London underground / Amanda Vincent-Rous

The Underground, like all train-lines, has to be reliable and fast; if it isn’t, then people are late for work, the companies fail to make profit and the economy suffers. While Britain is far from having the most reliable and on-time underground system, it is still very impressive – just don’t expect to be comfortable in the tubes.

As a result, the London Underground has changed quite a lot over the years. As the world’s first underground railway, 1863 was an important year for London’s transport vision. While the official title of ‘London Underground’ would only come into play in 1985, the underground rail network in London has been in full flow for well over a century, transporting passengers on a daily basis.

Now carrying three million passengers every day, the London Underground is a business in itself, but it hasn’t always been like that. Back in 1863, the first line was laid and stretched just under four miles between Paddington and Farrington Street. It wasn’t much, but it was a start of something that would turn into a massive line of railway across the capital.

1880 saw the opening of the first Tube tunnel, from the Tower of London to Bermondsey, which represented another milestone and leap for the evolution of the railway network underground. As the world entered the 20th century, electric lines were introduced to the District and Circle route, cementing the future of the concept.

London transport museum / Julian Tysoe

Changes and additions to lines and new stations were made as the decades rolled by until the exciting introduction of dot-matrix train destination indicators in 1983. This was perhaps a big sign of the more modern-approach to the London Underground as we pushed towards the end of the 20th century.

Tragically, the late ‘80’s saw a fatal fire at King’s Cross killing 31 people which not only shook the nation but called for new safety and fire regulations to be introduced. As we welcomed in the 21st century, 2002 saw the Oyster card for the first time in the London Underground – something that is still used to this day.

It may not be comfortable in the tubes for the passengers – especially at peak times – but the Underground remains a massive part of people’s everyday lives for commuting and pleasure. Who knows where the London Underground is going in the next 100 years (my money is on maglev technology), but one thing is for certain: it will definitely still be there!

This gaze at the glorious London undergound was contributed to us by chessingtonholidays.co.uk – hoping you’ll pay a visit next time you’re in London!

View How the London Underground has Changed in a larger map

The post How the London Underground has Changed appeared first on Europe Explored.

National Railway Museum, York, UK / Photo licensed under the Creative Commons, created by EmPemm

History of the NRM

Britain’s railway network began connecting its new industrial hubs in the mid/late 19th century, and as the network became more widely used, railway companies began to preserve their history. The first notable example was the Patent Office Museum in London acquiring the original Rocket steam engine in 1862.

In the 1920s, the Big Four railway operators – Great Western Railway, the London, Midland and Scottish Railway, the London and North Eastern Railway and the Southern Railway – had gathered a large quantity of memorabilia, and in 1927 the LNER opened a railway-dedicated public museum in York. With the nationalisation of the railways in 1948 the collections of all four operators were brought under one roof.

The museum’s current location, a stone’s throw away from the platforms at York Railway Station and 700m from the Minster, was opened in 1975, and was the first national museum outside of London. Since then, the expansion of the museum in 1990 earned it the Museum of the Year Award, while the launch of the Institute of Railway Studies in association with the University of York developed its academic credentials. Recently the NRM added Search Engine, an archive and research centre, to its already impressive list of resources.

This Year’s Festivities

The festival runs from June 2nd-11th, and from 9.30am – 5.30pm daily. Included in the festivities is a massive public space full of trains covering a space the size of eleven football pitches, and includes retired speed-engine legends like the Flying Scotsman, Class 395, East Coast 91110 and Tornado. The NRM has worked on exhibits for novice train lovers, and fans of Chuggington who can pick up a special book and find the original vehicles their favourite trains are based on.

For the more seasoned aficionados, there are daily talks from members of the industry, film screenings and modern industry demos to keep you up to date on all the developments from within the world of railways. Also in attendance will be poet Ian McMillan, cartoonist Tony Husband and magician Ollie Mealing.

