground, or want to leave a comment then check out the sites contact page. Reputable companies have them and respond.

10. Payment - ready to pay for your London Underground, then use your credit card or PayPal! Be aware of companies that don't accept them, there may be genuine reasons but given the huge amount of choice you have when buying online there is no reason at all not to buy via credit card or PayPal.

{{Infobox Public transit| name = London Underground| image = Underground.svg|thumb|Official logo.| imagesize= 300px| locale = Greater London, Chiltern (district), Epping Forest (district), Three Rivers (district) and Watford-->The London Underground is an underground railway system - also known as a [rapid transit system - that serves a large part of Greater London, United Kingdom and some neighbouring areas. It is the world's oldest underground system, and is one of the longest in terms of route length. Services began on 10th January 1863 on the Metropolitan Railway; most of the initial route is now part of the Hammersmith & City line. Despite its name, about 55% of the network is above ground. Popular local names include the Underground and, more colloquially, the Tube, in reference to the cylindrical shape of the system's deep-bore tunnels.

The Underground has 275 metro station and runs over 253 miles (408 km) of line. There are also numerous closed London Underground stations. In 2005–2006, 971 million passengers used the Underground and for the first time ever in 2006–2007, over one billion passengers were recorded. As of March 2007, just over 3 million passengers use the Underground each day, with an average of 3.4 million passengers on weekdays.

Since 2003, the Underground has been part of Transport for London (TfL), which also administers numerous other transport-related functions, including the famous red double-decker buses. The former London Underground Limited was a subsidiary of London Regional Transport, a statutory corporation.

History station platform at Angel tube station.

The first section of the Metropolitan Railway and of the London Underground ran between Paddington (Bishop's Road), now Paddington station, and Farringdon Street, now Farringdon station, and was the world's first urban underground passenger-carrying railway. It was built as dual gauge – able to accommodate both Brunel's 'Broad Gauge' (7 ft ¼in / 2.14 m) trains as well as the 4 ft 8¼in (1.435 m) gauge of the other trains serving London. Following delays for financial and other reasons after the railway was authorised in 1854, public traffic began on 10 January 1863. 41,000 passengers were carried that day, with trains running every ten minutes; by 1880 the expanded 'Met' was carrying 40 million passengers a year. Other lines swiftly followed, and by 1884 the Inner Circle (today's Circle line) was complete.

The early tunnels were dug using cut-and-cover construction methods. This included the District line, which necessitated the demolition of a number of houses over the site of the line between Paddington and Bayswater.

The first trains were steam-hauled, which required effective ventilation to the surface. Ventilation shafts at various points on the route allowed the engines to expel steam and bring fresh air into the tunnels. One such vent is at Leinster Gardens, W2.{{cite web | last =Slocombe | first =Mike | title =23-24, Leinster Gardens, W2 | work =London Landmarks | publisher =[Urban75 | date =May 2005 | url =http://www.urban75.org/london/leinster.html | accessdate =2007-01-09 --> In order to preserve the visual characteristics in what is still a well-to-do street, a five-foot-thick concrete façade was constructed to resemble a genuine house frontage.

Advances in electric traction allowed later tunnels to be deeper underground than the original cut-and-cover method allowed, and deep-level tunnel design improved, including the use of tunnelling shields. The City & South London Railway (now part of the Northern line), the first "deep-level" line and electrically operated, opened in 1890.

Into the 20th century In the early 20th century, the presence of six independent operators running different Underground lines caused passengers substantial inconvenience; in many places passengers had to walk some distance above ground to change between lines. The costs associated with running such a system were also heavy, and as a result many companies looked to financiers who could give them the money they needed to expand into the lucrative suburbs as well as electrify the earlier steam operated lines. The most prominent of these was Charles Yerkes, an American tycoon who between 1900 and 1902 acquired the Metropolitan and Metropolitan District Railways#Metropolitan District Railway and the as yet unbuilt Charing Cross, Euston & Hampstead Railway (later to become part of the Northern line).

Yerkes also acquired the Great Northern & Strand Railway, the Brompton & Piccadilly Circus Railway (jointly to become the Great Northern, Piccadilly & Brompton Railway, the core of the Piccadilly line) and the Baker Street & Waterloo Railway (to become the Bakerloo line) to form Underground Electric Railways Company (UERL) on 9 April 1902. That company also owned three tramway companies and went on to buy the London General Omnibus Company, creating an organisation colloquially known as the Combine. On 1 January 1913 the UERL absorbed two other independent tube lines, the C&SLR and the Central London Railway, the latter having opened an important east-west cross-city line from Bank to Shepherd's Bush on 30 July 1900. The Central London Railway was nicknamed the "Twopenny Tube" for its flat fare and cylindrical tunnels; the "tube" nickname was eventually transferred to the Underground system as a whole.

The 1930s and 1940s In 1933 the Combine and all the municipal and independent bus and tram undertakings were merged into the London's transport history from 1933 (LPTB), a public corporation that approximated in scope to the present-day Transport for London. It set in motion a scheme for expansion of the network, the 1935–1940 New Works programme, to extend some lines and to take over the operation of others from the main-line railway companies, but the outbreak of World War II froze all these schemes.

During the 1930s and 1940s, several sections of main-line railway were converted into (surface) lines of the Underground. The oldest part of today's Underground network is the Central line between Leyton and Loughton, which opened as a railway seven years before the Underground itself.

From mid-1940, the Blitz (aerial bombing of London) led to the use of many underground stations as air-raid shelter during air raids and overnight. The authorities initially tried to prevent this, but later supplied bunks, latrines, and catering facilities. Some stations (now mostly disused) were converted into government offices: for example, Down Street tube station was used for the headquarters of the Railway Executive Committee and was also used for meetings of the War Cabinet before the Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms were completed{{cite book|last=Conner|first=J.E.|title=London's Disused Underground Stations|year=1999|publisher=Capital Transport|chapter=Down Street|pages=p. 33|isbn=185414-250-X-->; Brompton Road tube station was used as a control room for anti-aircraft warfares and the remains of the surface building are still used by the Territorial ArmyIt remains Ministry Of Defence Property.{{cite book|last=Conner|first=J.E.|title=London's Disused Underground Stations|year=1999|publisher=Capital Transport|chapter=Brompton Road|pages=p. 50|isbn=185414-250-X-->.

Post-war developments train pulls into Mornington Crescent tube station station on the Northern line.Following the war, travel congestion continued to rise. The LPTB and its successor the London Transport Executive undertook a programme of war repair and improvement works during the 1940s and 1950s though little money was provided for expansion or improvements to the system. The first real investment came with the carefully planned Victoria line on a diagonal northeast-southwest alignment beneath central London, which opened in stages between 1968 and 1971. The Piccadilly line was extended to Heathrow Airport in 1977, and the Jubilee line was opened in 1979, taking over part of the Bakerloo line, with new tunnels between Baker Street and Charing Cross. In 1999 the Jubilee was extended to Stratford in London's East End, including the completely refurbished interchange station at Westminster, in several stages. The Jubilee's old terminal platforms at Charing Cross were abandoned but maintained operable for emergencies.

Since January 2003 the Underground has been operated as a Public-Private Partnership (PPP), where the infrastructure and rolling stock are maintained by two private companies (Metronet and Tube Lines) under 30-year contracts, but it remains publicly owned and operated, by Transport for London.

There was much controversy over the implementation of the PPP. Supporters of the change claimed that the private sector would eliminate the inefficiencies of public sector enterprises, while opponents said that the need to make profits would reduce the investment and public service aspects of the Underground. There has since been criticism of the performance of the private companies; for example the January 2007 edition of The Londoner,{{cite news | title =Metronet guilty of 'inexcusable failures' | publisher =[The Londoner | date =January 2007 | url =http://www.london.gov.uk/londoner/07jan/p3b.jsp?nav=around | accessdate =2007-01-10 --> a newsletter published periodically by the Greater London Authority, listed Metronet's mistakes of 2006 under the headline Metronet guilty of 'inexcusable failures'. Metronet was placed into administration on 18 July 2007.{{cite news | title =Metronet calls in administrators | work = | publisher =[BBC | date =18 July [ | url =http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6903977.stm | accessdate =2007-08-21 -->

Infrastructure ) network in a more geographically accurate layout than the usual Tube map, using the same style

The Underground does not run 24 hours a day, because some track maintenance is done at night, after the system closes. First trains on the network start operating around 04:30, running until around 01:30. Unlike systems such as the New York City Subway, few parts of the Underground have express tracks that would allow trains to be routed around maintenance sites. Recently, greater use has been made of weekend closures of parts of the system for scheduled engineering work.

