London Underground: How Was It Built? | London 2000 Years of History | Channel 5

London is home to the first-ever underground railway, The London Underground. Watch on to see how in 1863 the Metropolitan line was built innovating how the world travelled across cities.
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[@channel5]

Have you ever travelled on the London Underground?

[@Boogersncome]

Not this month, no.

[@Oofy_Transport_2011]

Yes

[@jinx1873]

Yes

[@canman5060]

My Chinese grandparents from Hong Kong used to when they were students at University College London in the early 1950's.

[@canman5060]

Mind The Doors ! Mind The Gap ! We don't hear so much these days !!!

[@daron8982]

I’m allways fascinated how they built so many underground tunnels in London and to high quality. But not only underground, overground rail system, bus public transport, architecture, electricity, gas water.

[@srinivasa4606]

They looted indian gold and iron and also made indians as slaves to work day in and day out to construct all those ..but there is something called karma which will do its job in its own way..

[@everythingerina9379]

@@srinivasa4606 the british will pay for what they did to the people of the subcontinent and the rest of the former colonies

[@charliezz6746]

@@srinivasa4606 No Indian slaves or workers built or worked to construct any part of the London underground your referring to the events in India during the empire days.

[@VinayVerma5]

@@charliezz6746 correct it was built with Irish hand's!

[@chillwinston4216]

British engineering was/is the best. I'm not surprised at all

[@irh1738]

As an ex- Londoner who used the tube for most of my school and working life I was always fascinated by how they built the underground….

[@stevecriddle]

Is it just me, or is the music just too loud compared to the dialogue in places?

[@simonluckin8]

No, it’s not just you. I was thinking exactly the same thing. Cut out the music - it’s completely unnecessary in a documentary of this kind.

[@thatnormalveganguy2216]

Yes!! Im struggling to hear 😮

[@harryemmott8597]

very poorly balanced

[@peternottingham6067]

title should read 4 and half minutes about building the tube and then 5 minutes extra with two well dressed, well educated ladies talking about poverty in london

[@BikSmash]

The lady criticizes the British Empire whilst holding a cool pint in a peaceful pub with her mate. Fascinating

[@BikSmash]

@@bfc3057 thinking inside the box as usual?

[@BikSmash]

@@bfc3057 make your point if not Ur wasting everyone's time. Also don't take things to heart 💜

[@BikSmash]

@@bfc3057 congrats

[@haddingtoniangcp2464]

My city, my home, greatest city on earth. London rocks!

[@ericfreeman273]

facts

[@AK-ei5st]

As a child my biggest dream was to live in London. Never happened, but I'm always glad I can come visit.

[@harrygamer4190]

@@AK-ei5st London is so bad now 😂😂 so boring

[@HazStrikesU]

Yeah its great until you get murdered for a designer make or watch.

[@haddingtoniangcp2464]

@@HazStrikesU same happens in almost every major city. What's your point?

[@ivorharden]

I never realised that the tunnel boring machine was left there. Brunel was a pioneer and changed the way the world lived.

[@CharlieMile]

That particular one wasn't used to build the what is the Northern line, but what is now the national rail service to Moorgate. As it is a terminal station (and they were thinking of digging further) they kept it there, but in the end never extended it. If you do want to see an original one though, at Bank between the Central line and Waterloo and City interchange, marked out in red you will come across the frame of the shield still there from over 120 years ago.

[@terrywadman8031]

Charles Booth was the subject of a 6 part series about poverty of the time called the secret history of our streets . My road was one of these episodes and they filmed in my house with my family appearing in it

[@plazahotelmusic]

Soundtrack is over the top

[@morenofranco9235]

I love London. Glad I found Channel 5.

[@soumyadipghoshal6917]

Great to know about the world 's first metro, the London tube

[@ikergimenez5417]

London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom and one of the largest and most important cities in the world. The area was originally settled by early hunter gatherers around 6,000 B.C., and researchers have found evidence of Bronze Age bridges and Iron Age forts near the River Thamesis. Ancient Romans founded a port and trading settlement called Londinium in 43 A.D., and a few years later a bridge was constructed across the Thames to facilitate commerce and troop movements. But in 60 A.D., Celtic queen Boudicca led an army to sack the city, which was burned to the ground in the first of many fires to destroy London. The city was soon rebuilt, but burned again about 125 A.D. More rebuilding occurred, and within a few generations the population exceeded 40,000 people. After the fall of the Roman Empire in 476 A.D., however, the city was attacked numerous times by Vikingsand other raiders, and soon London was largely abandoned.

