History UsefulNotes / TheLondonUnderground

* There have been British rock bands named The London Underground, Subway Sect, Tubeway Army (led by Gary Numan) and Bakerloo.

In November 2007, Transport for London[[hottip:*:They used to italicise the "''for''"]] (the company that runs the network, nearly all of the buses and the tram system in Croydon) acquired some NationalRail lines, which became "London Overground" (one of these, the Gospel Oak to Barking line, is actually non-electrified and much of the rest is dual voltage). [=TfL=] also runs a tram system in the Croydon area, as well as a riverboat service.

The city's considerable age has led to several stations having wonderfully evocative names, including East India, Seven Sisters, Elephant & Castle, Tooting Bec, White City and the unintentionally hilarious Cockfosters.[[hottip:*:Though it's worth mentioning most of these stations are named after the places they are based in - the area names came before their respective stations.]] Try not to coo too much, though, because it will make your position as a tourist even more obvious. In fact, the best way to act on the Tube is to nonchalantly read a book (or the free papers that end up littering the cars), or else [[ZombieApocalypse stare straight ahead with dead eyes]].[[hottip:*:This is an interesting bit of human behaviour relating to personal space, very closely related to the UncomfortableElevatorMoment - but much longer, and going sideways. Normally, people -- or at least Brits -- would keep a bit more distance from each other, but that's just not practical in the pack cylinder shaped cars of the tube lines, so instead they retreat into the mind and ignore it.]] This tendency by London Tubegoers is often referenced in the rest of the country, with [[OopNorth Northerners]] claiming that they can (and do) easily find each other on a given Tube train due to being the only people who act as if there are other human beings present.

*** Disused Metropolitan Railway stations in Buckinghamshire - particularly Verney Junction, which is (barely) still in place but hardly sees any traffic [[hottip:*:One train per day, at around 2am, stops a few miles short for the engine to run-round the train]]

* In ''[[{{Narnia}} The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian]]'', Strand station becomes the Pevensie children's gateway to Narnia. In the book, this happened at an unnamed countryside train station, rather than in the Underground.[[hottip:*:In reality Strand station was renamed Aldwych in 1915.]]

The gauge is the same as main line trains, and there are some sections of track where the underground shares tracks with other trains. The Crossrail network, currently being built beneath central London, is ''not'' part of the Underground, although inevitably it will share stations with it.

The lines have their own names and associated colours. They are always referred to by their names though - say "Green line" instead of "District Line" and people will just be confused. To avoid inconveniencing the working population of London in general, repairs or other work on the lines are typically done on the weekends. The age of the Underground combined with an attempt to get through the upgrading project as fast as possible means that nowadays there are often three or four lines not running as normal.

Entire books have been written on the system, so we'll be brief here. The London Underground runs on a four-rail 630V direct current. It has 275 stations at present. Not all of the Underground is actually "underground"; much of it is (like many other subway systems) above the surface, over half in this case, with some "underground" stations in the open air (in fact some Underground trains share stations with NationalRail services). One line - The Docklands Light Railway - is almost entirely above the surface, run by a different company and has a different power system, but is counted as a part of the underground for ease of travelling.

The stations are all very different, varying from modern-day gleaming loveliness (most notably the new Jubilee line stations) to atmospheric Victorian gloom (Baker Street), with variations frequently occurring in the same station. A considerable number of the older stations are of listed building status (subject to preservation orders) and the architecture has been the subject of books. The deepest station is Hampstead, which has platforms 220 feet beneath the ground, largely due to a hill directly above it. It's best to take the lift when using these stations.

The lines have their own names and associated colours. They are always referred to by their names though - say "Green line" instead of "District Line" and people will just be confused. To avoid inconveniencing the working population of London in general, repairs or other work on the lines are typically done on the weekends.

* In ''[[{{Narnia}} The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian]]'', Strand station becomes the Pevensie children's gateway to Narnia. In the book, this happened at an unnamed countryside train station, rather than in the Underground.