Rolling stock trains at Stratford Market DepotThe Underground uses rolling stock built between 1960 and 2005. Stock on subsurface lines is identified by a letter (such as London Underground A62 Stock, used on the Metropolitan line), while tube stock is identified by the year in which it was designed (for example, London Underground 1996 Stock, used on the Jubilee line). All lines are worked by a single type of stock except the District line, which uses both London Underground C69 Stock and London Underground D78 Stock Stock. Two types of stock are currently being developed — London Underground 2009 Stock for the Victoria line and London Underground S Stock for the subsurface lines, with the Metropolitan line A Stock being replaced first. Rollout of both is expected to begin about 2009.

In addition to the Electric-Multiple units described above, there are London Underground engineering stock, such as balast trains and brake vans. They are identified by a 1-3 letter prefix, then a number.

Stations The Underground serves 275 Underground station, including Shoreditch tube station (closed, but served by a replacement bus service, until Shoreditch High Street station opens as part of the East London line Extension). Fourteen Underground stations are outside Greater London, of which five (Amersham station, Chalfont & Latimer station, Chesham tube station, Chorleywood station, Epping tube station) are beyond the M25 motorway.

Lines The table below lists each line; the colour used to represent each on Tube maps, the date the line became operational and the first section opened (not necessarily under the current line name), the date the line gained its current name, and the type of tunnel used in the central area.

{]| style="background:#; color:white;"|Brown| 1906| 1906| 1906| Deep level| 23.2| 14.5| 25| 95,947| 6,617|-| style="text-align:left;"|Central line| style="background:#;"|Yellow| 1884| 1863| 1949| Subsurface| 22.5| 14| 27| 68,485| 4,892|-| style="text-align:left;"|[District line| style="background:#;"|Orange| 1884| 1869| 1980s| Subsurface| 7.4| 4.6| 8| 10,429| 2,267|-| style="text-align:left;"|[Hammersmith & City line| style="background:#; color:white;"|Grey| 1979| 1879 | 1979| Deep level| 36.2| 22.5| 27| 127,584| 5,670|-| style="text-align:left;"|[Metropolitan line| style="background:#; color:white;"|Black| 1890| 1867| 1937| Deep level| 58| 36| 50| 206,734| 5,743|-| style="text-align:left;"|[Piccadilly line| style="background:#; color:white;"|Light Blue| 1968| 1968| 1968| Deep level| 21| 13.25| 16| 161,319| 12,175|-| style="text-align:left;"|[Waterloo & City line --> [London Underground A Stock train (left) passes a Piccadilly line London Underground 1973 Stock train (right) in the siding at Rayners Lane tube station

Lines on the Underground can be classified into two types: subsurface and deep-level. Lines of both types usually emerge onto the surface outside the central area, except the Victoria line, which is in tunnel except for its depot, and the very short Waterloo & City line, which runs entirely in the central area and has no surface section. Only 45% of the Underground is in tunnel.

While the tube lines are for the most part self-contained, the subsurface lines are part of an interconnected network: Each shares track with at least two other lines, with the exception of the self-contained East London line. The subsurface arrangement is somewhat similar to the New York City Subway, which also runs separate "lines" over shared tracks.

Unserved areas Six of the 32 London boroughs are not served by the Underground. Five of these are south of the River Thames: London Borough of Bexley, London Borough of Bromley, London Borough of Croydon, Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames and London Borough of Sutton. This lack of lines and stations is sometimes attributed to the geology of that area, the region being almost one large aquifer. Another reason is that during the great period of tube-building in the early 20th century south London was already well served by the efficiently-run suburban lines of the London and South Western Railway, London, Brighton and South Coast Railway and the South Eastern and Chatham Railway, then being Railway electrification in Great Britain, which obviated the need for Underground expansion into those areas. Suburban traffic was essential to the viability of the southern railways, while railways to the north and west were able to focus on long-distance traffic, which was profitable and was not subject to the short-term traffic peaks of suburban traffic. In contrast, suburban traffic obstructed their long-distance operations and required substantial infrastructure investment, without providing compensating returns.

The sixth unserved borough is London Borough of Hackney, with the exception of Manor House tube station and Old Street tube station stations just outside its boundary. Plans for the borough to be better served have been drawn up in the form of the London Overground. This is a new metro-style railway which is to take over the East London line (when its East London line#Extension opens, scheduled for 2010) and the North London line to form an almost orbital railway round London.

International connections The Underground serves Waterloo station, for Eurostar trains, and London Heathrow Airport Airport. It also serves St Pancras railway station (via King's Cross St. Pancras tube station), from where Eurostar trains will run from 14 November 2007, replacing the Waterloo Eurostar service.

Electrification (Jubilee line)The Underground is one of the few networks in the world that uses a four-rail system. The additional rail carries the electrical return that on third-rail and overhead networks is provided by the running rails. On the Underground a top-contact third rail is beside the track, energised at +420 V DC, and a top-contact fourth rail is centrally between the running rails, at -210 V DC, which combine to provide a traction voltage of 630 V DC.

Most tube lines run in cast-iron tunnels (only some of the more recent constructions use concrete tunnel lining). Using a third-rail scheme necessitates that the return current is conducted through one (earthed) running rail. Such current is just as easily able to travel through the cast-iron tunnel lining, and unless the joints between the sections are electrically sound, the current will arc across the sections causing considerable damage, or corrosion the tunnel segments via electrolysis. There are also many cast-iron gas and water mains in the vicinity of the tube tunnels, and the return current would travel along these just as easily. Some of these mains date back to the 19th century and the joints between separate sections would certainly not have been designed to be electrically sound, as deep-level electric tube trains were some way off.

Another advantage of the fourth rail system is that the two running rails are available exclusively for track circuits, of which there are many.

The surface sections of the lines are constructed using fourth-rail purely to permit through running with the tube lines, there being no other technical reason to do so.

The traction current has no direct earth point, but there are two resistors connected across the traction supply. The centre tap of the resistors is earthed, establishing the reference point between the positive and negative rails by voltage division. The resistors are large enough to prevent large currents flowing through the earthed infrastructure. The positive resistor is twice as large as the negative resistor, since the positive rail carries twice the voltage of the negative rail.

Ticketing The Underground uses TfL's Travelcard zones to calculate fares. Travelcard Zone 1 is the most central, with a boundary just beyond the Circle line, and Travelcard Zone 6 is the outermost and includes London Heathrow Airport. Stations on the Metropolitan line outside Greater London are in special Zones A to D.

There are staffed ticket offices, some open for limited periods only, and ticket machines usable at any time. Some machines that sell a limited range of tickets accept coins only, other touch-screen machines accept coins and English (but not Northern Ireland or Scotland) British banknotes, and usually give change. These machines also accept major credit and debit cards: some newer machines accept cards only. In 2005 the Underground started to accept American Express.

