150 years of the London underground – in pictures

A trial trip on the Metropolitan line, passing Portland Road station. The line opened to the public in 1863. From The Illustrated London News, 13 September 1862. Photograph: UniversalImagesGroup/Getty Images

One of a series of photographs by Henry Flather showing the construction, undertaken between 1866 and 1870, of the Metropolitan Railway's underground lines between Farringdon and Paddington and on to Kensington. It now forms part of the existing District and Circle lines on the London underground. The construction work, utilising the 'cut and cover' technique, caused a lot of disruption to London neighbourhoods. Praed Street Station, now known as Paddington, is hidden from view by the beer house in the centre of the picture. Photograph: Science & Society Picture Librar/SSPL via Getty Images

May 1875: Blackfriars underground station, with St Paul's in the background. Photograph: Hulton Archive/Getty Images

London underground platform, circa late 1800s. Photograph: GL Archive/Alamy

An early underground train on the Central London Railway, opened in 1900, which eventually became the Central line. This engine could be driven in both directions. Photograph: Topical Press Agency/Getty Images

Workmen removing a concrete wall during construction of the Central line extension to Bank, circa 1912. Photograph: Hulton Archive/Getty Images

A man writing on a London underground complaints poster, 1922. It seems not everyone was happy with the service, even then. Photograph: Topical Press Agency/Getty Images

An underground train being transported on wheels through the streets of London, 1926. Photograph: Fox Photos/Getty Images

London underground workers building the Piccadilly line extension at Turnpike Lane, 1930. Photograph: Fox Photos/Getty Images

Interior of an underground train carriage, London, c1930. Photograph: Science & Society Picture Librar/SSPL via Getty Images

A traveller buys an underground season ticket from a vending machine at Highgate Station in 1932. Photograph: Fox Photos/Getty Images

Underground workers' canteen, circa 1935. Photograph: Topical Press Agency/Getty Images

A woman in a 'new design' tube train, August 1937. Photograph: David Savill/Getty Images

People sleeping at Piccadilly underground station during the second world war. Photograph: London Transport Museum

Londoners sleeping underground in subway for protection during German bombing raids, 1941. Photograph: Hans Wild/Time & Life Pictures/Getty Image

Soldiers returning home on tube after the end of the second world war, 1945 Photograph: Keystone/Getty Images

Fox photographer George Freston poses as a commuter on the tube, reading a copy of D H Lawrence's novel Lady Chatterley's Lover, on the day the book went on general sale, after a jury at the Old Bailey decided that the book was not obscene, after a 33-year old-ban, November 1960. Photograph: Derek Berwin/Getty Images

A mock-up at the 'Victoria line' exhibition at the Design Centre, London, of the interior of a new type of carriage that would be used on the new Victoria line, 20 August 1968. The new carriages feature lengthways seating to allow more room for standing passengers, two-level arm rests, which can be shared by adjacent passengers, and internal speakers for driver announcements. Photograph: Ron Case/Getty Images

Ann Dodds, the company's first woman driver, prepares to drive a tube train, 6 October 1978. Photograph: Rob Taggart/Getty Images

A young woman busks in the tunnel at Bond Street station, February 1979. Photograph: M. Fresco/Getty Images

Interior of a 1930s London carriage. [This caption was amended on 3 May, having originally stated a later date.] Photograph: Presselect/Alamy

Facebook members mark the day before the introduction of a drinking ban on the tube with a party on the Circle line, 31 May 2008. Photograph: Presselect/Alamy

Passengers using mobile technology, June 2012. Photograph: Kumar Sriskandan/Alamy

A crowded carriage during morning rush hour, 2012. Photograph: Jeffrey Blackler/Alamy