Published in conjunction with TFL, this is a comprehensive guide to the London Underground, combining a historical overview, illustrations and newly commissioned photography.

Since its establishment 150 years ago as the world's first urban subway, the London Underground has continuously set a benchmark for design that many transit systems around the world - from New York to Tokyo to Moscow and beyond - have followed. London Underground by Design is the first meticulous study of every aspect of that feat. Beginning in the pioneering Victorian age, Mark Ovenden charts the evolution of architecture, branding, typeface, map design, interior and textile styles, posters, signage and graphic design and how all these came together to shape not just the identity of the Underground, but the character of London itself. This is the story of some of the most celebrated figures in design history - from Frank Pick, the guru who conceptualised the design of the modern Tube with his idea of 'design fit for purpose', to Harry Beck, the creator of the Tube map, and from Marion Dorn, one of the leading textile designers of the 20th Century, to Edward Johnston, creator of the distinctive font that bears his name. Rich with stunning illustrations, London Underground by Design shows that design is about more than aesthetic pleasure, but is crucial to how we get around.

This study explores how writers such as Charles Dickens, George Gissing, Bram Stoker and Mary Elizabeth Braddon negotiated the dirt and messiness of underground spaces and how, in spite of the transformation of London through underground sewers, underground railway and suburban cemeteries, these spaces are surprisingly absent from their works.

Few transportation maps can boast the pedigree that London’s iconic ‘Tube’ map can. Sported on t-shirts, keyrings, duvet covers, and most recently, downloaded an astonishing twenty million times in app form, the map remains a long-standing icon of British design and ingenuity. Hailed by the art and design community as a cultural artifact, it has also inspired other culturally important pieces of artwork, and in 2006 was voted second in BBC 2’s Great British Design Test. But it almost didn’t make it out of the notepad it was designed in. The story of how the Underground map evolved is almost as troubled and fraught with complexities as the transport network it represents. Mapping the Underground was not for the faint-hearted – it rapidly became a source of frustration, and in some cases obsession – often driving its custodians to the point of distraction. The solution, when eventually found, would not only revolutionise the movement of people around the city but change the way we visualise London forever. Caroline Roope’s wonderfully researched book casts the Underground in a new light, placing the world’s most famous transit network and its even more famous map in its wider historical and cultural context, revealing the people not just behind the iconic map, but behind the Underground’s artistic and architectural heritage. From pioneers to visionaries, disruptors to dissenters – the Underground has had them all – as well as a constant stream of (often disgruntled) passengers. It is thanks to the legacy of a host of reformers that the Tube and the diagram that finally provided the key to understanding it, have endured as masterpieces of both engineering and design.

The story is now thirty years old and most, if not all, of the characters involved were middle aged men at the time and are now dead. The story did make the national press when it first occurred. A murder in a Police Station is big news and something to beat the Police with. However, when it was found that 12 people had been pushed under underground trains in London by a man that they did not know, the government felt that it might lead to mass hysteria and put a lid on the story with the press.??The officers involved were a small, select, cadre of elite Flying Squad and Serious Crime Squad officers from South London, the same ones who had been dealing with the Krays, Richardsons, Brinks Mat etc. Their methods were unorthodox and recorded in the best selling "Untouchables" book. They were several extreme and unusual and certainly unorthodox, tactics. Officers kidnapped senior Home Office officials and detained them until the Old Bailey judge issued a summons and threatened a warrant in 5 minutes. At the committal the judge, prosecution, defence and everybody had to step over the start witness and he vomitted on the judge's shoes. Witnesses being murdered. Other witnesses being locked up it secret cells to protect them from being murdered.??The Attorney General was satisfied that there was convincing evidence of all 16 murders that Kelly admitted. He was in prison for thirty years with only one or two days between sentences and all the murders co-incided with his absences from prison and before his next arrest. When protected by Police, most had been witnessed. In 12 cases Kelly had presented himself to Police as a star witness who had been talking to the poor depressed man about his unfaithful wife when the train arrived at the station and he jumped underneath it. The widow eventually lost her husband, her reputation, when kelly's story was told to the coroner, and her insurance money, when the death was ruled to be suicide. The A.G. authorised five murders to be charged, and instructed that prosecutions were to be discontinued and the remaining charges left on file as soon as two convictions were secured, as further prosecutions would not be in the public interest, due to their expence.

In March 2003, the Government signed three 30-year public private partnership (PPP) deals worth an estimated £15.7 billion for the maintenance and renewal of London Underground trains and stations, track and signalling, after a five-year procurement process which cost £455 million. Under the PPPs, London Underground retains responsibility for operations and safety, whilst three private sector infrastructure companies (infracos) maintain and renew the infrastructure. There is a built-in periodic review mechanism, untried in any other PPP arrangement, which enables the parties to respecify requirements and make changes to prices. Ownership of London Underground was transferred to Transport for London in July 2003, which reports to the Mayor of London, although the Department for Transport still retains an interest. Following on from two NAO reports (HCP 644, session 2003-04, ISBN 0102928339 and HCP 645, session 2003-04, ISBN 0102928320) published in June 2004, the Committee's report examines the rationale for the PPPs, the contract price and other costs, and the contract management arrangements.

The London Underground Electric Train tells the story of the development of electric traction on the London Underground system. It combines technical knowledge, historical context and practical experiences, and covers the history of underground lines since the opening of the first deep-level underground rail system in the world in 1890: the City & South London Railway. The evolution of train design, including power, lighting, heating and design of the Underground cars is also covered along with the development of operational, engineering and safety devices on trains. Highly illustrated with period and new photography and technical diagrams, this book is a reference work for electric traction and underground rail enthusiasts.

Update on the London Underground and the public-private (PPP) partnership Agreements : Seventh report of session 2009-10, report, together with formal minutes, oral and written Evidence

For the last 150 years, every Londoner, tourist, and visitor uses the tube to explore and enjoy London. But behind the facade of ox-blood brick buildings and colourful diagrams lies a wealth of history and interesting facts. This book tests your knowledge in this area with 250 questions (and answers) about this incredible network.