More recently, TfL has introduced the Oyster card, a smartcard with an embedded contactless RFID chip, that travellers can obtain, charge with credit, and use to pay for travel. Like Travelcards they can be used on the Underground, buses, trams and the Docklands Light Railway. The Oyster card is cheaper to operate than cash ticketing or the older-style magnetic-strip-based Travelcards, and the Underground is encouraging passengers to use Oyster cards instead of Travelcards and cash (on buses) by implementing significant price differences. Oyster-based Travelcards can be used on National Rail throughout London. Pay as you go is available on a restricted, but increasing, Oyster card (pay as you go) on National Rail.{{cite web | title =Oyster Help | publisher =[TfL | url =http://transportforlondon.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/transportforlondon.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_sid=&p_lva=&p_li=&p_faqid=%2011 | accessdate =2007-01-10 -->{{cite press release | title =Transport Secretary and Mayor of London announce new Oyster deal | publisher = [TfL | date =[2006-05-10 | url =http://www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/media/newscentre/3597.aspx | accessdate =2007-01-10 -->

Penalty fares and fare evasion In addition to automatic and staffed ticket gates, the Underground is patrolled by both uniformed and plain-clothes ticket inspectors with hand-held Oyster card readers. Passengers travelling without a ticket valid for their entire journey are required to at least pay a £20 penalty fare and can be prosecuted for fare evasion under the Regulation of Railways Act 1889 are subject to a fine of up to £1,000, or three months' imprisonment. Oyster card pre-pay users who have failed to 'touch in' at the start of their journey are charged the 'maximum cash fare' (£4, or £5 at some National Rail stations) upon 'touching out'. In addition, an Oyster card user who has failed to touch in at the start of their journey and who is detected mid-journey (i.e. on a train) by an Inspector is now liable to a penalty fare of £20. No £4 maximum charge will be applied at their destination as the inspector will apply an 'exit token' to their card.

Delays According to statistics obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, the average commuter on the Metropolitan line wasted three days, 10 hours and 25 minutes in 2006 due to delays (not including missed connections).{{cite news | last =Stephens | first =Alex | title =Tube wastes three days a year of your life | publisher =The Harrow Observer | date =[2006-12-06 | url =http://icharrow.icnetwork.co.uk/harrowobserver/headlines/tm_headline=tube-wastes-three-days-a-year-of-your-life&method=full&objectid=18244569&siteid=53431-name_page.html | accessdate = 2007-01-18 --> Between September 17 2006 and 14 October 2006, figures show that 211 train services were delayed by more than 15 minutes.{{cite web | title=London Underground performance update | publisher = [TfL | url=http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/corporate/modesoftransport/tube/performance/ | accessdate =2007-03-31 --> Passengers are entitled to a refund if their journey is delayed by 15 minutes or more due to circumstances within the control of TfL.{{cite web | title =Customer refunds | publisher =[TfL | url =https://www.tfl.gov.uk/tube/contacts/refunds.asp | accessdate = 2007-01-18 -->

Station access Accessibility by people with mobility issues was not considered when most of the system was built, and older stations are inaccessible to disabled people. More recent stations were designed for accessibility, but retrofitting accessibility features to old stations is at best prohibitively expensive and technically extremely difficult, and often impossible. Even when there are already escalators or Elevators, there are often steps between the lift or escalator landings and the platforms.

Most stations on the surface have at least a short flight of stairs to gain access from street level, and the great majority of below-ground stations require use of stairs or some of the system's 410 escalators (each going at a speed of per minute, approximately 1.65 miles per hour). There are also some lengthy walks and further flights of steps required to gain access to platforms. The station at Covent Garden has the equivalent of 15 storeys of steps to reach the exit, so an announcement is made for passengers to queue for a lift, as walking the steps can be dangerous.

Some of the escalators in Underground stations are among the longest in Europe, and all are custom-built. The longest escalator is at Angel tube station, 60 m (197 ft) long, with a vertical rise of 27.5 m (90 ft). They run 20 hours a day, 364 days a year, with 95% of them operational at any one time, and can cope with 13,000 people per hour. Convention and signage stipulate that people using escalators on the Underground stand on the right-hand side so as not to obstruct those who walk past them on the left.

TfL produces a map indicating which stations are accessible, and since 2004 line maps indicate with a wheelchair symbol those stations that provide step-free access from street level. Step height from platform to train is up to 300 millimetre, and there can be a large Mind the gap between the train and curved platforms. Only the Jubilee line Extension is completely accessible.

TfL plans that by 2020 there should be a network of over 100 fully accessible stations, consists of those recently built or rebuilt, and a handful of suburban stations that happen to have level access, along with selected 'key stations', which will be rebuilt. These key stations have been chosen due to high usage, interchange station potential, and geographic spread, so that up to 75% of journeys will be achievable step-free.{{cite web | title =Unlocking London for all | publisher =[TfL | url =http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tube/using/getting-around/unlocking_london/mobilitycontents.asp | accessdate = 2007-01-10 -->

Safety — extensive structures are required to support Portcullis House above.

Suicides Most fatalities on the network are suicides. Most platforms at deep tube stations have pits beneath the track, originally constructed to aid drainage of water from the platforms, but they also help prevent death or serious injury when a passenger falls or jumps in front of a train and aid access to the unfortunate person. These pits are officially called "anti-suicide pits", colloquially "suicide pits" or "dead man's trenches". Delays resulting from a person jumping or falling in front of a train as it pulls into a station are announced as "passenger action", "customer incident" or "a person under a train", and are referred to by staff as a "one under". London Underground has a specialist "Therapy Unit" to deal with drivers' post-traumatic stress, resulting from someone jumping under their train.

The Jubilee line extension is the first line to have Platform screen doors. These prevent people from falling or jumping onto the tracks, but the main financial justification for their provision was to control station ventilation by restricting the 'piston-effect' of the moving air caused by the trains.

Accidents The Underground network carries around a 1000000000 (number) passengers a year. It is a very safe mass transport system, with just one fatal accident for every 300 million journeys. Safety first. The Economist (23 October, 2003) Retrieved 3 December, 2006.

There are several safety warnings given to passengers, such as the traditional 'mind the gap' announcement and the regular announcements for passengers to keep behind the yellow line.

Terrorism The Underground is an important part of everyday life for millions of people. This makes it a prime target for terrorists. Many warnings and several attacks, some successful, have been made on the Underground, 21 July 2005 London bombings on the 21 July 2005, although in that case only the detonators exploded. The most recent 7 July 2005 London bombings causing damage was on 7 July 2005, when three suicide bombers blew themselves up on three trains. The earliest attack on the London Underground was in 1885, when a bomb exploded on a Metropolitan line train at Euston Square station. The Provisional Irish Republican Army (and its predecessors) carried out over ten attacks between 1939 and 1993.

Overcrowding Relatively few accidents are caused by overcrowding on the platforms, and staff monitor platforms and passageways at busy times and prevent people entering the system if they become overcrowded. Camden Town tube station is exit-only on Sunday afternoons (13:00–17:30) for this reason, and Covent Garden tube station has access restrictions at times. Restrictions are introduced at other stations when necessary. Crowded platforms with tracks on both sides, rather than one side being delimited by a wall, are particularly dangerous.

At particularly busy occasions, such as Soccer matches, British Transport Police may be present to help with overcrowding.On the 24th September 2007, King's Cross underground station was totally closed due to "overcrowding".According to a 2003 House of Commons report,{{cite news | title =Commuters face 'daily trauma' | publisher =[BBC | date =[2003-10-15 | url =http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3191562.stm | accessdate = 2007-01-18 --> commuters face a "daily trauma" and are forced to travel in "intolerable conditions".

Smoking Tobacco smoking was allowed in certain carriages in trains until July 1984. In middle of 1987 smoking was banned for a six-month trial period in all parts of the Underground, and was made permanent after the major King's Cross fire in November 1987.{{cite web | title =Report of the London Assembly’s investigative committee on smoking in public places | publisher =[Greater London Authority | date =2002 | url =http://www.london.gov.uk/assembly/reports/health/smoking_report.rtf | format =rtf | accessdate = 2007-01-10 -->, p19 Drivers who detect smokers often refuse to continue the journey until the offending item is extinguished.

Fumes According to the Discovery Channel documentary, Underground Cities: London, inhaling fumes while traveling on London's Tube for 40 minutes is "the equivalent to smoking two cigarettes".

