South Kentish Town Tube & John Betjeman

Update: 27th May 2011:  Last night passengers were stuck on train for three hours just outside of Kentish Town station - spooky in light of the following story on South Kentish Tube a week ago! Read on.......

Just when I thought I'd heard most urban legends about the Tube, something pops up that I initially had no recollection hearing about before. Thanks to Swirlythingy who left a comment in response to London Transport Museum's new "Underground" Map commission (blogged earlier this week), I learnt that John Betjeman had written a short story based on a true event about a man getting stuck at South Kentish Town London Underground Station a few weeks after it had closed in 1924.


John Betjeman lookalike I spotted on the Northern Line last week
In reality when the doors opened at the closed station, the man got off, but quite soon realised his mistake and managed to jump on the train before it left. But one should never let the facts get in the way of a good urban legend.

Enter TOT a London Transport staff magazine which published a poem in 1933 about the event. The writer had a whale of a time with this incident and created a "Mr Brackett" who was stuck in the station for four days and only survived by eating the posters on station walls!

Here's part of the poem:

"When morning came he started on his hands and knees to crawl,
And made a lot of progress 'till his forehead hit a wall.
Then he sat and chewed a poster which was advertising "port",
But the paste upon it proved a most unsatisfying sort.
All day upon the platform Mr Brackett quietly fumed,
His mind was full of pictures of the day he'd be exhumed;"

He managed to escape by burning more posters to create a signal attracting the attention of a Tube driver.

Fast forward to 1951 and John Betjeman, former Poet Laureate and London railway lover, wrote a story about South Kentish Town, broadcast by BBC's Home Service, and changed the name of the man to Basil Green.

Some extracts follow: "This is a story about a very unimportant station on the Underground railway in London .....

Hardly anyone used the station at all. I should think about three people a day. Every other train on the Underground railway went through without stopping: 'Passing South Kentish Town!' Passengers used Camden Town Station to the south of it, and Kentish Town to the north of it, but South Kentish Town they regarded as an unnecessary interolation, like a comma in the wrong place in a sentence, or an uncalled-for remark in the middle of an interesting story. When trains stopped at South Kentish Town the passengers were annoyed .......

Then progress came along, as, alas it so often does: and progress, as you know, means doing away with anything restful and useless."


He wrote about the closure of the station: "All you noticed as you rolled by in a tramcar down the Kentish Town Road was something that looked like an Underground station, but when you looked again it was two shops, a tobacconist's and a coal-merchant's. Down below they switched off the lights on the platforms and in the passages leading to the lifts, and then they left the station to itself. The only way you could know, if you were in an Underground train, that there had ever been a South Kentish Town Station, was that the train made a different noise as it rushed through the dark and empty platform. It went quieter with a sort of swoosh instead of a roar and if you looked out of the window you could see the lights of the carriages reflected in the white tiles of the station wall."

"Basil Green" like Mr Brackett before him gets stuck at the station and tries to make his way out. He climbs up a spiral staircase, no luck. He explores the lift shafts thinking that might work out.

"I don't know whether you know what the lift shafts of London's Underground railways are like. They are enormous - twice as big as this room where I am sitting and round instead of square. All the way round them are iron ledges jutting out about six inches from the iron walls and each ledge is about two feet above the next. A brave man could swing himself on to one of these and climb up hand over hand, if he were sensible enough not to look down and make himself giddy."

That doesn't work either and he beds down for the night with the Evening Standard as a pillow. The full story which you can read online here doesn't have an ending, so you're left wondering how Mr Green will make his escape.

J.E Connor wrote in London's Disused Underground Stations that the story was broadcast on the radio again in 1961 and was the subject of a TV programme in 1997 "which inferred that it was “true”."

As you can tell from my pictures above, I own both London's Disused Underground Stations and Betjeman's London which has the short story in it. I even found little post-it notes attached to the story. But if you'd had asked me yesterday, had I heard of the story, I'd have said no. Must be a sign of old age. Soon I'll be ranting at  young policemen on the streets: "Don't tell me what to do laddy, I've forgotten more than you'll ever know".

Anyway I'm pleased to discover both books again and Connor's book will definitely be re-read with interest.

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London Underground; Tube Posted by annie mole Friday, May 20, 2011 Permalink COMMENT HERE
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Photos from 1967 Tube Stock's Last Tour

On Sunday 15th May number of London Underground enthusiasts got to travel on the last* of the 1967 Tube stock before it gets put into pasture. It was a mammoth 6 hour tour and I really don't like Tubes enough to stay on them that long. IanVisits has written a post about the whole experience.

Browsing through the London Tube Flickr group I spotted some lovely pictures of unexpected details taken by Antje (aka Trowbridge Estate) on the tour.


Defect Report Log - 1967 Tube Stock by Trowbridge Estate


The Victoria line blue tit by Trowbridge Estate
More of her photos from the tour here.

