Her Majesty The Queen, HRH Duke of Edinburgh and HRH Duchess of Cambridge visit Baker Street Underground station as LU celebrates 150 years of serving London

The Royal Party meet Tube staff and take a closer look at London Underground’s (LU’s) historic and future fleet. New S-stock train named ’Queen Elizabeth II’.

Her Majesty The Queen, His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh and Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cambridge visited Baker Street Underground station today as part of a visit to mark the 150th anniversary of LU.

As part of the visit, Her Majesty and Their Royal Highnesses met a cross-section of the staff who keep London moving every day, including those who work on stations, trains and maintenance.

The Royal Party were also shown examples of LU’s past and future, firstly viewing the Metropolitan Railway Jubilee Carriage No 353, the oldest operational Underground carriage in existence and used recently on a steam run to commemorate the 150th anniversary.

They went on to have a closer look at one of the new walk-through air-conditioned Tube trains which are being introduced on 40 per cent of the network, followed by Her Majesty unveiling a plaque naming the train ’Queen Elizabeth II’.

Mike Brown, Managing Director of LU & London Rail, said: ’Today’s visit was a huge privilege, helping us mark the 150th anniversary of London Underground as well as recognising some of the staff who work tirelessly to keep London moving.

’It not only acknowledged our illustrious past but also the need to look to the future.

’We are continually improving the network and our passengers are seeing the benefits including more frequent and reliable services on the Jubilee and Victoria lines and new trains now serving the Metropolitan line, which will be rolled out to 40 per cent of our network.

’The key to continuing this success, and supporting the economy of London and the UK, is sustained investment to enable us to provide a network fit for the next 150 years.’

As part of the visit the Royal Party were also introduced to the team that restored the heritage carriage, as well as to representatives of the Railway Children charity.

Notes to editors:

• Pictures of the event are available on request
• Pictures are also available of the Queen’s visit to the Tube in 1969
• London Underground is celebrating its 150th anniversary this year with an extensive series of events, cultural creations and activities. These highlight the vital role that the Tube continues to play in London life and the UK economy, the importance of future investment and how the Tube will continue to evolve as it has over its first 150 years
• Their Royal Highnesses were hosted by Sir Peter Hendy CBE, Commissioner of Transport for London, Mike Brown, Managing Director, LU & London Rail, and Howard Collins, Chief Operating Officer, LU
• The Queen made several previous visits to LU sites, including:
• In March 1969 The Queen opened the Victoria line
• In February 2010 The Queen visited Aldgate station to meet staff and to see the plaque to commemorate the victims the 7/7 atrocities
• LU’s new S-stock trains, which are being introduced to 40 per cent of the Tube network, are already serving the Metropolitan line and currently being rolled on the Hammersmith & City followed by the Circle and District line. The trains are built at the Bombardier facility in Derby
• Baker Street station is part of the original underground network which started operating in January 1863 between Farringdon and Paddington stations