Photography Photography for personal use is permitted in public areas of the Underground,London Underground. Fiming & Photography - can I film/take photos on the Tube? Retrieved 3 December, 2006. but the use of Tripod (photography) and other supports is forbidden as it poses a danger in the often cramped spaces and crowds found underground. Flash (photography) is also forbidden as it may distract drivers and disrupt fire-detection equipment. For the same reason bright auto-focus assist lights should be switched off or covered when photographing in the Underground.

Safety culture The Underground's staff safety regimen has drawn criticism. In January 2002 it was fined £225,000 for breaching Health and Safety Executive. In court, the judge reprimanded the company for "sacrificing safety" to keep trains running "at all costs." Workers had been instructed to work in the dark with the power rails live, even during rainstorms. Several workers had received electric shocks as a result. Fine over workers' Tube danger. BBC News (10 January, 2002). Retrieved 3 December, 2006.

Age Due to a combination of the age of the system and significant under-funding in the past, some parts of the Underground's infrastructure are substantially older than their equivalents in other cities. Recently the private infrastructure company Tube Lines was reported to be using online auction website eBay to find spare parts for some of its equipment which was so old that parts were otherwise unobtainable.{{cite news | last = | first = | coauthors = | title = Firm turns to eBay for Tube parts | work = [BBC News | publisher = [bbc.co.uk | date = [2004-12-08 | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/4079135.stm | accessdate = 2006-12-03 -->

Future projects Extensions and new stations , showing the layout of the Piccadilly line at London Heathrow Airport once the T5 Extension opens.



| title =London Overground & Orbirail | publisher =alwaystouchout.com | date =[2006-12-07 | url =http://www.alwaystouchout.com/project/43#WatfordDC | accessdate = 2007-01-10 -->

| title =Investment Programme | publisher =[TfL | date = | url =http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/downloads/pdf/business-plan/2006/inv-prog-2007/02_London_Underground.pdf | accessdate = 2007-03-17 --> (see page 105 of 116)

| title =East London line facts | publisher =[TfL | date = 2007 | url =http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/corporate/modesoftransport/tube/linefacts/?line=east-london | accessdate = 2007-08-21 --> to allow it to be extended north from Whitechapel tube station along the old [Broad Street railway station (London) viaduct to Dalston then along the [North London Line to [Highbury & Islington station, and south to [West Croydon railway station, [Crystal Palace railway station and eventually [Clapham Junction railway station. When it reopens in [ (with the connection to Highbury & Islington due in 2011), it will be part of the new [London Overground network, not of the Underground; however, it will still be run by TfL.

Line upgrades Each line is being upgraded to improve capacity and reliability, with new computerised signalling, automatic train operation (ATO), track replacement and station refurbishment, and, where needed, new rolling stock.

| title =TfL Commissioner reveals plans to upgrade Circle, District, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan lines | publisher = [TfL | date =[2006-12-06 | url =http://www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/media/newscentre/4411.aspx | accessdate =2007-07-10 --> New trains will feature inter-car gangways enhancing passenger safety, regenerative braking leading to a 20-25% reduction in [Energy use and conservation in the United Kingdom#Carbon emissions, and improved acceleration and braking allowing an increase in train frequency. The last trains to be replaced, 75 District line trains, are currently receiving interim refurbishment. Lines that are currently served by six-car trains will get seven-car trains, once necessary platform-lengthening works are completed.

Upgrade programmes on the Waterloo & City line (without Automatic train operation) and Central Line are largely complete.

Other projects | title =Subsurface network (SSL) upgrade | publisher =alwaystouchout.com | date =[2006-12-07 | url =http://www.alwaystouchout.com/project/39 | accessdate = 2007-01-10 --> | publisher =[TfL | date = 2007-03-15 | url=http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/press-centre/press-releases/press-releases-content.asp?prID=1081 | accessdate =2007-03-16 --> At the earliest, the trial will start in April 2007, when coverage will be available on the platforms at [Waterloo station#Waterloo Underground station and [Bank and Monument stations stations. After this, coverage will be extended to the tunnel between the two stations. The trial will look at the viability of extending coverage across the rest of the Underground network.

Image TfL's Tube map and "roundel" logo are instantly recognisable by any Londoner, almost any Briton, and many people around the world. The original maps were often street maps with the lines superimposed, and the stylised Tube map evolved from a design by electrical engineer Harry Beck in 1931.{{cite web | last =Beck | first =Harry | authorlink =Harry Beck | title =Tube Map | publisher =[TfL | url =http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tube/themes/main/images/company/history/beckmap1.jpg | accessdate = 2007-01-10 --> Virtually every major urban rail system in the world now has a map in a similar stylised layout and many bus companies have also adopted the concept. TfL licences the sale of clothing and other accessories featuring its graphic elements and it takes legal action against unauthorised use of its trademarks and of the Tube map. Nevertheless, unauthorised copies of the logo continue to crop up worldwide. The phrase "[mind the gap," played when trains stop at certain platforms, has also become a well known catchphrase.

The roundel The origins of the roundel, in earlier years known as the 'bulls-eye' or 'target', are obscure. While the first use of a roundel in a London transport context was the 19th-century symbol of the London General Omnibus Company — a wheel with a bar across the centre bearing the word GENERAL — its usage on the Underground stems from the decision in 1908 to find a more obvious way of highlighting station names on platforms. The red circle with blue name bar was quickly adopted, with the word "UNDERGROUND" across the bar, as an early corporate identity.{{cite web | title =Logo | publisher =[London Transport Museum | date = | url =http://www.ltmuseum.co.uk/exhibitions/online_exhibitions/logo/index.html | accessdate = --> Not accessible [2007-01-10 The logo was modified by [Edward Johnston in 1919.

Each station displays the Underground roundel, often containing the station's name in the central bar, at entrances and repeatedly along the platform, so that the name can easily be seen by passengers on arriving trains.

The roundel has been used for buses and the tube for many years, and since Transport for London took control it has been applied to other transport types (taxi, Tramlink, Docklands Light Railway, etc.) in different colour pairs. The roundel has to some extent become a symbol for London itself.

Typography Edward Johnston designed TfL's distinctive sans-serif typeface, in 1916. "Johnston (typeface)", modified to include lower case, is still in use. It is noted for the curl at the bottom of the minuscule l, which other sans-serif typefaces have discarded, and for the diamond-shaped tittle on the minuscule i and j, whose shape also appears in the full stop, and is the origin of other punctuation marks in the face. TfL owns the copyright to and exercises control over the New Johnston typeface, but a close approximation of the face exists in the TrueType computer font Paddington.

Contribution to arts The Underground sponsors and contributes to the arts via its Platform for Art and Poems on the Underground projects. Poster and billboard space (and in the case of Gloucester Road tube station, an entire disused platform) is given over to artwork and poetry to "create an environment for positive impact and to enhance and enrich the journeys of ... passengers".{{cite web | title =Platform art | publisher =[TfL | url =http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tube/arts/platform-for-art | accessdate = 2007-01-10 --> In addition, some stations' walls are decorated in tile motifs unique to that station, such as profiles of Sherlock Holmes's head at Baker Street tube station, and a cross containing a crown at King's Cross St Pancras tube station. Oval tube station has cricket-themed decorations, with murals, statues and banners all celebrating the game. Unique Edwardian tile patterns, designed by Leslie Green and installed in the 1900s, were also used on the platforms of many of the Charles Yerkes-designed stations on the Bakerloo, Northern and Piccadilly lines. Many of these tile patterns survive, though a significant number of these are now replicas.

In popular culture The Underground has been featured in many movies and television shows, including Sliding Doors and Tube Tales; the London Underground Film Office handles over 100 requests per month. The Underground has also featured in music such as The Jam's "Down in the Tube Station at Midnight" and in literature such as the graphic novel V for Vendetta. Popular legends about the Underground being haunted persist to this day.

