The London Underground is a fascinating jumble of shallow cuts and terrifyingly deep shafts. The deepest station of all is Hampstead on the Northern line, sitting a staggering 58.5 metres (192 feet) below the surface. That is roughly the height of a 15-storey building, which makes the long escalator ride feel like a descent into a very fashionable underworld.
But Hampstead is not the most extreme example of depth. That accolade goes to the Lifts at Hampstead, which plunge to 58.5 metres before you even reach the escalators. For a true belly-flip of vertigo, take the spiral emergency staircase at Hampstead—it has 320 steps. Walking up that is a legitimate cardiovascular workout, so pack a water bottle.
The reason for these variations is largely geological. The deeper lines, like the Northern and the Piccadilly, were burrowed through solid London clay. The surface lines, like the Circle or District, were built with the "cut-and-cover" method—basically, they dug a big ditch and put a lid on it.