* Ben Aaronovitch clearly loves the Underground because the third book in his ''RiversOfLondon'' series ''WhispersUnderGround'' (the clue is in the title) not only features the system heavily but all but one of the chapters is named after an Underground station.

* In ''ChildOfTheHive'', Will, Ben and Alex attempt to escape from Drew, who is chasing them, by going into the Underground and moving between lines.

* In many of her early appearances (including the cartoon) the ''XMen'' character Jubilee wore earrings shaped like the London Underground symbol for the Jubilee Line.

*** Disused Metropolitan Railway stations in Buckinghamshire - particularly Verney Junction, which is (barely) still in place but hardly sees any traffic [[hottip:One train per day, at around 2am, stops a few miles short for the engine to run-round the train]]

* One Under - The term used when someone goes under a train (fatally or not), be it as a result of attempted or actual suicide, murder or accident. Has turned up in fiction at least twice (as in ''Series/StateOfPlay''). Many drivers who are involved in a "One Under" don't drive a train again. Not exclusive to this system, of course. Many stations have areas under the tracks to stop people doing that sort of thing. Which is why there are pits underneath the rails at select deep tube stations to prevent people from being electrocuted - and these incidents are prevented at the underground stations on the 1999 extension of the Jubilee Line, since they were built with platform screen doors.

There are no express trains on the Underground. However, there is one section of track in west London which is shared between District Line trains (which stop at every station thereon) and Piccadilly Line trains (which don't).

* SinisterSubway
** There isn't a huge amount of abandoned construction in the system. There's the bit of the Jubilee line between Charing Cross and Green Park that was shut when the extension was opened, some unfinished stations, some closed ones and the Aldwych branch, but little else that's not above the surface. [[http://underground-history.co.uk/front.php The London Underground History]] is a private website covering many of these closed and unused stations.
** Don't forget the original King William Street station and tunnels of the CSLR. More abandoned tunnel mileage there than the rest of the examples put together...

** The station Mornington Cresent was probably chosen because it was closed for repairs for a long time, and appeared on the tube map crossed out - though it's back in use nowadays.
** Mornington Crescent (the game) started in 1978, well before the station was closed (early 1990s).
** It's more likely to do with it being the hardest station to get to - there are two Northern Line routes between Euston and Camden Town, but Mornington Crescent is only on the Charing Cross branch, which leads to a somewhat eccentric service pattern. Bewildered fans can occassionally be found standing on the Northern Line platforms trying to figure it out.

** The Music/AmateurTransplants, a comedy duo, also turned The Jam's "Going Underground" into [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHu_cfy33bY London Underground]] a song about the problems of commuting during a strike. [[ClusterFBomb It was rather profane.]]

* ''MusicVideos'' filmed at Underground stations include Howard Jones' "New Song" and Aqua's "Turn Back Time" (from the ''SlidingDoors'' soundtrack), both filmed at Holborn station; Boris Gardiner's "I Want To Wake Up With You", filmed at Westbourne Park station; and The Prodigy's "Firestarter", filmed at Aldwych (well, a tunnel rather than the station proper, but it's close enough).

* ''BrokenSword 2'' had a section set in the defunct station underneath the British Museum. There's a ghost. And a train comes even though the game acknowledges it's an abandoned station. It's all a bit weird.
** Most of the abandoned stations on the Underground, including British Museum, are closed stations on still-open lines, so it's normal for trains to come through them every few minutes.

* One episode of ''{{Thunderbirds}}'' invovles Scott and Virgil having to use abandoned London Underground Tunnels in order to get into the Bank of England's Vault.
** This is suprisingly realistic as the Central line in Central London (i.e., from Shepherds Bush to Liverpool Street) features many sharp curves to follow the streets above and avoid the basements of the many buildings already there when the line was built. One of the buildings it curves to avoid is the Bank of England, served by Bank station.
*** Except that they start at Piccadilly Circus, which means they'd need to change lines to reach Bank.

