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Old August 10th 03, 07:53 AM posted to uk.transport.london
Mark Brader Mark Brader is offline
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First recorded activity at LondonBanter: Jul 2003
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Default UK subway systems

Martin Underwood:
Also, here in the UK we tend to use the word "subway"
to describe a pedestrian underpass beneath a road,
rather than an underground railway system.


John Rowland:
No: in Glasgow the underground railway is referred to by most
people as "The Subway". In London "subway" can only mean a
pedestrian underpass.


Dave writes:
In Glasgow, the system's official name has only recently reverted to
being the 'Subway' after more than 20 years of officially being the
'Underground'


But it was officially the Subway for more than 70 years before that.

As well as pedestrian tunnels, the word "subway" in Britain also seems
to be associated with underground railways using cable haulage. The
first of these was in London, a very short line operated by a single
car for just a few months before it failed, and it was called the
Tower Subway.

Later a longer underground cable railway was planned for London, and
it was going to be called the City of London and Southwark Subway.
The management changed their minds while it was under construction,
substituting electric locomotives, and then changed the name to the
City and South London Railway.

(For more on both lines, see the Northern Line page of CULG
http://www.davros.org/rail/culg.)

And the Glasgow Subway used cable-hauled trains from 1896 until 1935.
--
Mark Brader | Yet again, I begged him to explain himself in plain
Toronto | English. This request always surprises him, as he
| is always under the extraordinary impression that
| he has done so. -- Lynn & Jay, "Yes Minister"

My text in this article is in the public domain.