Tube’s birthday party picks up steam

Specially invited passengers moved off from Kensington Olympia Tube station in west London aboard a train pulled by Met Locomotive 1, which was built in 1898.

The first stretch of the world-famous network opened on January 9, 1863 – between Paddington and Farringdon – when it was known as the Metropolitan Railway.

Hundreds of rail enthusiasts, families and interested onlookers took up positions at stations and on bridges to catch a glimpse of the train, as it travelled non-stop to Moorgate station in the City.

Spectators at Underground stations were covered in steam as the train made its way along the same track used by modern-day Tube services.

Mayor of London Boris Johnson, who was onboard, said: “It was just extraordinary. We had steam coming in through the windows, huge thick clouds of white steam going past and then bits of soot coming through from the engine.

“It was fascinating. As the train started to go up from Kensington to Notting Hill you could feel the engine really strain, but as we levelled off it picked up a lot of speed. You could see how the Victorians were able to run a very timely service.”

He added: “It was romantic. You understand all those Victorian novels and the assignations that possibly took place on those velvet seats. It was pure Conan Doyle.”

Sam Mullins, director of the London Transport Museum, said: “It gave you an elusive hint of what it might have been like to travel in 1863.

“It was almost a little surreal, you’re sitting in a wonderfully restored Victorian railway carriage, looking out through steam onto a 21st Century metro platform with pressed aluminium.

“It shows that this isn’t just something that works for railway enthusiasts.”