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Going Underground
Maintenance staff inspect some of the ۲۵۰ miles (۴۰۰km) of track running under the capital.

 London has the longest metro system in the world by route length.

London's Tube After Midnight

Walk the Line

The network has ۲۶۸ stations. At Pimlico, cleaning staff prepare to leave a station to clean a tunnel.

 

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Working Man
The dirt and debris under the track gets cleaned. In ۲۰۰۷, over one billion passenger journeys were recorded.

Let's Work Together

Preparing the tracks for welding. Maintenance is constant to ensure the smooth running of the system.

Hot Water

Recently welded track joints are cooled with water.

 The first line (named the Metropolitan Line) opened in January ۱۸۶۳. Within a few months of opening it was carrying over ۲۶,۰۰۰ passengers a day.

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In the Air Tonight

Usually referred to as the Underground or the Tube —

 the latter deriving from the shape of the system's deep-bore tunnels — about ۵۵% of the network is above ground.

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Night Shift

Staff arrive at Victoria's underground station.

A vast army work through the night so as to avoid minimum disruption to passenger services.

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Work to Make it Work

A worker cleans the ceramic insulator pots under the live rail at Pimlico.

The London Tube was the first underground railway to operate electric trains.

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Hard Days Night

It's a dirty job ... A cleaner displays the tools of his trade