The London Metropolitan Elevated Railway

More popularly known as the Skyrail, the London Elevated Metropolitan Railway is the preferred method of train transport for the well-to-do and upper-middle class. Its spacious raised station platforms feature gracefully ornamented architecture by Britain's finest. South Kensington Station is especially fine, a graceful wrought-iron and and tinted glass aerie enclosing not only clever anabaric lifts down to the street and Underground lines below, but a fine shopping arcade, two acclaimed restaurants, and a small (but impeccably tuned) alcove on the platform proper where one may hear any number of musicians enliven the air as one makes one's way to one's carriage. Indeed, the Skyrail strives at all times to create an atmosphere of culture and civility for its patrons, who pay a premium fare to enjoy its comforts whilst surveying the sweep of the City rushing along below them.

The Skyrail is entirely anbaronic, a marvel of modern engineering and ingenuity, and its conductors take pride in guiding their passengers from place to place amicably and inconspicuously. (Indeed, were one to survey the employees of the Elevated Railway, one would find no small number of them come from families in personal service.)The Skyrail has fewer routes than the Underground, and the trains stop rather short of the East End proper. The lines are all named for metals, in some cases the romantic-sounding alchemical names are preferred, and the lines are of course color-coded within their stations with handsome tiles or inlaid metals.

The Aurum Line (Gold) runs in a slow, grand circle from South Kensington to Picadilly Circus. Its carriages are the richest on the rails, being small and amply furnished with well-shined lamps and plush red-velvet cushions. It is not uncommon for meetings of some import to occur on the Aurum Line, and each of its two trains (The Queen Victoria and the Price Albert, of course) also boasts a roomier club car for those wishing a form of mobile respite from the pressures of the outside world. It is rumored that a peculiar sort of gentlemen's club frequents these cars, but this rumor is somewhat unsubstantiated.

The Argent Line (Silver) runs in a diagonal across the City from Kensal Green in the Northwest to Westminster. A very popular line with the cultured populace (and visitors) as it stops not only at British Museum Station, but also near the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden and Trafalgar Square. The Argent is not as sumptuous as the Aurum of course, but its roomy coaches with comfortable blue seating run often and with great reliability.

The Aqua Vitae Line (Teal) takes its name from both the great river Thames it somewhat follows, and an archaism for the 'Spirit of Wine'. Someone must have thought themselves quite clever, but nevertheless the Aqua Vitae Line is close enough to the 'water of life' that the name is nearly warranted. It runs from West Kensington to London Bridge, stopping in many places of commerce and culture, such as Sloane Street (a lavish walk of fashion houses) and St James' Park. It also stops at Waterloo Station.

The Wolfram Line (Pale Blue) is the workhorse of the Skyrail system, transporting its passengers effortlessly between major railway stations across the city, from which one may seek further travel. It arcs from Paddington Station in the West to Euston Station and then stops at the grand vastness of King's Cross Station before wending its way down to Liverpool Street and London Bridge, ending finally at the similarly spacious junction of Waterloo Station. The Wolfram Line (named for the element Tungsten) features uniformed porters to aid in the transfer of its passengers' luggage.

The Mercury Line (White) is an express train that cuts across the heart of the City roughly along the same path as the Central Line on the Underground, for those wishing a speedier (and more affordable) route to the West End than the Aurum or Argent provides. It's fast!

The Copper Line (Copper/Orange) is a middle-class sort of Skyrail line, curving almost but not quite into the East from King's Cross down to the industrial areas of Lambeth on the Southern banks of the Thames. It passes through a number of residential middle-class sort of neighborhoods like those in Islington and Moorgate (where one can see a curiosity of the new technologies in houses built next to, or even around the pylons and supports of the Skyrail!) The Copper Line's carriages are built to last, with smooth wooden benches padded only the littlest bit with fabric long gone muddy grey and faded from use.

The Ferrous Line (Red) runs from the low-rent areas of Camden Town in the North to Aldgate in the East End. The Iron Line is the most affordable Skyrail Line, a fast way into the Center of the City, but somewhat less reliable than the Underground for everyday transit. The Ferrous Line runs less often that the comparable District, Central or Northern Lines of the Underground, but there's some posh folks as will wait longer for a train with a view of something 'sides tunnels...Needless to say, there's a deal of scorn in the East End over the whole thing (Aldgate Skyrail Station demolished a number of homes in its building) and Aldgate Station's anabaric generators are probably the most over-taxed in London due to illegal re-wiring.