26th February 1870: Beach Pneumatic Transit opens in New York as the first successful underground railway in the United States

The Beach Pneumatic Transit consisted of a 312-foot tunnel beneath Broadway, between Warren Street and Murray Street, through which a single, cylindrical passenger car was propelled back and forth by a large fan housed in a nearby building.

4th November 1890: City and South London Railway, the world’s first deep-level underground ‘tube’ railway, officially opened

The construction of the railway presented numerous engineering challenges including the need to tunnel under the River Thames, but it was achieved using the ‘Greathead Shield’ which allowed workers to dig and line the tunnel simultaneously.