No drinking on public transport proposals

Can't drink, can't smoke, what can you do?

With apologies to Adam Ant's top song Goody Two Shoes - looks like the "Nanny State" is at it again with various people (including the opposition and RMT's Bob Crow) getting up in arms over Tony Blair's proposal to ban alcohol from public transport.



The Sunday Times wrote: "The Government was in retreat last night over proposals for a blanket ban on drinking on all forms of public transport. Amid protests that it was indulging in 'nanny state politics', ministers said that there was no intention of stopping people on trains having drinks with their meals in restaurant cars and that any action taken would be 'proportionate'.

However, The Times has been told that action against yobbish and drunken behaviour on public transport is under serious consideration after a brainstorming session at Chequers last month of plans for Tony Blair's 'respect agenda'.

Pressure by the British Transport Police for measures to stop people who have already been drinking carrying large amounts of alcohol on to buses and trains is likely to be answered by the Government with new powers, ministers said."

There's a huge amount of double standards going on here, as one minute licensing hours are being extended (which will have a big effect on railway pubs) and then we're told we can't drink on public transport.

There was also an interesting feature in Friday's Evening Standard about Londoners' leisure patterns and how what you did to have fun and interestingly, how you then got home, was effected by what part of London you lived in.

According to a survey carried out by lastminute.com, half of North Londoners admitted to drinking until they fell down and worryingly, they then went home by Tube. East Londoners were also most likely to go home by Tube, although only drank 2-3 units of alcohol. South Londoners were also light drinkers with 2-3 units but then they would go home in a mini cab. West Londoners drank higher levels of alcohol 5-7 units, but then walked home.

Admittedly a lot of this is do with how much public transport there is in your area and shows that the Tube system doesn't operate that brilliantly in South London. Generally when getting home, 52% used the Tube, 31% mini cab and just 2% drove. Six out of 10 believed that alcohol was essential for a good night out.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Monday, October 31, 2005 Permalink

Scanning machines introduced on Heathrow Express Stations at Paddington

But London Underground won't have body scanners

Just in case we haven't had enough railway news today, just thought I would report that airport style X-ray machines and body scanners will soon be launched at Paddington station's Heathrow Express. From the front page of Metro:

"Critics including train operators, say imposing extra checks at all stations would be too expensive. Transport Secretary Alistair Darling will tell Parliament on Wednesday he would like to start enforcing added security checks at rail stations.

"But the Association of Train Operating Companies said: 'We have an open access network and it is simply not practical to put in airport-style security at every station.'

According to the BBC - "Brian Cooke, chairman of London Travelwatch, said there was no system available that could cope with the volume of Tube passengers.

He said everyone wanted maximum security but there were concerns the checks would mean more delays and congestion."

Back in Metro - "Transport for London added 'Body scanners are completely impractical on the London Underground. Heathrow handles 67.1 million passengers each year - London Underground carries 976 million.

'You can just imagine the delays if such technology was introduced on the Tube. We are constantly reviewing technology to see what could be potentially employed - but body scanners are not an option for us. Our stations just don't have room for them'

So what is it lads, too many delays and impractical or not enough room or both?

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Monday, October 31, 2005 Permalink

Spot the "deliberate" mistake

Busking Cartoon from The Londoner

I love Sheriff Ken's monthly free newspaper The Londoner as there's usually a laugh on every page (very few are deliberate jokes though). November's was particularly good though with this cartoon on the Letters to Ken page:



There's no prizes for guessing, but can anyone see what's wrong with it?

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Monday, October 31, 2005 Permalink

SPADs (passing red lights) have trebled on the London Underground

Not SPUDs, SPADs - Signal Passed at Danger

Well it's certainly been a day for London Underground news today. I learnt this afternoon that the number of Signals Passed at Danger have trebled on the Tube.

The BBC reported today that "In 1995 there were 296 signals passed at danger (Spads) but in 2004 it rose to 969, which the London Assembly's Lib Dems says points to "complacency"." It's interesting that I'm now hearing that this increase is being spun as better records being kept of SPADs not that there are actually more SPAD's.

Anyway, Lib Dem Transport Secretary, Geoff Pope said: "The failure to tackle the spiralling number of Spads smacks of a history of deep malaise and complacency over many years from LU. Serious questions must be asked into how, over years, LU has failed to deal with the ever-increasing number of Spads.

"While the Tube does have comprehensive safety systems, passengers will worry that a technical failure might lead to a collision and loss of life."

You'll be pleased to hear that London Underground are not too worried that it will lead to possible loss of life as there is something in place to stop over-running trains. A spokesman said: "Safety is our top priority. The Tube is equipped with Automatic Train Protection (ATP) so if a train does inadvertently pass a signal at danger it will be brought to an immediate halt. Driver training is kept under constant review and we work closely with the infrastructure companies, Tube Lines and Metronet, to improve safety and keep the Underground as safe as possible"

Thanks. I feel so much more reassured now specially as I know that Tube Lines are taking good care of the Northern Line after the problems we had with drivers refusing to drive unsafe trains earlier this month.



Loving this cartoon and particularly the comment above about the Northern Line and the PPP debacle from the week's Private Eye.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Monday, October 31, 2005 Permalink

Happy Halloween

The obligatory Halloween blog post

It's hard taking Halloween and London Underground related pictures, so I've had to use a picture from last year, of this woman going to a Halloween party and texting her mate on the tube at Hammersmith.



If anyone has any good Halloween and Tube or London Underground pictures, send them in today and I'll put them up. Cheers.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Monday, October 31, 2005 Permalink

Tube Fashion Victims Week 3

London Underground victims of fashion

It's that time of the week again when I look at some great fashion victims I've seen over the week on the Tube. As usual there were so many to choose from, I've selected the best below:

Lavender Printed Corduroy Suit

I know she's an old lady, but she was clearly trying to look hip and trendy with this natty little suit. Quite what she's doing on the Docklands Light Railway in the rush hour was beyond me too, but she gets full marks for this fetching ensemble:



Just Gay Enough?

Also on the DLR I sat opposite a guy who I think was clearly too old to be wearing button badges. But I know a number of you like them. He was clearly in touch with his feminine side too if the fur collared raincoat was anything to go by and the "Just Gay Enough" shoulder bag with the lavender trim. To top it off, he was reading The Secret History by Donna Tartt to show his literary side



She's a slave to her feet

Well this poor girl was, with plasters nicely peeping out form the top of her shoes to protect where some shoes had been rubbing:



Gold Trainers, Green Socks

Another shoe wearing error. Horrible metallic trainers mixed with bright green socks and white trousers. At least she didn't have metallic handbag:



What look shall I go for?

This woman going up the escalators at Tottenham Court Road, couldn't make up her mind. There's the trilby hat look. Then there's sort of weird cowboy influenced riding boots. None of which went with the tweed skirt:



Kinky red boots

At Bank station I saw a poster for the new film Kinky Boots,



and then just on the other side of the platform a woman tottered along wearing a similar pair. Very spiky, very red and she even had some cropped Twiggy trousers to go with them

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Friday, October 28, 2005 Permalink

Farewell to the Routemaster Number 38 & Free poetry event

The last of the old double deckers hits the dust



It's funny how the London Underground ad for this is singing the praises of the new bendy bus and not like a lot of Londoners bemoaning the loss of the double decker (check out Diamond Geezer's requiem)

My friend James sent me details of a free event taking place on Sunday to mourn its passing:

Farewell to the No.38 Routemaster Bus

SUNDAY 30th OCTOBER

An Evening of Poetry with

JOHN HEGLEY, LUKE WRIGHT & CHRIS HICKS
(FROM AISLE 16)
DJ DARYL 'MAGIC BUS' EASLEA

FREE ADMISSION - Starts 8.30pm - In the Bar of The Old Red Lion Pub

FRIDAY 28th OCTOBER is the last day of the No. 38 Routemaster Bus which stops outside the Old Red for as long as anyone can remember..........

Slowly, month by month, route by route, London is losing one of its most famous symbols: the Routemaster bus - a bus designed and made in London, by Londoners for Londoners, which is to London what the gondola is to Venice. In terms of postcards, books, films, and cheap souvenirs, and in the eyes of the world, the Routemaster represents the city just as much as Big Ben. It was the last bus to be have conductors as well as drivers, the last bus to ring familiar shouts that are at least a century old: Fares please, Full up inside but room on top, Next stop the British Museum!

The last bus, in other words, to be a proper bus.

Come join us at the Old Red Lion and celebrate the passing of this lovely bus you can jump on and off.

