Write a short note on the the underground railway in London.

(a) Starting of underground railway: (i) The first section of underground railway in the world opened on 10 January, 1863 between Paddington and Farrington Street in London. It carried 10,000 passengers on that day. The Train ran every ten minutes. (ii) The number of passengers increased in the coming years and by 1880,40 million passengers travelled by the underground
railways.
(b) Why were people afraid of travelling in the beginning: People were afraid to travel in underground railways as passengers used to smoke. As a result the atmosphere was a mixture of Sulphur, cool dust and foul fumes which was a menace to health. Some called them as iron monsters.
(c) Construction of railways and destruction: (i) The Construction of underground railways had led to massive destruction. It was estimated that about 900 houses were destroyed for construction of two miles of railway (ii) Generally, massive displacement of the poor took place.
(d) Conclusion: (i) Ultimately, the underground railway was a success (ii) Underground railway enable people to live outside central London and travel to work (iv) This wore down social distinctions and created new ones.
Thus, inspite of problems and criticism in the initial stages of its construction, the underground railway proved to be a boon .