London underground Part 1

The underground railways as a kind of city transport appeared in the second half of the 19^th century. The first underground system was proposed by Charles Pearson in 1843. Twenty years later the first line of the London Underground was opened for traffic. Its length was almost four miles. On that first historic day 30,000 Londoners made the first underground railway travel in the world.

In the early days, the trains were driven by steam locomotives which burnt coal, filling the tunnels with smoke. It is said that the train staff and porters asked for a permission to grow beards and moustaches – as an early form of smog mask. The tunnels of the first underground were made as small as possible in order to reduce the construction costs. The coaches themselves were small and narrow.

According to Pearson’s project all lines were laid down close to the ground surface. The deep tunneling came later, in 1890. Constructing the tunnel through miles of clay, sand and gravel is no easy task, and it was James Henry Greathead who developed the method which made the construction of most London tunnels possible. One of the longest continuous tunnels in the world is the 17½ mile tunnel on the Northern line. The first escalator was also installed in the London Underground in 1911.

During the World War II the London Underground served as a shelter for thousands of Londoners. Many British Museum treasures spent the war in the tunnels of the Underground. The railways were prepared for any emergency that might occur. They had duplicate control systems, repair groups, duplicate power supply and so on. To minimize the danger of flooding the underground near the Thames, isolating doors were built in the tunnels. All the trains were equipped with special reduced lighting for using on open sections of track.

Part 2

Nowadays the London Underground (it is often called the Tube) is the most popular means of city transport because it is relatively cheap, convenient, quick and safe. Its length is about 400 km. Every day the Tube carries over 2.5 million passengers. The total number of passengers carried by the Underground each year is enormous and it is constantly growing.

In the London Metro there are 11 underground lines, each of them has got its own color. For example, the lines are called: Central(red),Circle(yellow),East London(orange),Metropolitan(dark brown),Northern(black),Victoria(light blue) and so on.

Only half of the trains go under the ground, new lines that connect London with its suburbs go over the ground. On such routes express trains are operated. They stop at a very few stations on their way that is very convenient for those people who live in the suburbs but work in the center of London.

There are 275 stations in the London Metro. Most of them are old and not attractive to the eye. The walls are simply white or gray plastered with all kinds of advertisements. Numerous stations which are rather deep under the ground are equipped with escalators. About 200 escalators can carry 10,000 passengers an hour at maximum speed. The longest one is at the station “Leicester Square”, its length is over 80 feet. On long escalators the speed is changeable. The “up” escalator runs at full speed when carrying passengers but when empty it moves at half speed. It is known that traffic is left-hand in Britain, but when passengers get on the escalator they stand on the right. People who hurry can run by on the left, and it seems that everybody in the Underground always hurries.

The atmosphere «underground» is considered even better than that outside. There are special pumps and fans that suck in the air from the street, purify it, and make it warm or cool on its way to the station. The air in the Underground is changed every quarter of an hour, and the temperature all year round is maintained at 69-79 degrees Fahrenheit.

The fare in the London Underground depends on the distance you travel, but the lowest is 50 pence. Tickets can be bought in the booking offices but for short journeys that cost a few pence, tickets can be obtained from automatic machines.

Safety was always one of the main concerns of the London transport. In spite of the fact that trains often follow each other within 1-3 minutes, it is said that the London Underground is the safest form of transport in the world. The most up-to-date electronic equipment is used for controlling train movement: if changes are necessary, they are made automatically and with lightning speed. No accident can happen because of human errors.

Ex.26. Answer the following general questions.

1) Did the underground railways appear in the 20^thcentury? 2) Has the London Underground been used since 1860? 3) Was the first line of the London Underground built according to Stephenson’s project? 4) Were the first Metro trains driven by electricity? 5) Did the London Underground operate during the World War II? 6) Does the London Underground carry over 2.5 million passengers a day at present? 7) Do all Metro trains go under the ground? 8) Are all stations equipped with escalators? 9) Was safety always one of the main concerns of London transport? 10) Can any accident happen because of human errors in the London Underground? 11) Is the number of passengers carried by the London Underground constantly growing? 12) Do express trains stop at all the stations on their way? 13) Are there twelve Underground lines in London? 14) Do all the underground lines have their own color?

TEXT C

Read and translate the text.