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London Underground

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   CAPTION: London Underground

       Locale      Greater London and Chiltern, Epping Forest, Three Rivers,
                   Watford
    Transit type   Electrified Metro Railway
   Began operation 1863
    System length  408 km / 253 miles
    No. of lines   twelve
   No. of stations 274
   Daily ridership 2.671 million (approximately)
     Track gauge   1435  mm (4  ft 8½  in)
      Operator     Transport for London

   The London Underground is an all-electric metro railway system that
   covers much of the conurbation of Greater London and some neighbouring
   areas. It is the world's oldest underground system, and is the largest
   in terms of route length. Service began on 10 January 1863 on the
   Metropolitan Railway; most of that initial route is now part of the
   Hammersmith & City Line. Despite its name, about 55% of the network is
   above ground. Popular local names include the Underground and, more
   colloquially, the Tube, in reference to the cylindrical shape of the
   system's deep-bore tunnels.

   The Underground currently serves 274 stations and runs over 408 km
   (253  miles) of lines. There are also a number of former stations and
   tunnels that are now closed. In 2004–2005, total passenger journeys
   reached a record level of 976 million, an average of 2.67 million per
   day.

   Since 2003, the Underground has been part of Transport for London
   (TfL), which also administers Greater London's buses, including the
   famous red double-deckers, and carries out numerous other
   transport-related functions in the region; as London Underground
   Limited it was previously a subsidiary of London Regional Transport, a
   statutory corporation.

History

   The nickname "the Tube" comes from the circular tube-like tunnels
   through which the small-profile trains travel. This photograph shows a
   southbound Northern Line train leaving a tunnel just north of Hendon
   Central station.
   Enlarge
   The nickname "the Tube" comes from the circular tube-like tunnels
   through which the small-profile trains travel. This photograph shows a
   southbound Northern Line train leaving a tunnel just north of Hendon
   Central station.

Beginnings

   The Metropolitan Railway, the first section of the London Underground,
   initially ran between Paddington (Bishop's Bridge), now just
   Paddington, and Farringdon Street, a temporary station just north-west
   of the present Farringdon station, and was the world's first urban
   underground passenger-carrying railway. Following delays for financial
   and other reasons after the railway was authorised in 1854, public
   traffic began on 10 January 1863. 40,000 passengers were carried that
   day, with trains running every ten minutes; by 1880 the expanded 'Met'
   was carrying 40 million passengers a year. Other lines swiftly
   followed, and by 1884 the Inner Circle (today's Circle Line) was
   complete.

   These early lines used steam-hauled trains, which required effective
   ventilation to the surface. An interesting example of this can be seen
   at 23-24, Leinster Gardens, W2. These houses were demolished for the
   construction of the then District Line between Paddington and
   Bayswater. However, to 'keep up appearances' in what still is a
   well-to-do street, a 5-foot thick concrete facade was constructed to
   resemble a genuine house frontage.

   Advances in electric traction later allowed tunnels to be deeper
   underground than the original cut-and-cover method allowed, and
   deep-level tunnel design improved, including the use of tunnelling
   shields. The City & South London Railway (now part of the Northern
   Line), the first "deep-level" line and electrically operated, opened in
   1890.

Into the 20th century

   In the early 20th century, the presence of six independent operators
   running different Underground lines caused passengers substantial
   inconvenience; in many places passengers had to walk some distance
   above ground to change between lines. The costs associated with running
   such a system were also heavy, and as a result many companies looked to
   financiers who could give them the money they needed to expand into the
   lucrative suburbs as well as electrify the earlier steam operated
   lines. The most prominent of these was Charles Yerkes, an American
   tycoon who between 1900 and 1902 acquired the Metropolitan District
   Railway and the as yet unbuilt Charing Cross, Euston & Hampstead
   Railway (later to become part of the Northern Line). Yerkes also
   acquired the Great Northern & Strand Railway, the Brompton & Piccadilly
   Circus Railway (jointly to become the Great Northern, Piccadilly &
   Brompton Railway, the core of the Piccadilly Line) and the Baker Street
   & Waterloo Railway (to become the Bakerloo Line) to form Underground
   Electric Railways of London Company Ltd on 9 April 1902. That company
   also owned three tramway companies and went on to buy the London
   General Omnibus Company, creating an organisation colloquially known as
   the Combine. On 1 January 1913 the UERL absorbed two other independent
   tube lines, the C&SLR and the Central London Railway, the latter having
   opened an important east-west cross-city line from Bank to Shepherd's
   Bush on 30 July 1900.