*OK Not technically the last. From IanVisits who reported that Victoria Line Manager, John Doyle "was able to confirm that the last 67 Stock to run along the whole line will be on Friday 27th May as engineering works mean they can’t travel past Seven Sisters after that date, but a few will still ply their trade along the rest of the line for a couple more weeks.

The very last train ever on any part of the line will be around the middle of June. Was supposed to be the end of June/start July, but engineering works means they are probably going to bring the final trip forward. Details to be confirmed."

More Heritage Train Journeys

A quick reminder that there are still places left on this Sunday's (22nd May) 1938 Tube Tour. London Transport Museum said tickets can no longer be purchased online as postal delivery cannot be guaranteed in time for the event. However, tickets can still be booked via the booking office on 0207 565 7298 and collected on the day from Harrow on the Hill (until 10:30), Amersham and Rickmansworth. Tickets may also be purchased in person on the day from those stations.

London Underground; Tube Posted by annie mole Thursday, May 19, 2011 Permalink COMMENT HERE
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London Transport Museum Commission new "Underground Map"

I know there's lots of map geeks who read the blog, so don't think this is yet another Tube or London Underground Map (there's plenty of those to go round). However, this newly commissioned map will be a map about London's Underground. It will include the transport network but also everything else that's subterranean, from pre-history to the contemporary.


Stephen Walter map by Rooney
Artist Stephen Walter had produced a amazingly detailed a hand-drawn map of London's surface, called The Island Series in 2008. This was made up of words and symbols mingled with geographical information to form "a celebration of place". It was on display last year in The British Library's Magnificant Maps exhibition.

On London Transport Museum's blog Stephen said "I would like to have noted the lost rivers of London in ‘The Island.’ The continuing flow of waters that now find themselves diverted and channeled through a system of pipes underground still ending in the Thames. These are the very routes of our city. When London Transport Museum came to me for a new idea, I thought of it straight away – An Underground map of London where I could finally include those lost rivers and develop my own Tube map."

He's currently developing ideas for the new subterranean map and wants your input so it can be a "peoples' map". He said "When thinking about London Underground, most people will relate to the Tube system and their memories of events whilst on it, or to a crypt, basement or tunnel." He'd like to delve deeper into the questions of what the ‘underground’ means to people and how it might be interpreted.

There's a series of interesting open questions on the museum's blog to inspire some thoughts. They include:

What rumors of ‘secret’ underground infrastructure have you heard about?
What does the ‘underworld’ mean to you?
When you think about what is underground in London, what do you see?
What is your concept of what is ‘underlying’?

So let your mind wander, think about all the things that interest you about what's under London. For me it's secret passageways, secret tunnels, hidden bunkers, sewers, Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere, ghost and disused stations like The Mail Rail and Aldwych, mice and rats, The Thames Tunnel, 'real' underground ghosts, mad troglodytes, travelling beneath the river, night shift workers, plague pits, what's being uncovered in Crossrail's construction, scary thoughts of getting stuck in the Underground when it's closed for the night (I could go on and on).

But let Stephen know whatever it means to you. I'm looking forward to seeing how everyone's thoughts get represented on the map. If it's anything like The Island it'll be amazing.

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London Underground; Tube Posted by annie mole Wednesday, May 18, 2011 Permalink COMMENT HERE
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Roundels Not on the Underground

It's been some time, but Roundels Not on the London Underground is back. Many thanks to everyone who's been globe trotting and sending in pictures of the Tube Roundel not in its natural habitat.  As it's been a while, there's a bumper collection below.

A couple from the UK to start with, starting with one that's closest to home.


If the Tube ever wanted to run a line of pasties they could learn from this Cornish cafe.  It's certainly err... simple. They sell pasties and the basement shop is ever so slightly underground.   Alan aka @grimnorth spotted this last month in Polzeath.


Lots of rogue roundels spotted in Redcar by CdL Creative.

Returning to the culinary theme which continues in Essen, Germany where @Centralman saw the roundel gracing a pizza place.


Staying in Germany and one actually seen on a station!



Gary aka @vicchi said "While at Wittenbergplatz U-Bahn station, I noticed a familiar London Underground Tube roundel style sign. The small brass plaque underneath the sign explains that it was donated by London Transport in 1952 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Berlin's U-Bahn system."

Moving eastwards a lovely shot by Nuria of a shop in Bratislava, Slovakia.

Joana found the following in Reykjavik, Iceland.


Maybe Reykjavik has more than its fair share of roundels thanks to Damon Albarn's bar which has been spotted by a number of you in the past. Barry who went a few years back said "It's quite surreal experience to travel to the Arctic Circle and find all these LU roundels all over the place, but then Reykjavik (and Iceland as a country) itself is quite a surreal place."

There's definitely a trend for using the roundel as a bar sign as the following photos show.  The first was spotted by James B in Copenhagen.

Mark Baldwin spotted this on holiday in Neapoli in Greece.


Also spotted by Anne who has a close up.



Travelling outside of Europe we go to Brazil and a spot by Drew.



