London | The Underground or Tube, railway system, daily commute

London Quiz - The London Underground (Questions)

The London Underground is the oldest and longest underground railway system of any capital.

The Tube has very much played a part in the development of the city in many ways. It heralded and necessitated many remarkable developments in engineering as well as carving a niche for itself in the world of design. Popular culture has featured it in countless and varied forms over its history and it has been the inspiration for many films, songs, poems and stories.

The statistics make compulsive reading with surprising information on length, depths and speed as well as unusual facts regarding everything from babies born on the trains to the very oddest lost property you could think of.

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The underground network of London is very much evolving, as befits such a dynamic city. It welcomes an ever-growing number of tourists each year and each year over one billion Londoners rely on it for their daily commute. Nonetheless, many Londoners can’t quite make up their minds as to whether they love or loathe the London Underground.

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The London Underground celebrated a big anniversary of its inauguration in 2013. How many years were they celebrating?

[ ]	50
[ ]	100
[ ]	150
[ ]	250

Which of these is correct?

[ ]	The first Tube line was built and financed by a private company
[ ]	The first Tube line was the Circle Line
[ ]	The first Tube line went from Westminster to St Paul’s
[ ]	The first Tube line was abandoned after 4 days

How is Bumper Harris associated with the Underground?

[ ]	He designed the Tube map
[ ]	He was the first baby to be born on it
[ ]	He was the first train driver on the Underground
[ ]	He was a one-legged man who was paid to go up and down its first escalator to demonstrate how safe it was

The tunnels on the Central Line are noticeably crooked and curving. Why is this?

[ ]	They follow the medieval street plan
[ ]	They had to avoid tunnelling under Marble Arch and St Paul’s
[ ]	The tunnelling machine had a technical fault
[ ]	The engineering team that built them liked to take long, boozy lunches

Which of these is correct?

[ ]	The number of stations on the north versus the south bank of the Thames is roughly equal
[ ]	There are no stations on the north side of the Thames
[ ]	Three quarters of the stations are on the north side of the river
[ ]	Only around 10% of the stations are on the south side of the Thames

Which line is sometimes called ‘London’s Pride?’

[ ]	The Metropolitan Line
[ ]	The Victoria Line
[ ]	The Bakerloo Line
[ ]	The Northern Line

Who was the first reigning monarch to travel on the Underground?

[ ]	Queen Victoria
[ ]	George VI
[ ]	Queen Elizabeth II
[ ]	Charles III

The London Underground is also colloquially called the Tube. This comes from having been nicknamed the ‘Twopenny Tube”. Where did this term first originate?

[ ]	The Daily Mail
[ ]	London bus drivers who feared the Underground would threaten their livelihoods
[ ]	Lord Palmerston, the Prime Minister
[ ]	The Cockneys of London

On 6th June 1915 Maida Vale station first opened. It was ...?

[ ]	unsuccessful initially with only 15 journeys taken to or from it in the first 3 months
[ ]	directly hit by a bomb within 24hrs and thus closed again for 4 years
[ ]	entirely staffed by women
[ ]	called Maiden Lane

10.

During World War II, the Underground’s deep-level stations were also used as what?

[ ]	Dance halls
[ ]	Mushroom sheds
[ ]	Postal storerooms
[ ]	Bomb shelters

London Quiz - The London Underground (Answers)

The London Underground celebrated a big anniversary of its inauguration in 2013. How many years were they celebrating?

[ ]	50
[ ]	100
[x]	150
[ ]	250

The first journey took place on January 9th, 1863

Which of these is correct?

[x]	The first Tube line was built and financed by a private company
[ ]	The first Tube line was the Circle Line
[ ]	The first Tube line went from Westminster to St Paul’s
[ ]	The first Tube line was abandoned after 4 days

The Metropolitan Railway was the name of the company that built the first Tube line and it ran between Paddington (then called Bishop’s Road) and Farringdon Street

How is Bumper Harris associated with the Underground?

[ ]	He designed the Tube map
[ ]	He was the first baby to be born on it
[ ]	He was the first train driver on the Underground
[x]	He was a one-legged man who was paid to go up and down its first escalator to demonstrate how safe it was

The first escalator was installed at Earl’s Court in 1911

The tunnels on the Central Line are noticeably crooked and curving. Why is this?

[x]	They follow the medieval street plan
[ ]	They had to avoid tunnelling under Marble Arch and St Paul’s
[ ]	The tunnelling machine had a technical fault
[ ]	The engineering team that built them liked to take long, boozy lunches

They follow the medieval street plans as do many of today’s roads in London

Which of these is correct?

[ ]	The number of stations on the north versus the south bank of the Thames is roughly equal
[ ]	There are no stations on the north side of the Thames
[ ]	Three quarters of the stations are on the north side of the river
[x]	Only around 10% of the stations are on the south side of the Thames

There is even a strong north-south divide in London transport it seems!

Which line is sometimes called ‘London’s Pride?’

[ ]	The Metropolitan Line
[x]	The Victoria Line
[ ]	The Bakerloo Line
[ ]	The Northern Line

The Victoria Line was opened on the 7th of March in 1969

Who was the first reigning monarch to travel on the Underground?

[ ]	Queen Victoria
[ ]	George VI
[x]	Queen Elizabeth II
[ ]	Charles III

Elizabeth II was aboard the inaugural journey on the Victoria Line from Green Park

The London Underground is also colloquially called the Tube. This comes from having been nicknamed the ‘Twopenny Tube”. Where did this term first originate?

[x]	The Daily Mail
[ ]	London bus drivers who feared the Underground would threaten their livelihoods
[ ]	Lord Palmerston, the Prime Minister
[ ]	The Cockneys of London

The network was thus dubbed by The Daily Mail just five days after the Tube opened

On 6th June 1915 Maida Vale station first opened. It was ...?

[ ]	unsuccessful initially with only 15 journeys taken to or from it in the first 3 months
[ ]	directly hit by a bomb within 24hrs and thus closed again for 4 years
[x]	entirely staffed by women
[ ]	called Maiden Lane

With most of the country’s men away fighting in the war, women ran the show at Maida Vale

10.

During World War II, the Underground’s deep-level stations were also used as what?

[ ]	Dance halls
[ ]	Mushroom sheds
[ ]	Postal storerooms
[x]	Bomb shelters

It is estimated that around 180,000 people took shelter in the stations each night