The 1930s and 1940s

   In 1933, a public corporation called the London Passenger Transport
   Board (LPTB) was created. The Combine and all the municipal and
   independent bus and tram undertakings were merged into the LPTB, an
   organisation that approximated in scope to TfL. It set in train a
   scheme for expansion of the network, the 1935–1940 New Works plan,
   which was to extend some lines, and to take over the operation of
   others from the main-line companies; however, the outbreak of World War
   II froze all these schemes. From mid-1940, the Blitz led to the use of
   many Underground stations as air-raid shelters, first on an ad hoc
   basis, which the authorities tried to prevent, but later with proper
   bunks, latrines, and catering facilities.

Post-war developments

   A London Underground 1995 Stock train pulls into Mornington Crescent
   station on the Northern Line.
   Enlarge
   A London Underground 1995 Stock train pulls into Mornington Crescent
   station on the Northern Line.

   Following the war, travel congestion continued to rise. The carefully
   planned Victoria Line on a diagonal northeast-southwest alignment
   beneath central London absorbed much of the extra traffic. The
   Piccadilly Line was extended to Heathrow Airport in 1977, and the
   Jubilee Line was opened in 1979, taking over part of the Bakerloo Line,
   with new tunnels between Baker Street and Charing Cross. In 1999 the
   Jubilee was extended to Stratford in London's East End, including the
   completely refurbished interchange station at Westminster, in several
   stages.

   Since January 2003, the Underground has been operated as a
   Public-Private Partnership (PPP), where the infrastructure and rolling
   stock are maintained by private companies under 30-year contracts, but
   it remains publicly owned and operated, by TfL. See History of the
   London Underground for full details.

Network

   Zone 1 (central zone) of the Underground network in a more
   geographically accurate layout than the usual Tube map, using the same
   style
   Enlarge
   Zone 1 (central zone) of the Underground network in a more
   geographically accurate layout than the usual Tube map, using the same
   style

   The Underground does not run 24 hours a day, because all track
   maintenance must be done at night - after the system closes. First
   trains on the network start operating shortly after 5 a.m. with the
   last trains running until around 1 a.m. Unlike systems such as the New
   York City Subway, few parts of the Underground have express tracks that
   would allow trains to be routed around maintenance sites. Recently,
   greater use has been made of weekend closures of parts of the system
   for scheduled engineering work.

Rolling stock

   1996 Tube Stock trains stabled at Stratford Market Depot
   Enlarge
   1996 Tube Stock trains stabled at Stratford Market Depot

   The Underground uses rolling stock built between 1960 and 1996. Stock
   on sub-surface lines is identified by a letter (such as A Stock, used
   on the Metropolitan Line), while tube stock is identified by the year
   in which it was designed (for example, 1996 Stock, used on the Jubilee
   Line). All lines are worked by a single type of stock except the
   District Line, which uses both C and D Stock. Two types of stock are
   currently being developed — 2009 Stock for the Victoria Line and S
   stock for the sub-surface lines, with the Metropolitan Line A Stock
   being replaced first. Rollout of both is expected to begin about 2009.

   For more information on the Underground's rolling stock, see London
   Underground rolling stock.

Stations

   The Underground usually serves 274 stations, but one station is closed
   temporarily: Regents Park, due to reopen in June 2007.

   The total above excludes Shoreditch, which is permanently closed.
   However, it is served by a replacement bus service until Shoreditch
   High Street station opens as part of the East London Line Extension.