He said "I spotted this "Pub" in a small town near Sao Paulo, Brazil - a murky, misty day, sadly, but it still looked quite a fun 'stop' at which to alight!"

Finally, I think this is the first roundel sent from a desert. It was spotted in Nevada's Black Rock Desert by Derek.


He said "Here is a roundel on a art piece at last year's Burning Man. BTW. Piss Clear is a reference to the unofficial Burning Man daily newspaper that ran for 13 years, until a couple of years ago. I believe it is now available as a book."

Thanks so much to all of you.  I'm always amazed at the places the roundel has been seen and very grateful that you've taken photos of them for the blog.  The collection of Roundels Not on the Underground is on my Flickr set.

Please keep looking out for them on your travels and I'll post the best here.

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London Underground; Tube Posted by annie mole Saturday, May 14, 2011 Permalink COMMENT HERE
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Roundels on the River: Serco Prize For Illustration

Look out for a new poster on the London Underground this week. It's Anne Wilson’s ‘Winding Through the City‘ which won first prize in the Serco Prize for Illustration on Monday evening. London Transport Museum is home to an exhibition of the best 50 entries to the competition run in partnership with the Association of Illustrators. The brief was to "submit images that feature the River Thames as an exciting and varied place for Londoners and visitors alike."


The exhibition runs until 3rd June 2011 and has some wonderful illustrations on display. The Thames is such a part London's iconic images that there was an outcry when it was temporarily removed from the Tube map.

Matt Oxborrow's "An Average Day on the Thames" was my personal favourite, as I loved the idea of people floating down the river on roundels. He's also illustrated a whole range of Londoners who might use the Thames for work or pleasure.

It was interesting to see so many interpretations of the Thames many of them showing a vertical West/East divide, rather than the more familiar horizontal division.


I liked Anne Wilson's winning entry and it was good to see how well it worked on London Transport Museum merchandise, that was on display. The detail on some of the other illustrations was amazing, but I'm not sure how well they would have transferred to mugs, mousemats, bag and posters.

I'm a sucker for retro looking things and particularly liked Matthew Bromley's Explore The Thames for this reason.


Andy Potts' London Flow worked really well with a simple colour scheme and various modes of transport literally flowing through the river.




I loved the fairytale detail in Madalina Andronic's 5 o'clock Thames. She was standing next to me when I was taking a picture and I asked her how long it took. "Three days", she said. I don't think I could complete something like that in three years!

There's a few more pictures on my Flickr set of the exhibition. If you look closely in one you'll see the reflection of IanVisits who also came along the opening and has written a blog post with his impressions too.

To support the exhibition on Saturday 21 May at 3pm London Transport Museum Senior Curator, Claire Dobbin, will give an illustrated talk "Poster Art and the River Thames" about how the River Thames has featured in over a century of London Transport posters. The hour long talk is £8 – or free to annual season ticket holders (you're advised to phone 020 7565 7298 in advance to reserve your place).

London Underground; Tube Posted by annie mole Wednesday, May 11, 2011 Permalink COMMENT HERE
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Tube Strikes Off

You may have read reports earlier today that London Underground had negotiated with the RMT to suspend strikes due to start on 16th May. As the saying going, "It's not over till the fat lady sings", so now the railway union's equivalent to the fat lady has spoken. The RMT have finally confirmed London Underground's position and the Tube Strike is off.


Bob Crow said "This dispute has only ever been about securing justice for our members who have been unfairly dismissed. As a result of this agreement Eamonn Lynch can return to work with his continuity of employment and standard of living protected.


“We now also have an agreement to enter into further discussions with relation to Arwyn Thomas aimed at resolving his unfair dismissal case in advance of his Employment Tribunal.


“As a result we have agreed to suspend the action to allow those further discussions to take place over the next week."

Earlier the BBC and other sources reported, London Underground's MD Mike Brown, who said "Following a meeting with the RMT leadership this morning, the RMT have withdrawn their threat of industrial action, and we have avoided significant disruption for London."

Related Post
Tube Strike Dates Announced for May and June

London Underground; Tube Posted by annie mole Tuesday, May 10, 2011 Permalink COMMENT HERE
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Northern Line Extension to Battersea - Have Your Say

Today TfL and Treasury Holdings are starting a public consultation to hear local views on the proposed extension of the Nothern Line from Kennington to Battersea Power Station.

 From Stefen Cz's post on Albert Square and Saint Stephen's Association blog

In November 2010 Wandsworth Council gave approval to plans to revamp Battersea Power Station. Two new London Underground stations were  part of the package - one at Nine Elms and one at Battersea. If the private sector funded 3km extension goes ahead, locals in Battersea would be less than 15 minutes by Tube from the West End and the City.

Michèle Dix, TfL's Managing Director for Planning said: 'We're very much behind this private-sector funded project, which will not only support the proposed development of the Northern line extension but become an important transport link for people in the Battersea and Nine Elms area.

