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Annie Mole's, daily web log (blog) & “guide” to the London Underground
If you like this you'll LURVE One Stop Short of Barking, the fun and informative book about travelling on the London Underground.
Howard Collins, London Undergrounds chief operating officer, said: "The Queen thought it was marvellous. She said, 'What a fantastic gift.’ There was a big smile on her face.
"She was saying about how busy [the Underground] is. She travelled on the Tube as a young lady. She recognised it was very busy."
The Queen first travelled on the Tube in May 1939, when she was 13 years old and still a Princess. She was pictured with her governess Marion Crawford and Princess Margaret.
Ironically, she might have been better off travelling by Tube yesterday, as her car broke down during the City tour, and she had to cadge a lift with the police. The Telegraph have more on this.
Perhaps she may be more used to London Underground travel than she lets on. Crash Calloway said: "I am led to understand that she has her own private underground stop anyway, doesn't she? Some kind of secret Tube stop/tunnel in case of Nuclear War or Revolution... " Stranger things have happened.
It's the second round of Golders Green walks starting this weekend. Seven residents from the area created a series of walks about what their suburb means to them to tie in with the London Transport Museum's latest temporary exhibition Suburbia.
Golders Green was apparently the first Tube-created suburb in 1907 when the green fields of Golders Green were transformed by the coming of the Tube.
The locals have created three walks, which run to the end of March, along the themes of tasty places to eat, places of reflection and green spaces that highlight the diversity of their community today and what makes it unique.
The free guided tours start from 27th February 2010, (bookable online or over the phone on 020 7565 7298), which start at Golders Green London Underground Station. There are pdf self-guided walks that can be downloaded from the London Transport Museum's website.
The museum have also set up an interactive Flickr map. Anyone going on the walks is invited to take pics and then add them to the growing map of Golders Green. Click here to join the Flickr group & find out more about the walks.
Floorcrunch spotted this amazing abstract effect where and "artist changed an abstract subway map into a concrete (or rather: glass and ceramic) tiling project covering three walls and the floor of this otherwise unremarkable bathroom."
The Dornob blog spoke to the artist Christoph Niemann who "started, of course, with a generic map of the New York City subway route system and abstracted it until arriving at a configuration that could be applied in straightforward square tile installation (art). Somewhere between pop art and abstract decor, this tile pattern is custom and unique to the place – but there is nothing to suggest that the savvy do-it-yourself type could not replicate the process in some form to crate a likewise personalized mosaic tile pattern for their own home bathroom interior (for that matter, would these not look neat in, say, the bathroom of the subway stations of NYC?)."
Or Tube toilets? Come on TfL, you know you want to, it would brighten them up no end! Although I imagine they'd be a bit disorientating, if you wandered into the loo slightly worse for wear & got hypnotised by the spiralling Circle Line. It might also encourage drunk blokes to follow certain routes, a la writing one's name in the snow!
It's not very often that you see two strangers reading exactly the same book, side by side, but I'm sure like me, you've been in several Tube carriages where people have been reading the same book as each other, or even yourself.
CoverSpyLondon is a collaborative site where you can follow what people are reading, chronicle which line they're on & there's even a short demographic description of their rough age and what they were wearing. Whether there's any links between fashion & reading habits, it's hard to say, but if you'd like to contribute with news on who you saw reading what, email the team on london@coverspy.com. You can also follow them on Twitter & send @ messages if you're Twitterly inclined.
At the exhibition you'll see Underground maps that break all the rules, maps that are easier to use, maps that teach us about good design, maps that challenge our preconceptions and maps (like the art deco looking one below) that are purely decorative.
The exhibition is free and Max will be on hand to answer questions on the 26th and 27th February and the 6th March. Further details and directions to the college can be found here.
As Max says "Whether you are a graphic designer, transport professional, or just a frustrated commuter or tourist, maps will never seem the same again".
However the presenter slipped up and a much longer delay was described, which you can listen to here on Radio Fail.
Incidentally, London Underground apologised for the incident and said "We worked to get people off trains as quickly as possible, but due to a number of trains in tunnels it took some time to get passengers off some of the trains."
London TravelWatch have asked for investigation to take place. Jo deBank told the BBC "Getting stuck for that length of time is horrendous." Just as well she didn't hear the radio report!