   Fourteen stations are outside Greater London, of which five are beyond
   the M25 London Orbital motorway.

          See also: List of London Underground stations, Closed London
          Underground stations.

Lines

          See also: Fourth Rail

   The Underground is one of the few railways electrified on the four-rail
   system. In addition to the two running rails there are two rails that
   supply power to the trains, one outside the running rails electrified
   at +420 V DC, the other in the middle at -210 V, producing an overall
   traction supply voltage of 630 V.

   The table below lists each line, the colour used to represent it on
   Tube maps, the date the first section opened (not necessarily under the
   current line name), the date it gained its current name, and the type
   of tunnel used.

   CAPTION: London Underground lines

   Name Map colour First section
   opened Name dates
   from Type Length
   /km Length
   /miles Stations Journeys
   per annum (000's)
   Bakerloo Line Brown 1906 1906 Deep level 23.2 14.5 25 95,947
   Central Line Red 1900 1900 Deep level 74 46 49 183,582
   Circle Line Yellow 1884 1949 Sub-surface 22.5 14 27 68,485
   District Line Green 1868 1868-1905 Sub-surface 64 40 60 172,879
   East London Line Orange 1869 1980s Sub-surface 7.4 4.6 8 10,429
   Hammersmith & City Line Pink 1863 1988 Sub-surface 26.5 16.5 28 45,845
   Jubilee Line Silver 1879 1979 Deep level 36.2 22.5 27 127,584
   Metropolitan Line Magenta 1863 1863 Sub-surface 66.7 41.5 34 53,697
   Northern Line Black 1890 1937 Deep level 58 36 50 206,734
   Piccadilly Line Dark Blue 1906 1906 Deep level 71 44.3 52 176,177
   Victoria Line Light Blue 1968 1968 Deep level 21 13.25 16 161,319
   Waterloo & City Line Teal 1898 1898 Deep level 2.5 1.5 2 9,616

Sub-surface versus tube lines

   Underground trains come in two sizes, larger sub-surface trains and
   smaller tube trains. A Metropolitan Line A Stock train (left) passes a
   Piccadilly Line 1973 Stock train (right) in the siding at Rayners Lane
   Enlarge
   Underground trains come in two sizes, larger sub-surface trains and
   smaller tube trains. A Metropolitan Line A Stock train (left) passes a
   Piccadilly Line 1973 Stock train (right) in the siding at Rayners Lane

   Lines on the Underground can be classified into two types: sub-surface
   and deep level. The sub-surface lines were dug by the cut-and-cover
   method, with the tracks running about 5  m below the surface. Trains on
   the sub-surface lines slightly exceed the standard British loading
   gauge. The deep-level or "tube" lines, bored using a tunnelling shield,
   run about 20 m below the surface (although this varies considerably),
   with each track in a separate tunnel lined with cast-iron rings. These
   tunnels can have a diameter as small as 3.56 m (11 ft 8.25  in) and the
   loading gauge is thus considerably smaller than on the sub-surface
   lines. Lines of both types usually emerge onto the surface outside the
   central area, except the Victoria Line, which is in tunnel except for
   its depot, and the very short Waterloo & City Line, which has no
   non-central part and no surface section. Only 45% of the Underground is
   in tunnel.

South of the Thames

   The lack of lines south of the Thames is sometimes attributed to the
   geology of that area, the region being almost one large aquifer.
   Another reason is that during the great period of tube-building in the
   early 20th century south London was already well served by the
   efficiently-run suburban lines of the London and South Western Railway
   and the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway, then being
   electrified, which obviated Underground expansion into those areas.
   (Railways to the north and west could focus on long-distance traffic,
   and so were less interested in the suburbs.) More recently, the
   Docklands Light Railway, built to serve east London, has been extended
   to Lewisham. Of the 33 London boroughs, only Kingston, Bexley, Bromley,
   Sutton and Croydon - all south of the Thames - have no Underground
   stations.

