Back in the 1850s, London was a nightmare to get around. Horse-drawn carriages packed the streets, and the city smelled, well, exactly how you’d imagine a city with thousands of horses would smell. The word “gridlock” hadn’t been invented yet, but the feeling was very familiar.
So a group of clever (and slightly mad) engineers thought: why not dig a big hole and run trains through it? It sounds simple now, but back then, the idea was as wild as suggesting we build a highway under your living room. Yet on January 10, 1863, the Metropolitan Railway opened its doors—or rather, its tunnel entrances.
What was it like down there?
If you stepped onto that first train, you wouldn’t recognize it as the sleek, air-conditioned Tube we know today. The carriages were lit by gas lamps, and steam locomotives pulled them through the tunnels. Yes, steam. Imagine sitting in a cozy wooden seat, your Sunday best covered in soot, while the driver puffed black smoke past your window.
The journey went from Paddington (then called Bishop’s Road) to Farringdon Street. It was only about 3.5 miles long, but it felt like a voyage to the future. On the first day, 40,000 people paid to ride it. That’s more than the entire population of a small town, all crammed into a railway that had been dug out by hand with pickaxes and sheer stubbornness.