How to Get There

If you’re travelling by rail, it couldn’t be simpler. Just look up some cheap trains to York, hop off at York station and follow the signs! Ticket holders to Railfest can also get money off their next ticket booked through festival partners redspottedhanky. If you’re coming from slightly closer nearby, the museum is just a ten minute walk from York’s city centre, or the Green Line 2 bus picks up and drops off from right outside the museum.

If trains are your passion, there is no better place to be next month than the National Railway Museum in York. All aboard!

Catherine Halsey is based in Edinburgh and writes for a digital marketing agency. This article links back to https://www.redspottedhanky.com/trains/trains-to/york/.

View Railfest 2012: Britain’s Finest Locomotive Festival in a larger map

The post Railfest 2012: Britain’s Finest Locomotive Festival appeared first on Europe Explored.

London, England, UK by Tim Morris

The city of London is perhaps one of the most visited places in the whole of the UK. Each year millions of people make their way to this ancient city to see the sites and experience the culture.

Within the city of London, you will find several World Heritage Sites which includes the Tower of London, the Royal Botanic Gardens, Westminster Abbey, the Palace of Westminster, St. Margaret’s Church as well as the settlement of Greenwich which is home to the Royal Observatory.

There are more than 300 different languages commonly spoken within the city as it is home to more than seven and a half million residents; many of which come from ever corner of the globe. The metropolitan area that surrounds London is home to more than fourteen million residents.

Palace of Westminster, London, England, UK by Jim Trodel

The city of London is also home to the world’s oldest underground railway system, the London Underground. This rail system will get you all over the city. While not many tourists take the Underground, the experience is nonetheless an exciting one.

Countless people make their way to the Buckingham Palace in order to watch the Changing of the Guard. They also try their best to make the guard smile or make any kind of movements at all. There is so much to see in and around the Palace that many people spend a good portion of their day in the area.

Near by you will find the House of Parliament, Big Ben, the Tower Bridge as well as the Tower of London. Countless people make their way to the British Museum and spend the entire day looking through the collections housed within. Then there is the Princess Diana’s memorial that also gets many regular visitors.

Tower Bridge, London, England, UK by Robert Brown

One of the more recent attractions in the city is that of the London Eye. Built for the new millennium, the London Eye is an amazing ferris wheel that takes you up, higher than most of the buildings in the city. From the top you can see for kilometers in every direction.

There is literally so much to see and do in the city of London, that one could spend an entire month on vacation within the city and only see a small portion of what the largest city in the European Union has to offer.

How to get to London

England is one of the most visited European countries and so it is London. There are several major airports around the city, serviced by perhaps all airlines that can be seen in Europe, from the most luxury up to those low-cost airlines offering cheap flights to London.

A quick guide to London’s airports

Heathrow

London’s largest and most modern airport is London Heathrow, which is located in the south-western part of the city. It is one of the busiest airports in Europe in general. London Heathrow has five terminals and two runways. Among the most important advantages of this airport is its location – it is easily accessible from the city centre, by numerous public transport services:

You can find more about the London Heathrow on heathrowairport.com.

Gatwick

A few miles south of London, there is another large airport, Gatwick, which also provides flights to the whole world. Transport to central London is available in either a bus or train service. Of course it is possible to use the taxi as well.
Find more info on gatwickairport.com

London Stansted

London Stansted is currently London’s third busiest airport. It is located about 40 km north of London and is considered a base of low-cost airlines like Ryanair, Easyjet and others. Directly under the airport hall is the train station from where you can get to London, Cambridge and the Midlands. Stansted Express is the fasted way how to get to London and the price for return ticket is £32.80 (46 minutes), but you can use cheaper bus transport service from £6 for one way ticket.
Find more info on stanstedairport.com.

Luton

Luton is one of the smaller airports. Today it is already used by some cheaper airlines. Located about 50 kilometres south-east of London you can reach the city centre by regular bus or train services as well.
Find more info on london-luton.co.uk

London City Airport

Another airport in London is London City Airport. This is situated very close to the city centre. London City Airport, however, is the airport that is mainly used by private business clients. Regular flights are not arriving to this airport so you will probably never get there. Or… have you already been there?

The post London – the largest city of Europe appeared first on Europe Explored.