International connections

   The Underground serves Waterloo, for Eurostar trains, and Heathrow
   Airport. The latter is slow (52 minutes nominal from Green Park via the
   Piccadilly Line) and often crowded, but is much cheaper than the
   Heathrow Express.

Ticketing

   London Underground One-Day Travelcard
   Enlarge
   London Underground One-Day Travelcard

   The Underground uses TfL's Travelcard zones to calculate fares.
   Travelcard Zone 1 is the most central, with a boundary just beyond the
   Circle Line, and Zone 6 is the outermost and includes London Heathrow
   Airport. Stations on the Metropolitan Line outside Greater London are
   in special Zones A to D.

   There are staffed ticket offices, some open for limited periods only,
   and ticket machines usable at any time. Some machines that sell a
   limited range of tickets accept coins only, other touch-screen machines
   accept coins and English (but not Northern Irish or Scottish) bank
   notes, and usually give change. These machines also accept major credit
   and debit cards: some newer machines accept cards only.

Summary of ticket types

   The following tickets are available from London Underground and TfL
   ticket agents for use on the Underground:
   Ticket Paper Oyster Off peak version Notes
   Single Yes Yes Yes (on Oyster) Paper tickets are more expensive.
   Day Travelcard Yes No Yes The maximum daily spend on Oyster is capped
   at 50p below the Travelcard price.
   3-day Travelcard Yes No Yes
   Weekly Travelcard No Yes No
   Monthly Travelcard No Yes No Requires registration.
   Annual Travelcard No Yes No Requires registration.

   Detailed information on tickets and fares is available from the
   Transport for London website.

Penalty fares and fare evasion

   In addition to automatic and staffed ticket gates, the Underground is
   patrolled by both uniformed and plain-clothes ticket inspectors with
   hand-held Oyster card readers. Passengers travelling without a ticket
   valid for their entire journey are required to pay a £20 penalty fare
   or face prosecution for fare evasion. Oyster pre-pay users who have
   failed to 'touch in' at the start of their journey are also considered
   to be travelling without a valid ticket. Fare evaders can be prosecuted
   under the Regulation of Railways Act 1889 and can face a fine of up to
   £1,000 or three months' imprisonment.

Station access

   Escalators at Bank station on the Northern Line.
   Enlarge
   Escalators at Bank station on the Northern Line.

   Accessibility by people with mobility problems was not considered when
   most of the system was built, and older stations are inaccessible to
   disabled people. Whilst recently-built stations have been designed for
   accessibility, retrofitting accessibility features to old stations is
   prohibitively expensive and technically extremely difficult due to the
   design issues mentioned above. Even when escalators and lifts are
   already fitted, there are often further flights of steps between the
   lift or escalator landings and the platforms.

   TfL produces a map indicating which stations are accessible, and the
   more recent (2004) line maps indicate with a wheelchair symbol those
   stations that provide step-free access from street level. Step height
   from platform to train is up to 200  mm, and there can be a large gap
   between the train and curved platforms. Only the Jubilee Line Extension
   is completely accessible. TfL's plan is that by 2020 there should be a
   network of over 100 fully accessible stations. This consists of those
   already accessible (recently built or rebuilt, and a handful of
   suburban stations that happen to have level access) along with selected
   'key stations', which will be rebuilt. These key stations have been
   chosen due to high usage, interchange potential, and geographic spread,
   so that up to 75% of journeys will be achievable step-free.

   While many stations on the surface involve a short flight of stairs to
   gain access from street level, virtually all underground stations use
   some of the system's 410 escalators (each going at a speed of 145  ft
   per minute, approximately 1.65  miles per hour) 112 lifts, or a
   combination of both. There are also some lengthy walks and further
   flights of steps required to gain access to the correct platform once
   underground.