See also

References Further reading | last = Day | first = John R. | author-link = | last2 = Reed | first2 = John | author2-link = | title = The Story of London's Underground | place= | publisher = Capital Transport | year = 2001 | edition = | url = | id = --> | last = Garland | first = Ken | authorlink = | title = Mr. Beck's Underground Map | publisher = Capital Transport | date = 1994 | id = --> | last = Harris | first = Cyril M. | authorlink = | title = What's in a Name? The origins of st {{Infobox Public transit| name = London Underground| image = Underground.svg|thumb|Official logo.| imagesize= 300px| locale = Greater London, Chiltern (district), Epping Forest (district), Three Rivers (district) and Watford-->The London Underground is an underground railway system - also known as a [rapid transit system - that serves a large part of Greater London, United Kingdom and some neighbouring areas. It is the world's oldest underground system, and is one of the longest in terms of route length. Services began on 10th January 1863 on the Metropolitan Railway; most of the initial route is now part of the Hammersmith & City line. Despite its name, about 55% of the network is above ground. Popular local names include the Underground and, more colloquially, the Tube, in reference to the cylindrical shape of the system's deep-bore tunnels.

The Underground has 275 metro station and runs over 253 miles (408 km) of line. There are also numerous closed London Underground stations. In 2005–2006, 971 million passengers used the Underground and for the first time ever in 2006–2007, over one billion passengers were recorded. As of March 2007, just over 3 million passengers use the Underground each day, with an average of 3.4 million passengers on weekdays.

Since 2003, the Underground has been part of Transport for London (TfL), which also administers numerous other transport-related functions, including the famous red double-decker buses. The former London Underground Limited was a subsidiary of London Regional Transport, a statutory corporation.

History station platform at Angel tube station.

The first section of the Metropolitan Railway and of the London Underground ran between Paddington (Bishop's Road), now Paddington station, and Farringdon Street, now Farringdon station, and was the world's first urban underground passenger-carrying railway. It was built as dual gauge – able to accommodate both Brunel's 'Broad Gauge' (7 ft ¼in / 2.14 m) trains as well as the 4 ft 8¼in (1.435 m) gauge of the other trains serving London. Following delays for financial and other reasons after the railway was authorised in 1854, public traffic began on 10 January 1863. 41,000 passengers were carried that day, with trains running every ten minutes; by 1880 the expanded 'Met' was carrying 40 million passengers a year. Other lines swiftly followed, and by 1884 the Inner Circle (today's Circle line) was complete.

The early tunnels were dug using cut-and-cover construction methods. This included the District line, which necessitated the demolition of a number of houses over the site of the line between Paddington and Bayswater.

The first trains were steam-hauled, which required effective ventilation to the surface. Ventilation shafts at various points on the route allowed the engines to expel steam and bring fresh air into the tunnels. One such vent is at Leinster Gardens, W2.{{cite web | last =Slocombe | first =Mike | title =23-24, Leinster Gardens, W2 | work =London Landmarks | publisher =[Urban75 | date =May 2005 | url =http://www.urban75.org/london/leinster.html | accessdate =2007-01-09 --> In order to preserve the visual characteristics in what is still a well-to-do street, a five-foot-thick concrete façade was constructed to resemble a genuine house frontage.

Advances in electric traction allowed later tunnels to be deeper underground than the original cut-and-cover method allowed, and deep-level tunnel design improved, including the use of tunnelling shields. The City & South London Railway (now part of the Northern line), the first "deep-level" line and electrically operated, opened in 1890.

Into the 20th century In the early 20th century, the presence of six independent operators running different Underground lines caused passengers substantial inconvenience; in many places passengers had to walk some distance above ground to change between lines. The costs associated with running such a system were also heavy, and as a result many companies looked to financiers who could give them the money they needed to expand into the lucrative suburbs as well as electrify the earlier steam operated lines. The most prominent of these was Charles Yerkes, an American tycoon who between 1900 and 1902 acquired the Metropolitan and Metropolitan District Railways#Metropolitan District Railway and the as yet unbuilt Charing Cross, Euston & Hampstead Railway (later to become part of the Northern line).

Yerkes also acquired the Great Northern & Strand Railway, the Brompton & Piccadilly Circus Railway (jointly to become the Great Northern, Piccadilly & Brompton Railway, the core of the Piccadilly line) and the Baker Street & Waterloo Railway (to become the Bakerloo line) to form Underground Electric Railways Company (UERL) on 9 April 1902. That company also owned three tramway companies and went on to buy the London General Omnibus Company, creating an organisation colloquially known as the Combine. On 1 January 1913 the UERL absorbed two other independent tube lines, the C&SLR and the Central London Railway, the latter having opened an important east-west cross-city line from Bank to Shepherd's Bush on 30 July 1900. The Central London Railway was nicknamed the "Twopenny Tube" for its flat fare and cylindrical tunnels; the "tube" nickname was eventually transferred to the Underground system as a whole.

The 1930s and 1940s In 1933 the Combine and all the municipal and independent bus and tram undertakings were merged into the London's transport history from 1933 (LPTB), a public corporation that approximated in scope to the present-day Transport for London. It set in motion a scheme for expansion of the network, the 1935–1940 New Works programme, to extend some lines and to take over the operation of others from the main-line railway companies, but the outbreak of World War II froze all these schemes.

During the 1930s and 1940s, several sections of main-line railway were converted into (surface) lines of the Underground. The oldest part of today's Underground network is the Central line between Leyton and Loughton, which opened as a railway seven years before the Underground itself.

From mid-1940, the Blitz (aerial bombing of London) led to the use of many underground stations as air-raid shelter during air raids and overnight. The authorities initially tried to prevent this, but later supplied bunks, latrines, and catering facilities. Some stations (now mostly disused) were converted into government offices: for example, Down Street tube station was used for the headquarters of the Railway Executive Committee and was also used for meetings of the War Cabinet before the Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms were completed{{cite book|last=Conner|first=J.E.|title=London's Disused Underground Stations|year=1999|publisher=Capital Transport|chapter=Down Street|pages=p. 33|isbn=185414-250-X-->; Brompton Road tube station was used as a control room for anti-aircraft warfares and the remains of the surface building are still used by the Territorial ArmyIt remains Ministry Of Defence Property.{{cite book|last=Conner|first=J.E.|title=London's Disused Underground Stations|year=1999|publisher=Capital Transport|chapter=Brompton Road|pages=p. 50|isbn=185414-250-X-->.

Post-war developments train pulls into Mornington Crescent tube station station on the Northern line.Following the war, travel congestion continued to rise. The LPTB and its successor the London Transport Executive undertook a programme of war repair and improvement works during the 1940s and 1950s though little money was provided for expansion or improvements to the system. The first real investment came with the carefully planned Victoria line on a diagonal northeast-southwest alignment beneath central London, which opened in stages between 1968 and 1971. The Piccadilly line was extended to Heathrow Airport in 1977, and the Jubilee line was opened in 1979, taking over part of the Bakerloo line, with new tunnels between Baker Street and Charing Cross. In 1999 the Jubilee was extended to Stratford in London's East End, including the completely refurbished interchange station at Westminster, in several stages. The Jubilee's old terminal platforms at Charing Cross were abandoned but maintained operable for emergencies.

Since January 2003 the Underground has been operated as a Public-Private Partnership (PPP), where the infrastructure and rolling stock are maintained by two private companies (Metronet and Tube Lines) under 30-year contracts, but it remains publicly owned and operated, by Transport for London.

There was much controversy over the implementation of the PPP. Supporters of the change claimed that the private sector would eliminate the inefficiencies of public sector enterprises, while opponents said that the need to make profits would reduce the investment and public service aspects of the Underground. There has since been criticism of the performance of the private companies; for example the January 2007 edition of The Londoner,{{cite news | title =Metronet guilty of 'inexcusable failures' | publisher =[The Londoner | date =January 2007 | url =http://www.london.gov.uk/londoner/07jan/p3b.jsp?nav=around | accessdate =2007-01-10 --> a newsletter published periodically by the Greater London Authority, listed Metronet's mistakes of 2006 under the headline Metronet guilty of 'inexcusable failures'. Metronet was placed into administration on 18 July 2007.{{cite news | title =Metronet calls in administrators | work = | publisher =[BBC | date =18 July [ | url =http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6903977.stm | accessdate =2007-08-21 -->

Infrastructure ) network in a more geographically accurate layout than the usual Tube map, using the same style

The Underground does not run 24 hours a day, because some track maintenance is done at night, after the system closes. First trains on the network start operating around 04:30, running until around 01:30. Unlike systems such as the New York City Subway, few parts of the Underground have express tracks that would allow trains to be routed around maintenance sites. Recently, greater use has been made of weekend closures of parts of the system for scheduled engineering work.

