London Underground, also known as the Tube, was the first underground railway in the world when it opened to the public in 1863. It was also the first to operate electric lines some seventeen years later in 1890. Being a public transportation junkie I really wanted to ride the metro at some point during our trip but I had no idea we would get to ride so much of it.

With 250 miles of track it is the second longest underground system in the world losing only to Shanghai metro by a mere 10 miles. Just like the city above, the metro below reminded me of New York’s subway system; it looked really really old in some places, brand new in others, it was crowded at every single station, and definitely much needed by the 3.4 million people who use it daily. And just like New Yorkers, Londoners hate it.

London’s subway system is dealing with massive overcrowding to the point of access restrictions on some stations during the rush hour traffic. We also witnessed the typical weirdos that seem to be a staple of every subway system I’ve ever seen. Here are a few photos for the Tube. It wasn’t cheap and it wasn’t easy to navigate, but it got us everywhere we needed to go.