   The escalators in Underground stations are among the longest in Europe
   and all are custom-built. They run 20 hours a day, 364 days a year and
   cope with 13,000 people per hour, with 95% of them operational at any
   one time. Convention and signage dictate that people using escalators
   on the Underground stand on the right-hand side, walk on the left.

Safety

   Westminster station — extensive support structures are required because
   Portcullis House is above.
   Enlarge
   Westminster station — extensive support structures are required because
   Portcullis House is above.

Suicides

   The Underground has an excellent passenger safety record. Most
   fatalities on the network are suicides. Most platforms at deep tube
   stations have pits beneath the track, originally constructed to aid
   drainage of water from the platforms, but they also help prevent death
   or serious injury when a passenger falls or jumps in front of a train.
   These pits are known colloquially as "suicide pits". Delays resulting
   from a person jumping or falling in front of a train as it pulls into a
   station are announced as "passenger action" or "a person under a
   train", and are referred to by staff as a "one under". The Jubilee Line
   extension is the first line to have platform edge doors. These prevent
   people from falling or jumping onto the tracks, although their main
   purpose is to contain the blast of air created by trains.

Accidents

   The London Underground network carries almost a billion passengers a
   year. It is one of the safest mass transport systems in the world, with
   just one fatal accident for every 300 million journeys.

Terrorism

   London Underground is an important part of everyday life of hundreds of
   thousands of Londoners. This makes it a prime target for terrorists.
   Several attempts have been made to disrupt the London Underground, a
   number of them have succeeded in doing this.

Overcrowding

   Relatively few accidents are caused by overcrowding on the platforms,
   and staff monitor platforms and passageways at busy times and prevent
   people entering the system if they become overcrowded. Camden Town
   station is exit-only on Sunday afternoons (13:00–17:30) for this
   reason, and Covent Garden has access restrictions at times due to
   overcrowding.

Smoking

   Smoking was banned on all trains in July 1984. The ban was extended,
   for a six-month trial, to all parts of the Underground in summer 1987,
   and this was made permanent after the King's Cross fire in November
   1987. Smoking anywhere on Underground stations and trains is punishable
   by a large fine.

Photography

   While photography for personal use is permitted in public areas of the
   Underground, tripods and other supports are forbidden due to the often
   cramped spaces and crowds found underground. Flash is also forbidden
   due to its potential to distract drivers and disrupt fire-detection
   equipment. As their effects are often similar to those of flash, bright
   auto-focus assist lights should also be switched off or covered up when
   photographing the Underground.

Safety culture

   The Underground's staff safety regimen has drawn criticism. In January
   2002, the Underground was fined £225,000 for breaching safety standards
   for workers. In court, the judge reprimanded the company for
   "sacrificing safety" to keep trains running "at all costs." Workers had
   been instructed to work in the dark with the power rails live, even
   during rainstorms. Several workers had received electric shocks as a
   result.

Age

   Due to a combination of the age of the system and significant
   under-funding in the past, some parts of the Underground's
   infrastructure are substantially older than their equivalents in other
   cities. Recently, one of the private infrastructure companies, Tube
   Lines, was reported to be using eBay to find spare parts for some of
   its equipment because they were not available any other way.

The future

Planned investment

   The British government has promised £16 billion of funding until 2030,
   with early priorities to cut delays and improve reliability, including
   refurbishments of lifts and escalators, more thorough cleaning and a
   new station serving the new Wembley Stadium. The Victoria Line will
   receive new signalling systems and 47 new trains, and other lines will
   have renewal of track and equipment. The Jubilee Line received four new
   trains and 59 new cars in December 2005, bringing the total to 63
   seven-car sets, built by Alstom. It is also scheduled to receive £160
   million for new signalling equipment from Alcatel Canada Transport
   Automation Solutions. The Victoria Line and sub-surface lines will
   receive 1,738 new cars between 2008 and 2015, to be built in Derby. The
   Bakerloo Line will not receive new trains until 2019, with
   supplementary stock likely coming from the Victoria Line. The
   sub-surface lines will receive 190 new trains, built by Bombardier,
   meaning all trains will be of the same design, giving easier
   maintenance. New trains will feature inter-car gangways enhancing
   passenger safety, and improved acceleration and braking allowing an
   increase in train frequency, in the case of the Victoria Line from 28
   trains per hour to 33. The last trains to be replaced, 75 District Line
   trains, are currently receiving interim refurbishment.

