City Journal: London - Presenting Trains!

 London is famous for its Underground subway, the first subway system in the world. Being underground allows for a lot of flexibility in terms of placement of the rail lines. I started to omit the Underground initially, instead focusing on building my city and region. The flexibility of being underground makes it easier to go back after the fact and add the underground rail lines. As my region expanded to the east I discovered that the Underground is only one of many rail systems transporting people and goods throughout the London region. Tower Hamlets is home to Canary Wharf, an area of skyscrapers and corporate headquarters in east London. The area historically was home to docks and shipping, but fell into disarray as time progressed. In the 1980s, thanks to redevelopment and corporate tax exclusions, Canary Wharf developed into what it is today. Along with this growth in the 80s came the Docklands Light Rail (DLR), one of the additional rail lines running in London. The interesting thing about the DLR is that it is fully automated without drivers. Discovery of the DLR caused me to introduce trains to my region a bit earlier than anticipated, but this is fine. It allows for a more fully integrated transit system.

Above on the map you can see the layout of the DLR system in east London. Below is a satellite view of my region, with the DLR represented by the purple line on the map. It is still under construction, with only about 25% of the system built. Additionally, above is a picture of the modern day Canary Wharf, and below is a picture of Canary Wharf in my city. This region is still under development.

In addition to the DLR and the Underground, there is another system called the Overground. It consists of heavy rail for commuter travel as well as freight throughout the region. Throughout the east I have built the East London Line (ELL) to provide this type of transport service as well. Below, the ELL can be seen running next to Hotspur Stadium in Tottenham. White Hart Lane can be seen next to Hotspur Stadium. I fully realize that stadium has been demolished, but wanted to include it in my city because it has such a cool name.