Victoria Line Underground Stations - Facts, Trivia And Impressions - Randomly London This post is part of my Randomly London v. The Tube Challenge . Get the latest about challenge updates here . Donate to Bowel Cancer UK here . Retro Victoria Line Tube Map Found At Pimlico, the only station still using this type of map. Given that London has few sunny and warm weekends, especially in September, most Londoners make the most of them when they do happen. I, on the other hand, chose to ride the tube from Brixton to Walthamstow Central along the Victoria line. The Victoria line is an interesting one for a few reasons: it was the first deep level underground line to be built across central London since 1907, it is the longest line entirely underground (at least for the travelling public), and almost every station has tiled artwork relating to the station itself, or the surrounding area. I visited each of the 16 stations on the line over the course of approximately 3 hours on the very sunny 8th of September.

Here are my impressions and a random fact about each station: Brixton Huge London Underground roundel at Brixton station and tiled artwork at platform level playing on the "brick" part of the name. Impressions: Brixton is among the more interesting areas of London. It has reputation for being somewhat dodgy and dangerous, but in my opinion this view is increasingly outdated. While Brixton remains at present a mixed area, all signs point to rapid gentrification. The most noticeable feature about Brixton station, to my mind, is the huge London Underground roundel over the entrance. It was also extremely busy on the day I visited. Random Fact: Brixton station opened in 1971, 3 years after the first section of the Victoria line. Tweet This Stockwell The entrance to Stockwell Station and the bizarre dazzle inspired tiled artwork at platform level. Impressions: If Brixton is one of the most interesting areas of London, Stockwell feels like one of the most bland. Stockwell station is one of the ugliest stations on the whole network. The view is not much improved once you leave, as you're immediately thrust onto busy Clapham Road.

The one interesting thing I did notice about the station is that there is no up escalator from the northbound Victoria line platform. I guess not many people go from Brixton to Stockwell by tube. It was also far less busy than Brixton. Random Fact: Stockwell is the southernmost London underground station that serves more than one line. Tweet This Vauxhall Vauxhall Bus & Tube station in rare traffic free moment and the tiled artwork at platform level. Impressions: Vauxhall station feels a bit like a rabbit warren when you leave the ticket hall, as there are exits and entrances in all directions. Once you manage to get yourself outside, you're again confronted with a series of busy roads. Not the most beautiful area of London. There are, however, two notable sights. The first is the conspicuous MI6 headquarters, which I've always found a little bizarre. Surely the point of the SIS is to remain secret? The second is the Vauxhall bus station, whose roof looks like a ramp to the sky. Random Fact: The Russian word for 'central railway station' (vokzal) is likely named after Vauxhall .

Tweet This Pimlico Pimlico Station's unique roundel and dot inspired artwork at platform level. Impressions: Just the other side of the river from Vauxhall, Pimlico has an entirely different feel. When you leave Vauxhall underground station you're confronted with a series of busy roads, but when you leave Pimlico station you feel right in the heart of residential London. Pimlico was designed as an extension of Belgravia, yet I've always felt it has far more of an edge to it. This is of course only relative to the most expensive area of London. In the station itself, the thing that really stood out to me was the fact that most of the original signage and maps are still in use from when the station first opened in 1972. This is the only station I came across where this is the case, and hence, it is my favourite station along the line. Random Fact #1: Pimlico station is the only station on the Victoria line not to have an interchange with any other tube/rail line. Tweet This Random Fact #2: Pimlico station opened in 1972, the last station to open on the Victoria line.

Tweet This Victoria The exterior of Victoria Station without too many tourists and the tiled artwork of Queen Victoria's silhouette at platform level. Impressions: I travel through Victoria almost every day for work and it's always incredibly busy. If possible, it's even worse at the weekend. There are tourists everywhere who have no idea where they're going. It's a bit of shame, because Victoria Rail Station is an impressive building but I always find myself wanting to leave as quickly as possible. Random Fact: Victoria station is the second busiest on the network after Waterloo. Tweet This Green Park The entrance to Green Park station along the green wall which leads directly in and out of Green Park itself and more dot inspired tiled artwork at platform level. Impressions: Green Park tube station is another popular station with tourists at the weekend, due to its proximity to Buckingham Palace. The station has recently undergone refurbishment, which gives it a nice modern feel. It also means you can now enter/exit directly from Green Park along a 'living' green wall. Random Fact: Green Park is one of three Victoria line stations that intersect with the Piccadilly line. Tweet This Oxford Circus Entrance and Exit to Oxford Circus Tube. My least favourite tube station on the Victoria line.

