A brief history of the Underground

London Underground milestones

1863

• On 10 January, The Metropolitan Railway opens the world's first underground railway, between Paddington (then called Bishop's Road) and Farringdon Street

1868

• The first section of the Metropolitan District Railway, from South Kensington to Westminster (now part of the District and Circle lines), opens

1880

• Running from the Tower of London to Bermondsey, the first Tube tunnel opens

1884

• The Circle line is finished

1890

• On 18 December, The City and South London Railway opens the world's first deep-level electric railway. It runs from King William Street in the City of London, under the River Thames, to Stockwell

1900

• The Prince of Wales opens the Central London Railway from Shepherd's Bush to Bank (the 'Twopenny Tube'). This is now part of the Central line

1902

• The Underground Electric Railway Company of London (known as the Underground Group) is formed. By the start of WWI, mergers brings in all lines except the Metropolitan line

1905

• District and Circle lines are electrified

1906

• Baker Street & Waterloo Railway (now part of the Bakerloo line) opens and runs from Baker Street to Kennington Road (now Lambeth North). Great Northern, Piccadilly & Brompton Railway (now part of the Piccadilly line) opens between Hammersmith and Finsbury Park

1907

• Charing Cross, Euston & Hampstead Railway (now part of the Northern line) opens and runs from Charing Cross to Golders Green and Highgate (now Archway). Albert Stanley (later Lord Ashfield) is appointed General Manager of the Underground Electric Railway Company of London Limited

1908

• The name 'Underground' makes its first appearance in stations, and the first electric ticket-issuing machine is introduced. This year also sees the first appearance of the famous roundel symbol

1911

• London's first escalators are installed at Earl's Court station

1929

• The last manually-operated doors on Tube trains are replaced by air-operated doors

1933

• The Underground Group and the Metropolitan Railway become part of the London Passenger Transport Board, taking control of all the capital's railway, bus, tram, trolleybus and coach services
• Harry Beck presents the first diagram of the Underground map

1940

• Between September 1940 and May 1945 most Tube station platforms are used as air raid shelters. Some, like the Piccadilly line Holborn-Aldwych branch, are closed to store British Museum treasures

1948

• The London Passenger Transport Board is nationalised and now becomes the London Transport Executive

1952

• The first aluminium train enters service on the District line

1961

• The end of steam and electric locomotive haulage of London Transport passenger trains

1963

• The London Transport Executive becomes the London Transport Board, reporting directly to the Minister of Transport

1969

• The Queen opens the Victoria line

1970

• The London Transport Executive takes over the Underground and the Greater London area bus network, reporting to the Greater London Council

1971

• The last steam shunting and freight locomotive is withdrawn from service
• The Victoria line extends to Brixton

1975

• A fatal accident on the Northern line at Moorgate kills 43 people. New safety measures are introduced

1977

• The Queen opens Heathrow Central station (Terminals 1 2 3) on the Piccadilly line

1979

• The Prince of Wales opens the Jubilee line

1980

• A museum about the birthplace of modern urban transportation, called Brunel Engine House, opens to the public

1983

• Dot matrix train destination indicators are introduced on platforms

1984

• The Hammersmith & City and the Circle lines convert to one-person operation

1986

• The Piccadilly line is extended to serve Heathrow Terminal 4

1987

• A tragic fire at King's Cross station kills 31 people

1989

• New safety and fire regulations are introduced following the Fennell Report into the King's Cross fire

1992

• The London Underground Customer Charter is launched

1993

• Reconstruction work on Angel station finishes
• Work starts on the extended Jubilee line from Green Park to Stratford

1994

• Penalty fares are introduced
• London Underground takes over the Waterloo & City line and responsibility for the stations on the Wimbledon branch of the District line from Putney Bridge to Wimbledon Park
• Aldwych station and the Central line branch from Epping to Ongar close

1999

• London Underground is restructured to prepare for Public Private Partnership
• The extended Jubilee line opens, offering through services from Stanmore to Stratford

2000

• Transport for London (TfL) is formed - creating one integrated transport body for the capital

2002

• TfL's online Journey Planner is launched, allowing customers to plan journeys across several modes

