THE TUBE TUNNELS & THUNDERS THROUGH
By Dr. Tilak S. Fernando
Picture credit: Google
The London
underground railway network (colloquially known as the ‘Tube’) is 150 years old
and serves a considerable part of Greater London and some parts of
Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Essex through tunnels as well as sub-surface
covering 253 miles while transporting millions of passengers on a daily basis.
The whole
network operates on eleven separate ‘lines,’ which are identified in the London
Underground Map in conspicuous colours to help commuters easily identify and
plan their travel. Inside the carriages of each ‘tube’ train a single
(coloured) line indicates all stations enroute from starting point to the
terminus; inter-changes to other ‘Lines’ are highlighted with an appropriate
colour circle denoting junctions where accessibility is available to all other
connections.
Bakerloo Line set off in 1906
appears on the ‘tube map’ in colour Brown. It is a ‘Deep Level’ underground
system, covering 25 stations along 23.2 km (14.4 m) with seven carriages per train-set.
About 302,869 passengers use the service daily during the week, and 95.947
million per annum.
The name Bakerloo has been adopted by the fact
that its route serves Baker Street, which is most famous for its connection to
the imaginary detective Sherlock Holmes, who ‘lives’ at a fictional 221B Baker
Street address! It is the ninth busiest line on the network.
Northern
Line (Deep level) commenced in 1890 is marked in Black colour and
covers 50 stations over a distance of 58 km (36 miles) with six carriages per
train-set. It transports 660,395 commuters daily during the week, and 206.734
million annually, making it the second busiest Line in the Underground System.
Piccadilly
Line (Deep Level), which is over 100 years old is principally the
legacy of one of the great pioneers of Tube railways, the American
entrepreneur, Charles Tyson Yerkes. Inaugurated on 15 December 1906, today it
is identified in Dark Blue colour on the underground map covering 53 stations
over a length of 71 km (44 miles), with six carriages per transit.
This
service has been extended up to Heathrow Terminals 1, 2, 3 in 1977, Terminal 4
in 1986, and in March 2008 up to the new Heathrow Terminal 5. A special feature
in this service is the allocation of space by the doors to accommodate luggage
for airline passengers travelling to and from Heathrow Airport. Piccadilly Line
transports 529,550 commuters daily during the week and 176.177 million
annually.
Central
Line (Deep Tube) launched in 1900 appears in Red and covers 49
stations along 74 kilometers (46m) with eight carriages per transit. Central
Line is the longest and the busiest underground line. 589,734 passengers use
the central line daily during the week and 183,512 million a year.
Circle
Line, which is a Sub-Surface underground system opened in 1884 marked
in Yellow covers 36 stations along 27 km (17m) with six cars per transit.
Circle Line is the seventh busiest line on the system carrying 218,136 per day
during week, and 64.485 million a year. As the name suggests, it performs a
‘circular’ movement within the Central London area.
District
Line (Sub-Surface Service) marked in colour Green came into effect
in 1868. It covers 60 stations over a range of 64 km (40m) with six carriages
per transit. The service covers Wimbledon, which is renowned for the Annual
Tennis tournament, and transports 556,252 passengers per day during the week
and 172.87million a year.
Jubilee
line (Deep Level) opened in 1979 is identified in colour Grey, and
covers 27 stations over a length of 36.2 km (22.5 m) with seven carriages per
transit. Jubilee line too runs under the River Thames and is regarded as the
third busiest on the network currently carrying 405,878 daily during the week
127.584 millions of passengers a year.
Metropolitan
Line (Sub-Surface) opened in 1863 marked in colour Magenta covers 34
stations over a distance of 66.7 km (41.4 m), with eight carriages per transit.
It is the tenth busiest line on the network where 186,271 passengers use daily
during the week, and 53.697 million a year.
Victoria line (Deep
Level) opened in 1968 is marked in light Blue colour. It serves 16 stations
covering 21 km (13 m) with eight carriages per train-set. It is the sixth most
intensively used line on the underground network where 200 million passengers
use the service each year; it is one of the three underground routes that
passes under the River Thames.
The line
is equipped with an Automatic Train Operation (ATO) system; the train operator
(driver) closes the train doors and presses a pair of 'start' buttons, and if the
way ahead is clear, the ATO drives the train at a safe speed to the next
station and stops automatically. This system has operated since the line opened
in 1968, making the Victoria line the world's first full-scale automatic
railway.
Hammersmith
and City Line (Sub-Surface) system was formerly part of the Metropolitan line
and incorporates the oldest underground railway in the world where the section
between Paddington and Farringdon was opened on 10 January 1863. The
Hammersmith and City line currently ranks seventh of 10 in terms of passenger
numbers. In 1990 it was opened and branded as a separate line and given the
colour Salmon Pink on the underground map. Service covers 29 stations, with
seven carriages per train-set over 25.5 km (15.8 m) carrying 149,405 passengers
daily on weekdays, 94,259 Saturdays, 53,289 Sundays and 45.845 million
annually.
The
Waterloo and City line (unofficially known as the ‘Drain’) is a
short underground railway line in London, opened on 11 July 1898. It has only
two stations, Waterloo and Bank. It appears in colour Torques on the map and
covers a distance of 2.37 km (1.47 m) with four carriages per train set
carrying 37,173 per day, during week and 9.616 million per year. It is the
least used line on the network.
Ticket barriers
London
Transport has electronic ticket barriers where only a single person can go
through after feeding the travel ticket through an access on the electronic
gate, where the ticket is absorbed, registered in the system and throws out
simultaneously clearing the path for the user to go through.
A plastic
smart card known as the Oyster card is widely used to help passengers move
quickly rather than queuing up at ticket barriers. There are special yellow
coloured electronic heads fixed on to ticket barriers in the underground as
well as in the buses where passengers have only to touch the electronic yellow
head with the card.
Oyster is
the cheapest way to pay for single journeys on bus, Tube, tram, London over
ground and most National Rail services in London. Oyster can store credit to
pay as one goes, it is able to set up Auto-top up, so that a user never runs
out of credit; it offers the use of credit card facility to top up, if the journey
is in excess of a day. Bus and Tram Passes offer travel discounts to students
and children with an Oyster photo card.
London
Underground and London Transport issue daily travel cards in addition to the
normal season tickets where travellers can purchase daily enabling them to use bus
passes for a day’s use, some of which can be used in all London Transport
Services, permitting inter-changes from bus to ‘underground etc. Travel cards
are valid till mild night on the day of purchase for travel. In addition, The
London Transport issues special discounted fares to bona fide students holding
official students cards.
Daily News -2013