London Underground backs Associate Sponsor

London Underground joins Network Rail as associate sponsor of the RailStaff Awards 2013.

London’s Underground (LU) is one of the busiest urban rail networks in the world. The Tube carried more than 1.2bn passengers in 2012/13, as many as the entire National Rail network.

With around three and a half million journeys made each day, on 11 lines serving 270 stations, London Underground is now running more services than ever before on the network which marks its 150th birthday in 2013.

Rich history


During its anniversary year, LU celebrating not only its rich history, the beautiful old trains and the architecturally important stations that act as beacons across the capital, but also looking to the present and future.

In the same way that Londoners’ lives are unrecognisable from those in 1863, so too is the way the Tube operates. The performance of the network is the best in its entire history, even as it carries ever- increasing numbers of passengers.


But London is not a static city. It continues to grow, so LU staff are engaged in the wholesale upgrade and improvement of the network, one of the biggest and most complex engineering projects in the world.

Transforming the journeys of millions

This programme is now delivering huge tangible benefits for passengers. Through new signalling, trains and track, a rigorous focus on improving individual journeys and enormous improvements to the information and service offered to passengers, London Underground is transforming the journeys of millions.

The Jubilee and Victoria lines have been improved through massively boosted capacity and faster journeys, with Victoria line customers now enjoying the highest frequency service anywhere in the UK.


Stations like King’s Cross and Green Park and Blackfriars have been rebuilt. A fleet of new air- conditioned trains has been introduced on the Metropolitan line, and over the next few years will be introduced to 40 per cent of the Tube network.

Accessibility improvements

The number of step-free stations is being expanded, alongside the use of ramps, platform humps and other accessibility improvements. An extension of the Northern line to Battersea is being planned, and Crossrail will be delivered, transforming travel across London.


To achieve all this it is essential that the lessons of the past are learned. Investment dried up in the 1970s, 80s and 90s, a trend that has now been reversed, and together we can continue the proud traditions of London Underground, ensuring that we go into the next 150 years with great optimism that the Tube will continue its vital role for the people and economy of London and UK.

Says Tom O’Connor, managing director of the Rail Media Group, ‘We are delighted that London Underground is supporting the RailStaff Awards 2013 once again.

‘Staff on the Underground – and TfL – feature prominently at the RailStaff Awards and their hard work and dedication deserves wider recognition in this the 150th anniversary year of the world’s iconic capital railway system, the London Underground.’




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