Rolling stock trains at Stratford Market DepotThe Underground uses rolling stock built between 1960 and 2005. Stock on subsurface lines is identified by a letter (such as London Underground A62 Stock, used on the Metropolitan line), while tube stock is identified by the year in which it was designed (for example, London Underground 1996 Stock, used on the Jubilee line). All lines are worked by a single type of stock except the District line, which uses both London Underground C69 Stock and London Underground D78 Stock Stock. Two types of stock are currently being developed — London Underground 2009 Stock for the Victoria line and London Underground S Stock for the subsurface lines, with the Metropolitan line A Stock being replaced first. Rollout of both is expected to begin about 2009.

In addition to the Electric-Multiple units described above, there are London Underground engineering stock, such as balast trains and brake vans. They are identified by a 1-3 letter prefix, then a number.

Stations The Underground serves 275 Underground station, including Shoreditch tube station (closed, but served by a replacement bus service, until Shoreditch High Street station opens as part of the East London line Extension). Fourteen Underground stations are outside Greater London, of which five (Amersham station, Chalfont & Latimer station, Chesham tube station, Chorleywood station, Epping tube station) are beyond the M25 motorway.

Lines The table below lists each line; the colour used to represent each on Tube maps, the date the line became operational and the first section opened (not necessarily under the current line name), the date the line gained its current name, and the type of tunnel used in the central area.

{]| style="background:#; color:white;"|Brown| 1906| 1906| 1906| Deep level| 23.2| 14.5| 25| 95,947| 6,617|-| style="text-align:left;"|Central line| style="background:#;"|Yellow| 1884| 1863| 1949| Subsurface| 22.5| 14| 27| 68,485| 4,892|-| style="text-align:left;"|[District line| style="background:#;"|Orange| 1884| 1869| 1980s| Subsurface| 7.4| 4.6| 8| 10,429| 2,267|-| style="text-align:left;"|[Hammersmith & City line| style="background:#; color:white;"|Grey| 1979| 1879 | 1979| Deep level| 36.2| 22.5| 27| 127,584| 5,670|-| style="text-align:left;"|[Metropolitan line| style="background:#; color:white;"|Black| 1890| 1867| 1937| Deep level| 58| 36| 50| 206,734| 5,743|-| style="text-align:left;"|[Piccadilly line| style="background:#; color:white;"|Light Blue| 1968| 1968| 1968| Deep level| 21| 13.25| 16| 161,319| 12,175|-| style="text-align:left;"|[Waterloo & City line --> [London Underground A Stock train (left) passes a Piccadilly line London Underground 1973 Stock train (right) in the siding at Rayners Lane tube station

Lines on the Underground can be classified into two types: subsurface and deep-level. Lines of both types usually emerge onto the surface outside the central area, except the Victoria line, which is in tunnel except for its depot, and the very short Waterloo & City line, which runs entirely in the central area and has no surface section. Only 45% of the Underground is in tunnel.

While the tube lines are for the most part self-contained, the subsurface lines are part of an interconnected network: Each shares track with at least two other lines, with the exception of the self-contained East London line. The subsurface arrangement is somewhat similar to the New York City Subway, which also runs separate "lines" over shared tracks.

Unserved areas Six of the 32 London boroughs are not served by the Underground. Five of these are south of the River Thames: London Borough of Bexley, London Borough of Bromley, London Borough of Croydon, Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames and London Borough of Sutton. This lack of lines and stations is sometimes attributed to the geology of that area, the region being almost one large aquifer. Another reason is that during the great period of tube-building in the early 20th century south London was already well served by the efficiently-run suburban lines of the London and South Western Railway, London, Brighton and South Coast Railway and the South Eastern and Chatham Railway, then being Railway electrification in Great Britain, which obviated the need for Underground expansion into those areas. Suburban traffic was essential to the viability of the southern railways, while railways to the north and west were able to focus on long-distance traffic, which was profitable and was not subject to the short-term traffic peaks of suburban traffic. In contrast, suburban traffic obstructed their long-distance operations and required substantial infrastructure investment, without providing compensating returns.

The sixth unserved borough is London Borough of Hackney, with the exception of Manor House tube station and Old Street tube station stations just outside its boundary. Plans for the borough to be better served have been drawn up in the form of the London Overground. This is a new metro-style railway which is to take over the East London line (when its East London line#Extension opens, scheduled for 2010) and the North London line to form an almost orbital railway round London.

International connections The Underground serves Waterloo station, for Eurostar trains, and London Heathrow Airport Airport. It also serves St Pancras railway station (via King's Cross St. Pancras tube station), from where Eurostar trains will run from 14 November 2007, replacing the Waterloo Eurostar service.

Electrification (Jubilee line)The Underground is one of the few networks in the world that uses a four-rail system. The additional rail carries the electrical return that on third-rail and overhead networks is provided by the running rails. On the Underground a top-contact third rail is beside the track, energised at +420 V DC, and a top-contact fourth rail is centrally between the running rails, at -210 V DC, which combine to provide a traction voltage of 630 V DC.

Most tube lines run in cast-iron tunnels (only some of the more recent constructions use concrete tunnel lining). Using a third-rail scheme necessitates that the return current is conducted through one (earthed) running rail. Such current is just as easily able to travel through the cast-iron tunnel lining, and unless the joints between the sections are electrically sound, the current will arc across the sections causing considerable damage, or corrosion the tunnel segments via electrolysis. There are also many cast-iron gas and water mains in the vicinity of the tube tunnels, and the return current would travel along these just as easily. Some of these mains date back to the 19th century and the joints between separate sections would certainly not have been designed to be electrically sound, as deep-level electric tube trains were some way off.

Another advantage of the fourth rail system is that the two running rails are available exclusively for track circuits, of which there are many.

The surface sections of the lines are constructed using fourth-rail purely to permit through running with the tube lines, there being no other technical reason to do so.

The traction current has no direct earth point, but there are two resistors connected across the traction supply. The centre tap of the resistors is earthed, establishing the reference point between the positive and negative rails by voltage division. The resistors are large enough to prevent large currents flowing through the earthed infrastructure. The positive resistor is twice as large as the negative resistor, since the positive rail carries twice the voltage of the negative rail.

Ticketing The Underground uses TfL's Travelcard zones to calculate fares. Travelcard Zone 1 is the most central, with a boundary just beyond the Circle line, and Travelcard Zone 6 is the outermost and includes London Heathrow Airport. Stations on the Metropolitan line outside Greater London are in special Zones A to D.

There are staffed ticket offices, some open for limited periods only, and ticket machines usable at any time. Some machines that sell a limited range of tickets accept coins only, other touch-screen machines accept coins and English (but not Northern Ireland or Scotland) British banknotes, and usually give change. These machines also accept major credit and debit cards: some newer machines accept cards only. In 2005 the Underground started to accept American Express.

