Surely not .. New Explosions on the London Underground?

Breaking news at 13:30

Oval, Warren Street and Shepherds Bush (unknown if Central line or H&C) have been closed by the police because of 'incidents'. Smoke was reported coming from Warren Street.

It's gotta be a false alarm .. surely?

More on the BBC site: news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4703777.stm

[ Update 13:35]

no no no no no .. !

"One hospital, near Warren St station, has started its emergency plan.

Sosiane Mohellavi, 35, was travelling from Oxford Circus to Walthamstow when she was evacuated from a train at Warren Street.

"I was in the carriage and we smelt smoke - it was like something was burning.

"Everyone was panicked and people were screaming. We had to pull the alarm. I am still shaking."

But a BBC reporter outside Warren St station said there was no sign of smoke outside. (Pictures from Warren Street)

And there is now a reported incident of a problem on a bus at Hackney.

[ Update 13:45]

It's the Hammersmith & City line of Shepherds Bush. Reports of detonators going off which suggest failed bombs?

[ Update 13:50]

Ok, they're saying "not as serious" as two weeks ago, but the WHOLE tube system has just been suspended. No tubes people! Incident also on a no. 26 bus in Hackney now being reported.

There's definetely been some sort of explosion on a train somewhere.

[ Update 13:55]

'Explosions' appear to be dummy detonators. No casualties reported. It's NOT a major incident, but windows WERE blown out on the No. 26 bus.

I'm guessing it's someone proving that detonators (with no explosives) still get past the sniffer dogs, and they're doing it to show that panic and disruption can still be caused.

Arseholes. Whoever you are.

[ Update 14:10]

It would appear to be people just trying to cause panic. Only the Northern, Victoria and H&C lines are shut, the whole system is NOT shut. (see the Tube's website)

A rucksack with a "firework like" explosion has happened just before Warren Street. People panicked and rushed out when the train came into the station.

Similar device on the No.26 bus in Hackey which has taken out the windows, and reports of one minor casualty.

Stay calm ...

[Update - 14.30]

Police statment from Commissioner Sir Ian Blair. Read the full transcript here

[15.20 - Update from Annie]

Wow, thanks for holding the fort Geoff, I was busy stuffing my face in Gourmet Burger Kitchen when this all kicked off. Amazingly I would have been at Shepherds Bush around that time, and am still thinking of heading off there this afternoon, as I'm currently updating from an Internet Cafe. Apparently according to the BBC Tony Blair is about to make a statement any time now so listen to the radio or watch TV.

[15.44 - Update from Annie]

The BBC are showing pictures of armed police arresting a man outside the gates of Tony Blair's Downing Street offices. Keep an eye on the BBC reporter's log for latest updates.

[19.00 - Update from Annie - Some pictures of the day]

I only live a few miles from Shepherd's Bush in West London. So I thought I would still go to Shepherd's Bush as planned, anyway just to see how far I could get. Not very far as it turned out but took some pictures on the way.

Outside my station, The Evening Standards with their new alarming headlines were coming off the van.



I took the District Line to Hammersmith as planned and normally, I'd be able to change there and get onto the Hammersmith & City Line to Shepherds Bush. Going past my old home station of Kew Gardens, I saw a policeman, which is probably the first time I'd ever seen a cop there.



At Hammersmith, not surprisingly the station was crawling with police and as I arrived lots of people were crowding around a noticeboard as one of the tube staff was writing down the latest closures and travel updates.



Leaving Hammersmith, I saw that Shepherd's Bush Road had been closed off, so short of walking there, I thought I may as well head back home.



Outside the entrance to the Hammersmith and City Line there was a pretty simple sign



By the time I got back to Hammersmith, the handwritten sign had filled the board and the Piccadilly Line had been completely suspended along with a number of other sections of lines. As usual people were milling around looking a bit confused and pissed off that their journeys home would be delayed, but no one was wringing their hands and fleeing the streets.



So I headed home on the District Line and saw something which kind of sums up the last few days worth of posts. On Tuesday I was happily posting about Harry Potter sightings on the tube and now it's bombs again.



But thankfully no one died (even though the Police say they meant to kill), no one was seriously injured and the police have managed to gain a lot of forensic evidence which hopefully might catch these nutters. In the meantime life will go on as normal and we'll continue to travel public transport and this will just make people even more vigilant and even more determinded not to be afraid.

As Ken Livingstone said, at today's press conference;
"I'd like to start by congratulating the police and the emergency service and the tube and bus staff who have responded with even more remarkable speed. For those of you who watched this unfold through the television coverage the speed of the response I think was absolutely amazing. And the other factor is that the underground staff and the bus staff have managed to get the vast bulk of the system back up and running and have clearly shown their determination not to have our life disrupted more than is absolutely necessary by these incidents..........

It is not surprising that we have had another attempt to take life in London so rapidly after the first. Those people whose memories stretch back to the terrorist campaigns in the Seventies and Eighties and early Nineties will remember there were very often horrifying bombings in London often only weeks apart and we got through that and we will get through this."

London Underground; Tube Posted by Anonymous Thursday, July 21, 2005 Permalink COMMENT HERE
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Remembrance Service for Bus Victims

Two weeks on from the attacks on London and the 14 victims of the bus bombing will be remembered at a special service at the British Medical Association headquarters, close to the spot where the number 30 bus exploded at Tavistock Square.

The BMA's website says: "A multi-faith act of remembrance will be held in the BMA courtyard at 12 noon on Thursday 21 July, lasting about half an hour. BMA staff and members who were affected or who will be near BMA House on that day may wish to attend. For those who cannot attend, an edited film of the event will be placed later on the website."

Doctors and staff from the BMA found their headquarters turned into a mini hospital on the day of the blasts. I'm sure many lives were saved because of their work.

London Underground; Tube Posted by annie mole Thursday, July 21, 2005 Permalink COMMENT HERE
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Train driver's view

I could never drive a tube train

One of the good things about travelling on the DLR (Docklands Light Railway) - in fact it's probably the only good thing about travelling on the DLR - is that you can sit in the front of the train and pretend to be a driver. I'm sure people initially find it quite disconcerting that no one appears to be in the driving seat apart from a random bunch of commuters. But as the DLR's site says: "DLR trains are driven by an automatic system, they do not require drivers. Each train however is staffed by a highly qualified Passenger Service Agent."

Going into Shadwell each morning I sit at the back of the train so I'm near the exit of the station. Leaving I travel at the front so I'm near the exit for Bank. Most nights the train's pretty packed so I don't get to sit in the front seat, but last night, there were some spare seats at the front so I reminded myself what a dull view some train drivers must have.

Here's the wonderful view leaving Shadwell when you can see Docklands and the Gherkin in all its glory:



But here's the view that loads of London underground drivers have - although it will obviously be less blurry - not being able to take flash pictures on the London Underground and travelling at a blinding speed doesn't help my photography here.



