LONDON UNDERGROUND

Publié par thomassaintdizier le

Here’s the first all English paper in LesWagonsLits.Wordpress.com !

Opened in January 1863 between Bishop’s Road (station named after Paddington) and Farrington Street, with a little part of the Metropolitan Line, the London Tube carried 30,000 persons per day with a train every 10 minuts.

Today composed by 11 lines, some 270 stations and about 261 mi (420 km) of tracks, circulated at a maximum speed of 62mph (100km/h), the tube carried 1,350 billions persons per year (5 millions persons per day).

FOCUS

The Metropolitan Line is today 41 mi (66.4 km) long and buildt by the covered trench technique : the road were opened to put the tracks underground and then covered by the road. With this technique, the tracks are not very deep under the road and the buildings and it create a significant noise pollution. The developement of new technologies and the drilling of tunnels make the tracks are buried deeper and it was possible to cross the River Thames.

TRAINS

Eight generations of trains divided in « Stocks » built from 1972 to 2014 provide the service of the oldest subway in the world. On the picture, on the Northern Line at the Waterloo Station, there’s a « 1995 Stock », with a capacity of 914 places including 200 seats, built by Alstom in Birmingham. This line, opened in 1890 is the most crowded of the network.

« Open » buttons on the doors of the Jubilee Line trains

TERRORIST ATTACK

The London Underground, was attacked at the same time the 7th july 2005 at the Liverpool Street station, the Edgware Road station and between the King’s Cross and Russel Square stations. The government took imediately many special measures to protect the population, the institutions and Buckingham Palace with the help of the Army.

SYMBOLS

The Roundel with the red circle and the blue bar in the middle is probably the most popular symbol of the London Underground. Used since 1908 it indicate the name of the stations and, on the street, the entry of the stations.

The yellow line on the platforms with the white mention « Mind the Gap » is a symbol too. Initialy recorded in 1968 as a vocal message broadcasted on the stations for travelers in order to take care of the space who can exist between the train and the platform when the tracks are in curve.