London Underground trivia

This article about the London Underground railway contains information which is wholly for amusement.

Records

• The longest distance between two stations is 6.26 km (3.89 miles), between Chalfont & Latimer and Chesham on the Metropolitan line. The longest distance between two underground stations is between Caledonian Road and Kings Cross St Pancras on the Piccadilly line.
• Contrary to popular belief, the shortest distance between two stations is not the 250 metres (0.16 miles), between Leicester Square and Covent Garden on the Piccadilly line. Some say that with all the time spent going up and down the escalators and lifts, it's faster to walk between the two. Travel between these stations paid for by a cash ticket costs £25 per mile (£4 ticket) in 2007. The shortest distance is between Charing Cross and Embankment, a distance of 100m, which is stated on many tube maps.
• Hampstead is the deepest station under the surface at 58.5 metres (192 feet). However, it is not the deepest below sea level as the line is climbing towards the north and the station's surface building is near the top of a hill.
• The actual deepest platforms below sea level are the Jubilee Line platforms at Westminster which are -32 metres (-104 feet).
• Using the traditional Charing Cross as the marker, Chesham is the furthest station from Central London, an honour which it has held since 1994, prior to which Ongar held the title (before it was closed).
• The furthest station from Central London ever regularly served by a London Underground service was Verney Junction at the (then) far end of what is now the Metropolitan Line. In a tiny hamlet in rural Buckinghamshire it is over 40 miles from Charing Cross.
• Waterloo station has the most escalators, currently at 25.

Passengers and other inhabitants

• An estimated half a million mice live on the Underground system, and can often be seen running around the tracks, about which, TV personality Anthea Turner has written a series of books. London Underground mice. They appear black because their brown fur is covered with dirt, mainly brake-dust from the trains.
• Only two people are known to have had their coffins transported on the Underground: William Gladstone and Dr Barnardo.
• On 13 May 1924 Daisy Hammond gave birth on a Bakerloo Line train at Elephant & Castle. Press reports that the baby had been named Thelma Ursula Beatrice Eleanor were widely reprinted, and not debunked until 2000 when she was traced for a TV interview. In fact she was named Mary Ashfield Eleanor; the chairman of the Underground Group, Lord Ashfield, was her godfather.

Stations

• Regent's Park, Piccadilly Circus, Hyde Park Corner, Bank, Chancery Lane, Manor House and Warwick Avenue stations have no associated buildings at or above ground level, being entirely underground except for access stairs. There were surface buildings at Piccadilly Circus and Hyde Park Corner but these are no longer used by the Underground (both of them are now pizza restaurants).
• In 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. [1]
• A fragrance called "Madeleine" was introduced at St James's Park, Euston and Piccadilly Circus stations on 23 March 2001, in an effort to make the Underground smell better. It was discontinued the next day as it was making people feel sick.
• Arsenal is the only Underground station named after a London football club (it was previously known as Gillespie Road). Watford is named after the area which it serves, as is West Ham. The nearest station to West Ham United Football Club is Upton Park.
• Bethnal Green was used as an air raid shelter during World War II before it opened to passengers in 1946.
• The then-unopened Redbridge station was used as an aircraft parts factory during the Second World War.
• The phrase "Mind the gap" is played when trains stop at stations with curved platforms. It has become the Underground's best-known catchphrase.
• Five stations are named after pubs: Angel, Elephant & Castle, Manor House, Royal Oak and Swiss Cottage. There might have been a sixth, as the proposed North End Station (between Hampstead and Golders Green) became known as Bull and Bush after the famous nearby drinking house; the station was abandoned before its completion.
• Greenford is the only station that has escalators up from street level to the platforms.
• The Northern Line goes the furthest south of all lines (at Morden). However, it does not go the furthest north. This distinction is held by the Metropolitan Line (at Chesham).

Linguistic

• St John's Wood is the only station which contains none of the letters of the word 'mackerel' (as the word Saint is not spelt out). Pimlico is the only station which contains none of the letters of the word 'badger', at least until the proposed 2010 opening of Hoxton, which will then be the only station containing none of the letters of either word. Wapping is the only station with no letters in common with 'lobster'. And Redbridge is the only station without 'Walnut'!
• There are only two Underground stations that have all five vowels in them—South Ealing and Mansion House. Heathrow Terminal 4 also contains all five vowels, if 4 is spelled out as four.
• Bank is the only station whose name contains only one syllable. Bank and Oval are the only stations whose name contains only four letters.
• Knightsbridge is the only station whose name contains six consecutive consonants.
• There are six alliterative Underground stations - those with two or more words in their names which all begin with the same sound. These are Clapham Common, King's Cross, Sloane Square, Seven Sisters, Golders Green and Bromley-by-Bow. Charing Cross is a visual but not a true alliteration.
• There are four Underground stations whose name contains the colour of the line they are on (as depicted on the tube map) - they are Parsons Green, Redbridge, Stepney Green and Turnham Green.
• There is only one letter 'Z' in the list of tube stations (Belsize Park); two letter 'J's (St James's Park and St John's Wood) and five letter 'X's (Brixton, Croxley, Oxford Circus, Uxbridge and Vauxhall). Next least frequent letter is 'V' of which there are 13 (18 with DLR stations) - Arnos Grove, Covent Garden, Devons Road (DLR), Elverson Road (DLR), King George V (DLR), Ladbroke Grove, Liverpool Street, Maida Vale, Oval, Perivale, Ravenscourt Park, Roding Valley, Royal Victoria (DLR), Seven Sisters, Vauxhall, Victoria, Warwick Avenue and West Silvertown (DLR).

