The project is still administered by Ms Chernaik who, together with poets Cicely Herbert and Gerard Benson, select the poems for inclusion in the programme. London Transport meets the cost of buying most of the space, of design and of production, with sponsorship funding the rest.

A new set of six poems appears three times each year. Copies of the poems are displayed in train carriages and the selection traditionally consists of a mixture of styles, from past and contemporary poets, from home and abroad.

From June 1999 and running through the Year 2000 there will be a celebration in London Underground trains of " 1000 Years of Poetry in English" - a continuous tradition stretching back to Beowulf and the Anglo-Saxon Riddles.

The eighth hardback edition of the poems anthology is a available from the London Transport Museum Shop, priced £14.99. Poster versions of each of the poems are also available from the London Transport Museum Shop, price £1.50. Schools can obtain a set of six poems by Mail Order, price £6.75 or £20.00 for an annual subscription of three sets (including postage and packing in each case). For further information, contact Poems on the Underground, Commercial Department, LT Museum, Covent Garden, London WC2E 7BB.

Art on London Transport
The London Transport Art collection is one of stunning diversity, comprising over 5 000 posters by artists including Edward McKnight Kauffer, Graham Sutherland and Man Ray. Commissioning leading artists of the time to create advertising posters for the London Underground was begun in 1908 by Frank Pick, the Underground Group’s publicity officer, later to become Managing Director, then Chief Executive.

As a result of his enlightened initiative, many major and unsung artists from Britain, Europe and the USA produced their finest work for the London Underground and the buses.

In its heyday of art patronage, the company was displaying as many as forty new works each year. They did not merely promote travel by bus and Underground, but encouraged passengers to go to plays and concerts, visit the Zoo or spend a day in the country. Artists were given the greatest possible scope for self-expression, and worked in every style of composition and subject.

In the 1980s this great tradition was reinstated with a new art campaign, which had the additional aims of enhancing the environment and giving the travelling public a taste of fine art - free. The latest series of London Transport Art can be seen on the Underground and some of London’s bus shelters. Around three works are now commissioned annually, and more than 50 art posters have been produced since the initiative began.

Popular posters include "The Tate Galley by Tube", by David Booth (1986); "The new Kew by Tube", a watercolour by Jennie Tuffs (1987); "Chinatown", an oil canvas by John Bellany (1987); "Days on the Water", an oil on canvas by Sandra Fisher (1989); "Highgate Ponds", a gouache on board by Howard Hodgkins (1990); and "Downtown to Soho", mixed media on board by Michael Bishop.

Around six thousand copies of each poster are printed in four-sheet, double-royal and escalator panel format. The programme is supported by TDI, the company which sells advertising space on LT sites.

All of London Transport’s poster collection has been digitised and can be viewed on screen at the LT Museum in Covent Garden where A4 prints of any image can be ordered. Quality reproductions of many of the posters, both historic and recent, are also available form the Museum Shop (telephone 0171 379 6344).

Last updated April 1999