Imagine looking at tunnels like this every day. No wonder they look so bored.

London Underground; Tube Posted by annie mole Thursday, July 21, 2005 Permalink COMMENT HERE
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Only a matter of time

My first new Potter spot

I wondered how long it would take me to see my first person reading the new Harry Potter book on the tube. Well I spotted this guy yesterday at Bank station waiting to get on DLR train with me.



So that was only two days after publication. He seemed fairly engrossed for the one stop he travelled reading it. Personally I cannot see the appeal to adults (give me Philip Pullman in this genre anyday), but I must be in the minority here. But good luck & well done to JK Rowling who's earning about a million pounds a hour out of the latest book. I'm sure this guy will be the first of many that I'll see reading this on the London Underground.

London Underground; Tube Posted by annie mole Wednesday, July 20, 2005 Permalink COMMENT HERE
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This blog hits the Beeb

Blogging and the BBC

A quick hello and welcome, if you've come to this site from the BBC's feature on blogging and also a big thanks to Darren Waters for featuring the blog as a "Pick of the blogs" - delighted to be in the same company as the fantastic Boing Boing.

If regular readers want to read my short interview with Darren click here.

London Underground; Tube Posted by annie mole Wednesday, July 20, 2005 Permalink COMMENT HERE
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Bombed Edgware Road Carriage has been removed

The wrecked carriage where seven people died near Edgware Road tube has finally been removed from the track last night.

Since the London bombings, police have been working to remove all the bodies of the victims before the Circle Line carriage could be taken away.

A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: "Until today it has been a full crime scene so everything has remained as it was. There has been removal of bodies."

The bomb was in a standing area near the first set of double doors at the front of the Tube.

A spokesman from the London Underground said: "Our first concern was that the train was structurally safe prior to being lifted. Once this had been confirmed then the lifting operation could commence. Weather conditions were ideal and this enabled the lifting operation to be completed in around 25 minutes, which was quicker than earlier expectations.

"The Edgware Road site is still a site of a criminal investigation, but we are hopeful that the station will be returned to London Underground by the end of the week."

For more see the BBC's website.

To make Comments see original blog entry.

London Underground; Tube Posted by annie mole Wednesday, July 20, 2005 Permalink COMMENT HERE
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Dogs to detect London Underground explosives

Sniffers v Scanners

Well it looks like the body scanning company will have to find some new orders while Pedigree pet food may be looking to add more orders to the London Underground's account. Sniffer dogs will be used "indefinitely" across the Tube's network to seek out explosives.



According to the BBC: "The sniffer dogs being used, which tend to be labradors and spaniels, undergo an intensive eight weeks of training with their dog handler.

The spokesman added: "They operate just like dogs who search for drugs except they have been trained to sniff out explosives.

"They [the dogs] are far more effective than any machine."

Bloomberg's site continued: "The dogs, mostly spaniels, are being positioned at ticket barriers, sometimes three or four at a time, to check the smell of passengers' luggage, police spokesman Donal O'Reilly said in a telephone interview. On trains they are being used to search carriages for suspicious packages. As many as 30 dogs are being used in the operation.



I'd not seen many sniffer dogs on the Tube - apart from the one above which I saw in action at Piccadilly Circus last January. He/she was bloody lively and got into action pretty quickly, and with a dog barking and crawling all over someone or their bag it probably would be more effective (and scary) than a bleep of a scanner.

London Underground; Tube Posted by annie mole Tuesday, July 19, 2005 Permalink COMMENT HERE
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Fines for people who leave bags behind?

Would the London Underground ever do this?

Just heard on the news on HeartFM that some expert has called for there to be fines for people who leave unattended bags on public transport. Hundreds of unattended bags have led to security alerts and he says that they also add to general panic and insecurity. People get fined for fare dodging, using the emergency buttons under false pretences, making eye contact and talking on the tube, so why not leaving their bags? (OK, yes, talking and eye contact are made up - you may have seen spoof posters that lead some people to believe otherwise though)



Anyway, bearing in mind that currently it's only some voxpops story on the radio, but I think he's sort of got a point, specially in the current climate, but goodness knows how it would be policed. I spose people could get charged for collecting their bags when they pick them up from lost property. Or does that happen anyway?

Update - Just found out from the BBC's site, that fining people for leaving bags was actually a serious suggestion and that Ken Livingstone has said NO.

London Underground; Tube Posted by annie mole Tuesday, July 19, 2005 Permalink COMMENT HERE
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London Underground Travel Update

Most of Tube service back to normal in a fortnight

Good news for commuters, Transport for London announced today that in "two weeks' time it is expected that all Tube services, with the exception of the Piccadilly line, will be fully up and running."

Aldgate Tube station could open as early as next Monday, 25 July.

It's hoped that the full Metropolitan line will resume on the same day.

A special Hammersmith and City line service is also expected to begin operation to help travellers who need to get to the northern part of the Circle line.

Read the latest on Transport for London's site.

London Underground; Tube Posted by annie mole Tuesday, July 19, 2005 Permalink COMMENT HERE
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Travel Updates & Tiring isn't it?

King's Cross Station Open

A lot of commuters will be pleased to hear that from this morning, King's Cross station has now been re-opened on the Metropolitan, Northern and Victoria lines and interchange with other tube lines is also available.

Taking up seats

It's been a sweltering week and last week as I was travelling to the Trafalgar Square vigil I saw a woman opposite me looking tired, deep in thought and in need of a rest. I'm sure she's flouting loads of official and unofficial tube etiquette in one fell swoop here. Bag on the seat, feet not actually on the seat and taking up a couple of seats as well. Well, the carriage was pretty empty at the time, so hey ho.

London Underground; Tube Posted by annie mole Monday, July 18, 2005 Permalink COMMENT HERE
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Trafalgar Square Vigil

Pictures from the day

Me, Geoff and Neil and thousands of other people went along to the vigil in Trafalgar Square yesterday. It was an absolutely sweltering day for London and yet the whole square was reverently quiet for such a hot day.

Hundreds of people queued to sign several books of condolences that were in tents around the square.

The picture below gives you an idea of just how many people were there:



We were behind a "We are not afraid" Union Flag, which seems to be the slogan which sums up how everyone felt:



Author, Ben Okri opened the speeches with to be honest a rather confusing, long and unmemorable poem (disappointing for me, as I'm normally quite a fan). Then Ken Livingstone came on and gave one of his typically stirring speeches with the unity of London as the key theme - "Those who came here to kill last Thursday had many goals, but one was that we should turn on each other, like animals trapped in a cage, and they failed, totally and utterly." Other speakers included Seb Coe, Tony Blair wasn't there so we had to make do with the next best thing - the Prime Minister from Little Britain, actor Anthony Head (non Brits will know him from Rupert Giles from Buffy the Vampire Slayer), and newsreader Trevor McDonald.

I'd be interested to see what other people thought of the vigil. For me it was great to show support and the first time in ages that I'd actually attended a mass gathering like that.