'We are really keen to hear what local residents think about these proposals for the Northern line extension.' Around 40,000 leaflets are being sent to households and businessesin the surrounding area asking people for their views on the project, the location of stations and other infrastructure associated with the extension.

A couple of years ago, I went along to a walking tour Battersea Power Station and at the time only one new station was proposed.

The public consultation ends on Friday 17th June.  TfL and Treasury Holdings are holding three exhibitions about the Northern Line extension throughout the rest of May from 18th May. Details are on TfL's website.

Subject to funding and further planning permission the Northern line extension could be completed in 2017.  I wondered where the cash would be coming from for this, when I first blogged last year and London Reconnections make a detailed prediction of how it could all be funded.

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London Underground; Tube Posted by annie mole Monday, May 09, 2011 Permalink COMMENT HERE
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Spoof Stickers on the Central Line

If you travel on the Central Line you might have seen some unusual stickers on the in carriage maps. They're the work of "Stickers on the Central Line" hoping to get people to do a quick double-take or at least raise a smile.


Started on the 25th April they wrote "At 13:54 Stickers on the Central Line took its first steps. After months (well hours) of planning we were finally ready. Armed with stickers we boarded the 13:50 from Epping to West Ruislip and unleashed phase 1 onto an unsuspecting public."


The stickers are pretty inventive and each one comes with a commentary on the blog. I love the explanation for Lille: "It is a little known fact that between Woodford and Buckhurst Hill there is a lightly used tunnel which provides London Underground commuters direct access to the Paris Metro. Providing you’re not in a hurry, you can just sit back (if you can find a seat), relax and simply show your passport when the border guards pass through the train."

As well as the blog, there's also a Facebook Group where you can record your spots and send in ideas for stickers.

Thanks to the many people who let me know about this and hat-tip to @Londonist on Twitter where I first saw it mentioned.

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London Underground; Tube Posted by annie mole Friday, May 06, 2011 Permalink COMMENT HERE
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Cally Road Tube Artist Inspires Song

Love this story of how the Caledonian Road Tube artist has inspired a Holloway musician, Eoin Quiery, to write a song about her. Kim Kalan's lovely artwork and cheery messages on whiteboards have have been brightening up the ticket office at the London Underground station for around a year. She was "gobsmacked" to hear she was going to be immortalised in song.


The customer service assistant who is a novelist in her spare time and is currently looking for an agent for her first sci-fi fantasy book. She sketches up to two drawings a week, working on them in her breaks, when the station goes quiet and at the end of her shifts.

Eoin Quiery, @eoinquiery, said: "The pictures just cheer everybody up when they are making their way into a work on a dreary morning. It's great to see somebody with such a positive attitude. I wanted to capture her positivity in the music."

He will record the song later this month with his acoustic rock band Burning Wheel, who are working on an album.  You can read more about this story here.

Hat tip to Mark Baldwin who read about this in Muswill Hill New Journal.

Please keep the stories about Tube staff that make you smile coming in.

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London Underground; Tube Posted by annie mole Thursday, May 05, 2011 Permalink COMMENT HERE
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Tube Strikes Dates Announced for May and June

Update - June 9th 2011 - More Tube strikes are now planned for June & July 2011 over this issue. 


Update - May 10th 2011 - Tube Strikes Are Off - You may have read reports that London Underground had negotiated with the RMT to suspend strikes due to start on 16th May. Now RMT have finally confirmed London Underground's position and the Tube Strike is off.

Earlier the BBC and other sources reported, London Underground's MD Mike Brown, who said "Following a meeting with the RMT leadership this morning, the RMT have withdrawn their threat of industrial action, and we have avoided significant disruption for London." 

Here's the earlier post with some of the background:

RMT driver members are to take six days of strike action starting from 16th May 2011 in a row over the sacking of two Tube drivers. The strikes will effectively disrupt the London Underground over a period of two weeks, with RMT leader Bob Crow saying the action will have a "major impact" on services.

64% of members voted in favour of strike action over the dismissal of Arwyn Thomas, a Bakerloo Line driver and Eamon Lynch, a Northern Line driver. Both men have taken a case of unfair dismissal to an employment tribunal.

The driver strikes are currently planned for between nine and 24 hours from Monday 16 May to Friday 20 May and again from Monday 13 June to Friday 17 June.

Bob Crow said: "It is the abject failure of LU to recognise that their policy of victimisation of union activists has been well and truly rumbled both in the employment tribunal and in their own depots, and it is that harassment and bullying that has left us with no choice but to name these dates for strike action ".

Jubilant members from the union added on website RMT London Calling "This is a major achievement for the union and shows that drivers across the whole of the combine and in every depot are determined to stop the victimisation of our fellow drivers. Never before has the union escalated an individual case across the whole of the Tube network.

Support for RMT campaigns combine wide are normally based on pay issues, terms and conditions or safety. To gain the support of our driver members the length and breadth of the combine for these two individuals is a fantastic show of solidarity for our victimised work mates. This result sends a clear message to LU bosses that drivers have had enough of the abuse of procedures and the oppressive management regime in force."

