Dave the Taxi Driver's

 

Guide to London

London Underground (Tube)



The Tube, as it is usually known, first opened in 1863 as The Metropolitan Railway. It now has over 250 miles of track and 268 stations and has an extensive network which covers London including Heathrow Airport, and also out to parts of the Home Counties. Quite a lot of the system, about 55%, is not underground.

The Tube does not extend as far south as it does to the north west and east I believe, because the land was so marshy south of the River Thames that it was always more difficult to bore with tunnels.

There are twelve tube lines. These are their respective colours as depicted on the London Underground Map:-

Bakerloo

Central

Circle

District

East London

Hammersmith and City

Jubilee

Metropolitan

Northern

Piccadilly

Victoria

Waterloo and City

London Underground Map

(Click on Map to see full size so it is actually readable)

The first tube trains start around 05.15am and run until and just after midnight.

We are all being advised now to carry bottles of water when travelling on the Tube. It can get very hot down there during the summer. Sometimes there are delays that cause trains to stop for some minutes or longer, so it makes sense not to let yourself dehydrate. I am told that it takes an average of three minutes to travel from station to station. It is therefore easy to calculate any journey time.There are six fare zones within the Tube network, Zone 1 being the most central. Make sure you get the correct ticket for the zone through which you are travelling. Or buy an Oyster Card. You can also use a Travelcard which can be put on your Oyster Card. Travelcards can be bought at all stations, tourist offices and many other outlets which display the Travelcard sign.



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