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The Northern line is an underground railway in London, that is coloured black on the London Underground Tube map. The line's two branches carry 206.734 million passengers per year—the highest on the London Underground system. For most of its length it is built as a deep-level tube line. Despite its name, it is the Underground line that extends furthest south. There are 50 stations on the Northern line, of which 36 are underground.
The line has a complicated history and the current complex arrangement of two northern branches, two central branches and the southern branch reflects its genesis as three separate railway companies that were brought together and combined in the 1920s and 1930s. The original routes were extended several times so that by 1926 the line served Edgware in the north and Morden in the south. Ambitious plans to take over and incorporate London & North Eastern Railway's Northern Heights branch lines and extend the line to Bushey were mostly cancelled following the Second World War. (Full article...)
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Selected biography
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Frank Pick (23 November 1878 – 7 November 1941) was managing director of the Underground Group (UERL) from 1928 to 1933 and was chief executive officer and vice-chairman of the London Passenger Transport Board from its creation in 1933 until 1940. Pick began his career with the UERL in 1906 as assistant to the managing director Sir George Gibb, by 1908 he had become publicity officer and became commercial manager in 1912. Pick steered the development of the London Underground's corporate identity by commissioning eye-catching commercial art, graphic design and modern architecture, establishing a highly recognisable brand. Elements of the brand commissioned by Pick included the Underground roundel, the Johnston typeface and Charles Holden's iconic stations of the 1920s and 1930s.
Pick was described by architectural historian Nikolaus Pevsner as "the greatest patron of the arts whom this century has so far produced in England, and indeed the ideal patron of our age." Pick's interest in design extended beyond his own organisation and he was a founding member and later served as President of the Design and Industries Association. He was also the first chairman of the Council for Art and Industry. He is commemorated with a memorial at Piccadilly Circus station, a blue plaque at his home in Highgate and with Frank Pick House, a London Underground engineering facility near Acton Town station. (Full article...)
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Did you know...
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- ...that the first version of the Underground roundel was introduced in 1908, as a solid red disk and blue bar?
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Image 1Vauxhall Bridge across the River Thames opened in 1906 and features sculptures by F. W. Pomeroy.
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Image 2Hammersmith Bridge, opened in 1887, crosses the River Thames in west London.
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Image 355 Broadway, headquarters of the UERL and its successors, is a Grade I listed building in Westminster designed by Charles Holden.
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Image 4Archer statue by Eric Aumonier at East Finchley Underground station.
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Image 10Central London Railway poster, published in 1905.
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Image 12The western departures concourse of King's Cross railway station.
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Image 13"Boris Bikes" from the Santander Cycles hire scheme waiting for use at a docking station in Victoria.
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Image 14Hornsey Lane Bridge, Archway, more commonly known as "Suicide Bridge".
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Image 16Woolwich Ferry boats "John Burns" and "James Newman" on the River Thames, 2012.
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Image 17Original stations on the Metropolitan Railway from The Illustrated London News, 27 December 1862.
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Image 18Albert Bridge, opened in 1873, crosses the River Thames between Chelsea and Battersea.
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Image 19Preserved AEC Routemaster coaches in London Transport Green Line livery.
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Image 20TX4 London Taxi at Heathrow Airport.
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Image 21Rail, road and river traffic, seen from the London Eye.
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Image 22Sailing ships at West India Docks on the Isle of Dogs in 1810. The docks opened in 1802 and closed in 1980 and have since been redeveloped as the Canary Wharf development.
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Image 23London General Omnibus Company B-type bus B340 built in 1911 by AEC. One of a number of London buses purchased by the British military during World War I, this vehicle was operated on the Western Front.
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Image 24Ruislip Lido Railway's 12-inch (300 mm) gauge locomotive "Mad Bess" hauling a passenger train.
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Image 25The New Routemaster built by Wrightbus has three entrances, two staircases and is designed to be reminiscent of the Routemaster.
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Image 26London Underground A60 Stock (left) and 1938 Stock (right) trains showing the difference in the sizes of the two types of rolling stock operated on the system. A60 stock trains operated on the surface and sub-surface sections of the Metropolitan line from 1961 to 2012 and 1938 Stock operated on various deep level tube lines from 1938 to 1988.
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Image 27Clapham Common Underground station north and south-bound platforms on the Northern line.
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Image 28Day (left) and Night (right) sculptures by Sir Jacob Epstein on the London Underground's headquarters at 55 Broadway.
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Image 29The south façade of King's Cross railway station London terminus of the East Coast Main Line.
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Image 30Escalators at Westminster Underground station descend between beams and columns of the station box to reach the deep-level Jubilee line platforms.
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Image 31The Circle routes of Victorian London, comprising the Inner Circle, Middle Circle, Outer Circle and Super Outer Circle.
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Image 32Tram 2548 calls at Arena tram stop. This is one of the trams on the Tramlink network centred on Croydon in south London.
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Image 33London Underground Battery-electric locomotive L16 designed to operate over tracks where the traction current is turned off for maintenance work.
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Image 35The newly constructed junction of the Westway ( A40) and the West Cross Route ( A3220) at White City, circa 1970. Continuation of the West Cross Route northwards under the roundabout was cancelled leaving two short unused stubs for the slip roads that would have been provided for traffic joining or leaving the northern section.
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Image 37Early style tube roundel in mosaic at Maida Vale Underground station.
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Image 39Helicopter landing at London Heliport, a jetty constructed in the River Thames in Battersea.
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Image 41The multi-level junction between the M23 and M25 motorways near Merstham in Surrey. The M23 passes over the M25 with bridges carrying interchange slip roads for the two motorways in between.
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Image 42The original Hampton Court Bridge in 1753, the first of four on the site.
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Image 43A tram of the London United Tramways at Boston Road, Hanwell, circa 1910.
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Image 44View of Old London Bridge, circa 1632 by Claude de Jongh.
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Image 46Southern approach to the Rotherhithe Tunnel that runs under the River Thames in east London between Rotherhithe and Limehouse.
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Image 47Arguably the best-preserved disused station building in London, this is the former Alexandra Palace station on the GNR Highgate branch (closed in 1954). It is now in use as a community centre (CUFOS).
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Image 48Planes waiting at Heathrow Airport's Terminal 4.
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Image 49Qantas Boeing 747-400 about to land at Heathrow Airport, seen beyond the roofs of Myrtle Avenue, Hounslow.
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