Mapping the Sounds of the London Underground

Descend into one of the stations along the London Underground’s 11 lines, and you’ll be greeted with a predictable cacophony: the shriek of an oncoming train overlaid by a cool voice reminding commuters to “mind the gap” between the platform and the train, or the organized bustle of crowds passing through turnstiles and tube doors.

But you’ll also encounter sounds that are more specific and surprising. “There are multilingual conversations, buskers playing bagpipes, woodwind and lap steel guitars, chanting football fans, sick passengers, delayed trains, and much more,” says Stuart Fowkes, the creator of Cities and Memory, a global sound map that’s collected and cataloged sounds from 55 countries around the world since launching in 2014.