[@kevindare3113]

Capital of the world

[@juhox0]

thx bro

[@Sophiebryson510]

@@kevindare3113 still is!

[@MMG_MoonManGuitar]

1:17 that dirty look the lady gives him 😂😂😂

[@MohammedAhmed-mp7lx]

I was in London two days ago used the underground and I've always thought who came up with this genius idea and hard work to build. And thjs video comes on my suggestions .

[@joannebrooke848]

[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[ ; ;r45yter9u\dfuo9oolorg78gi9juflkopomfogoopop[/ mmm mmmmokkkkk

[@castleofsong9620]

In large part the Irish built the underground with picks, shovels and the sweat of their brow!

[@elainekerslake6865]

They built the London Albert and Victoria Docks , the Manchester Ship Canal AND.....THE London UNDERGROUND. A few Brits may have pushed a spade or two in the clay but the Irish did most of the graft. Many Irish were brought to UK during the famine to participate in a work for food programme. How kind of the elites! But they couldn't help the dying in Ireland.

[@elainekerslake6865]

@bo locks an urban myth only YOU have heard of. My myth is built on family history facts. Thousands of Irish settled in East London. Proddys in West Ham and Catholics in East Ham. They started the digging on the docks then the Underground.

[@PeteS_1994]

I heard they built the Victoria line which is kind of more recent than most other lines

[@dnstone1127]

The picture of '1860 London' 0:56 has motor cars and buses

[@robertah2353]

Fascinating!

[@lokivariant5744]

It's a marvel how they built it tbh! Engineering at its finest 👌

[@mrdeathgaming1457]

Me and my Friend travelled from Golders Green Once....And stopped at Hampstead twice.....On the same journey!

[@romzimus893]

i ove watching this video about the history of london's transport

[@aviationnow5103]

Ah, east London hasn’t changed much

[@arsenal1930]

Actually it has! It's all hippies and middle class and young professionals now. Majority of the working class have been pushed out with sky rent and property prices

[@lazrseagull54]

It is built in many different ways, depending on which era each part of the network is built in. In the 1800s, they used more basic tools, relying on plenty of labourers and today, they use laser guided TBMs.

[@dante8885]

The empire is now gone but the poverty still remains.

[@julienparrott]

The picture of the tunnels at 1:56 is actually Woodhead in northern England, around 200 miles away from London.

[@BygoneChina]

Nice spot!

[@trevcam6892]

What has always impressed me was that these railway tunnels under the moors, mountains, rivers and cities were surveyed using instruments available at the time. They dug from each end, and maybe from air shafts in both directions, and met in the middle in three dimensions! The skill and patience of the surveyors was incredible as well as the often abysmal weather conditions they worked in. And carried heavy equipment. Today's surveyors, whilst being just as skilled I am sure, have the advantages of GPS, lasers and other modern techniques and equipment to speed the whole process up as well as probably being more accurate equipment.

[@AutoCAD681]

I did see that and thought it can't be London. The rock doesn't look right

[@bogdanmihalache7244]

Brilliant video 👏

[@alanjohnson4541]

This is fantastic

[@shahjhanhaider26]

How was the life before underground,and how was after that then up to now,it's had been slow progress?

[@airbus350ulr]

Wow the underground is old

[@butterflybud1]

I could not hear the dialogue for the loud music.Shame because I was interested.

[@robnewman6101]

One of my favourites about the Victorians is the History Timeline of Policemen.

[@OrangeEngland]

Great video!