I failed to get a good picture of the artwork at platform level due to passenger volumes. Impressions: I tend to follow the old saying, 'a true Londoner never walks along Oxford Street, only across it.' Thus, I do my utmost to avoid the area at all times since it's another area completely mobbed by tourists. Due to my rather strong feelings, I found that Oxford Circus station is my least favourite. It doesn't even follow the tiled artwork designs of all other Victoria Line stations, hence the pictures above. Random fact: Oxford Circus is the busiest tube station without a national rail connection. Tweet This Warren Street Warren Street Station Entrance and the maze-like artwork (a play on "warren") at platform level. Impressions: I travel through Warren Street station almost every day, but have never formed a strong feeling about it one way or another before. Few people get on or off here. My station visit does little to change my initial impressions. The main highlight for me at this point is that after visiting Warren Street station, I'm halfway done the Victoria line. Random fact: The doors for trains on all four platforms at Warren Street open on the left hand-side.

Tweet This Euston The entrance sign to Euston Station and the tiled artwork of the Euston Arch, which ironically was destroyed before the Victoria line platforms opened. Impressions: Euston is normally where I leave the Victoria line in the morning and where I rejoin it in the evening. From a commuting point of view, the station is great because you can transfer directly between the Northern line and the Victoria line across the platform. This makes transfers very quick. However, Euston National Rail station is easily the ugliest station in London. Designed in typical Brutalist style, the station is a crime against architecture. Random Fact: Euston Victoria line platforms have tiles of the 'Euston Arch'. Ironically it was knocked down before the line opened. Tweet This King's Cross-St. Pancras Sign for King's Cross Station with St. Pancras station in the background and the tiled artwork at platform level - a cross of crowns (for Kings). Impressions: This is the heart of the tube. Over half of London's underground lines come through the station. On top of that, it serves two National rail stations (from where it gets its rather unwieldy name).

Both stations have undergone major refurbishment in the last few years and are each worth a visit. Unfortunately, the area immediately surrounding the stations is still a little rough around the edges, although I gather from talking to a friend of mine who grew up in the area, that it's much better than it was in the late 80s and early 90s. The Victoria line platforms are rather unremarkable, but it is the only stop along my whole visit where my train is delayed. Random Fact: King's Cross-St. Pancras station is the most connected London Underground station with connections to 6 lines. Tweet This Highbury & Islington Entrance sign to Highbury & Islington Station and tiled artwork of Highbury House, which was finally demolished in 1938. Impressions: Highbury & Islington station is interesting because it's tucked away beside The Famous Cock Tavern. Unlike most other stations on the Victoria line, the entrance to Highbury & Islington almost feels like a secret. However, while the station itself is well connected, it isn't really that remarkable. Random Fact: Highbury & Islington was briefly the southern terminus for the Victoria line when it first opened.

Tweet This Finsbury Park Finsbury Park Station entrance and a pair of duelling pistols as Finsbury Park was a popular site for duelling in the 18th century. Impressions: Finsbury Park station is odd because there are no Oyster/ticket gateways when you leave the tube. It also doesn't have any escalators or lifts, only stairs to ground level. The area around the station feels very mixed, with expensive coffee shops such as Costa next to bordered up buildings. I get the sense I'm now on my way out of central London. Random Fact: The first station at Finsbury Park opened on 1 July, 1861 and was originally named Seven Sisters Road (Holloway). Tweet This Seven Sisters Seven Sisters station entrance and the artwork depicting the seven elms that give the area its name Impressions: I have friends who used to live in Seven Sisters, so I'm vaguely familiar with the area. While it's by no means the suburbs, it's also not central London. It's one of those areas that's stuck in between. Like Finsbury Park, the area has a very mixed feeling to it, although fewer signs of gentrification.