2003

• London Underground becomes a wholly-owned subsidiary of TfL. A comprehensive plan follows to improve the Tube, refurbish hundreds of stations, upgrade lines to provide faster, more frequent and reliable services, install step-free access at many locations and entirely rebuild some central London stations too small to deal with the number of people passing through every day.
• The Oyster card is introduced
• Busking is legalised

2005

• 52 people are killed in bomb attacks on three Tube trains and a bus on 7 July

2007

• The Tube carries one billion passengers in a year for the first time
• 14 former Silverlink stations transfer to London Underground
• The East London line closes for rebuilding and extension as part of new London Overground network

2008

• Piccadilly line extension to Heathrow Terminal 5 opens
• Metronet transfers to TfL control
• First new station on an existing Underground line for 70 years opens as Wood Lane station on the Hammersmith & City line

2009

• The Circle line changes shape
• London Underground is named Best Metro Europe
• Kings Cross St Pancras station upgrade is completed and becomes step-free in 2010 ahead of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games

2010

• The Queen visits Aldgate station
• LU achieves Carbon Trust Standard
• The first air-conditioned, walk-through Underground train runs on the Metropolitan line
• Through services replace the Chesham shuttle

2011

• A full fleet of brand new Victoria Line trains become operational
• Green Park becomes step-free to provide easier access to the Victoria, Piccadilly and Jubilee lines in time for the Olympics

2012

• London successfully hosts the first Public Transport Olympic Games. Reliability across the Tube averages no lower than 97% during the Games and Paralympics period. More than 3,500 office-based colleagues become TfL Ambassadors and join frontline staff to help customers move around the network

2013

• TfL celebrates the 150th anniversary of London Underground
• Walk-through, air-conditioned trains are introduced on the Circle line, offering wheelchair access and wider doors to wheelchair and buggy users

2014

• Contactless payments are expanded across the Tube, trams, DLR, and London Overground
• Major Northern line signalling upgrade is completed, increasing passenger capacity by 20% and reducing journey times by 18%

2016

• Night Tube is launched - with 7.8 million passengers in the first 12 months, it boosts London's economy by £171m
• Work to install new signalling and control system begins on the Circle, District, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan lines - the Four Lines Modernisation (4LM) project

2017

• Tottenham Court Road station upgrade is completed, including three new entrances and a connection to Crossrail platforms
• Bond Street station upgrade is completed, expanding capacity 30% to prepare for the Elizabeth line. Both Bond Street and Tottenham Court Road stations, serving either end of Oxford Street, become step-free
• The last of the new S-stock trains enters service - these air-conditioned, walkthrough trains are now used on over 40% of the Underground network
• Boring of the Northern line extension tunnels from Kennington to Battersea is completed in November

2018

• A new Hammersmith Service Control Centre opens, improving reliability and customer information on sections of the Circle and Hammersmith & City lines
• The Victoria Tube station major upgrade is completed, doubling the size of the station and creating step-free access. This includes a new North Ticket Hall, nine new escalators, new lifts to improve step-free access between street and station, ticket hall and Victoria line platform levels and a new interchange tunnel connecting the two ticket halls

2019

• The first section of the Tube's new signalling upgrade - part of the 4LM project - is in use in March
• Major Bank station upgrade is completed, including a brand new entrance into Bank station within the new Bloomberg development

2020

• TfL responds to the global coronavirus pandemic, asking people to follow Government guidance and not travel on public transport
• Tunnelling work at the project to modernise and expand Bank Underground station finishes, marking a major milestone in the project
• Test passenger trains travel along new Northern line extension tunnels for the first time between Kennington and Battersea Power Station over Christmas

2021

• TfL launches its first journey planning app, TfL Go
• The Northern line is extended to Battersea Power Station and Nine Elms - the first major Tube extension this century
• TfL and Siemens Mobility unveil the detailed design of the new generation Tube trains for the Piccadilly line

2022

• A third of London Underground stations become step-free
• A new, wider southbound Northern line platform opens at Bank station, following a 17-week closure of the Bank branch of the Northern line
• London Underground staff play a vital role in keeping London moving during the mourning period following the death of HM Queen Elizabeth II
• The Elizabeth line opens

2023

• TfL celebrates 160 years of London Underground