But no, it was our feathered err.. friends at it once more. John Bull from London Reconnections said "Saw this little guy get on a District Line train this morning at Edgware Road.
It was very obvious from the way he was behaving that he didn't have a ticket, but the LU staff on the platform made no attempt at all to stop him. Disgraceful.
Hopefully the gateline staff at Wimbledon nabbed him!"
I'm sure he got away with it.
If you see any pigeons on the Tube (the Hammersmith & City Line, District & Circle lines are the best places), let me know, as I feel another Flickr Group in the making - Feathered Fare Dodgers on the Tube.
"Bored of repeats on TV and leftovers at Christmas, I decided I needed a new challenge to keep me sane as I entered 2010. And what could be more sane than running the route of the London Underground train lines?
Not convinced? Well then, here are some other reasons that I've decided to run around London's transport network...
1. To explore London – The Tube's a fantastic method of transport but by travelling underground you miss out on all of the wonderful places that the tunnels connect. Running overland combines a great bit of exercise with the opportunity to explore some new areas and build new memories for the familiar ones.
2. For an adventure – It's easy to get stuck into the routines of daily life, especially in a big city like London. I'm using one of its great icons as an excuse to embrace my surroundings, do something new, exciting and challenging and live life as a bit of an adventure. (This is part of my campaign to get people having an adventure everyday).
3. To raise money for the British Lung Foundation – The idea for this challenge came from Laura Tomlinson who is doing all of the runs with me. Laura lost her granddad to asbestosis in May 2009 and so the British Lung Foundation is a natural choice for us to support. You can read more and donate here."
Tim and Laura aim to complete all 12 Tube lines by the end of 2010. So far, they've completed four of the shorter ones and, to clarify, they are running overground (rather than in the tunnels which would be really weird!).
You can keep track of their progress, including mileage (if that's the correct term for runners), time taken, follow live Twitter updates and donate at www.thenextchallenge.org/tube
Great spot from @sweetpea1981 who saw that staff at Clapham North London Underground station getting into the spirit of things yesterday. She saw it on her way to a romantic meal.
Wonder if this led to any smiles to fellow passengers & a returned smile, leading to anything more than that?
You might have also seen the puntastic ad for Valentine's Day by 118 118
It features foodie stations such as Mussel Square, Charinig Croissant, Puddington & Piccallilli Circus. It's also being re-used for a general restaurant booking service, so expect to see more food & Tube station name puns for a while and not just for Valentine's.
Nice to see the London Underground temporary signs remaining at Kew. The handwriting on this one was the neatest & most precise. Previous days have been a little more freeform and also relegated the service information to second billing.
It has been bringing a smile to Kew commuters' faces though. I see a number of people stop briefly to read them. I'll keep adding them to the Flickr pool for Temporary London Underground Notices & highlight any that I think you might enjoy!
Robert del Naja, the band's artist explains "They won't allow anything on the tube that looks like 'street art'. They want us to remove all drips and fuzz from it so it doesn't look like it's been spray-painted, which is f**king ridiculous. It's the most absurd censorship I've ever seen."
As Londonist said "TfL appear to be taking the lowest common denominator approach over their advertising guidelines and applying the somewhat dubious assumption that such posters will inflame latent graffitical tendencies among us, when the only graffiti most Tube travellers would be tempted to undertake would be to correct the service information board with accurate updates."
Do you think TfL have a point? Are there other ads that you've seen on the Tube which you think should be banned as they might encourage anti social or illegal behaviour?
Probably would have been less spoof like and blended in better if the sticker maker hadn't used "dodgy stuff". The real poster on the subway in Japan may have been an influence.
These semi passive aggressive notices in public places, have to turn the "You wouldn't do this at home" message on its head, which is sometimes quite hard. Our office manager sent out an email about keeping the kitchen tidy last week & said "leave the kitchen as you like to find it. On second thoughts, if you're a slob at home, scrub that and just keep it tidy".
Perhaps more Tube notices should be written in this tone.
News International (who published the Londonpaper) and the owner of the Evening Standard are understood not to be bidding - according to Brand Republic.
