3m use London's Underground
2005-07-08 14:20
London - The London Undergound, the world's oldest subway train network, is used by three million people a day.
Opened in 1863, the railway, familiarly called The Tube, today counted 274 stations spread along 400km of lines.
The network runs deep under the British capital and was served by escalators that were among the longest in Europe.
Up to now, fires had created the biggest emergencies on The Underground.
In 1984, a cigarette was believed to have sparked a blaze that swept through the Oxford Street station.
No-one was killed in that blaze, and smoking was banned on the network the following year.
In November 1987, however, a lit match ignited a wooden escalator panel and triggered another fire which killed 31 people.
A number of derailings had also occurred, highlighting the dilapidated state of the network.
- AFP