Police Appeal for help

I'm noticing a lot more appeals from the Police to the general public for anything that can help with the investigations. There was a full page ad in today's Metro and as I was coming back from the vigil I noticed the following poster at Tottenham Court Road station.

London Underground; Tube Posted by annie mole Friday, July 15, 2005 Permalink COMMENT HERE
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Free Tube Tracker for your PDA

For all gadget fans

Thanks to Jon Choo for signing the comments above I discovered that Visual IT's special version of PDA Tube Tracking service has been released free of charge to help Londoners get back to normal as quickly as possible. That's jolly nice of them and is one of the many actis of kindness and generosity I've seen come out of this tragedy.



I am so untechy and haven't got a PDA, but I'm sure it will be very useful to those of you who have and also people taking part in the upcoming Charity Tube Challenge should include this in their gadget bags for the day.

London Underground; Tube Posted by annie mole Friday, July 15, 2005 Permalink COMMENT HERE
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London Bombings Relief Charitable Fund - How you can help

Build a personal fundraising webpage

As you know the Tube Challenge for the London Bombings Relief Charitable Fund was announced yesterday by Geoff and Neil and already dozens of people are signing up for this event at the end of August. However, if you feel that travelling around over 200 tube stations in one day is beyond you but you still want to carry out a sponsored event, or even raise money for the Fund instead of having birthday presents - you can now build your personal fundraising page for victims of the attack, their families and dependants.

When you build a page you can personalise with a photograph or any image and then simply email it to everyone you know, or put it on your blog or whatever, then anyone with a credit or debit card can donate online and most importantly leave a message of support. It only takes a few minutes to set up and the system automatically adds 28% Gift Aid tax to donations from UK tax payers. Funds are paid directly into the London Bombings Relief Charitable Fund straight away so they can help people immediately. So, click here to build your personal fundraising page for London Bombings Relief Charitable Fund.

If there's nothing you want to build but like the information you're been reading in the blog please make a donation to this page I've built for the Fund.

Thank you.

London Underground; Tube Posted by annie mole Thursday, July 14, 2005 Permalink COMMENT HERE
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Security Issues & Remembering the dead

Bags and stuff

I don't know about you, but I'm gradually beginning to see fewer police around on the London Underground. I spose this could be because for the last two days I've been travelling out of work quite late. Anyway to compensate I'm certainly seeing a lot more posters about how to keep safe on the tube and things to look out for. Most are the simple straightforward message below:



Yesterday I saw one based on The Usual Suspects poster which has been nicked loads of times by ad agencies. Can't fault the London Underground on any grammatical errors or spoofing potential in this one, however I think it was one that was produced before last Thursday's attacks.



Apparently since last Friday there have been over 100 security alerts caused by unattended bags. Read London Underground station assistant - The Station Master's report of his experience of a bag left behind on Saturday.

Two Minute's Silence and Trafalgar Square Vigil

Don't forget the two minute silence that will be held today at 12 noon to remember those killed and injured last Thursday. On your way into work this morning you may have also noticed London Underground staff collecting for the London Bombings Relief Charitable Fund. They're at over 60 stations on the network doing this.

Mayor Ken Livingstone is also inviting people to attend a vigil which is being held in Trafalgar Square at 6pm tonight.

Representatives of the transport and emergency services will be there, and the evening will include poems and readings by members of different faith and community groups.

As Ken says: "London will not be moved from our goal of building an open, tolerant, multi-racial and multi-cultural society showing the world its future and to thank the heroes of the transport and emergency services who saved so many lives last Thursday".

London Underground; Tube Posted by annie mole Thursday, July 14, 2005 Permalink COMMENT HERE
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Travel Updates

We're getting there

As Pete says in the comments, posters are appearing showing that the lines on the tube affected by last Thursday's bombings are gradually being reopened.

The Tube's website said yesterday:

"We are working with the Police and hope to have a full service on the following lines five days after the investigations are completed at Aldgate and Edgware Road:

Circle

District

Hammersmith & City

Metropolitan

At King's Cross St. Pancras, we cannot yet predict with any confidence when the full Piccadilly line service will resume."

London Underground; Tube Posted by annie mole Thursday, July 14, 2005 Permalink COMMENT HERE
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Tube Challenge - We are not afraid

Defiance and geekiness rolled into one
Regular readers of the blog will know that my co-bloggers Neil and Geoff hold the Guinness World Record for travelling around all 275 London Underground stations in the fastest possible time. (18 hours, 35 minutes and 43 seconds in case you're wondering). A few months ago an unofficial Zone 1 challenge (20th May) had a big group of people racing around just Zone 1 of the tube. Now Geoff's thought of doing a big challenge again and I've lifted the words from his site:

"The tube means a lot to us. We travel on it a lot. Sometimes we travel round the whole system just for the fun it. The 'tube challenge' community is as fucked off about this as the rest of the world, and we would like to say : We Are Not Afraid either.

'Tube Challenge Community' ? Well - there are a bunch of people (call us geeks if you really must!) who do this on a regular basis - Go round the whole tube system to compete who can do it in the fastest time possible......

Ken Livingstone shortly announced afterwards an official Relief Fund for families of the victims of the bombings, and so because of this, here is what we are doing:

A mass team tube-challenge attempt, for all of us to get round the entire network in a day.

We're not trying for the record - as we recognise that chunks of the system (e.g. the central part of the Piccadilly Line) will not be open for a long time, but we want to do it soon - whilst the memory of what has happened is still in people's minds.........

i) Charity. People often do this and raise a few pounds & pennies. This time everyone gets sponsored in aid of the bomb relief charity and we really go for it. Let's get thousands of pounds this time.

ii) Defiance. Solidarity. Togetherness. We are not afraid, and we well get back on the tube - the whole tube - and prove that we are more than happy to ride it. We say "Fuck you terrorists", and we will do the thing that we do best - ride around the tube system."

Visit Geoff's site for more on this and when it's likely to be (late August) and email him if you're up for it.

And as he likes having the last word, I'll let him have it:

"Anyone is welcome to take part. I have already had people interested from overseas who say that they will fly in for a couple of days to London to do this. This is brilliant. Thank you. You are more than welcome in our fantastic capital city."

London Underground; Tube Posted by annie mole Wednesday, July 13, 2005 Permalink COMMENT HERE
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News in at 18.00

One London bomber likely to have been killed in blast

The police news conference was shown on BBC News (see video) and Deputy Assistant Commissioner Peter Clark and Assistant Commissioner Andy Hayman said they had CCTV footage of the men. Police believe at least one of four suspected London bombers died in Thursday's tube and bus blasts.

One man has been arrested and six arrest warrants issued following a series of raids around Leeds in West Yorkshire, (190 miles) north of London), in connection with the investigation, Clarke said.

Clarke said all four bombers had arrived in London by train at King's Cross station on the morning of the attacks. All three of the bombed underground trains passed through the station.