They continued "However much you try to keep your head down and get through your shift, the oppressive breath of management is there, scorching the back of your neck. Eamonn and Arwyn’s sackings are not random: they are part of a management strategy to remove RMT from the workplace and, with it, any resistance to what they want to do to you."


Although this round of strike action is not about pay, they added "Whilst they are receiving gongs such as 'train operator of the year' and boasting that we are moving more people in living history, they want to reward you with a multiyear pay cut! With inflation running at over 5%, interest rate rises on the way and cost of fuel and other living costs going through the roof all they have offered is 4% for the first year and RPI + 0.25% for the following 4."

At time of writing there is no statement about the proposed strike on TfL's site but they told the BBC that it's "absolute nonsense" to suggest the two men were dismissed unfairly due to their union activities.

Talks are continuing, so there is a chance the strikes may get called off, however with such a majority in favour of the industrial action it's unlikely the legality of the strike will be challenged.  Watch this space as more news comes in and in the meantime get prepared for disruption from the 16th May.

Update - 6th May 2011 -  Earlier today one of the sacked drivers, Eamonn Lynch won his claim of unfair dismissal, so now Bob Crow's demanding an immediate meeting with TfL

He said "With the clear parallel with Arywn Thomas's case, there is now an urgent need for London Underground to meet with the RMT to set out a plan for a return to work that can avoid plunging London into two blocks of strike action that everyone knows will lead to massive disruption. The tribunal has found in favour of the RMT, justice has been done and now we need to meet with the company to finalise arrangements that can enable us to move forwards as quickly as possible."

London Underground Managing Director, Mike Brown, said 'We will, of course, study the Employment Tribunal judgment and carefully consider our next steps. Whilst the Tribunal has made a finding of unfair dismissal, it has also found that on the 9 August 2010 Mr Lynch breached an established and significant safety rule and was in part culpable or blameworthy for his actions.'

Waiting next steps with baited breath.

London Underground; Tube Posted by annie mole Wednesday, May 04, 2011 Permalink COMMENT HERE
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Stars Wars Day - Subway travelling Stormtroopers

In honour of Star Wars Day, "May the Fourth Be with you" and all that, I wanted to remind you of how Stars Wars characters invaded the Subway. Sadly they haven't reached the London Underground yet.

Last year, the crazy team who brought No Pants/Trousers Subway Day to the world, Improv Everywhere, decided to re-enact the first Princess Leia / Darth Vader scene from Star Wars in a New York City subway car.


Like them, I was amazed at how many people got out their camera phones and actually paid attention to this.

They said "One thing we learned is that almost every human will immediately take out their camera when they see Darth Vader. We've done lots of crazy missions on the subway over the years, but I have never seen so many people taking photographs of our performance. How can you not take a photo of Darth Vader? It's impossible to resist!"

Hat tip to @manima for spotting this.

Darth Vader OK, OK, a Storm Trooper appeared to be studiously ignored when queuing for a subway ticket in Toyko.

More on the Toyko sighting here.

Will someone in London put ImprovEverywhere's thesis to the test? Can we rely on Tube commuters to studiously ignore Darth & Co?

London Underground; Tube Posted by annie mole Wednesday, May 04, 2011 Permalink COMMENT HERE
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London Transport Awards 2011 - Winners

Last Thursday, I found myself at an awards ceremony dedicated to London Transport. It had all the usual features of awards ceremonies: lovely food, glitzy room, people turned out very smartly, large screens, comedy host and big name after dinner speaker (Ken Livingstone in this case - introduced as "our once and future Mayor"!). I had wondered how you could give "awards" for London Transport and part of me expected nominations for "Best use of an Oyster Card", "Best Excuse for Jubilee Line Suspension" and "Lifetime Achievement for Escalator Services", but this wasn't the case.


The awards were for people who were "making a real difference to transport across London". Although "people" in most cases meant "organisations", it was was lovely to see that there were some awards for individuals, such as "Frontline Employee of the Year". Two London Underground staff were nominated & two bus drivers from First London Buses. I was personally delighted to see Tim Pinn (aka Mr Warwick Avenue), who was nominated not just for his cheery white board notices, but his "excellent rapport with customers" and that he "always takes time to ask after family members and share a joke with them. He is constantly on the lookout for customers who may need assistance and always greets customers as they pass." Mystery shopper & customer feedback demonstrate "he is always active in his willingness to provide impeccable customer service and leave a very positive impression of LU on customers".

I met Tim after the ceremony (he didn't win the overall prize, that went to Dagenham Driver Phil Hiett), and Tim was charming, bubbling over with enthusiasm and a naturally likeable man. You can see why he was nominated and it was great to see a Tube member of staff who has a Facebook page "We love extraordinary Tim Pinn", for all the right reasons.