John Hegley used to be a busconductor! Luke Wright used to travel to work on the 38! Daryl 'Magic Bus' Easlea promises to play lots of 'bus' tunes from his fab vinyl collection.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Friday, October 28, 2005 Permalink

My last few weeks on the Waterloo & Shitty Line

I'm saying goodbye to The Drain

Contrary to popular belief I do have a life outside of the London Underground. A selected few of you will know that I will shortly be leaving my current charity job and joining the corporate world again. It's a truly fantastic job that I'm highly excited about and one of the best things about it means that I'll be waving goodbye to the Waterloo & City Line and saying hello to the West End again. Hoorah, Hoorah, Hoorah.

I've been doing very late nights winding down from my current job and yesterday evening ended up walking through the rarely seen deserted walkway to the Waterloo and City Line.





So you'll be pleased to know that you won't hear me moaning and moaning about my nightmare journey when the Waterloo & City Line is closed for about five months next year. But my sincere commiserations go out to anyone who will still be travelling on it.

Also, no more City and DLR tube fashion victim posts from a few weeks time, but more of the weird and wonderful fashion disasters of the West End. Believe me there will be plenty!

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Thursday, October 27, 2005 Permalink

"I Like Trains"

Metro's band to watch

Intriguing idea reported in yesterday's Metro "Despite the atrocious name, this Leeds five-piece are not 'wacky' pop punk chumps..... I Like Trains sport shabby British Rail uniforms on stage wihle projections of disaster movies flicker in the background.... the uniforms seem to turn them into anonymous conduits for lost spirits"

One of their tracks "The Beeching Report" is "a ghostly lament for the mass dismantling of the rail network in the early 1960's. You should be sensing their chilling presence soon".



Check out their own website www.iliketrains.co.uk where they say:

"iLiKETRAiNS met in the Northern Transport Hub of Leeds in the Spring of 2003. Windswept platforms provide the inspiration and a love of music that is progressively English and glacially Icelandic holds them together. They play songs of disaster, murder, betrayal and railways while antiquated projectors rumble and claw their way through films of disaster, films of snow and a film of Raquel Welch in a bikini."

Bizarre!

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Thursday, October 27, 2005 Permalink

Where to find love on the London Underground

"Love" on the Lines

I must thank Rob from Londonist (don't forget the open invitation to their first birthday party - see ad on the top right) for sending me a link to a great press release that was issued yesterday by snoglondon.

"Looking for love? Wondering which route home to take tonight to maximise your chances of meeting that foxy single whose eye you might just catch? SnogLondon, the coolest site for London singles, has surveyed over 5,000 singles to give the Tube map a whole new meaning - we've mapped it out for love!

Which lines to take, which to avoid
The Northern line, despite its reputation as one of the most unreliable, oldest & dingiest lines, has the greatest share of singles across the entire Tube network (a whopping 28%). So there is light at the end of the tunnel - you might be stuck between stations every morning, but you'll be in good (single!) company.

Steer clear of the Metropolitan line, which, with a meagre 4% share of the singles network, is a veritable wilderness for singles.

Guys, make a dash for the Bakerloo line which has the highest ratio of single women to men. Get your coat, you might pull.
Girls, ride the East London line to avoid the competition - fewer women and more men mean you're in single heaven.
Tube, bus & train travel is one of the favourite flirting grounds among Londoners, with an almost unanimous 100% saying a bit of flattering attention can set them up for the rest of the day... so don't be shy about cracking a smile... just try not to leer, and boys, keep it above chest level..."



The press release (click for even more stats) is about 1,001 times better than the website (which I found fairly difficult to navigate - and I use the net a lot).

When I'd eventually worked out how to find people from my nearest tube - Richmond I found that I could get a free month's trial if I emailed them a better picture of the station (nice idea) - so you can see how they are really trying to build up the community aspect of the site. As LoveLines has only just launched, I'm sure you will soon see many more pictures of the actual stations on the site and many more singles!

Isawyoutoday.com

I'll still use this as an opportunity to give another plug for Isawyoutoday.com.

I blogged the site in passing September, linking it to my pet subject of James Blunt's single You're Beautiful - about passing someone on a crowded subway and sharing a bit of a "moment" with them, thinking "They're beautiful" or "They're hot" and realising that you will never see them again. (Please regular commenters no more on James Blunt - 43 comments in one throwaway post - I understand that the more vocal of you don't like his single - even though the awards and record sales show otherwise).

Anyway, this is where isawyoutoday.com can help, as it attempts to reunite or get star crossed commuters together. You can leave a message to that unknown person you saw on the District Line or Misery Line in the hope that they may have had the same idea and left a similar message about you, or at least read the site and think - "cool I can now get in touch with that hot chick/guy".

Isawyoutoday.com has actually been going for years (since 2002 - I think - when I added it to my main site), so consequently loads of people who have left messages. It's a cracking site and you never know you might meet Vicky on the Victoria Line or your Josephine at Waterloo!

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Wednesday, October 26, 2005 Permalink

Tube Fare Evaders could be ASBO'ed

And London Transport fare evasion fines may rise to Fifty Quid

I have a confession to make. Before barriers were introduced on the London Underground, I used to evade fares like mad - or rather - deliberately travel outside of my travelcard zone. We are talking, I spose, over eight years ago now, as I knew that at certain stations like Kew Gardens or Richmond, that there would often be no one checking tickets and before the advent of barriers you could walk through "scot free".

Obviously it's harder to evade fares on the Tube now, due to barriers at virtually every London Underground Tube station (possibly with the exception of Shadwell DLR - any other stations like this?). Over the years, I've seen people vault barriers, "tailgate" - ie walk really quickly and closely behind the person in front of them so they go through on their ticket, pay Child fares and use all sort of scams to avoid paying for a ticket.



But now it appears that fare evaders, if caught, will have to pay the largest fine ever: "People who evade paying transport fares in London could be fined up to £50 and persistent evaders issued with Asbos" (Anti Social Behaviour Orders) report the BBC today.

"Transport for London (TfL) is consulting on a private bill that will go before Parliament in November.

Last year it raised the fine from £10 to £20. If the new legislation is given the go-ahead it will rise to £50.

The bill will also give TfL the power to apply for Asbos for people who continually fare evade, which the organisation says costs it £70m a year.......

Speaking about the fare rise, TfL's Steve Burton said: "We want fare evaders to know that dodging their fare will no longer be an easy option.

"The majority of our customers pay the correct fare. A small minority don't and this costs TfL approximately £70m a year, money which could be spent improving London's transport network."

This is all well and good, but this does mean that Transport for London may end up doing sensible things with their money instead like taking a woman to court over an accidental one pound, twenty bus fare evasion.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Tuesday, October 25, 2005 Permalink

London Underground Art

Private Paintings of the Tube

It's a shame the following paintings aren't public on the London Underground itself, but they are very good.

The first was sent to me by Ralf - The Cartoonist and shows the almost photographic like quality of artist Michael Mau with his painting "The Northern Line". Michael Mau lives and works in Hamburg.



If you visit Ralf's site you'll be able to see a great level of detail in the picture.

The second was sent by a regular commenter who would prefer to remain nameless and he saw it in The Times on the 15th October. Basically it's a mural in the offices of Marshall Wace, one of the largest hedge fund groups in Europe. (No, I have no idea what a hedge fund is - maybe it has something to do with topiary like in Little Britain)



Marshall Wace seem to be tube geeks and like the tube so much they commissioned a graffiti styled London Underground mural for their Mayfair offices.

I like the way the roundel on the Tube has their company name in it.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Tuesday, October 25, 2005 Permalink

I am not addicted to Sudoku

I sooooo blame Metro

Why, did Metro have to put this stupid puzzle into their paper? This is now the second Sudoku puzzle that I've completed while commuting. I started it on the train on the way into work yesterday. Then left the paper at work, went out with Rob from Londonist in the evening and then coming home, I picked up another copy of Metro, started it afresh and finished it and in doing so missed one of my stops, as I was so busy concentrating on the stupid thing!



D'OH, D'OH, D'OH.

UPDATE - OHMIGOD - I completed my third Metro one this morning on the way to work in record time (for me) - I think I need help!

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Tuesday, October 25, 2005 Permalink

Do Bee-have

Bloke in Korea celebrates subway line opening with bees

I have no idea why, but "A man covered with some 260,000 bees rides a bicycle at a square near World Cup Stadium in the southeastern city of Taegu, Thursday. He did the trick to celebrate the opening of the second subway line in the city on Tuesday." according to the Korean Times on the 20th October.



