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 2011/12 LU:
- Carried record numbers of passengers with 1.171 billion journeys made. This is 64 million more passenger journeys than the previous year, which itself had set a new record
- Operated a new record of train kilometres, up 5% on last year to 72.4 million train kilometres
- Beat all previous customer satisfaction evaluation scores. This year the score was 80 out of 100 the highest since records began
- Improved reliability, as measured by the amount of delays to customers, with the number of customers hours lost to delays at their lowest since measurements began in 1999. More Tube performance information here
- Implemented a co-ordinated and consolidated reliability improvement programme, redoubling efforts to ensure a more consistently reliable service for customers. The programme encompasses a range of measures to predict and prevent failures on the network. Find out more here
- Completed the Victoria and Jubilee line upgrades increasing capacity with a faster more frequent service to cope with the ever increasing passenger demand and reduce delays
- Made significant progress with the Sub-Surface Railway upgrade awarding a major signalling contract and rolling out new air conditioned trains on the Metropolitan line. Find out more about the overall Tube Improvement Plan here
- Added a 66th Tube station which is step-free from street to platform at Farringdon. Other key step-free stations include Stratford, Southfields (for Wimbledon), Green Park and King's Cross St. Pancras.
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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 |
525 |
527 |
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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Transport for London