This work was made by Suhareva Nadya THE LONDON UNDERGROUND

HISTORY It was, on the face of it, a stupid idea. Running trains, and steam trains at that, in tunnels underneath the London streets. In 1862, the Times described it as an ‘insult to common sense’ and it was probably right. But the London Underground turned out to be one of the great engineering feats of modern times, the world’s only steam- driven underground railway and the first electrified underground railway. A socially egalitarian and liberating phenomenon, it helped drive London’s rapid expansion and got people to work on time, while providing the city with a bold new identity through impeccable branding that incorporated iconic typography, cartography and architecture.

HISTORY The story began with Charles Pearson, the first in a succession of underground visionaries. It was he who first proposed the notion of ‘trains in drains’ in 1845, when the railway was a relatively new invention (the first steam passenger service only opened in 1830). Pearson, instrumental in the removal of the anti- Catholic inscription on the foot of the Monument, was a progressive and a pioneer – his persistence helped persuade the House of Commons to approve a bill in 1853 to build a subterranean railway between Paddington and Farringdon. The reason such a hare-brained, experimental scheme received approval was one of necessity. London roads were suffering from terrible overcrowding and the mainline railways all stopped on the fringes of the West End and City thanks to a Royal Commission of 1846 that declared central London a no-go area for railway companies. A method of linking the mainline stations of Paddington, Euston and King’s Cross was needed, and Pearson’s plan fitted the bill. He helped raise the finance from private investors and the City of London, and excavation began in 1860, with a shallow trench dug beneath Euston Road and then covered over. Thousands of poor residents were displaced in the process.

HISTORY The Metropolitan Line opened for business on January , clocking 30,000 passengers on the first day. A celebratory banquet had been held the previous day at Farringdon. Pearson was not among the guests, having passed away the previous year. Another absentee was Prime Minister Lord Palmerston, who was approaching his 80th birthday, and said he wanted to spend as much time above ground as he possibly could (he died two years later).

POSTERS

Now the London subway totals 268 stations, 11 lines in the general extent more than two hundred fifty miles that in terms of kilometers makes four hundred ten kilometers. Daily in the world more than three million inhabitants of the British capital use services of the biggest subway.

DIFFERENCES OF THE LONDON UNDERGROUND FROM RUSSIA 1. BUMS in the London subway are not present. It is connected with admission system: the card needs to be passed through the turnstile not only on the entrance, but also on the exit (as in the subway of 6 zones and the system of payment is differentiated on zones). Thus in our subway the payment exists only for the entrance, and in London from the zone in the zone it is necessary to pay for each trip. 2. Is not present in the London subway and musicians (it is strictly forbidden) who in our subway play so loudly that at once there is the desire either to banish, or to give money that left. 3. In the London subway absolutely trade in nothing. And ours is filled by dealers, thus the dealers wandering on cars, possess extremely unpleasant voices. 4. Disabled people, false monks and beggars in London are excluded. 5. In the London subway anybody eats nothing and especially does not drink beer. 6. In the underpass in London it is impossible to meet stray dogs. 7. The London subway very confused. But before the entrance at each station there are stands with the free schemes of the subway helping city visitors to find the road.