London Underground celebrates 160th anniversary

The London Underground celebrates its 160th birthday today, 10 January, making it the oldest underground network in the world.

In 1863, the transport network opened as the Metropolitan Railway between Paddington and Farringdon using gas-lit wooden carriages pulled by steam locomotives.

Nowadays the Tube handles more than five million passenger journeys every day, a far cry from the 38,000 it carried on its opening day.

The network now consists of 11 lines, the latest addition being the Elizabeth Line which opened in May 2022.

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