And speaking of the Korean subway, you may want to check out the pictures of the North Korean Subway - or the Pyongyang Metro System itself, which someone, who wishes to remain nameless, sent me. It looks like an amazing system.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Tuesday, October 25, 2005 Permalink

Comments are not working

Sorry, Haloscan, my commenting software is having a little rest

Just as I was beginning to think that no one had anything to say today, it appears that the haloscan commenting software is having a London Underground moment.

No ETA on when it will be fixed either, so save up your comments for later or email me instead.

Ta!

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Monday, October 24, 2005 Permalink

Riverboat commuting is on the rise

Londoners "turning" to boat travel after London Bombings

This is so weird after my post of yesterday with Neil and mine's riverboat cruise, as today The Daily Telegraph have reported that riverboat commuting is on the rise.

"Commuter traffic on the Thames has soared since the July bombings as the river attempts to reverse the decline of the last 40 years......"

"The dramatic rise in the number of Thames commuters - 80 per cent higher than the same time last year and 40 per cent up on the pre-bombings level - comes at a time when optimism over the future of the river is at its greatest for more than a decade......"

"Peak services are operated on a 220-seat craft, with a journey from the Savoy pier, on the Embankment in central London to Canary Wharf taking 20 minutes, 10 minutes quicker than the tube. Read the full story from The Daily Telegraph here and our riverboat trip from Kew to Westminster with other transport issues below.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Monday, October 24, 2005 Permalink

Tourist in your own town

Riverboat Better than London Underground?

Every so often it's good to be a tourist in your own town. I had lived in Kew for about seven years and yet had never taken a boat trip from Kew Pier into Westminster or even the other direction out of London and into Hampton Court. But today, Neil and I decided to do it. We intended to go to Hampton Court cos it was prettier but due to lots of miscommunication between me and the guy at Westminster Passenger Service Association we ended up going to Westminster instead - a 90 minute leisurely journey.



Neil will blog a lot more of the pictures on route, but I'm sticking to the tube related-ish and London Transport stuff for the blog and it's more to do with what we saw when we left our boat (below) at Westminster.






When you come up from the boats and get to the top of Westminster Bridge, it is heaving with tourists and whenever somewhere is heaving with tourists you'll find people trying to sell them a lot of tourist tat.

I particularly liked the London Underground Map Boxer Shorts with "Wapping" station prominently at the front (an indication of the size of the wearer's men's bits?)



I had to buy some batteries for my camera, so went to the stall holder and used my best London accent and said "Sigh, so how much will the batteries be here?" She looked embarrassed and said "Eight pounds for a pack of four". I feigned shock. "You are joking?" She looked embarrassed again, "You could go to Tesco's, it's not too far". Obviously I couldn't be bothered, "Well would you just sell me two?", and fortunately she did for four pounds - still a rip off, but hey I needed them.

So I thought it was quite funny to see her sign saying that she accepted Euros above the little London Underground roundel badges. I felt like adding "and blood"



Going across Westminster Bridge and the inside of it was covered with a promotion from Transport for London highlighting their 5 year investment plan of providing a fast way for people to travel round London



So there were lots of images showing how quickly you could get to Westminster from various parts of London, using a variety of public transport. It was pretty appropriate to see the Kew Gardens to Westminster by boat one



Admittedly it took us 90 minutes but we weren't on the commuter route which I think uses faster river boats. I also liked the two below:





We walked down along the river towards the London Eye going past City Hall and the Dali Universe gallery



Finally, as were coming into Westminster on the boat we sailed past the brilliant "Ducktours" boat/bus. This river boat turns into a tourist bus and leaves quite near to the London Eye. We heard the driver asking if anyone from France was on board as they would be driving past Trafalgar Square (London is currently celebrating the bi-centenary of the Battle of Trafalgar)!



All in all, a good day being a tourist!

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Sunday, October 23, 2005 Permalink

Acton Museum Depot meets the Dust Masker & Nikki

Go today while the Dust Masker is away!

I mentioned in Thursday's post that the London Transport Museum's reserve collection is at the Acton Museum Depot and has an Open Weekend this weekend.

Well Neil and myself couldn't go but we did meet up with regular commenters and tube challengers, Dust Masker Anthony and Nikki (Fimb) for a few bevvies in the evening after they had finished.

It sounded like they had a great day and they showed us pictures on their digital cameras of the highlights. They'd even bought has back some rather fetching hats which will be blogged later, as Neil and Anthony modelled them in the pub.

Anthony has already emailed me some of the pictures and a few are below so you can see the sort of things you can get up to there.



Volunteer & Tube Relief entrant David Scard with Nikki



Anthony "driving" the train - God help us!



David Scard donated his Tube Relief T shirt to the Museum.



Anthony reclining on a District Line Sofa



Here are our luvverly models Anthony & Neil in the pub afterwards with the rather strange baseball caps from the museum. Picture courtesy of Nikki



Many more pictures of the Dust Masker (which were expertly taken by Nikki) are on the Tubechallenge Forum. And Nikki's pictures without the Dust Masker are in her Flickr set for the Acton Museum Depot, so you can see it's not just for the men in white coats!

The one below is very X Files:



The Acton Museum Depot is still open for visitors today!

UPDATE - More pictures from Toby Bryans

Toby Bryans emailed me with a link to the pictures he took on over the weekend with a great picture of the little model Tube Train that people could ride on:



Many thanks to Toby for sending the link through.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Sunday, October 23, 2005 Permalink

Just to satisfy the sudoku addicts

Sudoku on the London Underground in Saturday's Times



Abigail does them on the Tube and can't get enough!

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Sunday, October 23, 2005 Permalink

Welcome from The Times

Blimey

What's the world coming to? This blog is featured in today's Times. Ooooer

"The Tube is an abiding obsession for many and the London Underground Tube Diary at www.london-underground.blogspot.com should be loved by anyone who has been mesmerised by Harry Beck's classic map design. Annie Mole's blog is an irreverent and informative must-read for everybody, not just subterranean commuters."



Cheers guys - and welcome to everyone from The Times. Hope you have fun......

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Friday, October 21, 2005 Permalink

London Underground Fashion Victims - week two

Back by popular demand

People seemed to enjoy the Tube Fashion victims so much that I'm going to try to make it a regular feature. This week there was a huge amount of material, but I've just selected some of the best.

Orange is so last year

OK Hare Krishna people are an easy target - the orange robes, the weird hair cuts, the bare feet, or sandals with socks in the winter. All too 1960's and peace and love. I saw them yesterday outside Oxford Circus Tube - I remember being really frightened by their haircuts as a kid and even now they're still scary!



The Ballet look gone mad

I have no idea what this woman was trying to achieve with her mis-mash of clothes. Saw her on Wednesday night on the Piccadilly Line.



Ballet style skirt, brown fishnets and gold sandals with fook off high heels. Also loving the slightly blokeish way she is sitting. Doesn't do the sexy fishnet look any favours.

More Gold for the Chavvy Colleen McCloughlin look

So don't like this gold belt and white boot combo. It's sort of like a 1970's wrestler being styled by Jade Goody.



The Aladdin Look

Now I can't go too mad with this woman on the District Line, as she was quite old, so she gets good marks for the trendy brightly coloured carpet bag, but it's not helped by the very hideous skirt she is wearing with it. What set off the whole ensemble was her brass teapot on the seat next to her. I thought she was going to rub it and a genie would appear.



Another Aladdin look below. Those Asian sequinned slippers are "in" at the moment, but I think this lady's turned up a bit too much at the toes:



Possibly the world's worst jacket

Seen at Leytonstone station last Saturday. What in heaven's name was this man thinking of? Why did anyone let him leave his home like that?



Old Snake Hips is Back

Yet another item that defies description. Seen on the Central Line. Snakeskin trousers.... I am speechless

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Friday, October 21, 2005 Permalink

Londoners not the rudest people in the UK - it's official

Zadie Smith is so wrong

Booker nominee (and loser) Zadie Smith was bleating on about how much she hated London and how Londoners glaring at each other on the Tube was a sign of England's decline. Well, a survey in Reader's Digest has shown that despite Londoners' reputation for being miserable rude gits, we are not.

Brummies (people from Birmingham) are the rudest in the country apparently and Londoners were the fifth most courteous and polite. So anyone who wants to say we are rude bastards can fook right off. Do you want to argue with that mate? Oh have a look at the BBC's site about this if you want to disagree. Who you looking at?

