Did you know?

The Tube
The London Underground train service – or the ‘Tube’, as Londoners call it – is the oldest and largest in the world. The first underground railway line opened in January 1863. The line was only 6 km long, but others were soon started, and in 1890 a line was opened which ran under the River Thames. Today the Tube has over 406 km of lines and 275 stations. Passengers make a total of 3 million journeys a year
•About 18 million individual passengers a year use the Tube – the same number as the population of Australia.
•The Tube has a total of 408 escalators 112 lifts. Waterloo station has the most escalators, with 25.
•During World War ll, ehen the city was heavily bombed in German air raids, Londoners used Tube station platforms as a place to shelter.
•The Underground logo (top), which is still used today, was designed in 1913.
Black Cabs

Licensed public cabs have existed in London since 1643. They wee still some horse-drawn cabs in London as late as 1947. By law, each cab had to have enough extra space to carry a bale of hay for the horse. Although nowadays London’s black cabs are all motor cars, the old law about extra space has still not changed!  
There are about 19,000 cabs in London and 22,000 drivers. As wellas special driving test, lincensed cab drivers have to pass a very difficult test called the Knowledge of London. To pass, a driver must know all about London and its hotels, theatres, stations, hospital, public buildings, restaurants, parks and so on, as well as the shortest way to get to any of them. As if that wasn’t enough, the driver has to know ALL OF THE 25,000 STREETS within 10 km of the centre of the city!