[@cannadineboxill-harris2983]

I needed to know why don’t dig a tunnel and do an extension for the main line Train so they extend the unused abandoned underground stations. Why couldn’t they use the part D78 Stock train doors on the sides and also restructure the front face of the A60 and A62 stock that includes the class 313, class 314 and class 315 remix and make them all together and also redesign them an overhead line and also make them into six cars per units and also having three Disabled Toilets on those six cars per units A60 and A62 stock trains and also convert the A60 and A62 stock trains into a Scania N112, Volvo TD102KF, Volvo B10M, Gardner 6LXB, and Gardner 8LXB Diesel Engines and also put the Loud 7-Speed Voith Gearboxes even Loud 8-Speed Leyland Hydra cyclic Gearboxes in the A60 and A62 stock, class 313, class 314, and class 315 and also modernise the A60 and A62 stock and make it into an 11 car per unit so it could have fewer doors, more tables, computers and mobile phone chargers? A Stock Trains and 8 Disabled Toilets on those A stock trains. why couldn’t we refurbish and modernise the waterloo and city line Triple-Track train tunnel and make it bigger and extend it to bank station, making it into a Triple-Track Railway Line so those 4 European countries such as Germany, Italy, Poland And Sweden to convert the waterloo and city line Triple-Track Train tunnel into a High-Speed train? The Third Euro tunnel Triple-Track Train line to make it 11 times better for passengers so they could go from A to B. then put the modernised 11 car per unit A Stock and put them on a bigger modernised waterloo and city line Triple-Track train tunnel so it could go to bank station to those 4 European countries such as Germany, Italy, Poland And Sweden. The modernised refurbish 11 cars per unit A stock could be a High Speed The Third Triple-Track Euro Tunnel Train So it is promising and 37 times a lot more possible to do this kind of project that is OK for London Germany, Italy, Poland And Sweden. oh by the way, could they also tunnel the Triple-Track Railway Line so it will stop from Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Essex so that the Passengers will go to Germany, Italy, Poland and Sweden and also extend the Triple-Track Railway Line from Bank to Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Essex Stations so that more people from there could go to Germany, Italy, Poland And Sweden Easily. Why couldn't they extend the Piccadilly line and also build brand-new underground train stations so it could go even further right up to Clapton, Wood Street and also make another brand new tunnel train station in Chingford and could they extend the DLR? All of the classes 150, 155, 154, 117, 114, 105, and 106, will be replaced by all of the Scania N112, Volvo TD102KF, Volvo B10M, Gardner 6LXB, and Gardner 8LXB Diesel Six carriages three disabled toilets are air conditioning trains including Highams Park for extended roots which is the Piccadilly line and the DLR trains. Could you also convert all of the 1973 stock trains into an air-conditioned maximum speed 78 km/hours (48 MPH) re-refurbished and make it into a 8 cars per unit if that will be alright, and also extend all of the Piccadilly train stations to make more space for all of the extended 8 car per unit 1973 stock air condition trains and can you also build another Mayflower and Tornado Steam Locomotive Companies and they can order Every 17 Octagon shape LNER diagram unique small no.11 and unique small no.10 Boilers from those Countries such as Greece, Italy, Poland, and Sweden, can they make Mayflower and Tornado Steam Locomotive speeds by up to 117MPH so you can try and test it on the Original Mainline so it will be much more safer for the Passengers to enjoy the 117MPH speed Limit only for HS2 and Channel Tunnel mainline services, if they needed 16 Carriages Per units can they use those class 55’s, class 44’s, class 40’s and class 43HST Diesel Locomotive’s right at the Back of those 18 Carriages Per Units so they can take over at the Back to let those Mayflower and Tornado Steam Locomotive’s have a rest for those interesting Journeys Please!!, oh can you make all of those Coal Boxes’s 16 Tonnes for all of the 117MPH Mayflower and Tornado Steam Locomotive’s so the Companies will Understand us PASSENGER’S!! so please make sure that the Builders can do as they are Told!! And please do something about these essential Professional ideas Please the Prime Minister of England, the Prime Minister of Sweden, the Prime Minister of Germany, the Prime Minister of Italy, the Prime Minister of Poland and that Includes the Mayor of London.

[@LukasDiSparrowOfficial]

the music editor should never edit anything again, fking loud

[@Gmoney2214]

I love this video

[@mattyd5932]

Victorian Britain was way ahead of anyone else

[@AlchemistOfHecate]

Sure about that mate cos you're watching this on a thing called the internet that you're observing through a device lol

[@stupidhallowin]

Way ahead looters

[@Ibs69420]

@@stupidhallowin *conquerors, you mean

[@ronnieharford3326]

@@stupidhallowin you wouldn’t have had trains or a manufacturing industry for example if it wasn’t for those looters and by the looks of it your trains and tracks are still in the Victorian error😂😂

[@stupidhallowin]

@@ronnieharford3326 I am not here for any debate but yes India was the economy that was at its best without those looting trains for your knowledge even today you can't compare any country with India you guys just don't have any skills except than bragging about your goodness which is non existent

[@michaelarnold9445]

My theory is this if there's one picture there's another picture hidden or lost they call it the skeleton in the closet😮

[@elainekerslake6865]

The Brits were awesome back then. Railways???....we ruled! Brunel family were genius.