[[Film/AFishCalledWanda Not a political movement.]] {{London}}'s underground railway system is the oldest in the world - the first section opened in 1863 - and one of the best known. It's also known as The Tube due to the tubular shape of deep level stations and tunnels (the name of a number of TV and radio programmes, only one of which is Underground related). Due to the combination of metal, urine and anxious sweat, it has a smell all its own.

The Underground logo or Roundel is iconic and much-imitated, but it ''is'' a trademark and TfL claim to prosecute all unauthorised users.

* One of the levels in ''CallOfDutyModernWarfare 3'' involves the SAS being drawn into a pickup vs. train chase through an Underground tunnel, then a violent crash and a running gunfight through the station.[[/folder]]

* ''[[{{Uncharted}} Uncharted 3]]'' has the heroes escape from an underground base in London by breaking out into an abandoned tube station.[[/folder]]

* In ''HellgateLondon'', the London Underground is the base for the humans who have survived the [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt Demon Invasion]]. Shame none of the overground stuff remotely resembles London.

* The Literature/DoctorWhoNewAdventures novel ''Transit'' is set in a future where the Tube has combined with the [[TeleportersAndTransporters T-Mat teleporter network]] from "The Seeds of Death" to form a network of trains that "hop" through teleportation fields, linking all the planets in the solar system. There's even a holographic version of the Beck map, which clearly shows how the subspace tunnels connect by ignoring the planets themselves. The novel is about the attempt to make the first ''interstellar'' link, known as the Stellar Tunnel, or Stunnel (a parody of the Channel Tunnel). King's Cross is still the major interchange for different lines.
* The Author of ''Transit'' clearly loves the Underground because the third book in his RiversOfLondon series WhispersUnderGround (the clue is in the title) not only features the system heavily but all but one of the chapters is named after an Underground station.

** Reciprocating this, acknowledging the association with Holmes the tiling in the modern day Baker Street tube station features numerous silohettes of the detective with his iconic deerstalker and pipe. This resulted in a CelebrityParadox for the present-day {{Sherlock}} series which set in a world where the classic Holmes never existed, historically or as a literary character. Consequently series filming at "Baker Street" actually needed to be done in other, plainer, stations.

** Reciprocating this, courtesy of the association with Holmes the tiling in the modern day Baker Street tube station features numerous silohettes of the detective with his iconic deerstalker and pipe. This resulted in a CelebrityParadox for the present-day {{Sherlock}} series, set in a world where the classic character never existed. Consequently series filming at "Baker Street" actually needed to be done in other, plainer, stations.

* The ''Series/DoctorWho'' [[VirginNewAdventures New Adventures]] novel ''Transit'' is set in a future where the Tube has combined with the [[TeleportersAndTransporters T-Mat teleporter network]] from "The Seeds of Death" to form a network of trains that "hop" through teleportation fields, linking all the planets in the solar system. There's even a holographic version of the Beck map, which clearly shows how the subspace tunnels connect by ignoring the planets themselves. The novel is about the attempt to make the first ''interstellar'' link, known as the Stellar Tunnel, or Stunnel (a parody of the Channel Tunnel). King's Cross is still the major interchange for different lines.

Entire books have been written on the system, so we'll be brief here. The London Underground runs on a four-rail 630V direct current. It has 275 stations at present. Not all of the Underground is actually "underground"; much of it is (like many other subway systems) above the surface, over half in this case, with some "underground" stations in the open air (in fact some Underground trains share stations with NationalRail services). One line - The Docklands Light Railway - is almost entirely above the surface, run by a different company and has a different power system, but is counted as a part of the underground for ease of travelling.

