The London Underground (“The Tube”)

The London Underground is the oldest and one of the busiest underground railway networks in the world. The first journey on the underground took place in 1863, built and financed by the Metropolitan Railway company.  The railway network has 250 miles of route throughout the Greater London area and  270 stations. Nearly 1.3 billion passengers use the underground annually to travel around London to work, school, museums, events, tourist attractions, and much more.

We had discussed the Tube in class prior to traveling to London, but I was still not entirely sure how it functioned. I arrived in London with just the words “High Street Kensington” and “Mind the gap” floating in my head. I was completely unaware of how elaborate the system actually is and how one goes about getting from place to place using it. Although we had a fabulous practice session of getting on and off (incorporating the use of desk chairs and a corner of the classroom), I was not fully prepared for the crowds and bustle of the busy Tube stations. I knew that High Street Kensington was the place I needed to end up every night and that was about it. Once actually arriving in London, however, I was shocked at how easily we all picked up how to use the underground to make our way around the city.

Our very first night out on the town in London, a few friends and I embarked on our first journey using the underground system. We looked at the map, swiped our travel cards, and minded the gap onto our first train to Westminster. In the following days, we began to use the Tube to get anywhere and everywhere around the city without any problems. I was very surprised at how easy such an elaborate, massive railway system was to navigate. We could use the underground to get anywhere we wanted to go in London and successfully found our way back to High Street Kensington every evening. Using the underground was a very unique experience, and it is something I will remember most from our trip.