• Temple is the only station name common to the Underground and the Paris Metro, though both refer to historic assocations of the local area with the Templars

Miscellany

• The Jubilee Line is the only line that intersects all others. The District Line meets all other lines except the Metropolitan Line—which it misses by approximately 20 m at Aldgate.
• The East London Line is the only line without a station in Zone 1.
• The Waterloo & City Line is the only line to both start and end in Zone 1. The Circle Line never leaves Zone 1, but has neither beginning nor end.
• London Underground was arguably the first commercial organisation in the world to have a true corporate identity, with the typography,livery, logo, signage, uniforms, etc., applied across every public and private area of its business.
• The return journey from King's Cross St Pancras and Euston and back again can be made travelling only in nominally "northbound" trains. The northbound Northern Line runs from King's Cross to Euston and the northbound Victoria Line runs from Euston to King's Cross. It is also possible to make the same round trip on "southbound" trains only, if ever one gets bored.
• It is possible to travel through ten stations in a row all beginning with the same letter without changing trains, on the Piccadilly Line, by starting at Hounslow East, travelling towards Heathrow and round the Heathrow loop and returning to Hounslow East again. Intermediate stations are Hounslow Central, Hounslow West, Hatton Cross, Heathrow Terminals 1,2,3, Heathrow Terminal 4, Hatton Cross again, Hounslow West again, Hounslow Central again, returning to Hounslow East.
• The highest point on the Underground is the viaduct over Dollis Road between Finchley Central and Mill Hill East on the Northern Line. It is approximately 60m above the ground.
• The only station on the Underground with London in its name is London Bridge. The station for London City Airport has it, but is on the DLR.
• Beginnings: 10 (13 with DLR) WEST stations (including Westbourne Park, Westferry and Westminster); 10 (11 with DLR) SOUTH stations (including Southfields, Southgate and Southwark); 10 NORTH stations (including Northfields, Northolt, Northwick Park, Northwood and Northwood Hills); 5 (6 with DLR) EAST stations (including Eastcote); 4 HIGH stations (including Highbury & Islington and Highgate); 3 NEW stations (including Newbury Park); 3 QUEENS/QUEEN'S stations (including Queensbury and Queensway); 3 SAINT stations (not including King's Cross St Pancras ); 2 (3 with DLR) GREEN stations (including Greenford and Greenwich); 2 (3 with DLR) KINGS/KING'S stations (including Kingsbury); 2 MOOR stations (including Moorgate); 1 (3 with DLR) ROYAL station(s).
• Endings: There are 22 (23 with DLR) PARK stations (not including Hyde Park Corner); 11 (13 with DLR) ROAD stations (Edgware Road counted as one station); 9 GREEN stations; 8 STREET stations; 7 GATE stations; (including Aldgate, Highgate, Moorgate and Southgate); 7 HILL(S) stations (including Harrow-on-the-Hill not including Mill Hill East or Notting Hill Gate); 6 (7 with DLR) BRIDGE stations (including Knightsbridge and Uxbridge); 5 (6 with DLR) TOWN stations (including West Silvertown); 5 WOOD stations (including Northwood and Chorleywood); 5 CENTRAL stations; 5 CROSS stations (including King's Cross St Pancras); 4 (5 with DLR) LANE stations; 4 EAST stations; 4 SQUARE stations; 3 (4 with DLR) GARDEN(S) stations; 3 BROADWAY stations; 2 (4 with DLR) HOUSE stations (including Limehouse); 2 CIRCUS stations; 2 COMMON stations; 1 (4 with DLR) QUAY(S) stations.

Hauntings

There are reports of the London Underground to be haunted.

Some of the most famous ghost stories include Anne Naylor, who was murdered in 1758 and is said to haunt Farringdon Station. Her screams are said to be heard, by passengers, as the last train leaves.

Actor William Terriss who was stabbed to death in 1897, is said to haunt Covent Garden tube station, although the last reported sighting was 1972.

Tube drivers report that the Kennington Loop on the Northern Line is haunted.

See also

• London Underground
• London Underground in popular culture

External links

• London Underground Tube Trivia.