Transport for LondonKey facts
Facts and Figures
- Number of miles travelled by each Tube train each year: 73,500
- Total number of passengers carried on the Tube each year: 976 million
- Number of individual passengers carried on the Tube each year: 19 million
- Average train speed: 33km per hour/20.5mph
- Length of network: 408km/253 miles
- Proportion of the network which is 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 has 25 plus two passenger conveyors
- Longest escalator: Angel - 60m/197ft, with a vertical rise of 27.5m/90ft
- Shortest escalator: Chancery Lane - 9.1m/30ft, with a vertical rise of 4.6m/15ft
- Total number of lifts: 112
- Deepest lift shaft: Hampstead - 55.2m/181ft
- Shortest lift shaft: Westminster - 2.5m/8ft
- Cars in LU's fleet: 4070
- Total number of stations served: 275
- Total number of stations owned and managed: 255
- LU staff: 12,560
- Stations with the most platforms: Moorgate and Baker Street have 10 platforms each
- Busiest stations: During the three-hour morning peak, London's busiest Tube station is Waterloo, with 46,000 people entering. The busiest station in terms of passengers each year is Kings Cross St Pancras with 77.5 million passengers a year.
- Passengers enter the Tube system at a rate of 150,000 people an hour
- The 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 - was designed by calligrapher Edward Johnston and first appeared in 1913
Investment and performance
- London Underground (LU) transferred from the control of the government to Transport for London (TfL) on 15 July, 2003
- TfL is investing £10bn over the next five years to improve and expand London's transport infrastructure, over half of that in the Tube
- Under the PPP structure, LU is responsible for the operation of trains and staffing of Tube stations, while private sector consortia Metronet and Tube Lines are responsible for the maintenance and renewal of the Tube's infrastructure - the trains, tracks, tunnels, signals and stations
- During 2004/2005, LU carried a record 976 million passengers, an increase of 3 per cent over the previous year and the highest figure ever, beating the previous best of 970 million set in 2000/1
- LU ran more trains than ever before, clocking up a huge total of nearly 70 million kilometres - the equivalent of 1,735 times around the world or 90 trips to the moon and back
- LU operated 95.3 per cent of all scheduled train services - a seven-year high - up by 2.2 per cent on the 93.1 per cent figure in 2003/4 and by 4.2 per cent on the 91.1 per cent figure recorded in 2002/3
- LU recorded an overall customer satisfaction score of 78 out of 100, up from 76 in 2003/4 and the highest annual score achieved since recording began in 1990/1
Technical information
Average train speed
- 33 km per hour (20.5mph) - including station stops
- In central London, trains cannot reach speeds of more than 30-40 mph because of the short distance between stations.
- On the Victoria line, where stations are further apart, trains reach speeds of up to 50 mph.
- On the Metropolitan line, trains can reach over 60 mph.
Maximum number of trains required for scheduled Peak Period Service
| AM | PM | |
|---|---|---|
| Bakerloo Line | 31 | 31 |
| Central | 72 | 72 |
| Circle / Hammersmith & City | 31 | 30 |
| District Line | 74 | 76 |
| East London Line | 6 | 6 |
| Jubilee Line | 47 | 47 |
| Metropolitan Line | 44 | 44 |
| Northern Line | 84 | 91 |
| Piccadilly Line | 76 | 76 |
| Victoria Line | 37 | 37 |
| Waterloo & City Line | 4 | 4 |
| Total | 506 | 514 |
Elevation
| Highest point above mean sea level | Metropolitan line (beyond Amersham Station) - 150m (500ft) |
| Highest station above mean sea level | Amersham - 147m (490ft) |
| Greatest elevation from ground level | Northern line (Dollis Brook viaduct over Dollis road, Mill Hill) - 18m (60ft) |
Depths
| Maximum depth below mean sea level | Jubilee line - 32m (105ft) | |
| Deep Level Tube lines | Maximum depths below ground level | Northern line (Holly Bush Hill, Hampstead) - 67.4m (221ft) |
| Sub-surface cut & cover lines | Maximum depths below ground level | East London Line - (Wapping) 18.29m (60ft) |
| Inner London | Deepest stations below street level | Bank (DLR concourse) 41.4m (136ft) |
| Outer London | Deepest stations below street level | Hampstead 58.5m (192ft) |
Depots
| Depot | |
|---|---|
| Bakerloo Line | Stonebridge Park |
| Central | West Ruislip/Hainault/White City |
| Circle / Hammersmith & City | Hammersmith |
| District Line | Ealing Common/Upminster |
| East London Line | New Cross |
| 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 | 14km (9 miles) |
| Double Lines | 359km (222 miles) |
| Triple Lines | 5km (3 miles) |
| Quadruple Lines & Over | 30km (19 miles) |
| Total lines | 408km (253 miles) |
Length of route : In Tunnel
| Sub-surface cut & cover | 32km (20 miles) |
| Deep level tube | 149km (93 miles) |
| Totals | 181km (113 miles) |
| Proportion of total route in tunnel | 45% |
Underground Lines
| Bakerloo Line | Elephant & Castle and Harrow & Wealdstone - 23km (14.5 miles) - serves 25 stations |
| Central | Ealing Broadway or West Ruislip and Woodford (via Hainault) or Epping - 74km (46 miles) - serves 49 stations |
| Circle | Connects to most of London's main line railway termini - 22.5km (14.5 miles) - serves 27 stations |
| Hammersmith & City | 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, Richmond or Wimbledon with other branches to Edgware Road and Olympia - 64km (40 miles) - serves 60 stations |
| East London Line | Whitechapel (Shoreditch in peak periods and on Sunday mornings) and New Cross or New Cross Gate - 8km (5 miles) - serves 9 stations |
| Jubilee Line | Stanmore to Stratford (The 16km (ten mile) extension from Green Park to Stratford opened in November 1999) - 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 and Edgware, Mill Hill East or High Barnet with two central London branches - 58km (36 miles) - serves 50 stations |
| Piccadilly Line | Cockfosters and Heathrow or Uxbridge - 71km (44.3 miles) - serves 52 stations |
| Victoria Line | Walthamstow Central and Brixton - 21km (13.25 miles) - serves 16 stations |
| Waterloo & City Line | Waterloo and Bank (became the responsibility of London Undergroud in 1994) - 2.4km (1.49 miles) - No intermediate stations |
Fuel Consumption
Generating stations installed capacity| Lots Road, Chelsea (closed 21/10/2002) - 180 MW Megawatts | Fuel consumption for year | 3,838 tons (low distillate oil) |
| 74,373 (natural gas) | ||
| Greenwich Gar Turbine Plant - 105 MW Megawatts | Fuel consumption for year | 276 tons (low distillate oil) |
| 5,400 (natural gas) |
Resource Use
| Total electricity supplied | 1091 (gigawatt hours) |
| Energy efficiency | 148 |
| Water used | 638,000,000 litres |
Waste Generated
| General | 5866 tonnes |
| Track (ballast, sleepers etc) | 7486 tonnnes |
| Skip/compacted | 2026 |
| Special (solid) | 91 tonnnes |
| Special (liquid) | 166,795 litres |
Substations output voltage
- 630v DC
Nominal track voltage
- 630v DC
Pumps
| Total number of pumps | 1030 |
| Total number of installations | 630 |
| Daily discharge | Over 30 million litres water per day (this is enough to fill a standard municipal swimming pool 25m x 10m every 20 minutes). |
Ventiliation
- 160 installations - 94 in station and 66 interstation
