when did they start building the london underground
History of the London Underground In the first half of the 19th century, London had grown greatly and the development of a commuting population arriving by train each day led to traffic congestion with carts, cabs and omnibuses filling the roads.[3] By 1850 there were seven railway termini located around the urban centre of London[4] and the concept of an underground railway linking the City of London with these stations was first proposed in the 1830s. Charles Pearson, Solicitor to the City of London, was a leading promoter of several schemes,[5] and he contributed to the creation of the City Terminus Company to build such a railway from Farringdon to King's Cross in 1852 . Although the plan was supported by the City of London, the railway companies were not interested and the company struggled to proceed.[6] In 1854 the Metropolitan Railway (also known as the Met) was granted permission to build an underground line at an estimated cost of £1 million. [7] [8] With the Crimean War under way, the Met found it hard to raise the capital,[6] and construction did not start until March 1860.[9] The railway was mostly built using the "cut-and-cover" method from Paddington to King's Cross; east of King's Cross it was built by tunnelling and then followed the culverted River Fleet in an open cutting to the new meat market at Smithfield.[10][11] The 3.75-mile (6 km) railway opened to the public on 10 January 1863, using steam locomotives hauling wooden carriages.[12] It was hailed as a success, carrying 38,000 passengers on the opening day, borrowing trains from other railways to supplement the service.[13] In the first twelve months 9.5 million passengers were carried[11] and in the second twelve months this increased to 12 million.[14]