The station also has a disused platform you can visit, if you're into that sort of thing. Random Fact: The distance between Seven Sisters and Finsbury Park is the longest between adjacent stations in deep level tunnels. Tweet This Tottenham Hale Tottenham Hale Station entrance and the interesting artwork found at platform level. Impressions: Tottenham Hale really does not feel like London any more. In fact it could be almost anywhere in the UK. The area outside the station is nothing more than a parking lot with a bunch of big box chain shops. Random fact: Tottenham Hale was originally called just Tottenham and opened in 1840. It was renamed when it became a Victoria line station. Tweet This Blackhorse Road A tiny image of Blackhorse Road Station and the very original artwork found at platform level. Impressions: Blackhorse Road station is another relatively nondescript station (similar to Stockwell). The area outside is not glamorous, but it's a very small improvement over Tottenham Hale. However, the Standard Music venue and Waltham Forest Business Centre both look like they've seen better days, Random Fact: Blackhorse Road is the least used station on the Victoria Line.

Tweet This Walthamstow Central The welcome sight of Walthamstow Central Station and the headache inducing artwork you can find at platform level. Impressions: Finally after 15 other stations, I arrive at my final destination of Walthamstow Central. Like many of the preceding stations, the area feels decidedly mixed. The exit from the station is not the most obvious as there are several ways to go, and I end up on the National Rail platforms. However, once you get out of the station, there are crowds of people enjoying the adjacent park. It's not an altogether bad place to end up at the end of a journey, but I still have to make the trek back south to my neck of the woods. Random fact: Walthamstow Central was originally known as Hoe Street before the Victoria line arrived. Tweet This Oyster journey history, proof I tapped in and out at each station along the Victoria line. Many of my impressions of the Victoria line are clouded by the fact that I use it every day to get to and from work. Overall, it's the tube's workhorse; it serves a vital role in helping to keep the whole network running.

It's also the second shortest line and doesn't venture too far from central London. Other positives about the line include the fact that it has among the most modern carriages on the network and the fact that, at rush hour, trains run every 2 minutes or less. While in theory this should mean you almost never have to wait for a train in the morning, in practice it means that you often have to wait for several to go by before finding one with enough space to cram yourself in. 10 Victoria Line Facts: Number of stations: 16. Tweet This Journey time from Brixton to Walthamstow Central (if you don't get off at each station): 32 minutes. Tweet This Random Fact #1: Only line entirely underground, besides the Waterloo & City line. Tweet This Random Fact #2: Most intensively used line based on average number of journeys per mile. Tweet This Random Fact #3: One of only two lines built after the war (The other is the Jubilee line) Tweet This Random Fact #4: The Victoria line allows trains to store gravitational potential energy as they slow down and release it when they leave a station.

Tweet This Random Fact #5: Other proposed names for the line included the "Walvic line" (Walthamstow – Victoria) and "Viking line" (Victoria – King's Cross). Tweet This Favourite Station: Pimlico, because it feels like a secret staion right in the heart of London. Least Favourite Station: Oxford Circus, mostly because I hate Oxford Street and the station is always overrun with tourists. How you can help the challenge: London Underground: 150 fascinating Tube facts - Telegraph Telegraph 150 London Underground facts (including the birth of Jerry Springer in East Finchley station) It's closed today, but it's still interesting Credit: John Stillwell Jolyon Attwooll , Travel writer 9 January 2017 • 11:00am You can't ride it today, thanks to industrial action. But you can learn a few things about the Tube instead. 1. There is only one Tube station which does not have any letters of the word 'mackerel' in it: St John's Wood. 2. The average speed on the Underground is 20.5 miles per hour including station stops. 3.

The busiest Tube station is Waterloo, which was used by around 95 million passengers in 2015. In 2014 Oxford Circus took top spot, in 2009 it was Victoria, and in 2005 it was King's Cross, 4. On the Metropolitan line, trains can reach over 60mph. The Night Tube service started on August 19, 2016 Credit: AFP or licensors/DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS 5. The shortest distance between two adjacent stations on the underground network is only 260 metres. The tube journey between Leicester Square and Covent Garden on the Piccadilly Line takes only about 20 seconds, but costs £4.90 (cash fare). Yet it still remains one of the most popular journeys with tourists. 6. Many tube stations were used as air-raid shelters during the Second World War, but the Central Line was even converted into a fighter aircraft factory that stretched for over two miles, with its own railway system. Its existence remained an official secret until the 1980s. 7.

