London Underground Transport - The Tube

The Tube is London’s underground transport system serving a large part of Greater London and some parts of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire. It is the world’s oldest underground railway which commenced operation on 10 January 1863. The tube has eleven lines serving 270 stations and is operated by Transport for London. It is the second largest metro system in the world with a 402 kilometre track. The tube lines are categorized as Sub-surface and deep-level lines.

Travelling into the city in the tube is safe, fast and reliable. You need not worry about road traffic; you can reach your destination on time. The trains operate between 5.00 am and 1pm except some limited services on some special holidays.

For passenger comfort and safety each line of the Tube is being upgraded. Automatic train operation, new computerized signaling, station renovation and some additional facilities are being developed.

The ticketing fares are calculated using Travelcard zones of TfL. In ticket offices, there are ticket machines usable at anytime. These machines accept coins, notes and cards. TfL introduced the Oyster Card in 2003 to pay for travel. It’s a smartcard with a contact less RFID chip and travellers can credit and charge their cards for travel. The Card can also load travel cards. Travellers can use the card on the Underground, buses, trams, the Docklands Light Railway and National Rail services within London. It is cheaper than any other means and passengers are recommended to use these cards instead of Travelcards.

Travelling in the Tube is convenient if you do not have too much luggage with you. For every 5 to 10 minutes you have trains operating across different stations. Travel fare for children under five years is absolutely free.

The escalators in the tube stations operate on all days. The largest one being at Angel Station operating for 20 hours on all days and serving 13,000 travellers per hour.

The Tube contributes to the arts through its Art on the Underground and Poems on the Underground projects.

The Tube Film Office receives more than 100 requests every month. The Tube has been featured in many Television shows and movies like Sliding Doors, Creep, Tube Tales and Neverwhere. It has also been featured in many music industry pieces and novels.

TfL has planned to have a complete network of stations to access all stations by 2020. It has a plan to provide step free access in the stations.

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