London Underground - London Underground Infrastructure/London Underground Railway - C

London Underground - C

London Underground Infrastructure

London Underground Railway

As of 2021, the Underground serves 272 stations. 16 stations are outside London region, eight on the Metropolitan line and eight on the Central line. Of these, five (Amersham, Chalfont & Latimer, Chesham, and Chorleywood on the Metropolitan line and Epping on the Central line), are beyond the M25 London Orbital motorway.

Of the thirty-two London boroughs, six (Bexley, Bromley, Croydon, Kingston, Lewisham and Sutton) are not served by the Underground network, while Hackney has Old Street (on the Northern line Bank branch) and Manor House (on the Piccadilly line) only just inside its boundaries. Lewisham used to be served by the East London line (stations at New Cross and New Cross Gate). The line and the stations were transferred to the London Overground network in 2010.

London Underground's eleven lines total 402 kilometres (250 mi) in length, making it the seventh longest metro system in the world. These are made up of the sub-surface network and the deep-tube lines. The Circle, District, Hammersmith & City, and Metropolitan lines form the sub-surface network, with railway tunnels just below the surface and of a similar size to those on British main lines, converging on a bi-directional loop around zone 1.

The four sub-surface lines share tracks and stations with each other at various places along their respective routes. The Bakerloo, Central, Jubilee, Northern, Piccadilly, Victoria and Waterloo & City lines are deep-level tubes, with smaller trains that run in circular tunnels (tubes) with a diameter of about 11 feet 8 inches (3.56 m), with one tube for each direction.

The seven deep-level lines have the exclusive use of tracks and stations along their routes with the exception of the Piccadilly line, which shares track with the District line between Acton Town and Hanger Lane Junction and with the Metropolitan line between Rayners Lane and Uxbridge, and the Bakerloo line, which shares track with London Overground's Watford DC Line for its above-ground section north of Queen's Park.

Fifty-five per cent of the system runs on the surface. There are 20 miles (32 km) of cut-and-cover tunnel and 93 miles (150 km) of tube tunnel. Many of the central London underground stations on deep-level tube routes are higher than the running lines to assist deceleration when arriving and acceleration when departing.

Trains generally run on the left-hand track. In some places, the tunnels are above each other (for example, the Central line east of St Paul's station), or the running tunnels are on the right (for example on the Victoria line between Warren Street and King's Cross St. Pancras, to allow cross-platform interchange with the Northern line at Euston).

The lines are electrified with a four-rail DC system: a conductor rail between the rails is energised at −210 V and a rail outside the running rails at +420 V, giving a potential difference of 630 V. On the sections of line shared with mainline trains, such as the District line from East Putney to Wimbledon and Gunnersbury to Richmond, and the Bakerloo line north of Queen's Park, the centre rail is bonded to the running rails.

The average speed on the Underground is 20.5 mph (33.0 km/h). Outside the tunnels of central London, many lines' trains tend to travel at over 40 mph (64 km/h) in the suburban and countryside areas. The Metropolitan line can reach speeds of 62 mph (100 km/h).

London Underground Overview

London Underground Locale: Greater London, Buckinghamshire, Essex, Hertfordshire

London Underground Transit Type: Rapid transit

London Underground Number of Lines: 11

London Underground Number of Stations: 272 served (262 owned)

London Underground Daily Ridership: 3.15 million (January 2023)

London Underground Annual Ridership: 1.026 billion (2022/2023)

London Underground Began Operation: 10 January 1863, 160 years ago

London Underground Operator(s): London Underground Limited

London Underground Reporting Marks: LT (National Rail)

London Underground System Length: 402 km (250 mi)

London Underground Track Gauge:

1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge (1863–pres.)

7 ft (2,134 mm) Brunel gauge (1863–1869)

London Underground Electrification: 630 V DC fourth rail

London Underground Average Speed: 33 km/h (21 mph)

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