[@daniellebrunel2960]

Yes, lot's of time's unfortunately to go to Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital, as a baby, since my birth in 1966.

[@antonarimona6825]

Everyday I'll go underground nice place

[@Muswell]

The music is far loo loud for the commentary.

[@thelucentcrow9084]

Look into Tartaria

[@elordthedev]

I have to watch this for the english Homeshooling

[@ultimateplayerz9123]

Same

[@takbirhossaintushar7290]

I am in London now

[@zguo4706]

I am in Qingdao now

[@Kev-england-LFC-32]

Unlucky you

[@rebelwithoutapplause5629]

Stay safe brother, buy yourself a stab proof vest..!

[@electroskates2434]

just stay away from gangs

[@canman5060]

5p from Leicester Square to Piccardilly Circus in 1975 !

[@user-lx1wl1wm1j]

Walk in 5mins for nothing lol

[@user-lx1wl1wm1j]

No point in getting a train lol

[@fanatict5249]

2p in 1970

[@Cordiaturbo]

Should have turned the music up a bit, then we wouldn't have been able to hear the talking at all.

[@jesseallan3886]

Working all day chipping away with a pickaxe would have been boring.

[@MatiasPopa26]

Omar Mohammed, a true British citizen. I think he is very proud of what his ancestors did in London haha.

[@bobbymcloughlin3452]

Both That & Glasgow Subway Are Parts Of The English & Celtic Tube Gauge Railways (E & C R) Known As: The Anglo-Celtic Tubular Railways

[@munaasd]

I am disappointed by this documentary because it doesn't show how and where they actually recruited people from. So I will tell you, they recruited people from all parts of the world because it was cheaper and the people could work for longer hours. So the London underground as well as the whole Transport For London was built by foreigners. You mentioned the British Empire without giving any background information and how it relates to the underground as well as the whole Transport For London. Thousands if not millions of foreigners risked their lives building this city. If you don't believe me well go research about Aldgate station because underneath it they're thousands of dead bodies. And just to spice things up a bit, I know someone who actually denounced their British citizenship because of how they treated foreigners. Unfortunately the countries which the British went to or ruled, they took all the jewels and wealth from there and ran off, cowards. So next time when someone says "get out of my country you don't belong here", tell them "I will only leave if you give me back the stolen jewels back"...

[@kenjones6441]

Makes sense to recruit from all over the world.

[@kenjones6441]

You black by any chance?

[@markusmybusiness2141]

Yawn 🥱

[@rezlaso2742]

No cap

[@irentreasure9415]

Thank you so much for giving this information! It’s a great shame that this documentary failed to recognise something that was as crucial to London’s development as the role of foreign workers. If only other replies to this comment would recognise it too...

[@jimmymorgan3324]

GREAT. BRICKLAYER,S. THE. BEST , THERE .

[@robnewman6101]

The first new Metropolitan Policemen Force founded by Sir Robert Peel (1788-1850) in 1829.

[@brigitakralj6399]

LOVE LONDON❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️😂👨‍👩‍👧‍👦🙏💛🤍😹👩‍❤️‍👨❤️💜

[@jonesconrad1]

1:19 girl looking thinking why is this guy walking down the street talking like a 🔔🔚

[@mohammedabdulmuhit931]

That is in TowerHamlets.

[@anonimouse4678]

Why show buses 1860

[@giji6762]

1:17 that girl was so confused

[@robnewman6101]

Queen Victoria's Regin 1837-1901.

[@byteme9718]

It was built using specially bred moles. Such a shame we've lost this technology.

[@lordtywinofhouselannister5433]

Look at all those Africans building London 🤔

[@coalville1234]

You know how you watch a boring (get it?) documentary and fall asleep.... So did Jack the Ripper work on the underground? One minute I’m watching a documentary about building the underground and then I’m watching a documentary about Jack the Ripper?

[@tff6808]

The title of video is not correct… it’s not only about underground… How the construction of the underground is connected with the history of poverty?