See the full police statement from The Times Online.


[16.30 - Update from Annie]

Both Sky News and BBC News 24 (see 6th paragraph) are saying that the bomber responsible for the explosion on the Number 30 London bus was believed to be among the 13 people killed on board. Both have cited police sources, although Sky News are saying that all four bombers are amongst the dead. I don't believe that an official police statement has been made confirming this yet, but watch the TV or listen to the radio for more on this.

London Underground; Tube Posted by annie mole Tuesday, July 12, 2005 Permalink COMMENT HERE
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When commuting becomes an "act of defiance"

Were you defiant today?

It's funny when your normal journey into work becomes an "act of defiance", but that's the general press coverage at the moment. From today's Guardian - "London's mayor, Ken Livingstone, sought to lead the way by turning his normal 35 minute underground journey from north-west London to City Hall into a symbol of the capital's collective defiance". And in a rather undefiant and slightly camp looking pose for The Sun, we see that on the left - "Metropolitan Police chief Sir Ian Blair joined thousands of defiant Londoners by taking the Underground to work yesterday." This could be a great new excuse for being late for work, "Sorry I was late, I was too busy showing terrorists what for".

Defiance T-Shirts

You've proabably by now come across the T Shirt site where you can show your defiance even more (Commission going to the London Bombing Relief Fund).



I personally think some of the slogans like "You missed me", are a bit tasteless. However, I love the double meaning of "London Stands" - wonder if this was intentional as the guy who set up the site lives in Italy and may not be used to the amount of standing we normally do on the tube? It will be interesting to see how long it is before people are wearing them. (At the moment there's a lot of excited bloggings about how brill they are.) But it will only take someone famous to be photographed wearing one and then they'll take off like wildfire.

Back in Time - Our reaction to Madrid

I went a bit retrospective and looked at my entries after the Madrid terrorist attacks on their railway. Some of them are eerily similar to now:

"Travelling in today and reading Metro and staring at the front page of everybody else's paper it was like that horrible car crash mentality we have of not being able to take our eyes away from something so hideous."

Some of them had that post event weird hindsight: "Obviously Metro couldn't be Metro without a piece saying that "Transport in London 'is safe'", and rightly talks about our fears of similar attacks taking place in London. In fact we're just about to have a "water cooler" discussion about it at work. Commuting will go on regardless - it has to."

In the days that follow (18th March), my and other commuters' blase reaction to a security alert:

"My first security alert since Madrid

Charing Cross Station was closed earlier

Nothing dramatic and everyone treated it like a normal closure. Meant I got on a Bakerloo train at Waterloo, we hung around on the train for a few minutes, then heard that Charing Cross was closed and the Bakerloo Line had been suspended. Hardened commuters and me leapt off the train and went to the Northern Line with not even a second thought and then I got off at Leicester Square (whose roof at escalator level seems to be held together by a load of chicken wire and gaffer tape)."

Plus The Economist's reaction to the grammatical errors on the security posters "Posters plastered over the London Underground after the Madrid bombings seemed oddly keen to encourage natural British reticence rather than vigilance. They may, of course, have been planted by punctuation zealots to illustrate to the grammatically lazy the importance of using commas and semi-colons correctly." and a spoof of the poster in question, showing our more likely reaction:



A letter from Metro at the time shows that despite the jokes we were still aware that the London Underground was a prime target:

"The letters page of Metro had a cracking letter about someone's worry if a tube train were bombed and how half the carriage would get out if the driver what at the bombed end (cheerful lot aren't we?)

"......why has no one told us what we should do in an emergency if we find ourselves stuck on a train at the un-bombed out end of the train? Presumably, the only member of staff available to direct us would be the driver. But what happens if they are positioned in the bombed-out end of the train? Should we sit tight and wait to be rescued - and risk choking on fumes or beign crushed in a tunnel collapse? Or should we get the hell out and take our chances on the live rails? And if so, how does one get out of a train that's wedged in a tunnel.

Given that the emergency services have said that rescuing live survivors from this sort of disaster would be almost impossible, it seems pretty poor that there's no information available on board the trains to help us make life-or-death decisions at that 'invevitable' moment"

Well I think Rebecca from SE23 has a point. Will we see emergency "airline style" plastic cards with drawings of people legging it from crashed tube trains? Will there be posters?

How times have changed. I wonder what will happen on that front now?

London Underground; Tube Posted by annie mole Tuesday, July 12, 2005 Permalink COMMENT HERE
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Back to work

Another Monday on the Tube

This was my first day back at work after Thursday and I imagine quite a lot of other people's too. It wasn't really that different travelling on public transport from the things that I'd noticed on my small trips on Friday, everyone was engrossed in papers and certainly the numbers travelling had picked up from Friday. I got to the Waterloo and City Line and just missed a train heading to Bank but it gave me the opportunity to see a pretty timely and hideous poster for a new book called Incendiary, with a picture of a mocked up newspaper with explosions taking place near the Thames and London Eye and the title What If?



Getting off at Bank and I was facing the same image again. Great, just what I needed.



Although I've now found out that the campaign has been axed. The book came out on Thursday and the first time novelist Chris Cleave said the timing was "really morbid coincidence".

Onto the DLR at Bank and the same sort of numbers of commuters that you'd expect for a Monday morning. However, there was a police woman at Shadwell tube on the East London Line looking pretty bored.



By the time I left work in the evening there were a lot more police around.



Plus all the locals were talking about seeing a lot more police around.

"But they're looking really bored man", said a girl walking past me as I took the picture. "Yeah, specially the woman", her friend replied.

Legging it up the stairs at Shadwell to the DLR and I think I was dreaming that I saw Harry Potter on the platform indicators there. Seriously is the Potter promotion so heavy now that it was subliminally entering my head, or had JK Rowling's publishers go together with the Docklands Light Railway to tell us the book was out tonight, as well as telling us that the next Bank train was in 2 minutes? My fingers weren't quick enough to snap a picture and I wasn't sad enough to miss my train to get an image, but I'm sure I didn't imagine it.

Anyway, even more police on the platform at Shadwell DLR and that was it.



Very weird for me today to speak to colleagues about all the confusion in the streets as people had no idea what was going on. No one was actually panicking but I think the general feeling was that people were pretty lost without their mobiles (Most networks in central London crashed or were taken down). While I was at home with the luxury of the TV and radio and the internet, they were all wandering the streets hearing stories of power surges, buses being blown up and stations being evacuated.

So London's gradually returning to normal. Unfortunately the death toll has risen to 52 and is expected to rise as more bodies are recovered from the train at Russell Square.

London Underground; Tube Posted by annie mole Monday, July 11, 2005 Permalink COMMENT HERE
Tweet http://london-underground.blogspot.com/2005/07/back-to-work.html

Three arrests at Heathrow

Security measures

I've just heard that the police have arrested three people at Heathrow Airport under the Prevention of Terrorism act. Brian Paddick, the Deputy Assistant Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, said it would be "inappropriate and pure speculation" to link the arrests to Thursday's attacks.