Angel has the Underground's longest escalator at 60m/197ft, with a vertical rise of 27.5m. 8. The shortest escalator is Stratford, with a vertical rise of 4.1m. 9. Only 45 per cent of the Underground is actually in tunnels. 10. The longest distance between stations is on the Metropolitan line from Chesham to Chalfont & Latimer: a total of only 3.89 miles. The history of the Tube in pictures 11. The longest continuous tunnel is on the Northern line and runs from East Finchley to Morden (via Bank), a total of 17.3 miles. 12. Aldgate Station, on the Circle and Metropolitan Lines, is built on a massive plague pit, where more than 1,000 bodies are buried. 13. The longest journey without change is on the Central line from West Ruislip to Epping, and is a total of 34.1 miles. 14. The deepest station is Hampstead on the Northern line, which runs down to 58.5 metres. 15.

In Central London the deepest station below street level is also the Northern line. It is the DLR concourse at Bank, which is 41.4 metres below. Only 45 per cent of the Underground is actually in tunnels 16. The TARDIS, (Dr Who’s transport) can be found outside Earl’s Court station. Or at least an old police call box can. 17. The London Underground manages about 10 per cent of all green spaces in London. 18. Wildlife observed on the Tube network includes woodpeckers, deer, sparrowhawk, bats, grass snakes, great crested newts, slow worms. 19. Over 47 million litres water are pumped from the Tube each day, enough to fill a standard leisure centre swimming pool (25 metres x 10 metres) every quarter of an hour. 20. The London Underground trains were originally steam powered. 21. The station with the most platforms is Baker Street with 10 (Moorgate also has 10 platforms but only six are used by Tube trains - others are used by overground trains). 22.The District Line has the most stations: 60.

There are 270 stations on the network Credit: Dominic Lipinski 23. The Waterloo and City Line has the fewest stations (no intermediate stations) 24. The Underground name first appeared on stations in 1908. 25. London Underground has been known as the Tube since 1890 due to the shape of the tunnels. 26. The first deep-level electric railway line also opened in 1890. 27. The Tube's logo is known as “the roundel” (a red circle crossed by a horizontal blue bar) 28. The station with the most escalators is Waterloo with 23. 29. The total number of passengers carried during 2013/14 was 1.265 billion – making it the world's 11th busiest metro. 30. The highest station above sea level is Amersham, at 147 metres. What we love about the London Underground 31. Tube trains travelled 76.4 million kilometres last year. 32. The Northern line has the highest maximum number of trains required for scheduled peak period service: 91.

The Tube's logo is known as “the roundel” Credit: Reuters Photographer 33. The Waterloo & City line has the fewest scheduled for peak period service at just five. 34. The total length of the London Underground network is 250 miles. 35. In 1926, suicide pits were installed beneath tracks due to a rise in the numbers of passengers throwing themselves in front of trains. 36. The eastern extension of the Jubilee line is the only Underground line to feature glass screens to deter "jumpers". 37. The earliest trains run from Osterley to Heathrow on the Piccadilly line, starting at 4.45am. 38. The greatest elevation above the ground level is on the Northern line at Dollis Brook viaduct over Dollis road, Mill Hill: it rises a total of 18 metres (60ft). 39. One of the early names proposed for the Victoria Line was the Viking line. 40. In 1924, the first baby was born on the Underground, on a train at Elephant & Castle on the Bakerloo line. The Tube's prettiest stations 41.

The American talk show host Jerry Springer was born at East Finchley during the Second World War: his mother had taken shelter in the station from an air raid. 42. Builders working on the Bakerloo Line are reported to have suffered from the bends while tunnelling under the Thames. 43. The inaugural journey of the first Central line train in 1900 had the Prince of Wales and Mark Twain on board. The total length of the London Underground network is 250 miles Credit: PA 44. The tunnels beneath the City curve significantly because they follow its medieval street plan. 45. The Central line introduced the first flat fare when it opened at the turn of the 20th century. The tuppence fare lasted until the end of June 1907 when a threepenny fare was introduced for longer journeys. 46. Charles Pearson, MP and Solicitor to the City of London, is credited with successfully campaigning for the introduction of the Underground. He died in 1862 shortly before the first train ran. 47. The first escalator on the Underground was installed at Earl's Court in 1911. 48.

