Haynes has published a fascinating new book all about London’s Underground railway system and we have one copy to give away. All you have to do to be in with a chance of winning it is email Info@blueprintmagazine.co.uk with your postal address.
To whet your appetite, Paul Moss, author of the London Underground Manual and a former design manager at the Underground gives us his top 10 Tube facts.
1. In general Underground trains have very long service lives. For example the Metropolitan lines ‘A’ stock trains were finally retired in 2013 after giving 52 years service to Londoners.
2. The term `Tube` to describe the Underground system is a famous misnomer. Less than 50% of the network actually runs underground both in round `tube` and sub-surface tunnels. 55% runs on the surface extending in all to 249 miles of track.
3. In 2011/2012, a record 1.171 billion passenger journeys were made on the Underground, 64 million more than in the previous year.
4. The deepest lift shaft is at Hampstead Station. Built in Edwardian times it is 55.2 metres deep.
5. The busiest Underground station is Victoria with currently 76.5 million passengers a year using it.
6. The shortest distance between adjacent stations is only 260 metres; this is Leicester Square to Covent Garden on the Piccadilly line which takes about 20 seconds.
7. The longest distance between stations is 3.89 miles from Chesham to Chalfont Latimer on the Metropolitan line.
8. Each day over 47 million litres of water are pumped out of the Underground railway system.
9. The earliest train service start at 4.45 am from Osterley to Heathrow on the Piccadilly line.
10. Every week the Undergrounds` escalators travel the equivalent distance of going twice around the world.