* One Under - The term used when someone goes under a train (fatally or not), be it as a result of attempted or actual suicide, murder or accident. Has turned up in fiction at least twice (as in ''Series/{{State of Play}}''). Many drivers who are involved in a "One Under" don't drive a train again. Not exclusive to this system, of course. Many stations have areas under the tracks to stop people doing that sort of thing. Which is why there are pits underneath the rails at select deep tube stations to prevent people from being electrocuted - and these incidents are prevented at the underground stations on the 1999 extension of the Jubilee Line, since they were built with platform screen doors.
* Mornington Crescent is a {{Calvinball}} sort of game invented by ''Radio/ImSorryIHaventAClue'' where the "players" name stations off the Underground according to a "complex system of rules and strategies", the first to call "Mornington Crescent" being the winner. [[spoiler:The calling of stations is entirely random and there is no logic to it; the "gameplay" consists of convincing uninformed observers otherwise, or simply being entertaining in your citation of the non-existent rules]].

[[folder:ComicBooks]]

* In ''{{The Invisibles}}'', Tom O'Bedlam puts Jack Frost through a stage of his initiation in a disused tube station with hallucinogenic "Blue Mould" growing on the walls.

[[folder:{{Film}}]]

* The Film/JamesBond film ''Film/DieAnotherDay'' makes the rather big mistake of having a Piccadilly line station south of the river. For those who don't know the system, said line is entirely north of the Thames.

* Otto in ''{{A Fish Called Wanda}}'' needs it explained the London Underground is not a political resistance movement.

* In ''[[{{Narnia}} The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian]]'', Strand station becomes the Pevensie children's gateway to Narnia. In the book, this happened at an unnamed countryside train station, rather than in the Underground.

[[folder:{{Literature}}]]

* As noted in the Live Action TV section, a great deal of NeilGaiman's ''{{Neverwhere}}'' is set in these tunnels and other service and sewer tunnels of London.
* Martha Grimes' ''{{The Anodyne Necklace}}'' starts in the Underground, with a busker becoming involved in a mugging, and the resemblance of the Tube map to a RolePlayingGame dungeon becomes a plot point.

* In the {{Discworld}} novel ''Discworld/{{Thud}}'', dwarven tunnels under Ankh-Morpork are marked with the sign of the Long Dark - described identically to the London Underground logo. At the end of the novel these are gifted to the city - the next novel set there mentions ''The Undertaking'', a government project to convert these to civilian use...

* The novel ''Mind the Gap'' has a group of runaways living in abandoned tunnels of the London Underground.
* In ''{{Child of the Hive}}'', Will, Ben and Alex attempt to escape from Drew, who is chasing them, by going into the Underground and moving between lines.

[[folder:LiveActionTV]]

[[folder:{{Music}}]]

* Also in 1978, 10cc released "Shock on the Tube (Don't Want Love)" on their ''Bloody Tourists'' album. The singer thinks he's seen his dream girl on the Underground, but it turns out to be AllJustADream.

* Marillion's song ''Fugazi'' contains references to "Drowning in the liquid seize on the Piccadilly Line" while "Sheathed within the Walkman, wear a halo of distortion/An aural contraceptive aborting pregnant conversation".

[[/folder]]

[[folder:VideoGames]]

[[folder:WebComics]]

* ''Webcomic/GunnerkriggCourt'' has a subway system. While the Gunnerkrigg Underground is clearly a distinct system (the trains all use magnetic levitation), both the [[http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=319 sign]] and the general design of the station are unmistakable {{Shout Out}}s to the London Underground.

[[/folder]]

[[folder:WebOriginal]]

* Geoff Ryman's hypertext novel [[http://www.ryman-novel.com/ 253]] is a description of all of the passengers on a Bakerloo Line tube train, leading up to a disastrous crash (based on the real-world Moorgate disaster of 1975).

[[/folder]]


[[folder:WesternAnimation]]

* ''UndergroundErnie'' is a little-kids CGI cartoon starring Gary Lineker (former footy star and now ''MatchOfTheDay'' presenter) as the driver of a train-with-a-face on the fictional "International Underground" which is clearly modeled on the London one, complete with London Transport logo, and the living trains being named after Tube lines.
* ''TubeMice'' was a cartoon in the 1990s about a group of mice living in the London Underground. Notable mainly for the villains being played by George Cole and Dennis Waterman, in a clear parody of their ''{{Minder}}'' characters.
* One episode of ''{{Thunderbirds}}'' invovles Scott and Virgil having to use abandoned London Underground Tunnels in order to get into the Bank of England's Vault.
** This is suprisingly realistic as the Central line in Central London (i.e., from Shepherds Bush to Liverpool Street) features many sharp curves to follow the streets above and avoid the basements of the many buildings already there when the line was built. One of the buildings it curves to avoid is the Bank of England, served by Bank station.

