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These remarkable old Tube maps reveal just how much the London Underground network has evolved over the past 100 years.

The historic diagrams provide a fascinating insight into the development of the capital’s iconic underground system since it first began operations in 1863.

Free-hand drawings and calligraphy were used to create the first maps for the expanding Tube network, with the earliest one featured in this article dating back to 1925.

The Tube maps used today were originally the brainchild of Underground electrical draughtsman Harry Beck who based his diagrams on the order of stops rather than the exact geographical route.

His designs, which stripped the sprawling Tube network down to a neat diagram of coloured, criss-crossing lines, were initially dismissed for being too radical but a trial print-run in 1933 revealed it was just what the public wanted.

Before then, diagrams were largely based on the real geographical location of the Tube lines and stations, which resulted in far more chaotic-looking maps.

Transport for London (TfL) said that prior to Mr Beck’s design, individual rail firms would often produce their own maps, focusing on its own lines rather than displaying the entire network in full.

One Victoria line map from 1962, titled The Victoria line: Speeding Travel, shows the then brand new route between Victoria and Walthamstow.

Another map, published in 1925 and named Metropolitan Railway and Connections, highlights its own line with a thick red line alongside other routes that are depicted less prominently.

The name of the designer of both of these maps are not known.

A TfL spokesman said: “The companies were effectively all in competition with each other and so the focus was steadfastly on the route of the individual line, where it went, and why it was of particular use to you.

