Key facts
Facts and figures
- Number of miles/km travelled by each Tube train each year: 114,500 miles/184,269km
- Total number of passengers carried each year: 1,107 million
- Average train speed: 33km per hour/20.5mph
- Length of network: 402km/249 miles
- Proportion of the network that is in tunnels: 45 per cent
- Longest continuous tunnel: East Finchley to Morden (via Bank) - 27.8km/17.25 miles
- Total number of escalators: 426
- Station with most escalators: Waterloo - 23
- Longest escalator: Angel - 60m/197ft, with a vertical rise of 27.5m/90ft
- Shortest escalator: Stratford, with a vertical rise of 4.1m
- Total number of lifts, including four stair lifts: 164
- Four passenger conveyors - two at Waterloo and two at Bank
- Deepest lift shaft: Hampstead - 55.2m/181ft
- Shortest lift shaft: King's Cross - 2.3m/7.5ft
- Vertical lifting platforms highest rise: Walthamstow 1.98m/6.5ft
- Vertical lifting platforms shortest: Hainault 0.64m/2.1ft
- Carriages in London Underground's (LU's) fleet: 4134
- Total number of stations served: 270
- Total number of stations managed: 260
- Total number of staff: 19,000 approx
- Stations with the most platforms: Baker Street - 10. Moorgate has 10 platforms but only six are used by LU (two are used by First Capital Connect and two were formerly used by Thameslink services)
- Busiest stations: During the three-hour morning peak, London's busiest Tube station is Waterloo, with 57,000 people entering. The busiest station in terms of passengers each year is also Waterloo with 82 million
- The Underground name first appeared on stations in 1908
- London Underground has been known as the Tube since 1890, when the first deep-level electric railway line was opened
- The Tube's world-famous logo, 'the roundel' (a red circle crossed by a horizontal blue bar), first appeared in 1908
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Investment and performance
- LU transferred from the control of the Government to Transport for London (TfL) on 15 July 2003
- TfL is investing billions of pounds into upgrading the Tube
During 2010/11 LU:
- Carried record numbers of passengers, exceeding 1.1 billion journeys for the first time
- Ran over 69million train km - the equivalent of 1,750 laps around the world or 90 trips to the moon and back
- Operated 95.6 per cent of all scheduled train services
- Recorded an overall customer satisfaction score of 79 out of 100 - equaling the record set in the previous year
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Technical information
Average train speed
- 33km per hour (20.5mph) including station stops
- In central London, trains cannot reach speeds of more than 30-40mph because of the short distance between stations
- On the Victoria line, stations are wider apart and trains can reach speeds of up to 50mph
- On the Metropolitan line, trains can reach over 60mph
Maximum number of trains required for scheduled peak period service
|
AM |
PM |
Bakerloo line |
33 |
32 |
Central line |
76 |
76 |
Circle / Hammersmith & City line |
32 |
32 |
District line |
76 |
76 |
Jubilee line |
49 |
50 |
Metropolitan line |
48 |
50 |
Northern line |
91 |
91 |
Piccadilly line |
78 |
78 |
Victoria line |
37 |
37 |
Waterloo & City line |
5 |
5 |
Total |
526 |
526 |
Elevation
Highest point above mean sea level |
Metropolitan line (beyond Amersham station) - 150 metres (500ft) |
Highest station above mean sea level |
Amersham - 147 metres (490ft) |
Greatest elevation from ground level |
Northern line (Dollis Brook viaduct over Dollis road, Mill Hill) - 18 metres (60ft) |
Depths
Maximum depth below mean sea level |
Jubilee line - 32 metres (105ft) |
Deep level Tube lines |
Maximum depths below ground level |
Northern line - Holly Bush Hill, Hampstead - 68.8 metres (221ft) |
Sub-surface cut and cover lines |
Maximum depths below ground level |
East London line - (Wapping) - 18.3 metres (60ft) |
Central London |
Deepest stations below street level |
Northern line - Bank (DLR concourse) - 41.4 metres (136ft) |