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Friday, October 21, 2005 Permalink

Acton Depot open this weekend

For London Transport Fans

Every so often Acton Depot opens its doors to the public as it stores the reserves from the London Transport Museum:

"the galleries in Covent Garden are able to display only a fraction of the Museum's remarkable, designated collections. For many years, most of the 'reserve' collections were held at a number of different sites. The Museum Depot at Acton Town, partly built with funds awarded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, provides a secure, environmentally controlled store in which curators can work to preserve our heritage for future generations.

Now, the 370,000 items not currently on display, including vehicles, poster artworks, photographs, uniforms and engineering drawings are together under one roof, where they are being properly stored, catalogued and made available for the public to view."

On the 22nd and 23rd of October it will be open to the public for a Family Weekend.

Here's a couple of pictures which Neil took the last time he was there:





There's more on his blog in the right hand picture links - "Acton Museum Open Day".

Many thanks to regular commenter Fimb and Tube Relief entrant (Part of Team Billy and pictured on the right) for alerting me to this. She's going herself on Saturday, so look out for her if you are going. Unfortunately I have other plans for this weekend so won't be going along.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Thursday, October 20, 2005 Permalink

Underground Ernie - when are you on TV?

We are loving Underground Ernie

I've just found the website for Underground Ernie a children's series on the BBC's CBeebies channel about the adventures of a London Underground station supervisor "who is dedicated to his work always making sure his passengers get to their destinations safely and on time". I initially blogged on October 10th and we learnt how Gary Lineker, "the face of BBC sport" will provide Ernie's voice.

Incidentally, I think this image would make some great desktop wallpaper.

The trains have characters based on the lines themselves. "Victoria is the grandmother of the underground. A wise caring Grande Dame who has seen it all before." "Jubilee is the youngest of the trains - an energetic gadget mad curious teenager" "Bakerloo is a real detective - the Sherlock Holmes of the underground". However, rather mysteriously, Hammersmith and City are twins - fast & furious always trying to out do each other. "They have a question and an answer for everything" and Circle is a "softly spoken hippy chick who never loses her cool".



It's funny how the Northern Line doesn't have a train. I would suggest that Northern would be a bad tempered old grouch who struggles to get up and running. The District Line is also missing and I think she would be a bit uncertain of herself, spending as much time overground as underground and always stopping and starting in between stations. The Central Line would be noisy, brash and speedy too with a bit of a split personality.

Any different suggestions for characters above and for the missing Waterloo & City Line, East London Line, Metropolitan Line, Piccadilly Line and DLR?

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Thursday, October 20, 2005 Permalink

And finally......

I'm officially divorced

I know some of you have a strange fascination in my personal life, well just to say that a letter plopped through my door this morning saying that my decree absolute had come through. So I'm officially able to change my passport now which did cause a huge amount of confusion I must say, as I always used my maiden name for everything else.

And no, before you ask, this doesn't mean that me and Neil are getting married!!!!!

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Thursday, October 20, 2005 Permalink

Two Cheerful London Underground Pictures

Good photos from yesterday's journey

Firstly, seen at Waterloo Station as I was going down to the Waterloo and Shitty Line. I only noticed it first because the hand writing on the temporary board looked so neat. Then on slightly closer inspection I saw that whoever it was has drawn some surprised eyes in the two zeros in 9.00 hours. Probably in shock that there were no reported problems on the system that morning:



I've lost my Sudoku Virginity

Well it had to come at some point. Yesterday on the train I finished my first ever Sudoku puzzle. This has only been my fourth attempt at doing one and I almost threw Metro away twice as I cocked up the puzzle twice, but amazingly managed to correct it.



I came into work triumphantly waving the paper and my colleague checked my scribblings and gave me a little star and a ten out of ten marking. She seemed more pleased than I was.

Jury's still out with me on the Sudoku craze, but at least I can now say I've successfully completed one.

You might also want to check out today's Times which discusses why women may be better at Sudoku than men (Cheers Neil for the link).

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Wednesday, October 19, 2005 Permalink

Minutes of fun with the ETA (estimated time of arrival) Tube bug

Surely someone would have fixed this bug now?



I spose London Underground have slightly more pressing needs right now than to go around fixing bugs, but I still get minutes of entertainment typing things at the end of the URL on their online ETA display pages to bring up little horrors like the above. Click on the image above (or this link), it goes straight through to Transport for London's site.

Try it yourself. The Northern Line ones are simply asking for trouble.

Mill Hill East

Waterloo

Tufnell Park

Old Street

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Tuesday, October 18, 2005 Permalink

Northern Line should be back to "normal"

What's normal on the Misery Line anyway?





London Undeground say that Tuesday should see a full service on the Northern Line a day earlier than originally anticipated.

"LU initially said Monday's trains would only run on central parts of line. Service across the entire line would not be restored "before Wednesday", LU chief operating officer Mike Brown said on Sunday. But engineers have worked around the clock to replace the faulty brake parts on all 106 trains. Health and safety representatives of trade unions agreed that the trains were safe..

"We have worked extremely hard to resolve the problems with Northern line trains as quickly as possible," . Mr Brown said. "We needed to ensure that trains were 100% safe to operate before we recommenced services."

Great news, but now Bob Kiley, the commissioner of Transport for London "has called for Alstom to lose its private finance initiative (PFI) contract to maintain trains on the Underground's Northern Line following problems with the trains' emergency brakes."........

"The call increases the likelihood of fresh conflict between TfL, the London mayor's transport authority, which has long opposed the PPP deals, and the two private-sector consortia that run the PPP contracts. Tube Lines' contract, which covers the Jubilee, Northern and Piccadilly lines, runs until the end of 2032. Metronet's two contracts, covering the rest of the network, expire four months later."

"Mr Kiley told the Financial Times (and anyone else that would listen to him, as a similar story appeared in last night's Evening Standard) that lines of authority on the Underground had to be clean and clear and they were not at present. "The PFI contract with Alstom should be terminated.......It isn't right that you can truly be responsible for train operations without having responsibility for the maintenance and the renewal of the physical plant," he said.

Claim your refund if you were affected

Don't forget to claim your refund under the Customer Charter if you couldn't use the Northern Line and were unable to use your ticket



"any refunds are being carried out through the Customer Charter scheme and customers must complete one form per delayed journey.

You can either apply online at www.tfl.gov.uk/tuberefund or by picking up a form from any London Underground station. Customers can claim now for each disrupted journey and should not wait until their ticket expires."

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Tuesday, October 18, 2005 Permalink

Grave Issues on the London Underground

Little Known London Underground Pictures - part two

I promised you a couple of pictures of the enormous St Patrick's Roman Catholic Cemetery from mine and Neil's outing on Saturday. Neil had seen the cemetery from the Central Line train between Leyton and Leytonstone, many times from doing various tube challenges, although he'd never been to the cemetery itself.

It's an amazing sight to see 43 acres of graves and monuments and headstones and so many images of death packed together. Then you have the surreal moments of seeing the tube trains rattling past at high speed.







We spent hours there and only just touched the surface of the place. Check out Neil's blog for lots more pictures and some great silhouettes of some of the more imposing monuments.

Incidentally Mary Kelly who was Jack the Ripper's last victim is buried here, as is her landlord!

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Tuesday, October 18, 2005 Permalink

Postman's Park - Heroic Railway Deaths

Little known "London railway" pictures - part three

OK so they're not Tube or specifically London Underground pictures but on our day out on Saturday me and Neil also took pictures of Postman's Park.

This fab little park is hidden away near St Pauls and just off Little Britain (adpots Tom Baker voice "Britain, Britain, Britain").

This wall of 34 decorative tiles, record the heroic deeds of ordinary Londoners who lost their lives to save others. It was erected to mark Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee in 1887, so I spose as the London Underground was only just over twenty years old then there wouldn't have been too many heroic deaths on it.




But there were a surprising number of railway related heroic deaths:





And me and Neil were in Windsor a couple of weeks ago too (Neil's Windsor Pictures):





This next one is spooky cos I live in Richmond and it was my birthday on the 24th September:



Now if you are wondering why Postman's Park may look familar if you haven't been there yourself, it's because it was in the film "Closer".



At the start of the film Jude Law (he's an obituary writer at the time) and Natalie Portman's characters go for a walk in Postman's Park after he has helped her out in a road accident. Natalie Portman also takes on the name of one of the women on the plaques.