   Westinghouse Rail Systems Ltd will continue to supply signalling
   equipment; 75% of control equipment has been supplied by Westinghouse.

Cooling

   In summer, temperatures on parts of the Underground can become very
   uncomfortable due to its deep and poorly ventilated tube tunnels:
   temperatures as high as 47°C were reported in the 2006 European heat
   wave. Conventional air conditioning has been ruled out on the deep
   lines because of the lack of space for equipment on trains and the
   problems of dispersing the waste heat this would generate. A year-long
   trial of a groundwater cooling system began in June 2006 at Victoria
   station. If successful the trial will be extended to 30 other
   deep-level stations. There are posters on the Underground suggesting
   that passengers carry a bottle of water to help keep cool.

   Sub-surface tunnels are more capable of dispersing waste heat. The new
   S Stock trains due to be delivered from 2009 will have
   air-conditioning.

Planned and proposed extensions

Piccadilly Line extension to Terminal 5

   A diagram at Ealing Common, showing the layout of the Piccadilly Line
   at London Heathrow Airport once the T5 Extension opens.
   Enlarge
   A diagram at Ealing Common, showing the layout of the Piccadilly Line
   at London Heathrow Airport once the T5 Extension opens.

   A new station is being built on the Piccadilly Line to serve Terminal 5
   of Heathrow Airport. The extension (called PiccEx) consists of a
   two-platform station, two sidings where trains can be stabled,
   approximately 3 km of 4.5 m diameter bored tunnels, a ventilation shaft
   and two escape shafts. Civil works for the two tunnels, the ventilation
   shaft, one escape shaft and the structure of T5 station have been
   completed and track is being installed. The junction between PiccEx and
   the Heathrow Loop is being constructed: this work required that the
   tunnel between Terminal 4 and Terminals 1,2,3 was out of service until
   17 September 2006. The extension is due to open in 2008. Terminal 5
   will be staffed by airport staff, trained and licensed by the
   Underground. Trains will run from Hatton Cross to platform 1 at
   Heathrow Terminals 1,2,3, thence to Terminal 5.

East London Line extension

   Preparations are under way to extend the East London Line (ELL) both
   northwards and southwards. Shoreditch station closed in June 2006 and
   the line north of Whitechapel will be diverted to run on the old Broad
   Street viaduct - to Dalston and along the North London Line to Highbury
   & Islington, to provide interchange with the Victoria Line. To the
   south, two branches are planned, mainly using existing railway lines.
   The first will run to West Croydon, with a spur to Crystal Palace, the
   second to Clapham Junction. The extension to Clapham Junction is
   currently unfunded.

   The initial stations north of Whitechapel will be:
     * Shoreditch High Street
     * Hoxton
     * Haggerston
     * Dalston Junction

   The East London Line will therefore become a more important transport
   artery, and when the extension is open it will be operated as part of
   the London Overground, and will no longer be part of the Underground,
   although services will still be provided by Transport for London, and
   the line will almost certainly remain on the Tube map as the entire
   London Overground system is likely to be depicted there. If the
   extension to Clapham Junction is built, the London Overground system
   will contain the proposed 'Orbital Rail route' (see Orbirail).

Bakerloo Line re-extension to Watford

   The Bakerloo line originally ran to Watford Junction via Watford High
   Street, but was cut back to Harrow & Wealdstone station in late 1982.
   Recently plans for the re-extension have been approved as part of TfL's
   plans to manage some of North London's railways. However, when the
   re-extension will take place has not been disclosed.