I didn't meet the other LU nominee, Andy Cutting, line specialist at Baker Street, but learnt that he was behind solving problems with customer information at Edgware Road "by advising that the key to improving this area was by improving communication between the signal cabin and the station team" leading to a reduction in complaints.  The drivers were nominated for competent driving (obviously) but also charity work and awareness of the community.  Phil had spotted an elderly pedestrian who was disorientated and took her to the nearest police station so she could be cared for.

In our everyday commutes, its all too easy to think of all London Underground or bus staff as 'faceless' individuals, jobsworths or strike happy union members,  who really don't care about us.  Obviously people don't just work to win awards, but  it's pleasing to know there are are a lot more people like Tim around and good to see them publicly recognised - not just through awards but in the press, on blog posts, Twitter, and Facebook pages.   If you have any stories of Tube staff that make your day, I'd love to hear about them.

All of the winners and nominees for the London Transport Awards can be found here. Other London Underground related awards went to Kings Cross St Pancras for LUL Customer Service Team of the Year, South Quay for Rail Station of the Year (beating King's Cross St Pancras Tube, Streatham Hill and Mitcham Junction) and London Overground won Public Transport Operator of the Year.  The Oyster Extension to National Rail won the award for Excellence in Technology and Innovation.

Thanks very much to the press team at TfL for inviting me along the awards and for being great company at dinner!  Thanks also to John Bull at London Reconnections for being an excellent drinking partner and fount of knowledge for all things London Transport related.  There's a few more pictures from the Transport Awards here.

You might also like
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London Underground; Tube Posted by annie mole Tuesday, May 03, 2011 Permalink COMMENT HERE
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Free Rail Travel for any Will & Kate

Sadly no free London Underground travel today, but make the most of sharing the same name as William or Kate (or a number of different versions of them) on Chiltern Railways and Mersey Rail. Both networks are offering free travel on Royal Wedding Day, if you can show photographic ID with your name.


Will & Kate Lookalikes at Marylebone

If you're travelling into London on the Tube today, just expect it to be pretty crowded, particularly in the obvious places like TfL's poster says.


It's a Saturday service, but all stations including Westminster are open, although some of them may be temporarily closed if overcrowded. More details on TfL's site.

Peter Hendy, London's Transport Commissioner said "All Tube lines will be running and our bus and streets teams will be working flat-out to make sure that the closures and diversions needed are managed smoothly. The whole of TfL is focussed on helping to ensure that a great day is had by all."

Related Post
Royal Wedding Oyster Cards

London Underground; Tube Posted by annie mole Friday, April 29, 2011 Permalink COMMENT HERE
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Heart of the Angel on DVD - Meet the Tube Fluffers

I was kindly sent a review copy of Molly Dineen's eye-opening documentary about 48 hours in the life of Angel London Underground station - Heart of the Angel. She filmed station staff, engineers, travellers and overnight cleaners - or fluffers as they were called - in 1989 before the station had a major rebuild with spacious new platforms and installation of the longest escalators on the Tube.


What struck me was how historical the film looked, even though it was only shot just over twenty years ago. The Tube at that stage seemed like another world, punks larking around on platforms, pre Oyster card, extremely manual, dusty, constantly breaking down, frustrated (mainly bespectacled & big haired) commuters sweating as they walked up and down huge flights of stairs - actually - it's not that different from today in many cases. When the film first came out, the Evening Standard claimed that "long suffering commuters demanded that the film be made required viewing for every member of the board of London Underground." It certainly makes an interesting counterpoint to TfL's current glossy videos of engineering work upgrades.


The station staff were funny yet totally frustrated at the same time. Dineen's gentle questioning made the staff into the real stars of the film, seeming to speak their thoughts aloud. Mr Simms who manned the lift (on the few occasions it worked) acted like he owned the lift and questioned the passengers who entered it, with philosophical questions like: "Is the world round or flat"?

Derek, the station assistant had been working for 45 years and was aware he wouldn't achieve anything more in his life. He spent his time counting out piles change and giving directions to tourists "If you get lost come back and I'll tell you again for nothing." When making a cup of tea in the dilapidated staff room he said: "I'm never miserable, I've just got that sort of face. When I'm asleep I'm happy". What would you have liked to achieve Dineen asks, "I'd like to have been taller", Derek replied.


The station manager was aware of how badly the station needed refurbishment but his mind was also elsewhere as he showed Dineen his paintings and sketches of where he's rather be "Lonely places, hilly places". He actually got excited when he was shown drawings of the new station. "It'll be in poshest station in London. Course they won't have little turds like us in charge of it".


I was fascinated watching the underground crews of mainly female workers who changed on the station platform and then spent the evening picking out human hair & rubbish from the tracks by hand. Much of this is done by machines now (although some cleaning is now men with brushes), but though the fluffers knew their work was backbreaking & almost soul destroying, they went about it with a sense of camaraderie (helped by the fact that many of them were related). At times they came out with poetic thoughts "My days are nights and my nights are days", when they weren't singing or occasionally worried about the sense of something else being underground with them!