While I'm on the subject of speculation and airports though, there's a huge kerfuffle taking place at slashdot.org about a report from The Times newspaper saying that body scan machines will be used on tube passengers.

This report only came out the day after the attacks and as yet I've not seen it mentioned elsewhere. "Tube passengers are to have their bodies scanned by machines that see through clothing in an attempt to prevent further terrorist attacks. The millimetre wave imagers will be used to carry out random checks as people enter stations after services resume today."

It continued: "QinetiQ, the privatised former Defence Evaluation and Research Agency which developed the technology, said the scanners could be fitted to all 270 Underground stations within 18 months.

Each station would cost from �150,000 to �2 million to fit depending on its size and the number of entrances.

Simon Stringer, managing director of QinetiQ�s security division, said: 'We have been asked to deploy some of this equipment'."

Apparently conventional airport scanners are impractical of the level of passenger handled on the Tube each day - three million everyday. Philip Baum, managing director of the security consultancy Green Light, said

"there will be huge civil liberties questions because you will have to accept that people will see you walking round semi-naked."

He added that vigilance by passengers would play a greater role than any technology in detecting terrorists. I remember after last year's Madrid train bombings and after September 11th there was a much higher reporting of suspect packages and I'm sure the same will happen now.

London Underground; Tube Posted by annie mole Sunday, July 10, 2005 Permalink COMMENT HERE
Tweet http://london-underground.blogspot.com/2005/07/three-arrests-at-heathrow.html

Excel at the tube

I should probably start with a sort of 'disclaimer' I suppose. Some of you reading this now may have only found it in the past few days because of the incident in London on Thursday, so you should know that this blog does tend to normally have a light-hearted look at all things tube related.

You may not be ready to switch back to 'trivial' mode yet, and I'm not saying that I am either, but I felt that we needed a post that (almost) wasn't related to last weeks tragic events.

I found myself in town on Friday (the day after) because I wanted to see and get a feel as to what London was like.

But when I'd had enough I went down on the DLR to the ExCeL centre at Custom House, where SkillCity - a job fair for school kids and students was taking place.

My main aim of going was to visit my colleagues on the BBC News On Tour stand, but after I'd done that I decided to go for a wander around the rest of the place.

Imagine my face light up then, when I discover ... [drumroll] ... The largest tube map you have EVER seen!


It was on the floor! You could walk on it! It was many square metres big, and it was being used as the 'floor' to the stand of the LU exhibit that was at the fair.

LU were giving out career advice and options for people wanting to join then, and they had a tube 'cab' with a simulation running inside it which was fantastically realistic.

So I'm sorry Neil, but I've beaten you to it - I've driven a tube train - and I now know what it's like to ride a Jubilee line train through Finchley with Met line trains rattling alongside me.


If it's any consolation though, I did pick up a 'goodie bag' containg some fun LU paraphanelia which you can have if you like okay?

They were also giving out free chilled water (seemed rude not to take one), but it also seemed ruder not to take a photo of them when I saw that they were all branded 'The Water Line'.

Anyway ... back to the giant floor map. Who made it? Where does it come from?

And can I have one to put down in my own house insted of carpet please?


I realised as well that it was Uncle Ken's complete 'vision' of transport of about 2012, with all the local tram lines put in place as well - including one here which caught my eye - rather chillingly, Tavistock Square.

I took lots of photos, then took ones with people in from a distance to get some perspective - otherwise you might just think that I used my macro lense to zoom into a pocket sized map.


It was fun to be able to 'walk' round it.

If the bus hadn't of been parked in the way, I was going to start at Amersham and see how fast I could do the entire map ... :-)

London Underground; Tube Posted by Anonymous Sunday, July 10, 2005 Permalink COMMENT HERE
Tweet http://london-underground.blogspot.com/2005/07/excel-at-tube.html

Aftermath of the Aftermath

Well folks, thanks to Annie and Geoff you've been kept up to date with just about everything we know about Thursday. I went into central London yesterday, not to look around at the scene of the bombings, but to see just how busy it was for a Saturday afternoon and to get a few things.

I decided to walk to Edgware Road station (Bakerloo, of course) and as usual, the place was dead. I was the only person on the platform until the next train arrived, when a couple of people wandered in.


There weren't all that many people on the train but they all looked fairly relaxed to me and I did do a quick "are there any bags lying around" check too.

I got off at Oxford Circus where the escalators were busy enough and walked down Oxford Street, into Charing Cross Road and down to Trafalgar Square. Oxford Street was business as usual so far as I could tell, as was CHX Road. But it was Trafalgar Square which seemed quieter than usual, despite being a nice enough day.


I got back on the Bakerloo at Charing Cross, and once again, it was dead. It's normally busier than this on a Saturday:


All I can assume is that people were quite happy to come to London to a degree, but once there didn't want to use the tube so close to Thursday. I can't say I saw much police presence about although Leicester Square station was overflowing with LU staff, presumably to tell the tourists the Piccadilly was off. Maybe most of the people I saw were tourists who were stuck in London until it was time to go home again and not British people visiting for the day.

Anyway, there's been much chat recently about "getting back to normal", so the last part of this post has nothing to do with Thursday. Instead, it's to do with these little indicator boards I've seen popping up in various ticket halls over the past few months which give you an overview of which trains to expect. Here's the one at West Hampstead, as I made my way home.


(Can I just point out that all the pictures in this post are copyright Neil Blake 2005 - thankyou)

London Underground; Tube Posted by Anonymous Sunday, July 10, 2005 Permalink COMMENT HERE
Tweet http://london-underground.blogspot.com/2005/07/aftermath-of-aftermath.html

"A funny thing happened to me on the way to work this morning......

My tube blew up."

As Neil's just said above, we are trying to get back to normal with the blog as for people who aren't our usual visitors we try to provide a commuter's view of travelling on the London Underground and look at the tube from a lighthearted/funny/wacky/weird/alternative and sometimes trainspottery perspective. So it's pure co-incidence that I came across the first "first person account of the London bombings" that made me laugh. It's a long post but well worth the read - informative, funny, moving and strong.

The brilliant thing it shows is how those split decisions that you make about which carriage to get on can literally change your life. We've seen the film verison in Sliding Doors where there are parallel versions of Gwyneth Paltrow's life and what would have happened had caught the tube she missed by two seconds.

There's even the Way Out Tube Map which shows which carriage to get on in order to be nearest the exit, my copy is so well worn it's falling apart. We all have our strategies for getting seats on the tube or standing on the platform to be near the opening doors.

