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The New Zealand Railways Magazine, Volume 11, Issue 12 (March 1, 1937)

Passenger Transport in London

Passenger Transport in London.

London's transportation system will be called upon to handle unprecedented crowds during Coronation week. The London Passenger Transport Board, however, is accustomed to “rush” business, and so all this extra work will be tackled calmly and without fuss. In an ordinary normal year, 3,648,000,000 passengers are conveyed over the routes of the L.P.T.B. undertaking—the big pool established to coordinate rail and road transport in the metropolis. The Board services a population of 9,500,000, and covers a large suburban area as well as the city proper. Underground railways, main-line suburban services, bus and trackless trolley systems, all come under its control.

Streamlined Double-Deck Train, Lubeck-Buchen Railway, Germany.

Streamlined Double-Deck Train, Lubeck-Buchen Railway, Germany.

From a railway viewpoint, the underground railways are probably as interesting as any of the services covered. These consist of tube lines, and tracks laid in shallow tunnels with stations in the open. Among the tubes, may be named the Central London, running from Liverpool Street in the east to the western suburbs; the Bakerloo (Baker Street and Waterloo); and the Piccadilly Tube, centred on Piccadilly Circus. Distinct from the tubes are the Metropolitan and Metropolitan District Railways—shallow tunnel lines which originally were operated by steam. The “Inner Circle” forms the most important “Metro” route. This is an irregular oval of tracks, enclosing the busiest portion of the metropolis, and linking the mainline termini.