Underground

The nature of the main stations caused London significant inconvenience in recent years, as foot and cab traffic between them increased. The traffic in London became slower and slower. It was evident that something needed to be done to alleviate the problem.

The solution is a model of engineering: a railway that runs under the city, rather than through it. The District and Metropolitan railways, as they are known, run in a circle around the heart of the city, joining all the major stations in a loop. Thus it is at last possible to travel from, say, Charing Cross to St. Pancras without causing inconvenience to the users of London's roads. Although developers conducted some experiments with a pneumatic system, the trains are steam-powered like any others, with the smoke dispersed by mechanical contrivances that ate beyond my comprehension.

As well as the Inner Circle, the line extends out to the East, through Whitechapel and Mile End, and to the West, through Knightsbridge, Kensington and Putney. Even Shepherd's Bush, Hampstead and Swiss Cottage are accessible through the Underground. The lines do not run late into the night, so many of our subterranean Kindred take advantage of the tunnels for easy movement during the night.