More recently, TfL has introduced the Oyster card, a smartcard with an embedded contactless RFID chip, that travellers can obtain, charge with credit, and use to pay for travel. Like Travelcards they can be used on the Underground, buses, trams and the Docklands Light Railway. The Oyster card is cheaper to operate than cash ticketing or the older-style magnetic-strip-based Travelcards, and the Underground is encouraging passengers to use Oyster cards instead of Travelcards and cash (on buses) by implementing significant price differences. Oyster-based Travelcards can be used on National Rail throughout London. Pay as you go is available on a restricted, but increasing, Oyster card (pay as you go) on National Rail.{{cite web | title =Oyster Help | publisher =[TfL | url =http://transportforlondon.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/transportforlondon.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_sid=&p_lva=&p_li=&p_faqid=%2011 | accessdate =2007-01-10 -->{{cite press release | title =Transport Secretary and Mayor of London announce new Oyster deal | publisher = [TfL | date =[2006-05-10 | url =http://www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/media/newscentre/3597.aspx | accessdate =2007-01-10 -->

Penalty fares and fare evasion In addition to automatic and staffed ticket gates, the Underground is patrolled by both uniformed and plain-clothes ticket inspectors with hand-held Oyster card readers. Passengers travelling without a ticket valid for their entire journey are required to at least pay a £20 penalty fare and can be prosecuted for fare evasion under the Regulation of Railways Act 1889 are subject to a fine of up to £1,000, or three months' imprisonment. Oyster card pre-pay users who have failed to 'touch in' at the start of their journey are charged the 'maximum cash fare' (£4, or £5 at some National Rail stations) upon 'touching out'. In addition, an Oyster card user who has failed to touch in at the start of their journey and who is detected mid-journey (i.e. on a train) by an Inspector is now liable to a penalty fare of £20. No £4 maximum charge will be applied at their destination as the inspector will apply an 'exit token' to their card.

Delays According to statistics obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, the average commuter on the Metropolitan line wasted three days, 10 hours and 25 minutes in 2006 due to delays (not including missed connections).{{cite news | last =Stephens | first =Alex | title =Tube wastes three days a year of your life | publisher =The Harrow Observer | date =[2006-12-06 | url =http://icharrow.icnetwork.co.uk/harrowobserver/headlines/tm_headline=tube-wastes-three-days-a-year-of-your-life&method=full&objectid=18244569&siteid=53431-name_page.html | accessdate = 2007-01-18 --> Between September 17 2006 and 14 October 2006, figures show that 211 train services were delayed by more than 15 minutes.{{cite web | title=London Underground performance update | publisher = [TfL | url=http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/corporate/modesoftransport/tube/performance/ | accessdate =2007-03-31 --> Passengers are entitled to a refund if their journey is delayed by 15 minutes or more due to circumstances within the control of TfL.{{cite web | title =Customer refunds | publisher =[TfL | url =https://www.tfl.gov.uk/tube/contacts/refunds.asp | accessdate = 2007-01-18 -->

Station access Accessibility by people with mobility issues was not considered when most of the system was built, and older stations are inaccessible to disabled people. More recent stations were designed for accessibility, but retrofitting accessibility features to old stations is at best prohibitively expensive and technically extremely difficult, and often impossible. Even when there are already escalators or Elevators, there are often steps between the lift or escalator landings and the platforms.

Most stations on the surface have at least a short flight of stairs to gain access from street level, and the great majority of below-ground stations require use of stairs or some of the system's 410 escalators (each going at a speed of per minute, approximately 1.65 miles per hour). There are also some lengthy walks and further flights of steps required to gain access to platforms. The station at Covent Garden has the equivalent of 15 storeys of steps to reach the exit, so an announcement is made for passengers to queue for a lift, as walking the steps can be dangerous.

Some of the escalators in Underground stations are among the longest in Europe, and all are custom-built. The longest escalator is at Angel tube station, 60 m (197 ft) long, with a vertical rise of 27.5 m (90 ft). They run 20 hours a day, 364 days a year, with 95% of them operational at any one time, and can cope with 13,000 people per hour. Convention and signage stipulate that people using escalators on the Underground stand on the right-hand side so as not to obstruct those who walk past them on the left.

TfL produces a map indicating which stations are accessible, and since 2004 line maps indicate with a wheelchair symbol those stations that provide step-free access from street level. Step height from platform to train is up to 300 millimetre, and there can be a large Mind the gap between the train and curved platforms. Only the Jubilee line Extension is completely accessible.

TfL plans that by 2020 there should be a network of over 100 fully accessible stations, consists of those recently built or rebuilt, and a handful of suburban stations that happen to have level access, along with selected 'key stations', which will be rebuilt. These key stations have been chosen due to high usage, interchange station potential, and geographic spread, so that up to 75% of journeys will be achievable step-free.{{cite web | title =Unlocking London for all | publisher =[TfL | url =http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tube/using/getting-around/unlocking_london/mobilitycontents.asp | accessdate = 2007-01-10 -->

Safety — extensive structures are required to support Portcullis House above.

Suicides Most fatalities on the network are suicides. Most platforms at deep tube stations have pits beneath the track, originally constructed to aid drainage of water from the platforms, but they also help prevent death or serious injury when a passenger falls or jumps in front of a train and aid access to the unfortunate person. These pits are officially called "anti-suicide pits", colloquially "suicide pits" or "dead man's trenches". Delays resulting from a person jumping or falling in front of a train as it pulls into a station are announced as "passenger action", "customer incident" or "a person under a train", and are referred to by staff as a "one under". London Underground has a specialist "Therapy Unit" to deal with drivers' post-traumatic stress, resulting from someone jumping under their train.

The Jubilee line extension is the first line to have Platform screen doors. These prevent people from falling or jumping onto the tracks, but the main financial justification for their provision was to control station ventilation by restricting the 'piston-effect' of the moving air caused by the trains.

Accidents The Underground network carries around a 1000000000 (number) passengers a year. It is a very safe mass transport system, with just one fatal accident for every 300 million journeys. Safety first. The Economist (23 October, 2003) Retrieved 3 December, 2006.

There are several safety warnings given to passengers, such as the traditional 'mind the gap' announcement and the regular announcements for passengers to keep behind the yellow line.

Terrorism The Underground is an important part of everyday life for millions of people. This makes it a prime target for terrorists. Many warnings and several attacks, some successful, have been made on the Underground, 21 July 2005 London bombings on the 21 July 2005, although in that case only the detonators exploded. The most recent 7 July 2005 London bombings causing damage was on 7 July 2005, when three suicide bombers blew themselves up on three trains. The earliest attack on the London Underground was in 1885, when a bomb exploded on a Metropolitan line train at Euston Square station. The Provisional Irish Republican Army (and its predecessors) carried out over ten attacks between 1939 and 1993.

Overcrowding Relatively few accidents are caused by overcrowding on the platforms, and staff monitor platforms and passageways at busy times and prevent people entering the system if they become overcrowded. Camden Town tube station is exit-only on Sunday afternoons (13:00–17:30) for this reason, and Covent Garden tube station has access restrictions at times. Restrictions are introduced at other stations when necessary. Crowded platforms with tracks on both sides, rather than one side being delimited by a wall, are particularly dangerous.

At particularly busy occasions, such as Soccer matches, British Transport Police may be present to help with overcrowding.On the 24th September 2007, King's Cross underground station was totally closed due to "overcrowding".According to a 2003 House of Commons report,{{cite news | title =Commuters face 'daily trauma' | publisher =[BBC | date =[2003-10-15 | url =http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3191562.stm | accessdate = 2007-01-18 --> commuters face a "daily trauma" and are forced to travel in "intolerable conditions".

Smoking Tobacco smoking was allowed in certain carriages in trains until July 1984. In middle of 1987 smoking was banned for a six-month trial period in all parts of the Underground, and was made permanent after the major King's Cross fire in November 1987.{{cite web | title =Report of the London Assembly’s investigative committee on smoking in public places | publisher =[Greater London Authority | date =2002 | url =http://www.london.gov.uk/assembly/reports/health/smoking_report.rtf | format =rtf | accessdate = 2007-01-10 -->, p19 Drivers who detect smokers often refuse to continue the journey until the offending item is extinguished.

Fumes According to the Discovery Channel documentary, Underground Cities: London, inhaling fumes while traveling on London's Tube for 40 minutes is "the equivalent to smoking two cigarettes".

Photography Photography for personal use is permitted in public areas of the Underground,London Underground. Fiming & Photography - can I film/take photos on the Tube? Retrieved 3 December, 2006. but the use of Tripod (photography) and other supports is forbidden as it poses a danger in the often cramped spaces and crowds found underground. Flash (photography) is also forbidden as it may distract drivers and disrupt fire-detection equipment. For the same reason bright auto-focus assist lights should be switched off or covered when photographing in the Underground.