The city's considerable age has led to several stations having wonderfully evocative names, including East India, Seven Sisters, Elephant & Castle, Tooting Bec, White City and the unintentionally hilarious Cockfosters.[[hottip:*:Though it's worth mentioning most of these stations are named after the places they are based in - the area names came before their respective stations.]] Try not to coo too much, though, because it will make your position as a tourist even more obvious. In fact, the best way to act on the Tube is to nonchalantly read a book (or the free papers that end up littering carriages), or else [[ZombieApocalypse stare straight ahead with dead eyes]].[[hottip:*:This is a interesting bit of human behaviour relating to personal space, very closely related to the UncomfortableElevatorMoment - but much longer, and going sideways. Normally, people -- or at least Brits -- would keep a bit more distance from each other, but that's just not practical in a packed tube carriage, so instead they retreat into the mind and ignore it.]] This tendency by London Tubegoers is often referenced in the rest of the country, with [[OopNorth Northerners]] claiming that they can (and do) easily find each other on a given Tube train due to being the only people who act as if there are other human beings present.

There are two different sizes of trains (although the gauge is the same), depending on how the original line was constructed, with larger trains for the older ones that were constructed by digging up the road, building the line and putting the road back on top ("sub-surface") and smaller ones for the ones bored underground ("deep-level"). And each line has different trains to suit the subtleties of each set of tracks (although the sub-surface lines are due to have a standardised set soon).

It is far from uncommon to see rats and mice happily scampering around on the lines and even sometimes on the platform. They survive on the multitude of food dropped by people passing through and anything else they can find. There are also [[UrbanLegends rumours]] of a colony of mosquitoes that got in when the lines were being dug, got trapped, and have now evolved so far as to be unbreedable with any other kind of mosquito -- kind of London's version of [[BigApplesauce alligators in the sewers]].

The Underground features in fiction quite a bit. Transport for London will let you film down there, with permission [[http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/corporate/media/lufilmoffice/ They even have a webpage dedicated to filming there]]. They'd happily let you do simple scenes down there, a murder or two at most, but they'd draw the line at a mass shoot-out or a terrorist attack (for obvious reasons). The places they'll often let you use are Aldwych (a closed station on a closed branch), the closed Jubilee Line platforms at Charing Cross and the closed Down Street station.

* One Under - The term used when someone goes under a train (fatally or not), be it as a result of attempted or actual suicide, murder or accident. Has turned up in fiction at least twice (as in ''Series/{{State of Play}}''). Many drivers who are involved in a "One Under" don't drive a train again. Not exclusive to this system, of course. Many stations have areas under the tracks to stop people doing that sort of thing.

** It's more likely to do with it being the hardest station to get to - there are two sets of lines between Euston and Camden, but Mornington Crescent is only on one of them, which leads to a somewhat eccentric service pattern. Bewildered fans can occassionally be found standing on Northern Line platforms trying to figure it out.

* ''Webcomic/GunnerkriggCourt'' has a subway system. While the Gunnerkrigg Underground is clearly a distinct system (the trains all use magnetic levitation), both the [[http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=319 sign]] and the general design of the station are unmistakable {{Shout Out}}s to the LondonUnderground.

[[AFishCalledWanda Not a political movement.]] {{London}}'s underground railway system is the oldest in the world - the first section opened in 1863 - and one of the best known. It's also known as The Tube due to the tubular shape of deep level stations and tunnels (the name of a number of TV and radio programmes, only one of which is Underground related). Due to the combination of metal, urine and anxious sweat, it has a smell all its own.