Anyway, Postman's Park is a nice hour or so's diversion if you are in the area or makes a good addition if you are going to visit St Paul's.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Tuesday, October 18, 2005 Permalink

Northern Line STILL severely reduced services

Monday morning woes

Good luck if you need to use the beleaguered Misery Line this morning. The entire Northern line has been out of action since last Wednesday evening and Transport for London say that Monday isn't going to look great either

A reduced service will operate on the Northern line on Monday morning to all destinations. Just heard this on the radio, originally, it was only a few stations that the reduced service was operating from, but now you'll be able to get this patchy service from all stations. Hoorah, I bet that's made your Monday.

However, it looks like "normal" service won't be resumed until this Wednesday 19th October, as Mike Brown, London Underground's Chief Operating Officer said:

"We are working hard to restore services on the Northern line as quickly as possible......It is anticipated that services will not be completely restored across the entire Northern line until Wednesday."

Check out the background to all this and weekend shenanigans here.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Monday, October 17, 2005 Permalink

Tube Tips For Women

I dread to think what they are....

On Sunday I spotted this poster at Notting Hill London Underground Station. I'm sure the leaflet its advertising is very well meaning with lots of advice about travelling safely at night and not taking unauthorised mini cabs and trying not to get in a carriage by yourself late at night etc etc.



But I bet it hasn't got the following Practical Tube Tips for Women

1. If you are sitting next to a man with his legs sticking wide apart, don't be tempted to ask him if he is about to give birth, and don't tap him on the arm and say "Push, push".



2. Don't expect any man to stand up for you if you are looking a bit tired or frazzled. The only way to get a seat in those cases is to pretend you are about to throw up. The carriage will clear like lightening.

3. If you do have to travel in a carriage late at night by yourself sit in the very front one and at the seat next to the driver's door. Be ready to bang sharply on it if anyone dodgy gets on and starts hassling you.

4. Despite the fact that the Tube's leaflet has pictures of lipstick "tubes" over it and that a almost a quarter of women (including me) put on their make up on the tube, people (mainly men) will look at you as though you are on the toilet if you do it. But don't worry, it's just cos they are jealous that they can't shave on the tube. Try not to draw overt attention to yourself though by curling your eyelashes with a spoon.

5. Don't carry metallic bags - it's official these are soooooo over. See the comments from my Tube Fashion Victims post.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Monday, October 17, 2005 Permalink

Leytonstone London Underground Hitchcock Mosaics and quiz

Little Known London Underground Pictures - part one

I'd be meaning to go to see the Hitchcock mosaics at Leytonstone Tube station for some time to take proper pictures of them. I last snapped some about 18 months ago in a very rushed lunch hour and they were a bit rubbish. So, me and Neil (yes, before this post is filled with speculative comments about our relationship - we are going out with each other) trotted Eastwards yesterday to snap pictures here, at Postman's Park and also at a fascinating and enormous Roman Catholic cemetary in Leyton too (pictures to follow another day).

As it's the London Film Festival too, this post seems relevant. One of the world's greatest film directors, Alfred Hitchcock, was born in Leytonstone in the East End of London in 1899 and in 2001 a series of mosaics illustrating his life and scenes from films were installed at Leytonstone Tube Station. It's a crime that more people don't know about them really, and also a crime that the lighting is shite, as most of them are in the subway underpass beneath the road.

But if you fancy going over there one day, and can stand all the people of Leytonstone rushing past hardly noticing them, you're in for a treat.

When you come out of the ticket hall you see this image of Hitchcock directing:



You might then want to nip quickly outside to see how the people of Leystonstone see the mosaics from various entrances:







There's a brilliantly flamboyant mosaic of Hitchcock with Marelene Dietrich, which is my favourite non-film scene one:



The others are all mainly ones from his best films, including Psycho and The Birds, but I thought it might be fun to see, if you can guess which films they are from. There's no prizes, just the satisfaction of seeing how well you know your Hitch! Only guess ONE FILM each please (with apologies to Diamond Geezer & his quizzes).

So here goes:

1. Yellow & Blue - I love the colours in this



2. Surveillance camera - Like the way there's a London Underground surveillance camera sign next to this one of a man clearly up to no good on the rooftops:



3. Plane Chase - I suppose this one is fairly obvious:



4. Merry go round scene - I deliberately left the man dashing by on this shot as it helps to emphasise the movement in the original film



5. James Stewart wheelchair - fab film which Christopher Reeve did a re-make of:



6. Glowing Milk - another fantastic film with some great cinematic techniques:



7. French & Saunders - you can imagine them parodying this:



8. Car Chase - yet another classic car scene



9. Bar Scene - with Hitchcock doing his usual cameo background walk on



10. Car 25 - it's the last one to guess!



And just cos they are so brill here are Psycho and The Birds:





Enjoy "the quiz" and try to get to see them yourself if you can as there are sixteen mosaics altogether and I haven't shown all of them.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Sunday, October 16, 2005 Permalink

James Blond - Daniel Craig is the New James Bond

Totally off topic but it's Friday!

At lunchtime today there's supposed to be the announcement of the new James Bond - but The Times have spoiled it already, so I may as well too.

I lurve Daniel Craig though - he's gorgeous in that sort of weathered, troubled looking way. Bet Kate Moss is kicking herself now, as they used to date!

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Friday, October 14, 2005 Permalink

No Northern Line at all today - (read Thursday AND Friday)

Mill Hill East was the "final straw" in safety row and drivers refuse to drive trains

Well, as we reported yesterday the Northern Line, was completely taken out of action last night, as staff from all the main railway unions refused to operate trains due to the current safety problems on that line over the braking system.

The row began when four workers were sent home for refusing to drive unsafe trains. At Mill Hill East, the fifth problem on the line happened yesterday and that was the final straw for the drivers.

"Aslef warned that it will ballot its members on the Tube unless the drivers were paid by 12 noon tomorrow." reported Channel 4 news yesterday, so unless the staff who are refusing to drive the trains are paid by 12 noon today, we may have industrial action on our hands.

"The Rail Maritime and Transport Union (RMT) said it would support any of its members who refused to take trains out and it urged LU to withdraw any trains which had experienced problems with the system."

And for what it's worth, Annie Mole, will also support any drivers who refuse to take unsafe trains out! Seriously though, I would always support any industrial action even if I know it will impact my journey, if it is over safety issues.

So far London Underground said: "We are working with our trade unions and staff to reassure them that it is safe to continue to run Northern line trains."

How about spending some time fixing the trains themselves rather than trying to persuade the drivers and pull wool over the public's eyes for as long as possible over all these issues? Even last night when the Northern Line was being closed at around 8pm, the official word from the Tube bosses was "signalling problems", not "our drivers are not surprisingly refusing to drive trains which are unsafe cos the private contractors have messed up big time".

Anyway for those of you who would have wanted to use the Northern Line today here's the official travel advice from London Underground. Good luck with your journey and well done to the drivers.

UPDATE - Friday 14th October

More of the same as the above as the Northern Line is still closed definitely for the rest of this day.

LU says there should be a limited service over the weekend.

As I mentioned yesterday in the comments that sadly (in this case) the unions are getting the media blame for the closure, however, "London Underground said that all the failures had occurred during tests when trains were running at less than 5mph and the fault occurred only at low speed........

"Tube Lines, which maintains the line, said that it had found the cause and hoped to have all 106 trains adjusted by next week. London Underground said it was confident that the trains were safe but had been unable to convince the union."

UPDATE Tube Lines Press Release Press release from private contractors "Tube Lines" essentially blaming another private contractor Alstrom and the trade unions for the Northern Line closure.

UPDATE - SUNDAY 16TH OCTOBER - From Moley "10am: A reduced service is operating between High Barnet/Mill Hill East to Euston (Bank platforms) and between Kennington and Golders Green via Charing Cross."

Plus according to the BBC a full service won't be running until Wednesday 19th. Thanks to SK for bringing that to my attention.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Thursday, October 13, 2005 Permalink

Tube Fashion Week (or maybe day)

London Underground Fashion Victims

Well as promised yesterday, here is a small selection of passengers I saw on the Tube yesterday making some "great" fashion statements. Obviously one person's meat is another person's poison and I do have a particular dislike of some current trends as you will see below. However, I was surprised of how many I saw in such a short period of time. I may get my friend who is more into "up-to-date" fashionista and stuff to make some comments so you have a comparison, but feel free to make comments anyway.

Torn Jeans and Twiggy Trousers

This was going into work yesterday morning on the Drain (Waterloo and City Line) and I like that they were sitting next to each other too.



The torn jeans look, when exactly did that go out? Well I know the torn look is still in, but to that extent? It also doesn't come across in the photo that well, but the particularly large rips were held together by safety pins (an echo of Punk days perhaps, how very noughties).