Safety culture The Underground's staff safety regimen has drawn criticism. In January 2002 it was fined £225,000 for breaching Health and Safety Executive. In court, the judge reprimanded the company for "sacrificing safety" to keep trains running "at all costs." Workers had been instructed to work in the dark with the power rails live, even during rainstorms. Several workers had received electric shocks as a result. Fine over workers' Tube danger. BBC News (10 January, 2002). Retrieved 3 December, 2006.

Age Due to a combination of the age of the system and significant under-funding in the past, some parts of the Underground's infrastructure are substantially older than their equivalents in other cities. Recently the private infrastructure company Tube Lines was reported to be using online auction website eBay to find spare parts for some of its equipment which was so old that parts were otherwise unobtainable.{{cite news | last = | first = | coauthors = | title = Firm turns to eBay for Tube parts | work = [BBC News | publisher = [bbc.co.uk | date = [2004-12-08 | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/4079135.stm | accessdate = 2006-12-03 -->

Future projects Extensions and new stations , showing the layout of the Piccadilly line at London Heathrow Airport once the T5 Extension opens.



| title =London Overground & Orbirail | publisher =alwaystouchout.com | date =[2006-12-07 | url =http://www.alwaystouchout.com/project/43#WatfordDC | accessdate = 2007-01-10 -->

| title =Investment Programme | publisher =[TfL | date = | url =http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/downloads/pdf/business-plan/2006/inv-prog-2007/02_London_Underground.pdf | accessdate = 2007-03-17 --> (see page 105 of 116)

| title =East London line facts | publisher =[TfL | date = 2007 | url =http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/corporate/modesoftransport/tube/linefacts/?line=east-london | accessdate = 2007-08-21 --> to allow it to be extended north from Whitechapel tube station along the old [Broad Street railway station (London) viaduct to Dalston then along the [North London Line to [Highbury & Islington station, and south to [West Croydon railway station, [Crystal Palace railway station and eventually [Clapham Junction railway station. When it reopens in [ (with the connection to Highbury & Islington due in 2011), it will be part of the new [London Overground network, not of the Underground; however, it will still be run by TfL.

Line upgrades Each line is being upgraded to improve capacity and reliability, with new computerised signalling, automatic train operation (ATO), track replacement and station refurbishment, and, where needed, new rolling stock.

| title =TfL Commissioner reveals plans to upgrade Circle, District, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan lines | publisher = [TfL | date =[2006-12-06 | url =http://www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/media/newscentre/4411.aspx | accessdate =2007-07-10 --> New trains will feature inter-car gangways enhancing passenger safety, regenerative braking leading to a 20-25% reduction in [Energy use and conservation in the United Kingdom#Carbon emissions, and improved acceleration and braking allowing an increase in train frequency. The last trains to be replaced, 75 District line trains, are currently receiving interim refurbishment. Lines that are currently served by six-car trains will get seven-car trains, once necessary platform-lengthening works are completed.

Upgrade programmes on the Waterloo & City line (without Automatic train operation) and Central Line are largely complete.

Other projects | title =Subsurface network (SSL) upgrade | publisher =alwaystouchout.com | date =[2006-12-07 | url =http://www.alwaystouchout.com/project/39 | accessdate = 2007-01-10 --> | publisher =[TfL | date = 2007-03-15 | url=http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/press-centre/press-releases/press-releases-content.asp?prID=1081 | accessdate =2007-03-16 --> At the earliest, the trial will start in April 2007, when coverage will be available on the platforms at [Waterloo station#Waterloo Underground station and [Bank and Monument stations stations. After this, coverage will be extended to the tunnel between the two stations. The trial will look at the viability of extending coverage across the rest of the Underground network.

Image TfL's Tube map and "roundel" logo are instantly recognisable by any Londoner, almost any Briton, and many people around the world. The original maps were often street maps with the lines superimposed, and the stylised Tube map evolved from a design by electrical engineer Harry Beck in 1931.{{cite web | last =Beck | first =Harry | authorlink =Harry Beck | title =Tube Map | publisher =[TfL | url =http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tube/themes/main/images/company/history/beckmap1.jpg | accessdate = 2007-01-10 --> Virtually every major urban rail system in the world now has a map in a similar stylised layout and many bus companies have also adopted the concept. TfL licences the sale of clothing and other accessories featuring its graphic elements and it takes legal action against unauthorised use of its trademarks and of the Tube map. Nevertheless, unauthorised copies of the logo continue to crop up worldwide. The phrase "[mind the gap," played when trains stop at certain platforms, has also become a well known catchphrase.

The roundel The origins of the roundel, in earlier years known as the 'bulls-eye' or 'target', are obscure. While the first use of a roundel in a London transport context was the 19th-century symbol of the London General Omnibus Company — a wheel with a bar across the centre bearing the word GENERAL — its usage on the Underground stems from the decision in 1908 to find a more obvious way of highlighting station names on platforms. The red circle with blue name bar was quickly adopted, with the word "UNDERGROUND" across the bar, as an early corporate identity.{{cite web | title =Logo | publisher =[London Transport Museum | date = | url =http://www.ltmuseum.co.uk/exhibitions/online_exhibitions/logo/index.html | accessdate = --> Not accessible [2007-01-10 The logo was modified by [Edward Johnston in 1919.

Each station displays the Underground roundel, often containing the station's name in the central bar, at entrances and repeatedly along the platform, so that the name can easily be seen by passengers on arriving trains.

The roundel has been used for buses and the tube for many years, and since Transport for London took control it has been applied to other transport types (taxi, Tramlink, Docklands Light Railway, etc.) in different colour pairs. The roundel has to some extent become a symbol for London itself.

Typography Edward Johnston designed TfL's distinctive sans-serif typeface, in 1916. "Johnston (typeface)", modified to include lower case, is still in use. It is noted for the curl at the bottom of the minuscule l, which other sans-serif typefaces have discarded, and for the diamond-shaped tittle on the minuscule i and j, whose shape also appears in the full stop, and is the origin of other punctuation marks in the face. TfL owns the copyright to and exercises control over the New Johnston typeface, but a close approximation of the face exists in the TrueType computer font Paddington.

Contribution to arts The Underground sponsors and contributes to the arts via its Platform for Art and Poems on the Underground projects. Poster and billboard space (and in the case of Gloucester Road tube station, an entire disused platform) is given over to artwork and poetry to "create an environment for positive impact and to enhance and enrich the journeys of ... passengers".{{cite web | title =Platform art | publisher =[TfL | url =http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tube/arts/platform-for-art | accessdate = 2007-01-10 --> In addition, some stations' walls are decorated in tile motifs unique to that station, such as profiles of Sherlock Holmes's head at Baker Street tube station, and a cross containing a crown at King's Cross St Pancras tube station. Oval tube station has cricket-themed decorations, with murals, statues and banners all celebrating the game. Unique Edwardian tile patterns, designed by Leslie Green and installed in the 1900s, were also used on the platforms of many of the Charles Yerkes-designed stations on the Bakerloo, Northern and Piccadilly lines. Many of these tile patterns survive, though a significant number of these are now replicas.

In popular culture The Underground has been featured in many movies and television shows, including Sliding Doors and Tube Tales; the London Underground Film Office handles over 100 requests per month. The Underground has also featured in music such as The Jam's "Down in the Tube Station at Midnight" and in literature such as the graphic novel V for Vendetta. Popular legends about the Underground being haunted persist to this day.

See also

References Further reading | last = Day | first = John R. | author-link = | last2 = Reed | first2 = John | author2-link = | title = The Story of London's Underground | place= | publisher = Capital Transport | year = 2001 | edition = | url = | id = --> | last = Garland | first = Ken | authorlink = | title = Mr. Beck's Underground Map | publisher = Capital Transport | date = 1994 | id = --> | last = Harris | first = Cyril M. | authorlink = | title = What's in a Name? The origins of st

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