[@MrTsubasa00]

Why the loud Villian music wtf! Cant listen anythinh

[@djfearross4144]

We've gone back in time and are re-creating slums.

[@beaufighter245]

The residents make the slums, not the architects or engineers.

[@maxshemtob5699]

Where can someone outside of the UK watch this whole series?

[@JosephFraser-ly1hf]

Was Katherine Holman there too

[@Wayne_T123]

Built by the Tartarians, inherited by us

[@litneyloxan]

USA transportation needs help from UK

[@SH-uv6cp]

The music overlay is dreadful. Makes it very hard to hear the commentary.

[@mjh5437]

The original Booth`s Poverty Map Of London didn`t say that "Black signifies Poor or Semi-Criminal"....It said Black was "Lowest class.Vicious,semi-criminal".

[@casario2808]

Seems like 2 separate documentaries...both interesting but kinda disjointed video

[@pamelahunter8659]

What happened to rob bell’s show?

[@blueybarnes9442]

Nice 👌 😅white stilettos 👠

[@jasonveryard2962]

Send tall one to the bar when you don't have I'd.

[@MeroTV1]

Can't hear clearly because of the loud music.

[@yurihung9244]

do i need tv license to watch this?

[@31donkeykong]

What I want to know is how did they get the trains into the tunnels 😅

[@Derek_S]

I think all of the underground lines have outdoor sections in the suburbs too. Some of them even connect to the national overland network.

[@trebor9711]

Even after Booth warned of the degradation and crime caused by poverty nothing has Changed, WHY? Because they have built a whole industry around Poverty. They need the poor, Prisons, probation, social Services, Charities, etc etc etc.

[@robnewman6101]

Victorian Era 1837-1901.

[@halaleditz1]

everyone in london has

[@niyiawe8804]

Who mixed the music and voice?

[@eddiewillers1]

Who knows? But, they did it very poorly.

[@thevictorianbaroness7604]

@@eddiewillers1 Very fitting, since it's about poverty.

[@chrishardy3473]

Pretty sure double decker busses weren't around in 1863

[@johnholmes912]

at only 1 square mile london can not be the largest city anywhere

[@rebelwithoutapplause5629]

The "square mile" is just a term used for the financial district, not the size of the actual City of London.

[@mattyd5932]

You mean the 'city of London' which is basically just the original financial district

[@maxbigavelli6586]

It’s funny that not that much has changed the poverty is still here

[@soberLORD]

You do know thats how capitalism works, Right.

[@keepgoing7533]

Miner requirements of the Victorian era: Must be male, have a moustache and a hat.

[@lawrencebishton9071]

U mean it was at street level once then got levelled up again ?

[@motormouthalmighty]

WHAT ABOUT THAT ANCIENT GREEK WHO PINPOINTED TUNNELLING THROUGH MOUNTAINS TO PERFECTION AT BOTH SIDES!

[@Thursdaym2]

Incredible, love their salads too.

[@NitayNostrasifu]

They built a machine to dig in the 1800s.

[@robnewman6101]

1860s.

[@figgsy2045]

Logic would dictate that old jack was living in poverty as well.

[@TruthShallSetYouFree2023]

Today’s civilisation thinks nothing happened before they came.. 😂😂😂

[@hotelshotels9829]

I hate hearing the word British Emp-FIRE . The world was much safer before colonial invasion.

[@mrdeathgaming1457]

You Gotta love life for it's fakery!

[@cassandrahenry]

Your doing a big documentary showing us how the Victorians built the underground and he turns up with the most tiniest torch light so we can barely see. Smh

[@barrytyler]

First half of programme doesn’t match the second!

[@rahulrathod-vx6yv]

Picks

[@creativity2598]

Such great rail system has equally worse homes on earth with tiny rooms no ensuits no balconies, no rooftops no drain system, you open tap in kitchen, bathroom gets low water pressure

[@elizabethannegrey6285]

I would have listened if ONLY I could discern the narrative overwhelmed by the INFERNAL RACKET in the foreground. That sound engineer needs to get a new set of ears!!

[@xv179]

"Victorian" London, the largest city on Earth, paid by colonies from India and Afrika

[@RankinMsP]

Fantastic evolution and still the service is rubbish. Sadly the poverty levels have not changed much either.

[@Tube-Shots]

without the Underground London would be simply boring