London: Transportations

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  London Underground or "The Tube"

  London Underground is the first and the longest underground railway in the world with its 268 stations and some 400 kilometers of tracks. The nickname "Tube"' (although some 55% of the network is above the ground) comes from the circular tube-like tunnels and platforms where trains circulate. This marvel of the Victorian engineering was created in the mid of the 19th century: the first service (Metropolitan line between Paddington and Farringdon) began on the 10th of January of 1863. The second was from Waterloo to Cuty Railway (1898) while the Central line opened on the 30th of July 1900. Nowadays it transports a billion passengers a year and three million passengers every day. The Tube is also strictly connected with art: in the 1920s and the 1930s graphic designers and artists have produced their work with a series of modernist and art deco stations, and also in recent years leading artists have been asked for their contribution. Some stations are really worth a closer look.