As Dave Taurus from Triforce says: "I like to sit in the first, frontmost carriage, because that�s where I�m most likely to get a seat. ..... It�s a bit like a game of chicken: how close can I get to the first carriage before the beeps go to indicate the doors are closing and the tube is moving off. Whenever I�ve played it in the past, I�ve always just pussied out and got on to the nearest carriage. Today, for some reason I decided that if I didn�t get on the first carriage, I�d just wait ten minutes for the next train. At the very last minute I nearly just jumped on to the second carriage, but I kept going, and reached the first carriage, where I moved further towards the front to get a comfy seat between two women (who take up less room than fat old men)......... I will be totally haunted by the slender line of fate that separates those two carriages."

So please read this amazing post, as Dave says: "try to bear with me through the boring bits � you�ll eventually get to a Hollywood-style explosion with a hint of post-apocalyptic fallout."

We're not going to be beaten by terrorism, we are going to carry on as normally as possible, we're going to deal with this with the usual London cynicism, humour and above all strength.

London Underground; Tube Posted by annie mole Sunday, July 10, 2005 Permalink COMMENT HERE
Tweet http://london-underground.blogspot.com/2005/07/funny-thing-happened-to-me-on-way-to.html

Aftermath continued

Geoff's take on events
Geoff - one of the co-bloggers of this site - actually made the first post about the bombings on Thursday, seemed to be up to similar things to me yesterday, wandering around London and trying to take it all in. He went closer to the explosion scenes than me though and one of his pictures shows some flower tributes put up at a temporary sign at King's Cross. Doubtless this will be filled with flowers in the next few days. Take a look at the rest of his post where he noticed remarkably similar things to me too - loads and loads of take your belongings with you announcements, many more transport police around than normal.

Also as Geoff noted the shift in the news has moved to the people who are still missing. It's hideous that there are still bodies on the train at Russell Square. Rescue crews were hampered by heat, dust and other difficult conditions, and recovery efforts are continuing today.

Latest from the police

The police have confirmed that the bombs on the trains went off within seconds of each other, not within a 26-minute span as police earlier believed. Finally, this can put an end to stories about it only being one person racing round the tube network.

Experts from Madrid who worked on the railway bombings there are being flown in to help the police with forensic investigations.

Today the police have also released the photo above which shows the damage to the train which was involved in the terrorist attack at Aldgate tube station.

Number 30 Bus

I went out with a friend last night, who told me that the number 30 bus had actually been diverted because of the earlier disruptions on the subway. She took that bus last night and felt a bit weird, not helped by the fact that a journalist was on board trying to find out how people now felt travelling on a number 30 bus. How are you going to feel? Like everyone else travelling on public transport right now. Incredibly lucky that you weren't on it at the time. Incredibly sorry for the people and the families of people who were. But at the end of the day we all knew that a terrorist attack like this would happen sooner or later. We all knew that London Transport and the London Underground in particular were naturally vulnerable, but that didn't and doesn't stop us from travelling on it in our millions.

More psychos

Some other bunch of nutters - Abu Hafs al-Masri brigade - have also claimed responsibility for the attacks.

Remember the dead and injured

The Government announced that there will be a two minute silence on Thursday 14th July at mid-day.


How you can help

Finally for today, if you feel like helping the victims of the bombings and their families, Mayor Ken Livingstone has set up a charitable fund - London Bombings Relief Fund. As Ken says: "We cannot make up for what the victims have lost. But every single thing that can be done will be done.

"That is why I have agreed to establish, with the Red Cross, the London Bombings Relief Fund.

"Your donations will be held in trust to assist by any means the victims of the attack, their families and dependants; and to assist with any other appropriate project that the funds allow."

London Underground; Tube Posted by annie mole Saturday, July 09, 2005 Permalink COMMENT HERE
Tweet http://london-underground.blogspot.com/2005/07/aftermath-continued.html

Aftermath

Trying to get back to normality

It's the morning after the day before and now most people will be struggling to get back to normal. Obviously there going to be lots of questions about how this happened, why it happened, who was responsible, how safe is our transport system and many many more questions like this.

As you can see from the post below we and lots of other blogs around London and England have been overwhelmed with messages of support and condolances for the family and friends of the dead. My thoughts are with them and also with the hundreds of people who were seriously injured who have to go on living knowing that their lives will never be the same again.

Most Londoners are now determined to go into work, but please, please be extra vigilant. I remember the aftermath of September 11th and there were hundreds of security alerts on the London Underground in the weeks that followed as every single suspicious thing was quite rightly being reported.

Most overground trains are running although I've just heard (9am) that Euston station was closed due to a security alert, but has just been re-opened. (9.20am) However, now Liverpool Street station has just been closed. There's going to be lots of this going on today.

There is a good bus service and a limited service on the London Underground. But amazingly most of it is up and running. Transport for London's realtime information page is back up and running, telling us the following:

No Circle Line and Hammersmith & City Line at all.
On the Metropolitan Line there's no service between Baker Street and Aldgate - with a modified service north of Baker Street.
On the Piccadilly Line there's no service between Hyde Park Corner and Arnos Grove.
The District Line has no service between High Street Kensington Station and Edgware Road Station and no service between Earls Court and Olympia.
King's Cross Station is closed.
There's no congestion charge today if anyone want to drive in.

All the emergency services were brillant yesterday and as regular readers of this blog will know we continually berate staff on the London Underground, (who amazingly take it in good spirit) today they will certainly get our thanks, support and best wishes.

Take a look at the blogs of the following station staff to get their take on yesterday's events:

The Station Master
On the District
District Driver

Also have a look at Tom Reynolds from Random Acts of Reality who is an ambulance driver and clearly had a quite a day.

I'm sure I'll be updating later on today - keep the comments rolling in as it will be interesting to hear how everyone is dealing with the aftermath.

[10.30 - Update from Annie]

There's growing evidence that it was a suicide bomber on the number 30 bus yesterday. A number of the passengers saw someone on the bus looking very uncomfortable clutching a bag. One witness even got off the bus a couple of stops before the explosion and clearly looked at the man. How horrific to look in the face of someone who was about to kill and injure many people.

Another press conference is due at about 11 o'clock so doubtless there will be more updates then.

[11.25 - Update from Annie]

Basic summary of this conference with the police:



They offered sympathy to the family of the victims and admiration to the people of London. "We've had support from every faith in London, all of whom have condemned the atrocity. We are very pleased with the endorsement from New York's Rudy Giuliani who thought our Metropolitan police were outstanding. Our resolve is to track down the people responsible for these terrible events. There were definitely only four sites - people were leaving from different underground stations from the same incident so this confused matters."

There was only one bus. "Absolutely nothing to show it was a suicide bomber on the bus but it can't be ruled out, but it's completely unproven". More than 50 fatalities - unfortunately there are still bodies to be recovered at Russell Square as they are yet to reach the carriage where the explosion went on. 700 casualities. 100 detained overnight. 22 in serious critical conditions.

"Each device that was used had less than 10lbs of explosives. Where the devices detonated is too early to say. Each device put on the trains was likely to be on the floor of the carriage. With the bus it's unclear it could have been the floor or the seat."

