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A Guide to London Underground

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Being born and growing up in London you over time have to familiarise yourself with the labyrinth that is the Tube. Every day at between 7am and 7pm over 6 million people commute in and out of London via the underground. For a newbie it can be a confusing and unrelenting maze full of tunnel visioned working men and woman! In this guide I will try and produce a guide full of all the tips and tricks I have learnt to ensure and quick and comfortable journey.

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Here is a little background on the tube

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Some of the oldest stations date back over 150 years, with over 15 lines and over 200 stations the tube is a complex system often involving change overs in order to get you from A to B. Some train lines such as the Northern line split off into two lines running parallel at times. The tube was the first train to run a tunnel under a river and at the time was an architectural revolution in the late 1800s! It took nearly 15 years for the first tunnel to run under the Thames to be built and since then the feat has be achieved many times at much greater speed!

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Tips,Tricks and Interesting Facts

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Using a tube map can often be a daunting task with different coloured lines sprawled around crossing over eachother like spaghetti and it's easy to see why newbies often struggle go get their heads around the systen. The best way to navigate the tube is to pre plan your journey, know what colour line you want to be on and the station that you need to get to. Once on the train or platform you are given just the route and stations which that line goes on. Places where it's possible to change over to a different line are underneath the station names making your life a little easier!

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It's important to first make sure you are going in the right direction and plan out a route e.g. North or southbound. As well as then making sure you are on right train for example the Northern line splits in two branches of during it's journey and goes to different stops "via bank" and "via Charing Cross" Some good apps for route planning are TFL Journey planner and Google Maps.

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Rush hour in the Morning and in the Evening are the busiest times, 7-9am and 5-7pm respectively. It's best to try and avoid traveling at these times if possible as millions of people are traveling to and from work! It's near on impossible to get a seat unless you are very tactical with your timing and positioning.

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The trains come in all different shapes and sizes varying between different lines for example the Met line is different to the Northern Line. The busiest stations are Kings Cross, Waterloo and Bank. Bank is an interesting station as it is also Embankment station linked by a mile long underground walk way.

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During WWII London came under siege from German Bombers this was know as the blitz. The underground became a safe haven for many people due to its depth bellow ground. Many thousands of families would sleep in the stations by the platforms sheltered from the Air Raids above. The deepest train station is Hampstead and the only way down is via lifts rather than the normal escalators. This is due to it being nearly 100 meters below sea level which amounts to over 300 steep spiralling staircase. If you consider your self very fit try run up the staircase, however this is not advisable due to the steepness and lack of alternatives once started.

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It's common courtesy to let the people off the train before boarding allowing a swift and polite interchange at stations. The classic "please mind the gap between the train and the platform" is heard less than expected on the underground due to trains getting bigger and therefore there is less of a gap when boarding and getting off. It's advisable to take water with you when traveling on the tube as it can get very hot and sometimes there are delays in the tunnels where it is at its hottest. The hottest time is during rush hour and during the summer it can become near on unbearable down there and can quickly reduce you to a sweaty mess.

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It is advised to keep your belongings close to you at all times just in case there are some not so nice people on the train who can easily slink off with your bag with out you knowing on busy train. Furthermore it's important to keep your eyes on your surroundings just in case there is some suspicious behaviour going on. The best thing to do in that situation is to get off the train at the next stop and tell a member off staff.

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Urban explorer's often go on adventures within the tube system however this is not advisable and you are at extremely high risk of being hit by a speeding train. It is said that long forgotten tube lines have been discovered as well as a disused Royal Mail line for transporting posts! Further discoveries have claimed to have found a hidden line from 10 Downing Street to RAF Northolt just outside of London which have been known as the Churchil tunnels due to the possible use during the Second World War!

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This has been my guide as a Londoner to the tube. Hopefully this will help many tourists and newbies, but not exclusively to them maybe it taught you some experienced users some interesting facts. Or just provided an interesting read on the train to work!

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Thank you Steemit for being such a great community and I will continue to share my experiences and stories with you all. I hope you enjoyed the read. If you did leave a like and a comment if not tell me where I need some improvement!

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