Fascinating 3D maps of London Underground show what stations really look like beneath city streets

The London Underground is widely considered to be one of the best transport systems in the world, but it can sometimes feel like a maze. Most Londoners might feel like they know the network like the back of their hand, but with its endless escalators, stairs, and lengthy tunnels, there's much more to each station than meets the eye.

The fact that these stations are almost entirely underground makes it challenging to understand the layout, even in stations you might use regularly. So, it's always intriguing and often surprising to see what they look like when depicted in 3D.

Following a 2015 freedom of information request, Transport for London released its own drawings of every London Underground station's public areas, including the train tubes themselves, foot tunnels, stairs and more. The drawings provide an interesting insight into the twists, turns and angles of each station.

We've selected some of the most iconic for you to view here, but you can browse the layouts of every single station here.

READ MORE: The Underground's single longest journey without needing to change

Bank / Monument

Undoubtedly the largest 'station', the interconnected Bank and Monument stations accommodate Central, District, DLR, and Northern Line services. The Central Line is on the Bank end of the complex, District on the Monument end, and the other two lines fill the space between these two stations.

Kings Cross St Pancras.

Kings Cross, one of the busiest stations in London, is a major hub with four interconnecting Tube tunnels. It's served by an impressive six London Underground Lines: Circle, Hammersmith and City, Metropolitan, Piccadilly, Northern, and Victoria.

Liverpool Street.

Liverpool Street station is East London's transport hub, connecting the area with the rest of the city. It offers Overground, National Rail, and Tube services on the Central, Circle, Hammersmith and City and Metropolitan lines.

However, only the Central Line runs deep underground, as shown on the map.

Victoria

Despite its relatively simple layout, Victoria Station sees two lines running perpendicular to each other. The deeper level Victoria Line crosses beneath the District and Circle lines.

Waterloo Station

This station appears to have one of the most complex layouts. Three different axonometric drawings are needed to fully explain the station's layout with Victoria, Waterloo and City, Northern, District, Circle, and Bakerloo trains all passing through on different lines.

Westminster

Lastly, Westminster Station features Jubilee Line tunnels and surface level District and Circle Line platforms. This particular layout depiction takes a slightly different angle to the others, offering a more side-on perspective.

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