Key facts
Facts and figures
- Number of miles/km travelled by each Tube train each year: 76,800 miles/123,600km
- Number of passengers carried on the Tube each year: 1,073 million
- Number of individual passengers carried on the Tube each year: 28 million
- Average train speed: 33km per hour/20.5mph
- Length of network: 402km/249 miles
- Proportion of the network in tunnels: 45 per cent
- Longest continuous tunnel: East Finchley to Morden (via Bank) - 27.8km/17.25 miles
- Total number of escalators: 412
- Station with most escalators: Waterloo - 23 plus two passenger conveyors
- 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: 122
- Deepest lift shaft: Hampstead - 55.2m/181ft
- Shortest lift shaft: Westminster - 2.5m/8ft
- Cars in London Underground's (LU's) fleet: 4070
- Total number of stations served: 270
- Total number of stations owned and managed: 260
- Total number of LU staff: 13,400
- Stations with the most platforms: Baker Street - 10. Moorgate has 11 platforms but only nine belong to LU
- Busiest stations: During the three-hour morning peak, London's busiest Tube station is Waterloo, with 51,100 people entering. The busiest station in terms of passengers each year is Victoria with 76 million
- London Underground has been known as the Tube since 1890, when the first deep-level electric railway line was opened
- The Underground name first appeared on stations in 1908
- LU'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 transforming the Tube
- Under the Public Private Partnership (PPP) structure, LU is responsible for operating trains and staffing Tube stations. Private sector companies, Metronet and Tube Lines, are responsible for the maintenance and renewal of the Tube's infrastructure - the trains, tracks, tunnels, signals and stations
During 2007/08 LU:
- Carried a record 1,073 million passengers - an increase of 5.7 per cent from the previous year and the highest figure ever, beating the previous record of 1,014 million set in 2006/07
- Ran more trains than ever before, clocking up a huge total of nearly 70m km - the equivalent of 1,750 laps around the world or 90 trips to the moon and back
- Operated 94.8 per cent of all scheduled train services - the highest for three years
- Recorded an overall customer satisfaction score of 77 out of 100
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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 |
32 |
32 |
| Central line |
77 |
76 |
| Circle / Hammersmith & City line |
30 |
30 |
| District line |
77 |
77 |
| Jubilee line |
49 |
50 |
| Metropolitan line |
47 |
47 |
| Northern line |
91 |
91 |
| Piccadilly line |
78 |
78 |
| Victoria line |
37 |
37 |
| Waterloo & City line |
5 |
5 |
| Total |
526 |
523 |
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 - 67.4 metres (221ft) |
| Sub-surface cut and cover lines |
Maximum depths below ground level |
East London line - (Wapping) - 18.29 metres (60ft) |
| Inner 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 |
Neasden/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 29km (18 miles) - North |
| Morden 16km (10 miles) - South |
| Upminster 29km (18 miles) - East |
| Amersham 43km (27 miles) - West |
Distances
| Longest distance between stations |
Metropolitan line - Chesham to Chalfont & Latimer - 6.26km (3.89 miles) |
| Shortest distance between stations |
Piccadilly line - Leicester Square to Covent Garden - 0.26km (0.161 miles) |
| Longest continuous tunnel |
Northern line - East Finchley to Morden (via Bank) - 27.8km (17.25 miles) |
| Longest journey without change |
Central line - West Ruislip to Epping - 54.9km (34.1 miles) |
Length of route : Owned/managed
| Single lines |
12km (7 miles) |
| Double lines |
355km (220 miles) |
| Triple lines |
5km (3 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 - 22.5km (14.5 miles) - serves 27 stations |
| Hammersmith & City line |
Hammersmith to Whitechapel - 26.5km (16.5 miles) - serves 19 stations (28 in peak when trains run beyond Whitechapel to and from Barking) |
| 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 52 stations |
| Victoria line |
Walthamstow Central to Brixton - 21km (13.25 miles) - serves 16 stations |
| Waterloo & City line |
Waterloo to Bank - 2.4km (1.49 miles) - no intermediate stations |
Generating stations' installed capacity
| Greenwich Gar 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/passenger km travelled |
| Water used each year |
624m litres |
Recycling and waste management
| Station, depot and office waste generated |
15,030 tonnes |
| Station, depot and office waste recycled |
40 per cent |
| Number of stations with recycling facilities |
90 per cent |
| Construction and demolition waste generated |
71,666 tonnnes |
| Construction and demolition waste recycled |
71 per cent |
Wildlife and habitats
LU owns 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
|
Pumps
| Total number of pumps |
1,030 |
| Total number of installations |
630 |
| Daily discharge |
Over 30m litres water per day - enough to fill a standard municipal swimming pool (25 metres x 10 metres) every 20 minutes |
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