The Aldgate explosion occured in a carriage the third carriage. Expolosion between King's Cross and Russell Square is more complicated but the device was in the first carriage. Regarding Edgware Road it was in the first carriage by the first set of double doors.

"Most important thing is we do need the community's help. They always come up trumps giving us information please call the intelligence investigation line 0800 789 321. We do not want to discount any information that someone thinks is relevant."

Many questions were then asked by the national press and TV stations and doubtless you will see these in newspapers and on TV now.

There's another press conference at around 2pm and Ken Livingstone will be at that one.

[17.30 - Update from Annie]

It's now known that 13 people died in the bus explosion and forensic police are obviously all over the sites at the moment collecting evidence.

I decided to go out and about a bit today just to see how things were on public transport. Not surprisingly it's pretty quiet - I went out about one-ish. I travelled into Waterloo on South West Trains and it was very, very quiet, the only thing I noticed there was the clear plastic bin bags had been removed.

At Waterloo there were a lot of Transport police around (the guys in yellow)



More or less continual announcements about keeping your belongings with you and a reminder that smoking wasn't allowed on any part of the Underground. It was quite weird that the announcements about the lines and stations that were closed kept saying "because of an incident" - that vague term that we're really used to on the tube, but obviously everyone knew what yesterday's "incident" was. Therefore it was a relief to come down the escalators seeing a sign calling the "incident" an "attack".



Onto the tube itself and everyone was engrossed in papers mainly the morning's Metro and the tabloids.



It was quite weird for me reading the report in Metro of "How the Web kept us all in the picture". I'll quote the beginning: "It took just one hour for thse behind yesterday's explosions to claim responsibility on the Internet.

But it took even less time for the online community of bloggers - Internet diarists - to react.

The London Underground blogger Annie Mole went from praising the Olympic success on Wednesday to commenting on the attacks with both a personal reaction and practical updates for commuters.

The website kept a timeline which showed how, as the minutes ticked by, the incident which changed from a bang 'thought to be electrical' to what was 'reasonably clearly' a terrorist attack......."

I travelled onto the Central Line which was much busier than the Northern Line. Again it was all quiet though with people staring into space or engrossed in papers. People who travel on the tube are normally pretty quiet though it's only normally tourists who make a noise.



Finally, a trip back to Waterloo on the Bakerloo Line saw the carriages fairly empty again, but there were two transport police officers on my carriage for a few stops who then got off at Charing Cross and stood around there.



So life does go on. I got on buses as well and the number of people seemed similar to normal. It's good to see people still using public transport. It was good for me to get out and do something normal. Monday I'll be commuting as usual.

London Underground; Tube Posted by annie mole Friday, July 08, 2005 Permalink COMMENT HERE
Tweet http://london-underground.blogspot.com/2005/07/aftermath.html

Not good

London Underground explosions

Well as we've won, let's just be thankful than this didn't happen on the day that the Olympic inspectors were in town, and reminds us all of why some people are so cynical about wondering if Londons transport system can cope or not for such an event...

Tube warning after 'bang' heard

Emergency services have been called to London's Liverpool Street Underground station after reports of an explosion.

The incident has caused major disruption to the entire network with stations across the capital closed.

A London Fire Brigade spokeswoman said four crews were at the scene and more were on their way. There are reports of "walking wounded".

Cordons are in place. A power failure may be behind the problems, Transport for London said.

[09.55 - Update from Geoff]

Fuke. Whole system has just been shutdown. Reports of trains colliding at Edwgare Road. There have been injuries. Keep your eyes peeled to the news people!

[10.40 - Update from Annie]

Police are confirming there was definitely an explosion at Russell Square - possibly in a litter bin. This is all hideous. It's hard to keep track of what is going on as no one knows whether it's power surges or what. But the official word is that terrorism cannot be ruled out. Just don't come into London today if you were planning to.

Blasts at least at Aldgate, Russell Square, Edgware Road and Liverpool Street. Fortunately no one reported killed but there are several injuries.

There have definitely been three explosions on buses. This is definitely something planned, it can't be power surges as was first claimed.

[11.00 - Update from Annie]

The Home Secretary Charles Clark has just made a very short statement basically saying there'll be more information when we know it. There have been terrible injuries, the worst in Russell Square and we're being advised not to make unneccessary journeys into town. And in fact I've just heard on the radio that all London buses have been suspended too. Mobile phone networks are overloaded so don't panic if you're checking that people are OK.

[11.20 - Update from Annie]

Everything that can be done is clearly being done by the emergency services. There are sniffer dogs around, police all over the place. I've just heard that the police are dealing with a suspect package at Stockwell station.

[11.30 - Update from Annie]

There have been 90 casualties at Aldgate station alone. Tony Blair is expected to make a statement at midday. The police are saying the situation is under control and all the emergency procedures that are continually rehearsed are being put into place. Six sites of explosions have been confirmed by the police.

[11.39 - Update from Annie]

Really sorry to report that two fatalities have been reported at Aldgate station.

[12.05 - Update from Annie]

I've just heard Tony Blair speaking, sounding very shaken and roughly he said: "It's reasonably clear there have been a series of terrorist attacks in London." He extended thoughts and prayers with the victims and their families. He's going to leave the G8 summit and return later this evening. "All leaders share our complete resolution to defeat terrorism.... It's reasonably clear to say this has been designed to coincide with the opening of G8....they will never succeed in destroying what we hold dear". Full text of Tony Blair's speech here.

I've just seen a picture of the Number 59 bus near Russell Square that was blown up and it's really horrible but shows the extent of the situation.



There is also a rescue operation going on at King's Cross tunnel.

[13.00 - Update from Annie]

More eyewitness reports are coming through from people who were on the tube or walking by the buses that were blown up. They all talk of the fear and panic, windows being broken, people praying and then gradually some people begin to take control and see what they can do to help the injured and get people out of the trains safely. Apparently there are still people Underground at Russell Square and King's Cross station who must be going through hell.

It's difficult to know what to write and say and all I can do is try to keep people updated as best I can. Most of the major news websites are down as they are flooded with traffic. Here are some pictures from the bbc's website.

Home Secretary Charles Clark is speaking in the House right now saying that first class care and support is provided by the emergency services. There are no buses in central London and no London Underground services. Airports are operating normally.

A group of Islamic terrorists called The Secret Organisation of al-Qaeda in Europe on a website today have apparently admitted to the explosions.

[13.15 - Update from Annie]

Tony Blair has just made another speech at Gleneagles as he's just about to leave. To sum up what he said: "All of our countries have suffered from the impact of terrorism. We are united in our resolve to confront and defeat this terrorism. this is not an attack on one nation but all nations..... We will not be allowed to stop the work of this summit.....The terrorists will not suceed. Today's bombings will not weaken our resolve....We shall prevail and they shall not."