Now the lady sitting next to him wearing a particular horror for me. Three quarter length winter tweed trousers, or what I like to call "Twiggy Trousers". Why? Well Sixties icon and one of the first supermodels, Twiggy has kind of revamped Marks & Spencer by becoming one of their new faces in current ad campaign for the store.

"Analysts say that the lavish pre-Christmas television and poster campaign, which also features models Erin O'Connor, Laura Bailey and Noemie Lenoir, has given M&S clothing a buzz that has been missing for years. Items of clothing worn by the models in the advertisements, such as 56-year-old icon Twiggy's cardigan, are said to have been flying out of stores."

I'm sure she would also wear these three quarter length winter trousers - hence the name Twiggy Trousers. I like summer three quarter length trousers but think the winter ones look pretty awful.

Metallic bag and similar jacket

Again I have a personal horror with metallic bags, but loads of women are using them now and not just followers of celebrity chavs Jade Goody and Victoria Beckham. Liz McDonald on Coronation Street had a particuarly great example of one the other night and that was the nail in the coffin for me.

Anyway, I'm loving how the woman below has a jacket that almost but not quite goes with the bag. It has that shiny silvery fish fin sheen about it that she may have thought would work with the bag.



So good I had to take another picture trying to zoom in on the fabric more:



Wristband lover or Falconer on day off?

I can take those rubber wristbands on blokes but if they get any bigger, I do think "Have you just walked out of an interview to be a falconer?"



What makes this example particularly abhorrent is the very normal striped shirt and chinos he had on with it. If you're going to wear a wristband that large I would have expected more of a "Boy Band" look about the rest of him.

Prince Harry meets GAP

Onto the DLR itself and I sat opposite a pale ginger bloke who looked remarkably like Royal Redhead Prince Harry.



I feel he's gone just a bit too much down that GAP studenty look though. It's pale and interesting. It's we're really always so bored. It almost works.

Badges on Bags

Again I really feel I'm too old to see the appeal of this button badges on bag look, which was at "Prince Harry's" feet.



My friend who I'm going to ask to take a look at this post has a Pete Doherty button badge on her bag. But she is about five years younger than me.

Trainer Trouser Combo

This is a common look on the Waterloo & City Line and I was glad I spotted one going home. Woman in very smart tailored trousers with comfy but expensive looking trainers.



Now it could be that they are carrying smart shoes in their bags and they just change in the office, or perhaps they leave them on all day (if so, yuck).

Big Bag Little Lady

Last picture from the Waterloo & City Line a small woman sporting a very large everyday bag



I'm all for large bags but I think this one is just a tad too big for her. All in all it was the least "fashion victim" look for me.

Well that's it for now. More may follow later in the week. Right where's my copy of Grazia.

UPDATE - Kris sent me this link to someone selling a fashion mistake on ebay - it is hysterical and particularly apporopriate as over the weekend I spotted a person on the tube wearing a particularly foul version of the mistakes in question and that will be blogged some time w/c 17th October.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Thursday, October 13, 2005 Permalink

London Assembly Debates Northern Line 'Chaos'

Hello folks. I haven't posted on here in a while but I have called into action by Annie (who is indisposed right now) to update you on the latest comings and goings behind the scenes with regard to the Northern Line technical problems.

Essentially, an emergency meeting has been called for today to discuss the matter. Here's what epolitix.com has to say about it:

An emergency debate in the London assembly will call on the mayor to take action to solve the Northern Line's technical difficulties. The session was called after recent problems led severe delays on the line that has the worst record of any in the Underground network.

Conservative assembly members plan to force mayor Ken Livingstone to produce an urgent plan of action to resolve the ongoing disruption. Under the rarely used power, the assembly can oblige the mayor to report to it on a specific issue.

Assembly Tory Brian Coleman said: "We need to do everything we can to get this situation resolved. That is why we are using this rarely used power to force the mayor to report to the assembly on this urgent matter."

The Conservatives' call is contained in an emergency motion they will propose at the assembly meeting. The motion also welcomes a decision by London Underground last Friday to issue an emergency direction to the contractors allegedly responsible for the safety systems that have failed.

The Lib Dems in the assembly also welcomed London Underground's move but intend to question whether the move was robust enough to prevent further delays to passenger journeys. They say that the "emergency step in powers" should be applied now.

Liberal Democrat assembly transport spokesman, Geoff Pope, said: "Enough is enough on the Northern Line. Passengers using this crumbling misery line are at the mercy of a poor PFI deal and a PPP contract that has not delivered. The state of the line has been raised time and again with the companies who maintain it, yet things have only gone from bad to worse.

"London Underground should exercise its step in rights and take control of the repairs whenever passenger safety is put at risk."

We'll keep you updated on the outcome (if any) of this meeting of course ...

UPDATE - The whole Northern Line has been closed.

Not as a result of the assembly but probably because the RMT rail union members have refused to drive the trains.

However, members of the Assembly today voted unanimously on a motion which calls for Ken to draft an action plan to stop disruption and delays on the Nothern Line, and he has to report his progress next week. For more on this see This is Local London.

As SK said in the comments below the entire Northern Line has been closed for this rest of the evening, seemingly "by the unions over the obvious safety issues, rather than to speed up the fixing job"

We'll update as and when we hear anything else. But if you use the Northern Line listen to the radio before leaving tomorrow and get prepared for an altenative route.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Neil Wednesday, October 12, 2005 Permalink

No Flash was harmed when taking these pictures

Flash Photography is not allowed on the London Underground

And who needs it?! Yesterday morning while was was waiting for my DLR train at Bank station I was standing at the rear end of the platform as normal. However, the lights in the tunnel seemed exceptionally bright to me, could have been my imagination. I thought "Mmm there may be enough light here for me to take a picture of the train coming in and for it not to look shite without flash"

So I did, and here's the result:



and if you wanted a little more light thrown in, to see more of what I actually saw, here's the same image with more light levels added in Photoshop:



I prefer the first as a photograph. Any thoughts or comments welcome.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Wednesday, October 12, 2005 Permalink

Fashion on the Tube

London Underground Fashion Victims

Another ad I really like gracing the Tube at the moment is this for T Mobile



The idea being that, if you are a hip and trendy person, with the net always on your mobile phone you can keep one step ahead, and be more fashionable and "up to date" than the catwalk models.

In honour of this, I will try this week to take pictures of some fashion victims on the tube or people feel that must follow the latest trends no matter what it makes them look like. If any of you have any pictures that you think may fit this of passengers on the London Underground or at least a train, please send them in. Cheers.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Wednesday, October 12, 2005 Permalink

And finally......

Happy Birthday to my ex husband (yes, we are both Librans)

I'm sure he doesn't read my blog any more, although I know that some of his family do read this (and I appreciate it a lot, thanks, you know who you are!!!)

Occasionally, I read his (no, I'm not going to give the URL), which will come as a massive shock to him, as I know far, far more about his life than he thinks I do.

Also, our divorce is finalised some time this week, so soon my passport won't make me sound like a Southpark character anymore, but more like a potential terrorist!

And finally (again)

James Blunt - the writer of my favourite Tube song - "You're Beautiful" picked up a Q Award for Best New Act, although the Daily Mirror said that at yesterday's party that wasn't all he picked up. So, Q Awards, very prestigious, for real music heads, plus the MTV ones. I rest my case again!

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Wednesday, October 12, 2005 Permalink

PPP, finally they're realising it's not a such great idea

Friday's Northern Line safety breaches have lead to something

"London Underground has issued the first emergency direction to a contractor since the Tube's part-privatisation two years ago, prompting fears that Ken Livingstone is trying to undermine the £30 billion Public Private Partnership (PPP)." said The Times today.

".......The unprecedented move has caused concern among the Tube's PPP contractors, Tube Lines and Metronet, that Mr Livingstone will exploit safety-related incidents to sabotage their 30-year contracts"

"......Tube Lines and Metronet's financial backers were given "letters of comfort" by the Government before the Tube's part-privatisation in 2002 to protect them from future liabilities. The letters do not protect the companies in the event of persistent safety breaches."

"......On Friday, LU issued an emergency direction to Tube Lines to give access to LU's own inspectors, led by David Waboso, engineering director. The team has been inspecting the maintenance regime at Alstom's two depots in Morden and Golders Green. They found a series of faults, including loose bolts and failure to maintain the mechanism that re-sets the trip cocks."

