The London Underground is one of the oldest and possibly one of the busiest railway networks in the world. After reading a piece in The Concierge Magazine on the London Underground I was inspired to write a piece on London’s greatest transport system to coincide with the 150 years celebration of the London Underground taking place throughout London during 2013.

The London Underground was first formed in 1985 and by 1863 the world’s first ever underground railway was opened. The first line, the Metropolitan opened on the 9th of January of that year and was named after the private company that financed it, the Metropolitan Railway. The line only measured a short distance of six kilometres and ran between Paddington and Farringdon Street. It’s hard to imagine that the first train was powered by steam. Today the Underground is going from strength to strength and is an essential part of London lifestyle with an estimated three million passengers taking journeys on it every day and serving 275 stations throughout London.

In honour of the 150 years of the Underground there are many events taking place to mark the occasion throughout the city. Some events that have already taken place include the re-enactment of the underground first journey, a royal visit, talks and lectures. But if you have missed out on any there are plenty more events scheduled for the rest of the year. The London Transport Museum has an exhibition running until the 27th of October 2013 that is showcasing a collection of 150 of the best Underground posters ever produced celebrating the past present and future. The posters were selected by a panel of experts from the museums archive of over 3,300 posters that have appeared in the Underground on the last century. The exhibition will include six themes; ‘Finding your way’, ‘Brightest London’, ‘Capital culture’, ‘Away from it all’, ‘Keeps London going’, and ‘Love your city’, alongside the work of many famous names including Edward McKnight Kauffer and Paul Nash.

At King’s Cross station all summer there are unique maps on show that chart the historic journey of the Underground, which were created entirely out of LEGO by Duncan Titmarsh, the United Kingdom’s only certified LEGO professional. Each map is made up of more than 1,000 Lego pieces and took four days to build.

Charles the Concierge