London Underground Signalling

The London Underground has been providing rail transport across London for over 160 years, at first with steam traction and then electric traction. During this time, the organisation has adopted signalling and train control systems that have been at the forefront of international practice.

This book tells the story of the development of signalling and train control on the London Underground from its earliest days of steam locomotives and mechanical signalling to the latest high-tech, communications based technology. It describes how the Underground developed the world’s first automatic railway and it relates how operational and maintenance factors have influenced signalling design. It also shows how efforts to improve safety, reliability and capacity have led to the systems in place today.