There were two lovely pieces in the 10 minutes of extra footage which was never shown on 40 Minutes (where it was originally aired). Firstly, a very fluent Customer Service Assistant explaining how both staff & passengers got frustrated with the system and how this boiled over into other aspects of their life outside the Tube. "It's a currency of aggrevation, that gathers value with incredible ease".

Finally, under the spotlight was a sweaty engineering worker who'd been moving new tracks overnight. "This is not today is it. This is Victorian. I thought it would be a bit more modern than a pick and a shovel. You're not telling me this is the 21st century and we're doing it like this. You can't tell me in 100 years time there's blokes like us doing this. There's got to be a better way to do this and they're not even looking.

What happens when the government finally says run it financially on your own. What are they going to do then?"

What indeed?

Heart of the Angel is one of four films in Volume One of the Molly Dineen Collection and available from BFI Filmstore.

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London Underground; Tube Posted by annie mole Thursday, April 28, 2011 Permalink COMMENT HERE
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Heritage Train Journeys in May

London Transport Museum’s 1938 Tube Stock is back on the tracks. Unfortunately, last September's journey was cancelled but on Sunday 22nd May 2011 London Transport Museum are running four special heritage train journeys. I was lucky enough to travel on the art deco 1938 Tube train a few years ago and it's a real nostalgic treat.


"The train has an elegant semi-streamlined exterior with flush fitted windows and air operated sliding doors controlled automatically by the train guard. This was all the last word in modernity in 1938 when most main line passenger trains were still steam hauled with slam door coaches". It's a great journey and was one of the last units to run in regular London Underground service until 1988 (just in case you wonder why there are a lot of 1970's and 1980's ads in the cars). Ticket prices and journey details are below:

10:38am - Harrow-on-the-Hill to Watford then to Rickmansworth then to Amersham – 1hr 30mins
Adults £25 Children £15

12:55pm – Amersham to Rickmansworth, then to Watford and back again – 50mins
Adults £15 Children £8

1:56pm – Amersham to Rickmansworth, then to Watford and back again – 50mins
Adults £15 Children £8

2:56pm – Amersham to Rickmansworth, then to Watford and on to Harrow-on-the-Hill – 1hr 30mins
Adults £25 Children £15

All journeys travel via Watford and the North Curve which is a part of the line rarely used for daily services.

All tickets include free travel on Sarah Siddons - the oldest working main line electric locomotive in Britain - subject to availability. You can can travel separately on this train as it makes special trips between Harrow-on-the-Hill, Watford Rickmansworth to Amersham. "Engine no. 12 , Sarah Siddons, was built in 1922 and is the last operational Metropolitan Railway electric locomotive; the only surviving working engine out of 20 built by Metropolitan Vickers and named after real or fictitious people associated with the area served by the Metropolitan Railway. The engines had a top speed of 65 miles per hour." said London Transport Museum.


Tickets for the Sarah Siddons only are £5.00 for adults and three quid for children.

A free heritage bus service, including the Museum's iconic Routemaster RM1 will be making journeys from Rickmansworth Station to the Rickmansworth Festival site at Batchworth Lock.

Tickets must be booked in advance on 020 7565 7298. Full details and the timetable are on London Transport Museum's site.

London Underground; Tube Posted by annie mole Wednesday, April 27, 2011 Permalink COMMENT HERE
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Love/Hate Travel Commuter Survival Kit Winners

Many thanks to all who entered the competition to win a brilliant Commuter Survival Kit from Love/Hate Travel. They loved your entries as to what you would like to see in your own commuting survival kit and Nicola Clare's was their favourite:

"A hat with programmable scrolling message LED display - it would be like a carriage wide text you could send - love them or hate them you could let them know ... hmm thinking about it ... it might need to be a hard hat lol"

That actually reminds me of the "Subway Sleep Mask" from Tokyo with scrolling LED message telling people which stop they wanted to get off. So the technology already exists ......

The other lucky winners were Thom & Onescoop, who also win a commuting survival kit. If you could contact me with your address details & I'll arrange to get the kits delivered to you.

Finally, if you're easing your way back into the commute after the Easter Bank Holiday, Powwownow, the guys behind the Love/Hate Travel campaign, have put together a video with some handy tips on how energise or de-stress your London Underground or bus commute.


If only the London Olympics had a competitive commuting category - this would be perfect for it!

Thanks again to Love/Hate Travel for the prizes and you can keep up to date with their observations on what people hate & love about their journey on Twitter or Facebook.

London Underground; Tube Posted by annie mole Tuesday, April 26, 2011 Permalink COMMENT HERE
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Tube Location Game Chromaroma out of Beta

I've blogged about Chromaroma while it was still in beta, but now everyone with an Oyster card (well anyone with a Pre Pay Oyster) can play. Basically, Chromaroma is a "type of location-based top-trumps. You collect places, identities, modes of transport and passengers as you travel around the city; discover and investigate mysteries attached to different locations and build alliances with fellow passengers that share your journeys."


