Under London since 1863

The London Underground: the world’s first underground railway.

It began with steam trains in a brick-lined trench and grew into 11 lines and 272 stations. Along the way it gave the world the deep tube, a famous map and a famous sign, and sheltered Londoners through two wars. Every fact is linked to its source, and there is a quiz at the end.

Start in 1863 Take the quiz

An underground platform under a long curved brick roof, lit by round lamps, with a red and blue roundel sign on the wall — The Circle and Hammersmith & City line platforms at Baker Street, January 2024.Picture: The wub, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (cropped and resized)

1863the first line opens LT Museum, short history

11 linesand 272 stations today LT Museum, short history

5 millionjourneys a day, at most LT Museum, short history

750,000copies of Beck’s first map LT Museum, Beck

The short version

The world’s first underground railway opened in London in 1863, to ease the congestion in the streets. LT Museum, short history

The City & South London Railway, the world’s first deep-level electric railway, opened in November 1890, between King William Street in the City and Stockwell. LT Museum, Victorian

In 1933 all of London’s buses, trams, trolleybuses and Underground railways came under public ownership. LT Museum, short history

London Underground became part of Transport for London in 2003. TfL

Generations of Londoners have called it ‘the Tube’. TfL

Sources don’t always agree on the details, such as how long the first line was. Where they differ, we show each figure side by side.

A Victorian engraving of a deep trench along a city street, with workmen, timber props and a half-built brick tunnel — Building the Metropolitan Railway near King’s Cross, an engraving of 1861.Picture: Percy William Justyne, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (cropped and resized)

When the first part of each of today’s 11 lines opened (our chart, from the sourced dates).Drawing: our own, simplified and not to scale

Explore

1863Steam under the streets.

The deep tubesShields, iron rings and electric trains.

The linesFrom one line to eleven.

The mapHarry Beck’s straight lines.

The roundelA red disc becomes a famous sign.

WartimeSleeping on the platforms.

Tile pictures are credited on their pages and on the credits page.

Try the games

A 12-question quiz, a myth-or-fact challenge, and a year dial that shows what the Underground was like in any year from 1863.

Play now