Who invented the subway?

Englishman Pearson.

In 1843, the Englishman Pearson designed the world's earliest urban subway system for London. 10 years later, the British Parliament approved the construction of a subway less than 6 kilometers long between Farrington and Bishop's Road. subway. After nearly ten years of construction, the subway has begun to take shape. On January 10, 1863, the "Metropolitan District Railway" officially opened for business. The London Metropolitan Railway opens.

The railway carried 9.5 million passengers in its first year. Since electricity was not yet widely available at the time, steam locomotives were used for traction. Coupled with poor ventilation, passengers often feel smoky and stuffy, and some even faint in the subway. Despite this, London citizens and even royal dignitaries rushed to ride this underground train. Because taking a bus or carriage on the overcrowded surface streets of London is not as good as the subway in terms of conditions and speed.

Extended information

In 1861, before the construction of this underground railway, which had never been seen before in the world, major newspapers in London made various speculations about it: For example, will the tunnel collapse or will passengers be poisoned by the smoke emitted by the train?

The tunnel excavation method at that time was also very clumsy: first, all the residents on the ground were relocated, and then the workers dug a large trench 10 meters wide and 6 meters deep from the ground, and reinforced the trench walls with yellow bricks. Then build an arched brick roof, backfill the soil, and rebuild roads and houses on the ground, which is very expensive. In order to guide the thick smoke emitted by the steam locomotives out of the ground, ventilation holes must be drilled in the built tunnels.

In 1862, when the subway was digging to the bank of a small river, the river bank collapsed and more than two meters of river water poured into the construction site. The scaffolding was lying scattered in the water, making it a messy scene. The subway mural in Baker Street depicts this scene.

In mid-1862, the 4.8-kilometer-long subway with 7 stops was basically completed. The steam locomotive drove underground, and about 40 officials rode in wooden carriages without a roof for the first tour of the subway. This scene was also recorded on the Baker Street mural: the carriage resembled a large coal mine truck, and the upper parts of the gentlemen and nuns’ shoulders were all exposed. At each stop, people took off their hats and cheered to express their joy.

Baidu Encyclopedia-London Metropolitan Railway