BBC Click have made a short film with good explanation on the security issues involved. And whether we actually want an already crowded London Underground system more clogged up with people rushing around for a game on it.

Related Post
Location based Tube Game - Chromaroma

London Underground; Tube Posted by annie mole Sunday, April 24, 2011 Permalink COMMENT HERE
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Royal Wedding Model Rail

As the Royal Wedding Oyster Cards go on sale today, I wondered if there was any other rail or transport related William & Kate memorabilia around. Thanks to Tim Hall aka Kalyr, I discovered there was. Hold onto your hats, it's the RW-2 Peco Royal Wedding Commemorative Coal Hopper Wagon.

A bargain at just £14.50, you can be the proud owner of this special model wagon. The limited edition N Gauge Coal hopper makes the perfect "unique addition to your collection". The "beautifully painted" gold and purple wagon is sure to delight model railway enthusiasts around the world.

Great find Tim. I'll send it along to Royal Wedding Tat who are making their own collection so we don't forget what's out there.

If you see any other transport related Royal Wedding items, please send them my way.

Related Posts
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London Underground; Tube Posted by annie mole Thursday, April 21, 2011 Permalink COMMENT HERE
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How to Make String Tube Map

If you fancy doing something crafty over the coming break, you could try making a London Underground Map out of string. The effect is really lovely.


String map 2 by fsm vpggruIt's made even better when you see a beautifully shot time lapse video of how it was put together.

String map from fsm vpggru
There's more photos of the map on fsm vpggru's Flickr stream. Hat tip to Sizemore for letting me know.

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London Underground; Tube Posted by annie mole Wednesday, April 20, 2011 Permalink COMMENT HERE
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Any more thoughts on Private Rod?

Embankment London Underground station has a much photographed door, home to a mysterious "Private Rod"

Private Rod by maximolly.

The door even has its own Facebook page, with people wondering whether "Private Rod" reports to Captain Cabinets.

It appears that current London Underground staff don't know why the door's there either. Jon who works for TfL said "I’ve asked around a lot of the usual fountains of knowledge within LU and as yet have not found an answer.

I received two updates today:

1. The staff at Embankment Tube have no idea what the sign means, but did say that behind the door is nothing but a brick wall!

2. There is a similar door at Ealing Broadway, but again the staff there don't know what it is for."


Private Rod by wirehead2501

I had heard that it may stand for Rail Operating Department - but they clearly don't do much operating if there's only a brick wall behind the door. Why are there only two of them on the whole network? Unless you've seen them elsewhere!

Any more theories as to who or what Private Rod is?

London Underground; Tube Posted by annie mole Tuesday, April 19, 2011 Permalink COMMENT HERE
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Overtaken by a bus in the London Marathon

Yesterday's London Marathon was as usual full of loads of  runners in fancy dress, amongst them two guys running as a London bus.  I'd been waiting at my cheering point for so long, I half expected three to turn up at once, but it never happened.



Congratulations to everyone who took part - particularly those running for charity.  If you've got a few quid to spare why not sponsor The Guardian's London blogger Dave Hill who ran his first marathon yesterday.

Here's my  Flickr set of the many other London Marathon runners in fancy dress including one of the many Wills & Kates, Spidermen, Supermen and rhinos.

Wonder if next year people will dress up as a London Underground train?

London Underground; Tube Posted by annie mole Monday, April 18, 2011 Permalink COMMENT HERE
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Boris visits Tube work site

Boris visited the District Line between Bromley by Bow and Bow Road stations to see what happens when part of the line is closed. TfL have uploaded a video of his visit where he talks about the works and what they mean for the London Underground upgrade plan.



He finds out at first hand what Ballasted Track Renewal is.  According to Boris it's "absolutely crucial for the improvement of services on the District Line and all sub-service lines". The video is another example of TfL efforts of trying to show engineering work in action (Tube chief Peter Hendy stressed this was something he wanted to do when I met him with other London bloggers last year).

In the video Boris says of the track replacement: "Once it's done this track won't need renewing for another forty years". Not sure how much I'll be using the Tube when I'm a pensioner, but let's hope it's true and will save future commuters the frequent line weekend closures we've been facing.

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London Underground; Tube Posted by annie mole Thursday, April 14, 2011 Permalink COMMENT HERE
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Defective Dot Matrix Displays on the Tube

Every so often the platform indicators & in carriage displays have a funny turn. Sometimes this results in the trains being bound for strange locations as Laura from @AboutLondon spotted yesterday.

Last week my London Underground train appeared to be pretty excited about the next stations it was travelling to. Some exclamation marks created a dramatic pause before announcing where we should change to get on the Northern Line:


It was also very pleased about pulling into Piccadilly Circus and South Kensington




If you spot any other borked displays on your journey let me know.

As yet I still don't think much can beat the Northern Line offering a God Service.


Higher power by Deepgreen2009

London Underground; Tube Posted by annie mole Tuesday, April 12, 2011 Permalink COMMENT HERE
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