The first crash on the Tube occurred in 1938 when two trains collided between Waterloo and Charing Cross, injuring 12 passengers. 49. Harry Beck produced the well known Tube map diagram while working as an engineering draughtsman at the London Underground Signals Office. He was reportedly paid 10 guineas (£10.50) for his efforts. 50. Harry Beck’s map was considered too big a departure from the norm, but the public liked it and it became official in 1933. 51. Busking has been licensed on the Tube since 2003. 52. Sting and Paul McCartney are both rumoured to have busked on the Underground in disguise. 53. The phrase "Mind the gap" dates back to 1968. The recording that is broadcast on stations was first done by Peter Lodge, who had a recording company in Bayswater. A photo posted by bologna|2001|galvani (@_f_r_e_0_1_) on Aug 18, 2016 at 4:53am PDT 54.

The Peter Lodge recording of “Mind the Gap” is still in use, but some lines use recordings by a Manchester voice artist Emma Clarke. On the Piccadilly line the recording is notable for being the voice of Tim Bentinck, who plays David Archer in The Archers. 55. The Jubilee Line was the only Underground Line to connect with all the others until the East London line ceased to be part of the Underground in 2007 (now the Central Line does too). 56. Approximately 50 passengers a year kill themselves on the Underground. 57. Fewer than 10 per cent of Tube stations lie south of the Thames. 58. The total number of lifts on the Underground, including four stair lifts, is 167. Ye Olde London Underground Credit: Getty 59. Smoking was banned on the Underground as a result of the King's Cross fire in November 1987 which killed 31 people. A discarded match was thought to be the cause of that inferno. 60. An estimated half a million mice live in the Underground system. London's lost Tube stations: in pictures 61.

1961 marked the end of steam and electric haulage of passenger trains on the London Underground. 62. One of the levels in Tomb Raider 3 is set in the disused Aldwych tube station, featuring scenes of Lara Croft killing rats. 63. In the film Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, the Hogwarts headmaster has a scar that resembles a map of the London Underground on his knee. 64.There are only two tube station names that contain all five vowels: Mansion House, and South Ealing. 65. Edward Johnston designed the font for the London Underground in 1916. The font he came up with is still in use today. 66. Amersham is also the most westerly tube station, as well as the highest (see above). 67. A macabre statistic is that the most popular tube suicide time is around 11am. 68. In January 2005, in an attempt to alleviate a problem with loitering young people, the London Underground announced it would play classical music at problem stations. Which buildings survived the Great Fire of London? 69.

The Underground has the oldest section of underground railway in the world, which opened in 1863. 70. The first section of the Underground ran between Paddington (Bishop's Road) and Farringdon Street. The same section now forms part of the Circle, Hammersmith & City, and Metropolitan lines. London Underground: 10 of the funniest videos 71.The Underground was first used for air raid shelters in September 1940. 72. During the Second World War, part of the Piccadilly line (Holborn - Aldwych branch), was closed and British Museum treasures were stored in the empty spaces. 73. The London Passenger Transport Board was nationalised and became the London Transport Executive in 1948. 74. The first Tube tunnel was opened in 1880, running from the Tower of London to Bermondsey. 75. The Central Line used to be nicknamed as the 'Twopenny Tube' for its flat fare. 76. Dot matrix train destination indicators were introduced onto London Underground platforms in 1983. 77.

The single worst accident in terms of fatalities on the Underground occurred on February 28, 1975 at Moorgate, when 42 people died. 78. The Piccadilly line extended to serve Heathrow Terminal 4 in 1986. 79. Penalty fares were only introduced in 1994. 80. The Tube carried one billion passengers in a year for the first time in 2007. London Underground quiz 81.The last manually operated doors on Tube trains (replaced by air-operated doors) were phased out in 1929. 82.The Jubilee Line was named to mark Queen Elizabeth II’s Silver Jubilee in 1977 – but the line did not open until 1979. A photo posted by Merve (@lknmerve) on Aug 1, 2016 at 12:25pm PDT 83. A census carried out on September 27, 1940, found that 177,500 Londoners were sleeping in Tube stations. 84.