Outer London |
Deepest stations below street level |
Northern line - Hampstead - 58.5 metres (192ft) |
Depots
Bakerloo line |
Stonebridge Park |
Central line |
West Ruislip/Hainault/White City |
Circle / Hammersmith & City line |
Hammersmith |
District line |
Ealing Common/Upminster |
Jubilee line |
Stratford Market |
Metropolitan line |
Neasden |
Northern line |
Golders Green/Morden |
Piccadilly line |
Northfields/Cockfosters |
Victoria line |
Northumberland Park |
Waterloo & City line |
Waterloo |
Most distant places served
Approximate distances from central London
Epping to Liverpool Street 27km (16 miles) - North |
Morden to Moorgate 16km (10 miles) - South |
Upminster to Tower Hill 25km (15 miles) - East |
Chesham to Aldgate 47km (29 miles) - West |
Distances
Longest distance between stations |
Metropolitan line - Chesham to Chalfont & Latimer - 6.3km (3.89 miles) |
Shortest distance between stations |
Piccadilly line - Leicester Square to Covent Garden - 0.3km (0.161 miles) |
Longest continuous tunnel |
Northern line - East Finchley to Morden (via Bank) - 27.8km (17.3 miles) |
Longest journey without change |
Central line - West Ruislip to Epping - 54.9km (34.1 miles) |
Length of route : Owned/managed
Single lines |
12km (seven miles) |
Double lines |
355km (220 miles) |
Triple lines |
5km (three miles) |
Quadruple lines and over |
30km (19 miles) |
Total lines |
402km (249 miles) |
Length of route: In tunnel
Sub-surface cut and cover |
32km (20 miles) |
Deep level Tube |
149km (93 miles) |
Totals |
181km (113 miles) |
Proportion of route in tunnel |
45 per cent |
Underground lines
Bakerloo line |
Elephant & Castle to Harrow & Wealdstone - 23km (14.5 miles) - serves 25 stations |
Central line |
Ealing Broadway or West Ruislip to Woodford (via Hainault) or Epping - 74km (46 miles) - serves 49 stations |
Circle line |
Connects to most of London's National Rail termini - 27km (17 miles) - serves 36 stations |
Hammersmith & City line |
Hammersmith to Barking - 25.5km (16 miles) - serves 29 stations |
District line |
Upminster and Ealing Broadway to Richmond or Wimbledon, with other branches to Edgware Road and Olympia - 64km (40 miles) - serves 60 stations |
Jubilee line |
Stanmore to Stratford - 36km (22.5 miles) - serves 27 stations |
Metropolitan line |
Aldgate to Amersham, with branches to Chesham, Watford and Uxbridge - 67km (41.5 miles) - serves 34 stations |
Northern line |
Morden to Edgware, Mill Hill East or High Barnet, with two central London branches - 58km (36 miles) - serves 50 stations |
Piccadilly line |
Cockfosters to Heathrow or Uxbridge - 71km (44.3 miles) - serves 53 stations |
Victoria line |
Walthamstow Central to Brixton - 21km (13.3 miles) - serves 16 stations |
Waterloo & City line |
Waterloo to Bank - 2.4km (1.5 miles) - no intermediate stations |
Generating stations' installed capacity
Greenwich Gas Turbine Plant - 105MW (Megawatts) |
Fuel consumption for year |
197,077 litres gasoil |
Resource use
Total electricity supplied |
1,163 (Gigawatt hours) Percentage of energy used which is renewable: 17 per cent Carbon efficiency: 78.9g CO2/passenger km travelled |
Energy efficiency |
143 Watts-hours/passenger km travelled |
Water used each year |
624m litres |
Recycling and waste management
Station, depot and office waste generated |
12,385 tonnes |
Station, depot and office waste recycled |
74 per cent |
Construction and demolition waste generated |
183,456 tonnes |
Construction and demolition waste recycled |
92 per cent |
Wildlife and habitats
LU manages about 10 per cent of all green spaces in London. Wildlife observed on the Tube network |
Woodpeckers, deer, sparrowhawk, bats, grass snakes, great crested newts, slow worm
|
Pumping systems
Number of individual pumps |
1,125 |
Number of installations |
714 |
Daily discharge |
Over 47 million litres water per day - enough to fill a standard leisure centre swimming pool(25 metres x 10 metres)every 15 minutes |
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