Metropolitan Line works in Watford

   TfL, together with Hertfordshire County Council, plans to connect the
   Watford branch of the Metropolitan Line to the disused Croxley Green
   National Rail branch, although it is most likely for the extension to
   join the branch between the abandoned Croxley Green and Watford West
   stations, with a new station being added at Ascot Road as a replacement
   for Croxley Green and Watford West being heavily refurbished. This will
   bring the Underground back to central Watford and the important main
   line station of Watford Junction. If this happens the current Watford
   (Metropolitan) station will close.

Proposed interchanges

West Hampstead interchange

   There are plans in the future to turn these collection of stations into
   one large interchange. Also, the Metropolitan Line and Chiltern
   Railways will gain new platforms. In order to carry this out, the
   streets around the stations have to be remodelled. See and

Walthamstow interchange

   TfL as well as Waltham Forest have proposed to link Walthamstow Central
   station with Walthamstow Queens Road railway station via varying paths
   or using a subway. This will mean better interchange between the two
   stations.

Image

Iconography

   TfL's Tube map ( pdf) and " roundel" logo are instantly recognisable by
   any Londoner, almost any Briton, and many people around the world. The
   original maps were often street-maps with the location of the lines
   superimposed, and the stylised Tube map evolved from a design by
   electrical engineer Harry Beck in 1931. See Tube map for an in-depth
   analysis of its history and its topological nature. The map has been
   such a successful concept that virtually every major urban rail system
   in the world now has a map in a similar stylised layout. Many bus
   companies have also adopted the concept.

The roundel

   The origins of the roundel, in earlier years known as the 'bulls-eye'
   or 'target', are more obscure. While the first use of a roundel in a
   London transport context was the 19th-century symbol of the London
   General Omnibus Company — a wheel with a bar across the centre bearing
   the word GENERAL — its usage on the Underground stems from the decision
   in 1908 to find a more obvious way of highlighting station names on
   platforms. The red disc with blue name bar was quickly adopted, with
   the word "UNDERGROUND" across the bar, as an early corporate identity.
   The logo was modified by Edward Johnston in 1919.

   Each station displays the Underground roundel, often containing the
   station's name in the central bar, at entrances and repeatedly along
   the platform, so that the name can easily be seen by passengers on
   arriving trains. In addition, some stations' walls are decorated in
   tile motifs unique to that station, such as profiles of Sherlock
   Holmes's head at Baker Street, and a cross containing a crown at King's
   Cross St Pancras.

   The roundel has been used for buses and the tube for many years, and
   since TfL took control it has been applied to other transport types
   (taxi, tram, DLR, etc.) in different colour pairs. The roundel has to
   some extent become a symbol for London itself.
   The use of the roundel with the station name in the blue bar dates from
   1908
   Enlarge
   The use of the roundel with the station name in the blue bar dates from
   1908

Typography

   Edward Johnston designed TfL's distinctive sans-serif typeface, in
   1916. A version of the typeface, modified to include lower case,
   continues in use today, and is called " New Johnston". The new typeface
   is noted for the curl at the bottom of the minuscule l, which other
   sans-serif typefaces have discarded, and for the diamond-shaped tittle
   on the minuscule i and j, whose shape also appears in the full stop,
   and is the origin of other punctuation marks in the face. TfL owns the
   copyright to and exercises control over the New Johnston typeface, but
   a close approximation of the face exists in the TrueType computer font
   Paddington.

Unauthorised use

   TfL takes legal action against unauthorised use of its trademarks and
   of the Tube map, in spite of which unauthorised copies of the logo
   continue to crop up worldwide. Official ranges of clothing and other
   accessories featuring TfL's graphic elements are available.

Contribution to arts

   London Underground sponsors and contributes to the arts via its
   Platform for Art and Poems on the Underground projects. Poster and
   billboard space (and in the case of Gloucester Road tube station, an
   entire disused platform) is given over to artwork and poetry to "create
   an environment for positive impact and to enhance and enrich the
   journeys of ... passengers".

   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Underground"
   This reference article is mainly selected from the English Wikipedia
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