Underground anniversary: Steam train set to return to the London tube

A steam train is set to return to the London Underground in the New Year to re-enact the first tube journey made 150 years ago as part of celebrations marking the transport network’s anniversary.

To mark this momentous milestone, the London Underground, the world’s first underground train network, Transport for London is planning to re-enact in January the first journey made, which was between Paddington station and Farringdon.

A series of specially restored trains including the Metropolitan Steam Locomotive No 1 and the Metropolitan Railway Jubilee Carriage No 353, the world’s oldest operational underground carriage, are to take to the lines between Paddington station and Farringdon.

The first journey was made between these two iconic London stations in 1863, carrying 40,000 people on its first day, according to the London Transport Museum, with 26,000 people travelling in the underground line within six months.

Today, the tube carries 1,107 million passengers a year, serves 260 stations with each tube train covering an average of 114,500 miles a year.

Photo: Getty.

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