LYCOS RETRIEVER 
London Underground
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The London Underground is a system of electric trains operating in London, United Kingdom. It is the oldest Underground railway in the world. It started running in 1863 as Metropolitan Railway. After the opening the system was copied in many other cities, for example New York and Madrid. Even though it is called the Underground about half of it is above the ground. The "Tube" is a slang name for the London Underground, because the tunnels for some of the lines are round tubes running through the ground.
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The London Underground is an all-electric metro railway system that covers much of the conurbation of Greater London and some neighbouring areas. It is the world's oldest underground system, and is the largest in terms of route length. Service began on 10 January 1863 on the Metropolitan Railway; most of that initial route is now part of the Hammersmith & City Line. Despite its name, about 55% of the network is above ground. Popular local names include the Underground and, more colloquially, the Tube, in reference to the cylindrical shape of the system's deep-bore tunnels.
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The London Underground has an excellent passenger safety record. Suicides are nonetheless common, at roughly one per week across the network, though it is estimated that only one in three attempts of this nature end in a fatality. To help prevent death, most deep tube stations have pits between the tracks at platforms; known as a 'suicide pit', their purpose is to let a body fall safely under the tracks and away from the path of an oncoming train. Delays resulting from a person jumping in front of the train as it pulls into a station are announced as "passenger action" or "a person under a train", but are referred to by staff as a "one under".
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As far as passengers are concerned, the London Underground has a good safety record. Although suicides are unfortunately common, these are dealt with quickly and with dignity. Surprisingly few accidents are caused by overcrowding on the platforms; one explanation suggested (presumably by people who have never actually visited London or the Tube) for this is that Londoners are too polite to push!
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The Metropolitan Railway, the first section of the London Underground, initially ran between Paddington (Bishop's Bridge), now just Paddington, and Farringdon Street, a temporary station just north-west of the present Farringdon station, and was the world's first urban underground passenger-carrying railway. Following delays for financial and other reasons after the railway was authorised in 1854, public traffic began on 10 January 1863. 40,000 passengers were carried that day, with trains running every ten minutes; by 1880 the expanded 'Met' was carrying 40 million passengers a year. Other lines swiftly followed, and by 1884 the Inner Circle (today's Circle Line) was complete.
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The legendary sans serif design developed by Edward Johnston for the London Underground system in 1916 is available for the first time as a commercial font in an exclusive arrangement with the London Transport Museum. The font, as well as the all-caps bold version, is true to the original design, plus full international characters are ... included. The Extras feature graphic elements inspired by the design motifs of items including maps, tile patterns and seat covers. This design has been expanded as P22 Underground Pro.
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