London Underground through the years - In pictures 53 show all London Underground through the years - In pictures 1/53 1968 A London Underground official drinking a cup of coffee during trials of new automatic trains on a section of the Central Line. The trains are intended for use on the newly opened Victoria underground line Getty Images 2/53 1862 Chancellor of the Exchequer William Ewart Gladstone with directors and engineers of the Metropolitan Railway Company on an inspection tour of the world's first underground line, 24th May 1862. Built between Paddington and the City of London, it opened in January of the following year. Gladstone is seen in the front row, near right. Getty Images 3/53 circa 1900 An early underground train on the Central London Railway, opened in 1900, which eventually became the Central Line. This engine could be driven in both directions Getty Images 4/53 1907 Golders Green station under construction in north London. The station, completed the following June, was originally on the Charing Cross, Euston & Hampstead Railway, which is now part of London Underground's Northern Line Getty Images 5/53 circa 1911 The interior of a District Line Underground carriage Getty Images 6/53 1912 The platform of the Central London Railway extension at Liverpool Street Station Getty Images 7/53 circa 1912 Workmen removing a concrete wall during construction of the Central line extension to Bank, on London's Underground Rail network Getty Images 8/53 1912 The ticket hall of Liverpool Street station, London Getty Images 9/53 circa 1920 The interior of an all-steel London underground train Getty Images 10/53 1922 A London Underground train being decorated with foliage for Christmas Getty Images 11/53 1922 A man writing on a complaints poster on the London Underground Getty Images 12/53 circa 1924 An underground tube train on an overground route to Golders Green, pulled by a traction engine, prior to being put into service Getty Images 13/53 1924 The entrance to Blackfriars station, London Getty Images 14/53 1924 A view showing the entrance to Farringdon Street station on the Metropolitan Line, London Getty Images 15/53 1926 An underground train being transported on wheels through the streets of London Getty Images 16/53 1928 Construction work at the ticketing area of the new Piccadilly tube station Getty Images 17/53 1928 A group of people listening to a gramophone player on a platform at Waterloo, London, during the filming of Anthony Asquith's Underground film Getty Images 18/53 1928 Mail in containers being loaded into a train at Mount Pleasant depot, London Getty Images 19/53 circa 1928 Indicators which record the running of the trains at the newly opened Piccadilly station Getty Images 20/53 1932 A passenger buys a London Underground season ticket from a vending machine at Highgate station in London Getty Images 21/53 1933 A guard on Leicester Square underground signals the 'all clear' with a baton fitted with electric lights which is clearly visible to the driver at the other end of the platform. Previously the guard used hand signal Getty Images 22/53 1936 A London Underground workers' canteen in Acton Getty Images 23/53 1936 Six underground railway tunnels run under the Earl's Court Exhibition building which is under construction near Earl's Court station, London Getty Images 24/53 1937 A woman in a 'new design' London Underground train Getty Images 25/53 1937 A London underground worker putting up the new St Paul's sign at Post Office station Getty Images 26/53 1937 Workmen at Baker Street, London being lowered into a shaft to work on the Bakerloo underground line extension between Baker Street and Edgware Road Getty Images 27/53 1939 Commuters on the escalators at Holborn station Anthony Wallace/Associated Newspapers 28/53 1939 Workers paste up billboards on the walls of Waltham Green station in London Getty Images 29/53 1940 People asleep on the platform at Piccadilly station, London, during an air raid Getty Images 30/53 1940 One of the six 'tube refreshment specials' operating on the London Underground is loaded with food before leaving the depot. The trains are used to deliver food to canteens at stations being used as public air-raid shelters Getty Images 31/53 1940 Members of the public being entertained by an ENSA concert party in Aldwych station, London Getty Images 32/53 1942 Mrs B. Lawrence cleans an electric underground train with acid at Neasden Station during World War II Getty Images 33/53 1944 An underground train on the District Line in London, equipped with a new system of lighting Getty Images 34/53 1948 A party of Swedish transport workers watching a London Underground train passing through an automatic wash at Hainault, Middlesex Getty Images 35/53 1948 A group of commuters look at a map of the Underground Getty Images 36/53 1956 A London policeman directs commuters to an alternative entrance to London's Piccadilly Circus station Getty Images 37/53 1956 Commuters travel through London's Piccadilly Circus station Getty Images 38/53 1957 Sir John Elliott, Chairman of the LTE shaking hands with the driver of the new prototype 'silver' tube train at Northfields station on the Piccadilly line Getty Images 39/53 1957 Guitarist Brian Hinton busking to passengers on the London Underground Getty Images 40/53 1958 A policeman controls queues at Tottenham Court Road station during a strike by London buses Getty Images 41/53 1960 A commuter reads a copy of D H Lawrence's 'Lady Chatterley's Lover', unaware of the fellow passengers surreptitiously reading over his shoulder Getty Images 42/53 1963 Crowds of people outside Oxford Circus underground station on the corner of Oxford Street and Argyll Street, London Getty Images 43/53 1964 An access tunnel under Oxford Circus used to extract clay from excavations during the construction of the Victoria Line on the London Underground system Getty Images 44/53 1968 Customers using the new telephones in the ticket hall at Oxford Circus underground station, London, which has been rebuilt in preparation for the new Victoria Line, which will pass through the station Getty Images 45/53 1969 Area Inspector H Matthews at the control panel in Victoria Station, London. Closed circuit television shows the tube platforms and escalators for the Victoria Line Getty Images 46/53 1971 The Queen's cousin, Princess Alexandra travelling in the driver's cab after she had officially opened the extension of the Victoria line to Brixton Getty Images 47/53 1975 A queue at the ticket office at Gloucester Road station Getty Images 48/53 1975 A Policeman asks for the assistance of passengers from Moorgate Tube station following the train crash in the tunnel earlier in the week Getty Images 49/53 1978 Passengers on the London Underground Getty Images 50/53 1979 Making a change from the usual graffiti, the new murals on Charing Cross station are shown off by London Transport Manager Denis Hicks Getty Images 51/53 1979 A string quartet play on the Jubilee Line at Bond Street station, London Getty Images 52/53 1980 Passengers purchasing tickets in the ticket hall of Embankment station Getty Images 53/53 1989 'Guardian Angel' Curtis Sliwa patrolling a London tube train Rex 1/53 1968 A London Underground official drinking a cup of coffee during trials of new automatic trains on a section of the Central Line. The trains are intended for use on the newly opened Victoria underground line Getty Images 2/53 1862 Chancellor of the Exchequer William Ewart Gladstone with directors