During the war, special supply trains ran, providing seven tonnes of food and 2,400 gallons of tea and cocoa every night to people staying in the Tube. 85. Covent Garden is believed to be haunted by the ghost of William Terris who met an untimely death near the station in 1897. 86. Another station that is believed to be haunted is Farringdon. The so-called Screaming Spectre is believed to have been a milliner. 87. The Seven Sisters Underground station is believed to have been named after a line of elm trees which stood nearby until the 1830s. 88. The fictitious station of Walford East, which features in the long-running soap opera Eastenders, is supposed to be on the District Line. 89. Every week, Underground escalators travel the equivalent distance of going twice around the world. 90. According to TFL, London Underground trains travel a total of 1,735 times around the world (or 90 trips to the moon and back) each year. 91.

A spiral escalator was installed in 1907 at Holloway Road station, but linear escalators were favoured for the rest of the network. A small section of the spiral escalator is in the Acton depot. 92. A small section of the old London Wall survives in the trackside walls of Tower Hill station at platform level. One of the largest pieces of the wall also stands just outside this station. 93. Finsbury Park station has murals that show a pair of duelling pistols, harking back to a time when men would visit the park after hours to defend their honour. The Jubilee line receives the most complaints Credit: © Pixel Youth movement / Alamy Stock Photo/Pixel Youth movement / Alamy Stock Photo 94. In 2012, the most complained about line was the Jubilee. 95. The London Underground is thought to be the third largest metro system in the world, in terms of miles, after the Beijing Subway and the Shanghai Metro. 96. The London Underground is the third busiest metro system in Europe, after Moscow and Paris. 97. The coffin of Dr.

Thomas Barnardo was carried in funeral cortege on an underground train in 1905, one of only two occasions this is known to have happened. 98. The Underground helped over 200,000 children escape to the countryside during the Second World War. 99. During the war, some stations (now mostly disused) were converted into government offices: a station called Down Street was used for meetings of the Railway Executive Committee, as well as for the War Cabinet before the Cabinet War Rooms were built. 100. Brompton Road (now disused) on the Piccadilly, Line was apparently used as a control room for anti-aircraft guns. 101. Only five London Underground stations lie outside the M25 motorway The Night Tube is finally here Credit: AFP or licensors/DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS 102. The Underground runs 24 hours a day at New Year, during special events (such as for the opening and closing ceremonies of the London Olympics), and on selected lines at the weekend. 103.

According to a 2002 study air quality on the Underground was 73 times worse than at street level, with 20 minutes on the Northern Line having "the same effect as smoking a cigarette". 104. The former poet laureate John Betjeman created 'Metroland' series, a homage to the people and places served by the Metropolitan line in 1973. Ride the Emirates Air Line cable car with this 360° video 105. The Oyster card was introduced in 2003. 106. The worst civilian death toll on the Underground occurred at Bethnal Green Tube tragedy in 1943, when 173 people died. It is the largest loss of life in a single incident on the London Underground network. 107. The largest number of people killed by a single wartime bomb was 68 at Balham Station. 108. The 100th anniversary of the roundel (the Tube Logo) was celebrated in 2008 by TfL commissioning 100 artists to produce works that celebrate the design. 109.

The largest Tube car park is at Epping and has 599 parking spots. 110. The Central Line has the most tube stations with no surface building (Bank, Bethnal Green, Chancery Lane, Gants Hill, Notting Hill Gate) 111. Of the stations that have stairs, Hampstead Station has the most steps (320 in total). 112. There are 14 journeys between stations that take less than a minute on average. 113. King's Cross St Pancras tube station is served by more Underground lines than any other station on the network. 114. Seven London Boroughs are not served by the underground system, six of them being situated south of the River Thames. 115. The total number of carriages in London Underground's fleet, as of January 2013, was 4,134. 116. The total number of stations served on the network is 270. 117. London Underground transferred from the control of the Government to Transport for London (TfL) on July 15, 2003. 118.

