91³Ô¹ÏÍø

Event    From 10/1/1863 

First underground passenger railway - Metropolitan

Categories: Transport

Event

Between Paddington and Farringdon. A grand opening on the 9th preceded the opening to the public on Saturday 10 January 1863.

“That afternoon Hetta trusted herself all alone to the mysteries of the Marylebone underground railway, and emerged with accuracy at King’s Cross. She had studied her geography, and she walked from thence to Islington.” This description of an early underground journey, by a woman alone, comes from the 1875 ‘The Way We Live Now’ by Anthony Trollope (p.385 in vol.2, Penguin 2001). Living in Welbeck Street Hetta probably got on at (Great) Portland Street.

See Metropolitan Railway Company for more information.

It's interesting that, in 1829, George Shillibeer had launched the first omnibus service on a quite similar route: Marylebone Road to the Bank. Both services were catering to the middle classes who lived to the west and worked in the City.

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in to see them

This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
First underground passenger railway - Metropolitan

Commemorated ati

Baker Street Station Restoration

The walls of both platforms are adorned with information boards giving the hi...

91³Ô¹ÏÍø

First underground passenger railway - LT plaque

London's roads were heavily congested, the railways stopped on the fringes of...

91³Ô¹ÏÍø

First underground railway - red plaque

Metropolitan Railway The world's first underground railway opened from Paddin...

91³Ô¹ÏÍø

Regents Park Station

Great Portland Street  is a London Underground station on the Circle, Hammers...

91³Ô¹ÏÍø

Other Subjects

Underground Electric Railways of London

Underground Electric Railways of London

The fore-runner of the London Underground system. The London Electric Railways Company (1910-33) was a subsidiary of UERL and managed the deep-level companies: the Baker Street and Waterloo Railwa...

Place, Transport

1 memorial
East Ham tram depot

East Ham tram depot

Services from East Ham started on 22 June 1901, and they were taken over by the London Passenger Transport Board on 1 July 1933. The cost of maintaining the tramways and the increasing popularity o...

Building, Transport

1 memorial
Vauxhall Motors

Vauxhall Motors

Founded by Scottish marine engineer, Alexander Wilson, 90–92 Wandsworth Road. Originally named Alex Wilson and Company, then Vauxhall Iron Works from 1897, the company built pumps and marine engine...

Group, Industry, Transport

4 memorials
Kingsway tram tunnel / Strand underpass

Kingsway tram tunnel / Strand underpass

The title of Wikipedia's page "Kingsway tramway subway" has way too many 'way's, but the page is very informative. The tunnel was constructed 1906, enabled by the 'slum clearance' project in the A...

Building, Transport

1 memorial
Aston Martin

Aston Martin

Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford formed the company, initially as Bamford and Martin Ltd.   They used the garage at the site of the plaque as a workshop and here they developed their first model th...

Group, Sport / Games, Transport

1 memorial