page_title: London Underground
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: London Underground / History
caption_attribution_description: English: The nickname "Tube" comes from the almost circular tube-like tunnels through which the small profile trains travel. This photograph shows a southbound Northern Line train travelling to Kennington via Charing Cross leaving a tunnel mouth just north of Hendon Central station. Italiano: Il soprannome "Tubo" si deve alle gallerie circolari simili a tubi dentro la quale ridotta sezione viaggiano i treni. Questa fotografia mostra un treno della Northen Line diretto a sud uscire dalla imbocco della galleria poco a nord della stazione centrale di Hendon. Español: El apodo "Tubo" con que suele llamarse al metro de Londres, proviene del aspecto de las galerías subterráneas casi circulares y en forma de tubo, a través de las cuales viajan estos trenes suburbanos. La foto muestra un tren de la Línea del Norte acercándose a la Estación central de Hendon.
context_page_description: The London Underground is a system of electric trains in London, UK. It is the oldest underground railway in the world. It started running in 1863 as the Metropolitan Railway. After the opening the system was copied in many other cities, for example New York and Madrid. Even though it is called the Underground about half of it is above the ground. The "Tube" is a slang name for the London Underground, because the tunnels for some of the lines are round tubes running through the ground. The Underground serves 270 stations and over 408 km of track. From 2006–2007 over 1 billion passengers used the underground.
  Underground train systems in other cities may be called metros or subways. Subway is also used across Britain to refer to underground walkways.
caption: The nickname "the Tube" comes from the round tunnels some trains use. The 'tube train' shown is in a tunnel near Hendon Central Station, London.
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