Scenes from the film Sliding Doors were shot at Waterloo station on the Waterloo & City Line and at Fulham Broadway tube station on the District Line. 119. Filming on location in the Underground costs £500 per hour (plus VAT) unless you have a crew of less than five. 120. You can now no longer go around the Circle Line in a full circle. From 2009, the Circle Line terminated at Edgware Road. 121. Greenford on the Central Line was the last Tube station to use wooden escalators. They were replaced in 2014. 122. Arsenal (originally Gillespie Road) on Piccadilly line is the only station named after a football team. 123. There are three tube stations on the Monopoly board: Liverpool Street Station, King’s Cross and Marylebone. Watch | How to land at Britain's trickiest airport 03:57 124. The number of stations that only use escalators is 12 125. Nineteen stations just use lifts. 126.

The River Westbourne was funnelled above a platform on Sloane Square in a large iron pipe suspended from girders. It remains in place today. 127. The first tube station to be demolished was Westbourne Park on the Metropolitan Line. It was re-sited in 1871. 128. There is a mosquito named after the Tube – the London Underground mosquito, which was found in the London Underground. It was notable for its assault of Londoners sleeping in the Underground during the Blitz. 129.The London Underground Film Office handles over 200 requests a month. 130. In Alfred Hitchcock’s first feature film The Lodger (1926) featured the director making a cameo on the Tube. 131. The record for visiting all the stations on the London Underground network – known as the Tube Challenge – is currently held by Ronan McDonald and Clive Burgess of the United Kingdom, who completed the challenge in 16 hours, 14 minutes and 10 seconds on February 19, 2015 132.

The Tube Challenge record did not appear in the Guinness book of records until its eighth edition in 1960, when it stood at 18 hours, 35 minutes. 133. An interactive novel has been published, set on the London Underground. You can read it here . 134. In cockney rhyming slang, the London Underground is known as the Oxo (Cube/Tube). 135. Around 30,000 passengers went on The Metropolitan Line on its first day of public business – January 10, 1863. 136. There were claims the first baby born on the Underground was called Thelma Ursula Beatrice Eleanor (so that her initials would have read TUBE) but this story later proved false – her actual name was Marie Cordery. London brunch 137. On August 3 2012, during the Olympic Games, the London Underground had its most hectic day ever, carrying 4.4 million passengers – but that record was beaten on Friday December 4 2015, when 4.82 million people used it. 138.

St James is the only Underground Station to have Grade-I protected status. It includes 55 Broadway, the administrative headquarters of London’s Underground since the 1930s. 139. The most recent Tube birth – a boy – was in 2009. 140. The most common location for filming is Aldwych, a disused station. 141. As Princess Elizabeth, the Queen travelled on the Underground for the first time in May 1939, when she was 13 years old, with her governess Marion Crawford and Princess Margaret. Apr 30, 2016 at 3:30pm PDT 142. Poems on the Underground was launched in 1986, the idea of American writer Judith Chernaik. 143. A series of animal shapes have also been highlighted in the London Underground map, first discovered by Paul Middlewick in 1988. They're created using the tube lines, stations and junctions of the London Underground map. 144. A fragrance known as Madeleine was trialled at St.

James Park, Euston, and Piccadilly stations in 2001, intended to make the Tube more pleasant. It was stopped within days after complaints from people saying they felt ill. 145. There were eight deep-level shelters built under the London Underground in the Second World War. One of them in Stockwell is decorated as a war memorial. 146. After the war, the deep level shelter at Clapham South housed immigrants from the West Indies. 147. A 2011 study suggested 30 per cent of passengers take longer routes due to the out-of-scale distances on the Tube map. 148. The first ever air-conditioned, walk-through Underground train ran on the Metropolitan line in 2010. 149. The average distance travelled by each Tube train annually stands at around 114,500 miles. 150. Alcohol was banned on the Tube – and all London Transport – from June 2008. Editor's note: Note that one or two facts have changed since this article was first published in 2014 and this has been updated to reflect those changes. The Best Hotels In London

Question: How many stations are on the London Underground Victoria Line?
Answer: 16