The poor areas of the city were so crowded with people that it was almost impossible for horse carriages to get around . The city officials were interested in trying to make it possible for workers to live outside of London and travel easily to work each day . If people had a cheap and convenient way that they could depend on to get to and from work, they would relocate their homes outside of the city. This would help ease the pressure of too many people living in the poor parts of London. From these problems, the idea of the London Underground, the first subway system, was born .