[14.00 - Update from Annie]

I've just heard Mayor Ken Livingstone speaking very passionately from Singapore after yesterday's Olympic Win. My basic summary: "We have had trial emergency operations based on multiple explosions on the transport system and they are working well. I'd like to thank Londoners for the clam way they have responded to this attack. I have no doubt whatsoever that this is a terrorist attack. We did hope initially that this was a maintenance tragedy. this was not a terrorist attack against the mighty and the powerful this was aimed at ordinary working londoners. Irrespective of age, class, religion.

It is just an indiscriminate attempt at mass murder. Londoners will not be divided by this cowardly attack. They will stand together in solidarity around those that have been injured and those that have been bereaved. That is why I'm proud to be the mayor of this city. Speaking to the terrorists, I know that you personally do not fear to take your own life to take others. But you will fail. Look at the days that follow. People from around the world will arrive in London. They choose to come to London. Nothing you do, however many of us you kill will stop that flight to our city." Ken's full statement is here.

[14.15 - Update from Annie]

Just to trying to confirm where the explosions were. Four definitely confirmed attacks - One on a Metropolitan line train at Aldgate at the end of the line. One in the rear carriage of a Circle Line train between Paddington and Edgware Road. One on a Piccadilly Line train between King's Cross and Russell Square and the one where pictures are shocking everyone, on the Number 30 bus that was destroyed at Tavistock Square near Russell Square. It's still believed that two other buses may have been attacked and there were reports of explosions at King's Cross and Liverpool Street stations.

News is still coming in, but people are obviously going to be wondering how they will get out of Central London at the end of the working day. I've just heard that they're talking about re-opening bits of the overground at King's Cross.

The bbc's website seems to have recovered and there are some terrifying eyewitness accounts on it.

Traces of explosives have been found at two of the sites.



[15.20 - Update from Annie]

There is an emergency number if anyone is worried about people 0870 1566344 - please only call this in an emergency.

The fatality figures are changing all of the time from 20 to 45 but at the moment it's all speculation. However, looking at that bus I'm sure the figure must be higher than the two who were sadly killed at Aldgate.

Of the blogs and sites that are doing up to the minute reporting I would recommend the following

Anders Jacobsen's blog
The Londonist
Wikipedia on the London bombings - which has good transcripts of speeches by key people.

Brian Paddick Deputy Assistant Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police has just made an official statement:

There have now been 33 fatalities confirmed. Seven confirmed at Liverpool Street/Aldgate, 21 confirmed at Edgware Road and five at King's Cross/Russell Square. Numbers of fatalities for the bus have not been confirmed. However, there are walking wounded from the top deck of the bus.

No warnings were received of the attacks. The police have not received any statements. There's a news conference taking place now and Paddick is talking about CCTV footage being studied but there have been no arrests as yet. No one also knows whether a suicide bomber was involved.

Some buses are beginning to start running again in Zone one. People are bieng asked to stagger their home journeys. DLR has been suspended as a precaution and Victoria Coach station is operating a limited service.

Thames Clippers are putting on free travel on the river. Details on their website.

[16.10 - Update from Annie]

I've just watched some of the press conference with the Police and Tim O'Toole from London Transport. The police believe that the bombs were on tube train carriages themselves and not at stations. They don't believe that the bomb on the bus was intended to go off on the tube - which there's currently a lot of speculation about. There's likely to be another conference at the QE2 centre tomorrow morning.

Tim O'Toole said: "The reason it will be taking so long to get the services back is because we will be investigating every inch of every train. I can assure you there's no other metro system in the world that knows more about this than the London Underground."

[16.40 - Update from Annie]

A lot of people are leaving offices now in a staggered way rather than in a mad rush. Many people are deciding to walk and this has been going on since midday. Tomorrow there will certainly be a lot of "How long did it take you to get home last night?" tales.

The London Ambulance's official statement is that on top of the fatalities, 45 people have been seriously injured which includes horrific injuries like amputations, burn and fractured limbs. Over 300 are being treated for other injuries like shock and smoke inhalation.

The Docklands Light Railway is running again, but it is not stopping at interchanges with London Underground stations like Bank, Stratford and Canary Wharf.

[17.30 - Update from Annie]

I just heard Rudolph Giuliani on the radio who was New York's Mayor during September 11th who is in London at the moment and he was quite near Liverpool Street station during this morning's attack. He is obviously in total sympathy with London and is amazed with our "stoicism", a term that we've heard bandied around a lot today and it's great that people are dealing this all as calmly as they can.

Tony Blair is making another statement at Downing Street, now offering profound condolences to the family of the victims. "There will of course now be the most intense police and security action to catch the perpetrators....I would also pay tribute to the stoicism of the people of London....

"We know that the terrorists act in the name of Islam but we know that Muslims at home and abroad abhor this act as much as we do.......They are trying to use the slaughter of innocent people to frighten us and cower us out of doing the things we want to do. Of trying to stop us from doing the things we're entitled to do. They should not and they must not succeed. We will not be initimidated. We will not be changed. When they try to divide our people and weaken our resolve we will not be divided and our resolve will remain strong.....

"The purpose of terrorism is just that. It is to terrorise people and we will not be terrorised. This is a very sad day for British people but we will hold true to the British way of life"

Limited services are running on most mainline stations out of London including Waterloo.

[18.00 - Update from Annie]

News just come in advising people to stay away from Victoria station as a suspect package has been reported on a bus near the station.

Fatalities have now increased to 37 - this includes two confirmed deaths on the bus.

[19.33 - Update from Annie]

It's been a long and tiring day and I've only been blogging it and listening to radio and watching TV. Just spent the last hour and a half watching TV reports. Some really harrowing viewing including a guy who was on a motorbike behind the bus that was blown up - his mobile phone pictures were horrific.

There was also some mobile phone video footage of some people on one of the trains. I can't imagine how scary it must have been as obvisously all the power went off so you would have been in darkness for a while before emergency power came on. There's a lot of mobile videos shots on BBC London's site although it may take a while before you can view them.



Fortunately the bus driver at Tavistock Square is alive, but he would have seen the bomber get on the bus, and will be questioned by the police to see if he can recollect anything from the morning.

If you are still stuck in London bbc London's website seems to be the best source for travel updates. However from the TV pictures it looks as though a lot of people got out of London earlier in the day and the streets are eerily quiet.

There's not really much more for me to say today, so unless anything major is discovered, I'll close for the day.

Thanks for all the messages of support and keep making comments (there are over 100 below even though haloscan shows zero). London is standing firm and I'm sure we'll still see millions of people commuting tomorrow. We simply cannot let acts of terrorism grind us down.

Our thoughts are with all of the injured, the family and friends of the fatalities and everyone who has been caught up in this dreadful situation.

Listen to the radio or keep clicking on Google news for the latest. But the whole of the London Underground has been closed for the day. Completely unprecedented in my memory.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Anonymous Thursday, July 07, 2005 Permalink COMMENT HERE
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