A new book about the London Underground digs deep into the archives of Transport for London.

The Story of London's Underground Retold in Images

By Frommer's Staff

In London, the city’s major transit system is an attraction unto itself. Opened in 1863, when carriages were still hauled by steam engines, London’s Tube has been at the vanguard of design and transportation ever since. A new 272-page book, London’s Underground: The Story of the Tube has been published in association with Transport for London, which runs London’s subway system. In an exclusive gallery of photos from his book, author and Tube historian Oliver Green traces the history and influential designs of the Underground through new and archival images.

The Underground has come a long way since 1860

Transport for London

The Tube's Inception

The Circle line platforms at Baker Street looked like this when they opened in the 1860s. They were restored in the 1980s to an approximation of their original appearance.

In 1905, the Central London Railway overhauled the staff for the "Twopenny Tube"

Transport for London

"Take the Twopenny Tube and Avoid All Anxiety"

A 1905 poster for the Central London Railway offering a reassuring illustration of how to use the “Twopenny Tube,” named for its affordable fare. There was a heavy investment in staff: booking clerks, ticket collectors, elevator operators, and train gatemen, all required to make passengers feel safe and secure on a new deep-level system that was unfamiliar to people at the time.

The Bakerloo extension to Paddington opened in 1913

Transport for London

The Implementation of Escalators

Underground poster announcing the Bakerloo extension to Paddington, an expansion that opened in 1913. This was one of the first new Tube stations that had escalators ("moving staircases") instead of lifts.

Alfred France's 1911 London Underground poster was specifically targeted towards women

Transport for London

The People's Tube

"The Way for All" by Alfred France, 1911. From the beginning, Tube posters always stressed that the Underground was a system for everyone, no matter the rider's class or gender. In this case, the publicity targeted women using the striking purple-and-green palette of the Suffragettes.

Kilburn Park station is a paradigm of the Underground's signature tilework

Benjamin Graham

An Iconic Station Design

Kilburn Park station on the Bakerloo extension, opened in 1915, was designed by staff architect Stanley Heaps. Richly colored tilework became a signature feature of the Tube and enabled passengers to identify stops from a distance. In many places in London, that vintage tilework still exists.

Covent Garden station's emergency stairs wrap around the elevator

Benjamin Graham

A Winding Exit

The emergency spiral stairs at Covent Garden station, with their original 1906 tiling, wrap around the lift shafts. They are still in use, although the stop is now considered too small for the high ridership numbers of modern use.

Each of the Victoria Line's stations contains its own unique tile design

Transport for London

The Victoria Line: Modernized Design

By 1969, when the first twelve stops of the Victoria Line opened, the Tube's traditional elaborate tile motifs had been simplified to splashes of color distinctive to each station.

Women drivers were specifically recruited for the Underground in 1978

Transport for London

Women in the Underground

Hannah Dadds, the first woman driver on the Underground, climbs into her cab at Upminster depot on the District line in 1978. London Underground started a campaign to recruit women drivers, but even now, less than 10% of train operators on the Tube are female.

In the 1990s, London redesigned and revamped their train upholstery

Transport for London

A More Comfortable Ride

"The Trains Now Arriving...": announcing a major refurbishment program in the 1990s. A new corporate livery was applied on the outside and interiors were given a complete redesign in a program that began in 1994. This eventually covered all existing trains on the Circle, Hammersmith & City, Victoria, and Bakerloo lines. (The book, London’s Underground: The Story of the Tube, is full of rarely seen posters like this from the Underground's deep archive.)

The Elizabeth line is the most recent addition to the Tube network

Crossrail

A Constant Process

The upcoming Elizabeth line section of the Canary Wharf train complex, located in the reclaimed Docklands area of East London. Named for Queen Elizabeth II, the Elizabeth line will be the first phase of the long-awaited Crossrail tunnel, which travels east-west deep under the city.