The London Underground is the oldest underground train network in the world, as such has had close to 150 years to gain some interesting facts and figures, plus some downright weird ones.
The London Underground Tube Lines
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* The East London Line is now part of the London Overground after nearly 75 years as part of the Underground network; it closed in December 2007 and reopened in 2010.
Noise and Smells
- January 2005: London Underground announced that it would play classical music at stations prone to loitering by youths. A trial had shown a 33% drop in abuse against staff. This had been first tried, with success, on the Tyne and Wear Metro.
- March 2001: A fragrance called “Madeleine” was introduced at St James’s Park, Euston and Piccadilly Circus stations, in an effort to make the Underground smell better. It was discontinued the next day as it was making people feel sick.
Rolling Stock of the London Underground
- Number of cars in fleet: 3,988
- Surface stock: 1,179
- Tube stock: 2,809
Pumps in the London Underground
As close to 50% of the network is underground, there is always the risk of flooding. As such there are close to 700 pumps at 400 sites across the Tube network.
Station Car Parks for the Tube
In a network of 275 stations there are only 65 car parks or approximately 23%. These car parks provide a total of 11,400 spaces, the largest single car park with 599 spaces is in Epping.
