Myths

Underground myths, checked

The Tube collects stories. Here is what the sources say.

How this site works. Every fact is in our own words and linked to its source, beside it. Where good sources disagree, we show each version in a “Sources differ” box.

1. MythThe Tube was electric from the start.

   FactThe first trains were pulled by steam locomotives burning coke and, later, coal. Britannica 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

2. MythThe whole Underground is in deep tunnels.

   FactIt was built by ‘cut and cover’: a trench about ten metres wide and six metres deep was dug along the road, lined with brick walls and roofed with a brick arch, and the road was rebuilt on top. LT Museum, Victorian James Greathead’s tunnelling shield was pushed forward through the clay, and the tunnel behind it was lined with cast-iron rings to make a ‘tube’. LT Museum, Victorian

3. MythThe Tube map is a real map.

   FactThe map gave up geographical accuracy so that passengers could understand the network more quickly. LT Museum, Tube map

4. MythThe Tube map was an instant hit with the bosses.

   FactAt first the Underground’s publicity department rejected it as too revolutionary. LT Museum, Tube map It was an immediate success with passengers. LT Museum, Tube map

5. MythThe roundel was always a ring.

   FactThe roundel first appeared on station platforms in 1908, as a solid red disc with a blue bar across it, used as a station name board. LT Museum, roundel By 1917 the roundel had been redrawn to suit the new lettering: the solid disc became a ring, and it was registered as a trademark. LT Museum, roundel

6. MythThe Circle line goes round and round.

   FactSince December 2009 the Circle line has not been a closed circle: it runs from Hammersmith to Edgware Road via Aldgate. TfL

7. MythThe authorities opened the Tube as a shelter straight away.

   FactAt first the authorities did not want people sheltering in the Underground, but the Blitz changed their minds. LT Museum, shelters

8. MythThe first automatic passenger railway was built abroad.

   FactIt was the world’s first automatic passenger railway: at the press of a button, the train closed its doors and drove itself to the next station. TfL

9. MythIt has always been run by one organisation.

   FactIn 1908 the separate companies began promoting the system together under the name ‘Underground’. LT Museum, short history 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

10. MythThe first line opened in a few months.

    FactWork began in 1860. LT Museum Building it took nearly two years and caused huge disruption; one complaint said a great street had been ‘turned into a builder’s yard’. LT Museum, Met line