People were afraid to travel in London underground railway because they thought they were a menace to health. A newspaper reader warned the public ‘‘of compartments full of smoking pipes, the foul atmosphere, which was a mixture of sulphur, coal dust and fumes from the gas lamps.’’ He thought he would die of asphyxiation and heat. Many people called the railway ‘‘iron monsters,’’ which added to the mess and unhealthiness of the city. The famous writer, Charles Dickens, in one of his words criticised the railway for destroyed houses, knocking down sheets, deep pits and trenches thrown about.’’ To make two miles of railway, 900 houses were dug up and had led to the massive displacement of the London poor.