BEST IELTS Academic Reading Test 550

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IELTS ACADEMIC READING TEST 550 – PASSAGE – 2

IELTS ACADEMIC READING TEST – 550

READING PASSAGE – 2

Railway in the U.K.

A. The London Underground is a rapid transit system that serves a large part of Greater London and some neighbouring areas of Essex, Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire. It is the world’s oldest underground railway system. Services began on 10 January, 1863 on the Metropolitan Railway; most of the initial route is now part of the Hammersmith & City line. Despite its name, about 55% of the network is above ground. Popular local names include the Underground and, more colloquially, the Tube, in reference to the tubular cylindrical shape of the system’s deep-bore tunnels.

B. The first railways to be built in the United Kingdom were constructed in the early 19th century. By 1850, there were 7 separate railway termini located in the London area: London Bridge, Euston, Paddington, King’s Cross, Shoreditch, Waterloo and Fenchurch Street. Only Fenchurch Street was located within the City of London itself.

London had also seen a large increase in road traffic congestion in this period. This was due in part to the fact that most people travelling to London by rail had to complete their jouneys into the city centre by cab or omnibus. The concept of an underground railway linking the City of London with the mainline termini had first been proposed in the 1830s. But it was not until the 1850s that this idea was taken seriously as a solution to traffic congestion problems.

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C. In 1854, an Act of Parliament was passed approving the construction of an underground railway between Paddington Station and Farringdon Street via King’s Cross, which was to be called the Metropolitan Railway. This was to be built with the support of the Great Western Railway, who helped to fund the project on the grounds that a junction would be built with their mainline terminus at Paddington.

However, construction did not begin until February 1860 due to financial problems. The fact that this project got underway at all was largely due to the lobbying of Charles Pearson, who was Solicitor to the City of London at the time. In 1859, he finally persuaded the City of London Corporation to help fund the scheme.

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D. The Metropolitan Railway was opened to the public on 10 January, 1863. It was the world’s first urban underground passenger-carrying railway. Within a few months of opening it was carrying over 26,000 passengers a day. A year later, the railway was extended to Hammersmith in the west and a year after that it was extended to Moorgate in the east. Most of this original route is now part of the Hammersmith and City Line.

E. Other lines swiftly followed, and by 1884 the Inner Circle (today’s Circle Line) was completed as a joint venture between the Metropolitan Railway and its rival the Metropolitan District Railway.

F. The first trains were steam-hauled, which required effective ventilation to the surface. Ventilation shafts at various points on the route allowed the engines to expel steam and bring fresh air into the tunnels. One such vent is at Leinster Gardens, W2. In order to preserve the visual characteristics in what is still a well-to-do street, a five-foot-thick (1.5 m) concrete façade was constructed to resemble a genuine house frontage.

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G. The early tunnels were dug using cut-and-cover construction methods. This caused widespread disruption and required the demolition of several properties on the surface. Following advances in the use of tunnelling shields, electric traction and deep-level tunnel designs, later railways were built even further underground. This caused far less disruption at ground level than the cut-and-cover construction method did. It was therefore cheaper and preferable. The City & South London Railway (now part of the Northern line) opened in 1890. It was the first “deep-level”, electrically operated route.

H. By the end of the 19th century, the Metropolitan Railway company had extended its lines far outside of London, creating new suburbs in the process. From the 1870s, right up until the 1930s, the company pursued ambitions to maintain the railway as a main-line operation rather than a rapid transit service.

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I. In the early 20th century, the presence of six independent operators running different Underground lines caused passengers substantial inconvenience; in many places passengers had to walk some distance above ground to change between lines. The costs associated with running such a system were also heavy, and as a result, many companies looked to financiers who could give them the money they needed to expand into the lucrative suburbs as well as electrify the earlier steam operated lines. The most prominent of these was Charles Yerkes, an American tycoon who between 1900 and 1902 acquired the Metropolitan District Railway and the as yet unbuilt Charing Cross, Euston & Hampstead Railway (later to become part of the Northern line).

J. Yerkes also acquired the Brompton & Piccadilly Circus Railway (jointly to become the Great Northern, Piccadilly & Brompton Railway, the core of the modern Piccadilly line) and the Baker Street & Waterloo Railway (to become the Bakerloo line) to form Underground Electric Railways of London Company Ltd (UERL) on 9 April, 1902. That company also owned three tramway companies and went on to buy the London General Omnibus Company, creating an organisation colloquially known as “the Combine”.

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K. In early 1908, the underground railway operators agreed to promote their services jointly as “the Underground”, creating a free publicity map of the network in the process. New station signs and ticketing arrangements were also put into place.

L. On 1 January, 1913, the UERL absorbed two other independent tube lines, the City & South London Railway (now part of the Northern Line) and the Central London Railway (now known as the Central Line), the latter having opened an important east-west cross- city line from Bank to Shepherd’s Bush on 30 July, 1900. The Central London Railway was nicknamed the “Twopenny Tube” for its flat fare and cylindrical tunnels; the “tube” nickname was eventually transferred to the Underground system as a whole.

As the monopoly of the Combine asserted itself, only the Metropolitan Railway stayed away from this process of integration, retaining pretensions of being considered to be a main-line railway. Proposals were put forward for a merger between the two companies in 1913 but the plan was rejected by the Metropolitan. The only remaining independent underground railway in London, the Great Northern and City Railway (which ran a service between Moorgate and Finsbury Park), was acquired by the Metropolitan in the same year.

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Questions 13-22

Reading passage 2 has 12 paragraphs, A-L. Which paragraph contains the following information?

Write the correct letter A-L.

13. Other lines swiftly followed the Metropolitan Railway.

14. On 1 January, 1913, the UERL absorbed two other independent tube lines, the City & South London Railway and the Central London Railway.

15. The concept of an underground railway linking the City of London with the mainline termini had first been proposed in the 1830s.

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16. The early tunnels were dug using cut-and-cover construction methods.

17. New station signs and ticketing arrangements were put into place in early 1908.

18. The Metropolitan Railway was opened to the public on 10 January, 1863.

19. On the Metropolitan Railway, services began on 10 January, 1863.

20. Yerkes also acquired the Brompton & Piccadilly Circus Railway.

21. In 1854, the Act of Parliament was passed.

22. In the early 20th century, the presence of six independent operators running different Underground lines caused passengers substantial inconvenience.

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Questions 23-27

Do the following statements agree with the information in Reading Passage 2? In boxes 23-29 on your answer sheet write:

TRUE if the statement is true

FALSE if the statement is false

NOT GIVEN if the information is not given in the passage

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23. The London Underground is the world’s oldest underground railway system.

24. The concept of an underground railway linking the City of London with the mainline termini had first been accepted by the government in the 1830s.

25. Within a few months of opening the Metropolitan Railway had carried about 26,000 passengers.

26. The first trains were steam-hauled requiring effective ventilation to the surface.

27. By the end of the 19th century, the Metropolitan Railway company had covered all the lines far inside of London.

IELTS Academic Reading Test

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