Steam train travels on tube line to mark 150th anniversary of underground

Updated
Steam train travels on tube line to mark 150th anniversary of underground
Steam train travels on tube line to mark 150th anniversary of underground

As part of a programme of special events to mark the 150th anniversary of the London Underground, rail enthusiasts are being given the opportunity to travel along a section of the Hammersmith & City line in carriages pulled by a steam engine built in 1898.

The first London Underground railways operated on the Metropolitan Railway between Paddington and Farringdon. BBC News reports that ticket holders will travel along part of the original Metropolitan line, which has now become the Hammersmith & City line.

The oldest operational Tube carriage - the Metropolitan Railway Jubilee Carriage 353, built in 1892 - along with a set of four carriages known as the Chesham carriages, built in 1898, will be pulled by the Met Locomotive No 1.

The Daily Mail reports that a group of VIPS, including London Mayor Boris Johnson, were the first to make the three-and-a-half mile trip from Paddington Station to Farringdon Street this morning.

Although ticket holders can expect to travel at around 20mph, it was much slower when the line first opened in 1863 - when the trip could take around two-and-a-half hours.

Steam trains were replaced with electric carriages in 1905, and there have been none on the underground ever since - until now.

Click on the image below for ten ways to celebrate the Tube turning 150...

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