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Tuesday, October 11, 2005 Permalink

July 7th Emergency Service honoured in Pride of Britain Awards

The "face" of the attacks Davinia Turrell gives award

Last night "Shy bomb victim Davinia Turrell yesterday hailed the heroic 7/7 emergency services as a symbol of all that was best in Britain.

Making her first public appearance since she was last seen with a surgical mask pressed against her burns Davinia, 24, stood alongside Tony Blair at the Mirror's Pride of Britain awards event." reports The Daily Mirror

I'm sure I would like to echo everyone's praise of the emergency services on that hideous and tragic day and I would also like to say that London Underground staff did an absolutely fantastic job too. I have never been so proud to live in London.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Tuesday, October 11, 2005 Permalink

London Bombings Survivor's Blog

How Rachel's ordinary journey became extraordinary

Rachel has been reading my blog for sometime but only a few days ago chose to make a very simple comment on my blog:

"I've been reading this for a while and wanted to drop in and post a comment.

Even though I am now scared on the tube, I can come and look at this site and be reminded of what a massive and interesting and frenetic part of London life it all is and where would we be without it.

Thanks for writng a great blog. I'm going to blog you if that is ok."

Hmm, why is she scared on the tube I thought and clicked on the link she had left. She had every good reason to be scared, being in the same carriage of the Piccadilly Line that was blown up by terrorists on 7th July killing 26 people in that carriage:

"The bomb carried by a young man in his rucksack exploded 7-10ft behind me on my Tube carriage while I was reading the news about the successful Olympic bid.

Because the train was so crowded I didn't die. I fell sideways as commuters near me took the full force of the explosion in one of the deepest, narrowest parts of the Underground network."

I won't say too much about her survivor's blog apart from please go and read it. Funnily enough, only yesterday I was saying that some of the victims may still feel too shocked or traumatised to talk to the press. Rachel however is extraordinarily brave and a fantastic writer and very recently wrote a piece for The Sunday Times which was published on October 2nd. The passenger behaviour is a tribute to London's commuters:

"Nobody panicked, nobody pushed, though the urge to escape was overwhelming. We walked in single file for fear of electrocution. Behind me a man half dragged, half carried another badly injured man across his shoulders. We talked to each other, we encouraged each other, we even tried to make jokes......"

"He meant to cause terror, that man who pushed onto my carriage and blew himself up. And you would think, wouldn't you, that a hundred feet down in the darkness I would have felt utterly alone. But no. The worst of all things happened, and we became Kings Cross United. I salute you, my fellow passengers. You have made me forever proud."

I only wish I had discovered Rachel's blog sooner and hope this post rectifies that. Thank you Rachel for sharing your lifechanging and moving experience with us.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Tuesday, October 11, 2005 Permalink

London Underground in Melbourne & Sudoku

Great Pictures from Melbourne

My favourite Australian transport geek Agent Fare Evader (girls, it's a shame he's taken, as he is gorgeous), sent me some fantastic pictures from Melbourne last night, saying:

"Esteemed Blog Colleague,

A few photos around Melbourne that may interest you.
One is a Sudoku related one, the other a roundel surprise."

The Sudoku one, I have cropped quite a bit, but shows a guy doing Sudoku on the subway in Melbourne. I like the way he looks almost asleep while he is doing it (incidentally Sally Webster was doing Sudoku in the Rovers Return in Coronation Street last night - living proof that most of the UK is addicted)



And I'm loving the way the agency have used the London Underground logo for this ad for STA Travel about visiting the UK:



Cheers Agent Fare Evader they are brill! You might want to check out his Flickr pictures too - his people shots are particularly good.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Tuesday, October 11, 2005 Permalink

A Literary Diversion - Man Booker Prize 2005

John Banville's just won me £40

In the comments to a post about Booker Prize nominee Zadie Smith slagging off London because of how Londoners glared at each other on the Tube, I said in the comments "my money would be on John Banville and The Sea". Well done, John. For a Booker "surprise" winner though, the 7-1 odds weren't really that high. If anyone wants my tips about the same time next year, watch this space.........

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Monday, October 10, 2005 Permalink

Underground Ernie - a rosy view of the Tube for kids

Where everyone is one big happy family on the London Underground

Thanks to Neil who's just told me about a story in today's Times where the Tube is going to get the Thomas The Tank Engine approach (image from room512's site):

"Children are to get a rose-tinted view of life on the London Underground with a new programme charting the exploits of fast and efficient trains on the London Tube network. Underground Ernie, to be broadcast on the BBC's CBeebies channel, follows the lives of animated trains and their superviser Ernie, who is voiced by Gary Lineker."

"The trains take their names from Tube lines. Hammersmith and City are "fast and furious". Circle is a softly-spoken hippy chick "who never loses her cool". In reality, both lines were severely disrupted yesterday, with 19 stations closed due to planned engineering works.

There is no representation of the Northern Line, nicknamed the Misery Line by commuters. The Waterloo and City Line, nicknamed The Drain, is also unrepresented."

I love the title the Times gave this piece - "Fast and efficient Tube? It's for children, naturally".

Check out Underground Ernie's own website.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Monday, October 10, 2005 Permalink

Stockwell Tube Graffiti

London Underground Graffiti

When I first saw the pictures below (kindly sent to me by Sue Denham) I thought they were just someone "punching out" the station names, and then the penny dropped. (You'll have to forgive me taking a while to "get" things at the moment I've had a virus for the last four days and still feel pretty ill). But it's obviously 'sposed to represent a gun shot and the police killing Jean Charles de Menezes at Stockwell tube station:





Thanks to Londonist I learnt that today sees the launch of by the LSE (London School of Economics) of the Jean Charles de Menezes Family Campaign.

"The aim behind the campaign is to:

- find out the truth about Jean's unlawful killing.
- bring those responsible for his death to justice.
- end the 'Shoot to Kill' policy and so prevent a similar tragedy happening again.
- to campaign against the rising tide of racism and the attack on civil liberties in the UK.

The campaign launch will take place with some speeches at the LSE New Theatre, East Building, Houghton St, between 6.30 and 9pm.

Speakers at the event will include:

Family and friends, including Jean's parents and his brother.
The de Menezes family's lawyer, Gareth Peirce.
Irene Khan - Secretary General of Amnesty International
Matthew Taylor MP
Frank Dobson MP
Yvonne Ridley - Journalist / Respect National Council
and...erm, Bianca Jagger."

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Monday, October 10, 2005 Permalink

London Underground Song - has it been on TV or something?

London Underground Song Download & Lyrics

I find it hard to understand how almost anyone who uses the internet hasn't come across the London Underground Spoof Song written to the tune of The Jam's Going Underground, before. It's been on the net for months and months. But, virtually all of the last 100 visitors (and they are all different) who have come to this blog today are looking for it.

So, for ease of use click here! (If you were looking for it before it's in the right hand links). Enjoy!

Also feel free to browse the rest of this blog if you fancy it. I thank you.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Saturday, October 08, 2005 Permalink

How to get noticed on the London Underground

Getting heads to turn for that James Blunt moment

Simply loving this cross platform tube ad that I saw at Marble Arch London Underground station yesterday:



First of all I thought that the girl in green was supposed to be wearing a Wonderbra, then I realised that it's shot as though you the viewer are the one in the Wonderbra and everyone is turning their heads on the escalator to look at your enormous cleavage. Well done, to the ad agency who produced this. Managed to advertise a Wonderbra without actually showing any boobs.

And perhaps, some of you might like to try to guess from which set of escalators the poster was shot from. I think it's a London Underground set, possibly somewhere on the Jubilee Line, but I could be wrong.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Saturday, October 08, 2005 Permalink

Northern Line problems - Half the trains taken out of service

Forty five out of ninety Northern Line trains being safety checked

OHMIGOD my sympathies if you are trying to get into work this morning using the Northern Line (also commonly known as the Misery Line). I think I vaguely remember hearing yesterday on the radio that some drivers were refusing to drive them as they didn't think they were safe and had faulty back up brakes. The BBC reported on this yesterday. "London Underground (LU) said for safety reasons, from Thursday Tube cabs are being manned by an extra driver, leading to a reduction in services." The RMT said "the emergency braking system failed last night (Wednesday) for the fourth time in as many weeks."

Now this morning this means that half of the trains have been taken out of service for safety checks or possibly because of the extra drivers running on other trains - it's not quite clear yet on what's going on although the Tube's website says "signalling problems".

In any case this is going to mean severe delays to your Northern Line service this morning and possibly all day, so good luck.

Keep checking on the London Underground's real time travel webpage for more news on this.