An announcement as to who will get the contract (which was worth £1 million) will be made in due course. Who knows, maybe the publishers of the mysterious London Weekly (a free sheet due to launch this evening and every Saturday) will make a bid?
It certainly looks like there won't be worry about another new morning title being left on the Tube and that Metro will be the only one. Wonder if Metro will able to get the contract for less if there aren't any other bidders? I believe it was the only profitable London free-sheet, so they could make even more out of it.
The first in a series of 24 hour strikes by London Underground workers started today (Friday 5th February 2010) at 6.45am. Fortunately, this will only cause disruption if there are problems to signals as they won't get fixed during the stoppage. At time of writing the Piccadilly Line is suspended between Rayners Lane and Uxbridge and the Metropolitan Line between Hillingdon & Uxbridge. This is leading to delays on the rest of the Uxbridge branch.
Keep an eye on TfL's website and local news to find out if more problems develop throughout the day.
The 750 workers will stop working from the same time every Sunday from February 14, until the dispute over rosters and handing work to external contractors is resolved.
TfL are condemning the strike and are "astonished" by union RMT's behaviour over this. "It is simply astonishing that the RMT issued a press release confirming their plans to strike while we are still negotiating with them at ACAS.
"This questions the RMT's claims that they wish to talk and shows they are intent on disrupting London rather than resolving this issue."
Phil Hufton, the London Underground's Chief Maintenance Officer continued: "We have consulted fully with staff and unions on the proposed changes and we are prepared to continue discussions with the RMT. They should stop threatening industrial action at every opportunity, when all that will do is lose their members more pay.
"Despite this unjustified threat, it is our intention to operate a good service across the network during any industrial action."
My friend @whatleydude asked me whether I'd seen any ads with a big X on the London Underground. At the time I hadn't but typcially, the very next day (yesterday), I saw the one below at Old Street.
If anyone knows what it's for or wants to hazard a guess please do. Maybe it'll be followed up by a giant Y and then a giant Z. have you seen any other variations? Is it just limited to Shoreditch or the Northern Line?
The similar looking 'item on a black background' cryptic ad campaign by The Times on the Tube drove many people mad a couple of years ago.
There's always a mild let down whenever you find out what these teaser campaigns are actually for. Doubtless the same will be the case here.
I particularly like the addition of Del Boy in brackets, just in case people had no idea who David Jason was. Shame about the typo on Farrah Fawcett's name (it's a common mispelling) & the lack of apostrophe on Charlie's Angels (Lynne Truss would be proud). I love these signs of being human on the Tube & so shouldn't complain, as typos / grammatical errors are all too human.
But aside from that, I look forward to seeing if this continues and whether the staff at my station will become as infamous as Mr Warwick Avenue or Tim Pinn (even though my email slipped through the net he was interiewed by the BBC).
I still wonder if there is an unofficial competition amongst Tube staff to see who can create the best temporary notices? Let us know if your station is adding daily notices. The pool for London Underground Temporary Notices on Flickr is getting quite big now.
At Bond Street Tube @LJRICH saw a rather unusual form of time measurement on the Eastbound platform. Luckily she had a camcorder and when her eyes popped back into her head, was able to record:
She said: "Deep underneath London, at Bond Street Station, there's a wonky clock on the Central Line.
Either that, or there's a rip in the space-time continuum. No wonder the trains are so unpredictable."
Another example at how time on the London Underground is in a dimension all of its own.
"Sources close to the talks say Tube Lines wants to do the work from 11.30pm between Sunday and Thursday for 16 months, starting next month. According to TfL, this would mean closing the line north of Stockwell from 8.30pm onwards to get trains back to depots." report The Guardian
Tube Lines said the schedule for the Northern Line upgrade was still being discussed with TfL. "We have worked very closely with London Underground to find a way of getting access to the track while producing minimum disruption to the service. It is an ongoing discussion between us," it said.
Dave Hill from the Guardian's London blog said "It's another chance for Boris to bash Gordon over the PPP. And, frankly, who can blame him?"
"The magic, mystery & sometimes maddening shortcomings of London's Tube are documented with love,
enthusiasm & sometimes despair by its unofficial social historian." The Guardian
"On some mornings it can feel like the only reason to be grateful that the Tube exists" Time Out
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