For two decades, photographer Bob Mazzer rode the London Underground with a camera in hand. He wasn’t just commuting — he was documenting a world that most people passed through without a second glance. The result is one of the most honest visual records of Tube life during the 1970s and 1980s.
The carriages during this era were a social mixing bowl unlike anything seen today. Punks in leather jackets and spiked hair sat beside city workers in suits. Couples kissed without caring who watched. Groups of friends were loud and rowdy. One man was photographed with a guitar and an amplifier strapped to his back. Beer cans were a common sight.
The trains themselves had a strong visual identity. The 1972 and 1973 Tube stock featured moquette fabric seats in bold geometric patterns. Stations across the network kept their classic designs, including the distinctive tiled walls created by architect Leslie Green. Paper advertisements covered the walls of carriages and platforms, forming a collage of consumer culture.
Until 1984, smoking was permitted in designated carriages on the trains. The smell of tobacco was simply part of the journey for millions of commuters. The practice was phased out gradually, starting on deep-level lines, before a catastrophic event forced a complete ban.
The network also expanded during this period. In 1979, the Jubilee line opened, named in honor of Queen Elizabeth II’s Silver Jubilee, which had been celebrated two years earlier in 1977. It connected new parts of central London to the wider system.
On November 18, 1987, a fire broke out beneath a wooden escalator at King’s Cross station. It spread rapidly into a massive blaze that killed 31 people. Investigators found serious safety failures throughout the aging system. Wooden escalators were removed across the network, and smoking was banned entirely on the Underground.
