h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Something which I suspect not many Tube travellers realise is that the Central Line (and the Waterloo & City Line) effectively follow the lines of the streets above.

Particularly the Central Line west from Liverpool Street; unless you're lucky enough to be seated or are gripping very tightly you'll be thrown about before you reach Bank. This is because the train follows the route of Broad Street, Threadneedle Street and then points towards Poultry/Cheapside. From Bank westwards it follows Cheapside, Newgate, Holborn, New Oxford Street and then Oxford Street onwards through Marble Arch.

Don't forget to watch the tunnel walls as you leave Holborn heading towards Tottenham Court Road, you will see the walls lighten as you pass through the British Museum 'ghost' station.

'Tis true, although I think I read somewhere that part of the reason for the curve is because they had to avoid the vaults of the Bank of England

Myself, I'm rather fond of York Way, which I always look out for on the Piccadilly between Kings Cross and Caledonian Road.

Have you seen this? http://www.kordy.dircon.co.uk/misc/lul.gif

That's pretty cool...

Don't get me wrong, I'm not an underground Anorak, but you're right, it's not just the BofE's vaults, but all the major bank vaults, hence the following of the road.
Of course nowadays most of the banks are trendy wine bars :

All of the early underground railways follow the roads, this was because, up until some time after the first world war, the freehold of a property was held to mean everything on, in and under the patch of land, hence they followed the roads, where no freehold existed.
Although the first two lines, the Metropolitan Railway and the Metropolitan District Railway, bought the "slums" through which the line of the railway passed and "cleared" them and afterwards built a new road on top of the railway.

There are some small exceptions (such as the huge curve under private property on Norfolk Sq etc on the Bakerloo), but you're basically right.

Its not just the Victorians who moved the lines about...I was involved in the Parliamentary process for getting the Jubilee Line extension built and it was moved a bit so that it did not interfere with the wine cellar of a Gentleman's club!

Are the Central and Waterloo & City lines Deep-Level or Cut-and-Cover lines in the area you're refering to? I ask this because I've read that most Cut-and-Cover lines follow the streets due to there shallow level. Property owners were far more tolerant of having the streets ripped up to build tube lines and then the streets re-paved than they would've been to having their homes and businesses destroyed (and presumably less costly for the railway companies).

And speaking of being "thrown about" ..... How is it possible for the Deep-Level tube trains to rock and sway as violently as they do? My girlfriend and I were in London in September of 2005 and quite simply fell in love with the Underground. One thing that puzzles me however, is that as you watch a Deep-Level train enter a platform, there isn't but maybe 2 - 3 inches of clearance between the train and the tunnel walls yet the train sways much more than that as it's hurtling down the line at full speed. How does it not scrape the tunnel walls? Hmmmmm......

The Cut and Cover lines have to follow roads, as they were built under them and then covered up with tarmac. The Central and Waterloo & City lines are deep-level, but as Puckoon said, private property meant that the lines were carefully curved to pass under roads. This is the reason why the platforms at Chancery Lane and St Pauls lie one below the other - when they were built, the road above was much narrower...

Alex