Update 9.35am - at last something on the interweb about today's Northern Line problems:

"Today a furious London Underground spokesman said TfL bosses were were "angry and frustrated" with private train operator Tube Lines after the company had failed to resolve on-going problems with the train's emergency braking system.

TfL is demanding that Tube Lines returned the service to normal "as quickly as possible."

A spokesman for London Underground said: "There is an issue with signal equipment on Northern Line trains. Safety checks were conducted overnight.

"At 8am we were running only 49 trains out of a normal service of 90 trains for the first shift. But less than half of the entire fleet of 108 trains is in service.

"We are extremely angry and frustrated with Tube Lines. We are pressing them to resolve the issue as quickly as possible."

Plus a bit more information from Bloomberg's news site.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Friday, October 07, 2005 Permalink

Three months since London Underground Bombing & now New York get Subway attack alert

Bad timing, coincidence or what?

It's been three months since the London Underground and Bus bombings and attacks devastated the city, and 52 people were killed and hundreds seriously injured. Right now, news is just reaching the UK, that New York has received "a specific and credible threat of a terrorist attack on the subway system in the coming days."

"Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the FBI had alerted him to "a specific threat to our subway system," which had come from overseas but had already been partially thwarted, while some officials cast doubt on the credibility of the threat.

"We have never had before a specific threat to our subway system. This is the first time we have had a threat with this level of specificity," Bloomberg told a news conference. "We have done and will continue to do everything we can to protect this city." See The Guardian for more on this.

"Despite the differing takes on the seriousness of the threat, New York officials mobilized police officers to begin looking through commuters' bags, briefcases, baby strollers and luggage."



So now commuters in New York have the joy of facing even more security measures than we faced and are still facing, to some extent, on the Tube each day.

"An estimated 4.5 million passengers ride the New York subway on an average weekday. The system has more than 468 subway stations. In July, the city began random subway searches following the London train bombings."

Keep an eye on Travis Ruse's excellent New York subway photoblog as I expect he will be taking pictures of how this is affecting his commute.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Friday, October 07, 2005 Permalink

Oystercard 2006 fares - confusion continued

So is Oystercard NON pre-pay being reduced or not?

You probably gathered from Tuesday's post about the 2006 tube and bus price rises and the many comments, that there's a huge amount of confusion about Oystercards and whether the reductions for using them to avoid the 2006 London Underground and bus fare price hikes apply to just pre-pay or to Oystercard season tickets too.

Here's a link to an article in yesterday's Metro which attempts to show the 2006 fares "at a glance"

It's interesting that: "Almost 50 per cent of Tube journeys and 40 per cent of bus journeys are made using Oyster, but the majority of those are season tickets.

The Mayor wants to build on the success of Oyster by encouraging more passengers to use Oyster to pay as they go, making journeys quicker and easier."

So what's the deal? Are the price reductions on Oystercard season tickets and Oystercard travelcards too which can also be used on National Rail stations in London? Or are the price reductions just on Oystercard Prepay (or pay as you go) which can't be used at most National Rail stations (see here for list of the few National Rail stations in London which use them - "In general Oyster Pre Pay is not valid on National Rail services.")?

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Thursday, October 06, 2005 Permalink

How do you spell the station that's between Waterloo & London Bridge?

And what happens when you mis-spell it?

OK, picture the scene. The London Underground have produced a set of posters for their "Journey Planner" service. For some reason, the agency has a bit of a problem with spelling Southwark, no one at LU notices and they get printed.

So do they scrap all the posters cos it will look really stupid?

Or do they try to cover the typo with some text as they think no one will notice?

It appears to be the latter, except they didn't expect someone to notice and email Geoff to tell him or expect Geoff to email me and then for me to be all geeky and blog it.

So here's the poster in question on the left, with where Southwark is, ringed.

If you zoom into the picture some more you'll see Southwark or rather Southwalk underneath some text:





If you look at what should be an "r" you'll see it has a bit of a curve to the bottom of it - implying that it's an "l". It becomes a little easier to see when you see how it should look and how the "l" in London Underground font works (see Waterloo):



There is no escape from the random geeky scrutiny of this blog.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Thursday, October 06, 2005 Permalink

Tube Fare increase will make London's the world's most expensive subway system

Fantastic - so pleased I bought my annual travel card last week

Front page of today's Standard, although not on their website yet, is the news that Sheriff Ken Livingstone will be hiking up fares on buses and the London Underground from 2006.

"A single Tube journey in zone one will cost £3 instead of £2 while a single bus journey will rise from £1.20 to £1.50....."

said the BBC "However fares will fall for holders of the Oyster pre-pay smartcards. With Oyster, a zone one Tube ride will be cut from £1.70 to £1.50 - half the cash fare. Mr Livingstone said the aim was for fewer people to pay with cash." .......

"He conceded the new single Tube fare of £3 would probably be the most expensive in the world."

If we got anything like the service they have in Tokyo (which I think is currently the most expensive) with trains running like clockwork I don't think we would mind so much about paying for a good service.

"The fares announcement was also criticised by business representatives as being "desperately short-sighted" in view of the current retail slump on the high street and recent rise in the congestion charge.

"The Mayor seems determined to kill off London business by putting up the cost of visiting the capital by tube, bus or car," said Victoria Carson, spokesperson for the Forum of Private Business."

I'm loving Ken's rationale for the increase too: "This proposed fares package focuses on halving the number of cash journeys made in 2006 to speed up journeys and improve the efficiency of the network," So let's make it more expensive to travel so fewer people use public transport which will make the system "look" more efficient. Or let's reward people for paying in advance cos it will shorten the queues and speed up journeys (?). I think I'm missing something.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Tuesday, October 04, 2005 Permalink

Sudoku in Metro ....arrrggghhhh

The last bastion of safety has fallen

I spose now just about every paper carries one of those Sudoku puzzles and now Metro has joined in, and the worst thing is I actually started doing it this morning.

I've been banging on about how many people I see doing Sudoku puzzles on the London Underground and how I can't see the appeal.



However a month or so ago I secretly did an Evening Standard difficult one (well a little bit of it) and was quite pleased with myself as it was the first one I'd ever attempted.

But now, despite the fact they had loads of letters of complaint when they dropped their daily crossword, Metro have started Sudoku yesterday



I attempted the one above this morning on the way in, and was almost going to write into them because I was convinced they had got some wrong (and that's me being a Sudoku virgin). However, after getting to the office, one of my colleagues put me right and by just getting one number wrong I had cocked up so much of the rest of the puzzle I didn't stand a chance of finishing it correctly. D'OH, D'OH, D'OH. Anyway, I still maintain I have better things to do with my time than follow all the other commuters who do Sudoku and shame on Metro for succumbing to such an addictive trend!

Answers to today's challenge are here.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Tuesday, October 04, 2005 Permalink

Umbrella Dispensers at Stations

Getting ready for wet weather

Some of may remember that I blogged in February this year about some umbrella dispensing machines that were supposed to be making their way onto some London Underground platforms.

"The company will sell its umbrellas for £ 2 (bargain), compared with the £ 15 that commuters are used to paying when suddenly confronted with a downpour.

In trials at Fulham and Hammersmith tube stations this year, Technography sold an average of 200 umbrellas a month.

The UK umbrella market is worth more than £ 87m a year and is benefiting from an increasing number of rainy days.

There were 194 wet days in the UK in 2003, up from 176 in 2000."



Well, I've still never seen any on the Tube myself but on Saturday I saw my first ever umbrella dispensing machine at Windsor Central station. Myself and Neil were having a day out in Windsor and he insisted on showing me the shopping centre where now only a tiny single track line of Windsor Central exists, with most people, tourists and shoppers to Windsor visiting using the Windsor & Eton Riverside Station (the station we arrived at).

Neil has started blogging some of the Windsor station pictures but the umbrella vending machine certainly needs a mention here.

It's very similar to the Umbrolly prototype



and the umbrellas seem quite reasonably priced too, £ 3.50:



These Weather Station machines also seem to be set for all types of English weather too as they include sun wipes, and fresh wipes for the occasional heatwave



Wonder if the Umbrolly thing though ever got off the ground with the London Underground or did they think the outfit was a right shower? (sorry it's Monday, I can't come up with anything better)

Update - ah, ha further digging and I find this on Weather Station's website "WEATHERstation machines are being sited in city shopping centres, theme parks and tourist & transport locations across the UK, and are scheduled for installation at core London Underground stations during 2005." So will there be a race between Umbrollys and Weather Station to see who covers the Tube first or will they form an umbrella organisation?

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Monday, October 03, 2005 Permalink