and engineers of the Metropolitan Railway Company on an inspection tour of the world's first underground line, 24th May 1862. Built between Paddington and the City of London, it opened in January of the following year. Gladstone is seen in the front row, near right. Getty Images 3/53 circa 1900 An early underground train on the Central London Railway, opened in 1900, which eventually became the Central Line. This engine could be driven in both directions Getty Images 4/53 1907 Golders Green station under construction in north London. The station, completed the following June, was originally on the Charing Cross, Euston & Hampstead Railway, which is now part of London Underground's Northern Line Getty Images 5/53 circa 1911 The interior of a District Line Underground carriage Getty Images 6/53 1912 The platform of the Central London Railway extension at Liverpool Street Station Getty Images 7/53 circa 1912 Workmen removing a concrete wall during construction of the Central line extension to Bank, on London's Underground Rail network Getty Images 8/53 1912 The ticket hall of Liverpool Street station, London Getty Images 9/53 circa 1920 The interior of an all-steel London underground train Getty Images 10/53 1922 A London Underground train being decorated with foliage for Christmas Getty Images 11/53 1922 A man writing on a complaints poster on the London Underground Getty Images 12/53 circa 1924 An underground tube train on an overground route to Golders Green, pulled by a traction engine, prior to being put into service Getty Images 13/53 1924 The entrance to Blackfriars station, London Getty Images 14/53 1924 A view showing the entrance to Farringdon Street station on the Metropolitan Line, London Getty Images 15/53 1926 An underground train being transported on wheels through the streets of London Getty Images 16/53 1928 Construction work at the ticketing area of the new Piccadilly tube station Getty Images 17/53 1928 A group of people listening to a gramophone player on a platform at Waterloo, London, during the filming of Anthony Asquith's Underground film Getty Images 18/53 1928 Mail in containers being loaded into a train at Mount Pleasant depot, London Getty Images 19/53 circa 1928 Indicators which record the running of the trains at the newly opened Piccadilly station Getty Images 20/53 1932 A passenger buys a London Underground season ticket from a vending machine at Highgate station in London Getty Images 21/53 1933 A guard on Leicester Square underground signals the 'all clear' with a baton fitted with electric lights which is clearly visible to the driver at the other end of the platform. Previously the guard used hand signal Getty Images 22/53 1936 A London Underground workers' canteen in Acton Getty Images 23/53 1936 Six underground railway tunnels run under the Earl's Court Exhibition building which is under construction near Earl's Court station, London Getty Images 24/53 1937 A woman in a 'new design' London Underground train Getty Images 25/53 1937 A London underground worker putting up the new St Paul's sign at Post Office station Getty Images 26/53 1937 Workmen at Baker Street, London being lowered into a shaft to work on the Bakerloo underground line extension between Baker Street and Edgware Road Getty Images 27/53 1939 Commuters on the escalators at Holborn station Anthony Wallace/Associated Newspapers 28/53 1939 Workers paste up billboards on the walls of Waltham Green station in London Getty Images 29/53 1940 People asleep on the platform at Piccadilly station, London, during an air raid Getty Images 30/53 1940 One of the six 'tube refreshment specials' operating on the London Underground is loaded with food before leaving the depot. The trains are used to deliver food to canteens at stations being used as public air-raid shelters Getty Images 31/53 1940 Members of the public being entertained by an ENSA concert party in Aldwych station, London Getty Images 32/53 1942 Mrs B. Lawrence cleans an electric underground train with acid at Neasden Station during World War II Getty Images 33/53 1944 An underground train on the District Line in London, equipped with a new system of lighting Getty Images 34/53 1948 A party of Swedish transport workers watching a London Underground train passing through an automatic wash at Hainault, Middlesex Getty Images 35/53 1948 A group of commuters look at a map of the Underground Getty Images 36/53 1956 A London policeman directs commuters to an alternative entrance to London's Piccadilly Circus station Getty Images 37/53 1956 Commuters travel through London's Piccadilly Circus station Getty Images 38/53 1957 Sir John Elliott, Chairman of the LTE shaking hands with the driver of the new prototype 'silver' tube train at Northfields station on the Piccadilly line Getty Images 39/53 1957 Guitarist Brian Hinton busking to passengers on the London Underground Getty Images 40/53 1958 A policeman controls queues at Tottenham Court Road station during a strike by London buses Getty Images 41/53 1960 A commuter reads a copy of D H Lawrence's 'Lady Chatterley's Lover', unaware of the fellow passengers surreptitiously reading over his shoulder Getty Images 42/53 1963 Crowds of people outside Oxford Circus underground station on the corner of Oxford Street and Argyll Street, London Getty Images 43/53 1964 An access tunnel under Oxford Circus used to extract clay from excavations during the construction of the Victoria Line on the London Underground system Getty Images 44/53 1968 Customers using the new telephones in the ticket hall at Oxford Circus underground station, London, which has been rebuilt in preparation for the new Victoria Line, which will pass through the station Getty Images 45/53 1969 Area Inspector H Matthews at the control panel in Victoria Station, London. Closed circuit television shows the tube platforms and escalators for the Victoria Line Getty Images 46/53 1971 The Queen's cousin, Princess Alexandra travelling in the driver's cab after she had officially opened the extension of the Victoria line to Brixton Getty Images 47/53 1975 A queue at the ticket office at Gloucester Road station Getty Images 48/53 1975 A Policeman asks for the assistance of passengers from Moorgate Tube station following the train crash in the tunnel earlier in the week Getty Images 49/53 1978 Passengers on the London Underground Getty Images 50/53 1979 Making a change from the usual graffiti, the new murals on Charing Cross station are shown off by London Transport Manager Denis Hicks Getty Images 51/53 1979 A string quartet play on the Jubilee Line at Bond Street station, London Getty Images 52/53 1980 Passengers purchasing tickets in the ticket hall of Embankment station Getty Images 53/53 1989 'Guardian Angel' Curtis Sliwa patrolling a London tube train Rex

“Even when combined maps of a sort began to appear, following the establishment of the Underground Electric Railways Group, the emphasis often fell upon a particular line.

“The Metropolitan Railway did not become part of the Underground group until 1933 and although it recognised the need to illustrate how it connected with other lines, the maps it produced retained a very clear bias towards its own services.”

The TfL spokesman added: “The Beck map has formed the basis of the Tube map right up to the present day, albeit with some minor adjustments – including the temporary use of diamonds and interlinked loops to indicate interchange stations, the reductions of diagonals, and the introduction of a locating grid.”