Going for a ride on the tube

I saw something last night going home on the District Line that I don't think I'd ever seen before - someone taking on board a bicycle!

When I first saw the woman on the platform at Earl's Court, I thought "Surely she's not about to take that with her, is she?", but yup .. she did, right onto a (admittedly not packed) quite busy trains, where she stayed all the way down to Wimbledon.

It wasn't even as if it was a small bike, and she had a box strapped to the back of it which kept slipping off .. and then to make matters worse, she then prompted to spend the whole journey inadequately holding up the bike with one hand whilst reading a document or similar with her other. Result? Twice the bike fell over hit people... nice!

So are bikes allowed on the tube? Well according the the TFL website, they are allowed on certain lines, and that DOES include all of the 'cut and cover' sections (e.g the District) but only between certain times - Not between 07.30 and 09.30 in the morning, and not between 16.00 and 19.00 in the evening.

And the time of this last night? It was five past seven! So I'm guessing she must of known about the time restriction, but it still to me seemed a little awkward and she annoyed many other passengers who gave her menacing looks as if to to say that they thought she obviously shouldn't be there.

Me? Well, I'm going to stick my neck out and say that I don't think she should have been there either .. to me it seems daft allowing bikes onto a busy metro train service where there are a lot of stops and lots of people frequently getting on and off. So yes .. I would totally ban all bikes on all lines in the central zones ... your comments?

London Underground; Tube Posted by Anonymous Tuesday, September 14, 2004 Permalink COMMENT HERE
Tweet http://london-underground.blogspot.com/2004/09/going-for-ride-on-tube.html