Cockney Rhyming Slang Quiz results

And the winners are......

Sorry to a be a bit tardy with the results of this quiz where Tube station names can form the basis of Cockney Rhyming Slang. There were some great new ones of your own but I managed to stump you with how I devised "I don't give a Pinner".

More on that later. But inventiveness prizes to:

Michael Reeves "He's only gone and thrown 'is Theydons out of the pram!" (Theydon Bois - Toys)

I also liked Alan P's seasonal "My advice for this hot weather is to put a few beers in your Upminster Bridge (fridge) and sit in the garden until you are nice and Acton Town (brown)."

However no one managed to get the full maximum point score so all eligible names went into Neil's paperclip selector and the winner is the aptly named yaay!

So yaay wins Fimb's prize of the Cycle London bag and Alan P and Michael get something from my Tube goody bag.


Oh and "I don't give a Pinner" - it's obviously from "I don't give a toss" or rather "I don't give a moss" - Moss Lane - Moss Lane is a street in Pinner where incidentally Faye Tozer (which also sounds a bit like toss) is from. I'm amazed that none of you got it!

London Underground; Tube Posted by Unknown Monday, August 07, 2006 Permalink COMMENT HERE
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TV Style ads on the Tube

Archibold Montgomery Lowe's dream comes true

In 1914 Professor Archibold Montgomery Lowe, writing for Trains, Omninbuses and Trams predicted the following for the Tube. "In 1999 every station will have comfortable waiting rooms, and with all the trains, the news of the moment and perhaps a picture of the moment thrown on artistically illuminated screens" Well he's not there with the comfortable waiting rooms, but his prediction the illuminated poster screens is looking like becoming a reality.


TfL reported yesterday that Oxford Circus, Bond Street, Victoria, Kings Cross, Piccadilly Circus and Tottenham Court Road Tube stations are likely to be among the first on the network to be installed with new digital advertising screens.

"The new technology is part of an investment programme by Viacom Outdoor and will involve more than 31,000 non-digital ad sites being replaced with new slim-line poster frames.

New Cross-Track Projection technology will see moving ads featured at 24 stations. Designed to create a gallery of advertising at ticket halls, passageways and station platforms, the screens will transform passenger journeys with fast-moving TV-style advertising."

There was a segment on the "You and Yours" programme on Radio 4 a few weeks ago about advertising on the Tube. They talked about the LCD screens that you've may have seen on the Tottenham Court Road escaltors (which actually make me feel a bit dizzy) and apparently those trials have been successful.

A regular commenter had kindly recorded a snippet of this and downloaded into an MP3 which can be found here.

As much as I like ads, I'm personally not sure I want to see TV ads on Tube and it's interesting that the guy from Viacom thinks these are a great because they "talk to you and entice the user to look and stay and watch". I don't think I would find any ad so compelling that I would want to stay around and miss my train to watch it. However he also says that the ad spaces can be used to provide news items or film updates from the Tube themselves. I'm assuming there will be no sound on these ads as you'd be driven mad otherwise.

What do you think? Will you find them more compelling? Do you think that advertisers are going to be flocking to spend money on them? What sort of ads do you think could work well on them - if any?

London Underground; Tube Posted by Unknown Wednesday, August 02, 2006 Permalink COMMENT HERE
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Automated voices on the Underground

Does Sonya get on yer nerves?

A reporter from the Washington Post got in touch with me to say that the Metro in Washington appointed Randi Miller "record peppier messages warning customers to stand clear of doors or move to the center of trains". However, Miller is worried there will be a backlash to her continually repeated messages. Initially, she thought it would only be used when someone was blocking the door and she had no idea that the message would be continually repeated and thinks it is a bit excessive.

Emma Clark who is the voice of the Victoria, Bakerloo and Central Line also gets a bit tired of hearing her voice but being Miss Mind the Gap had it's moments. In an brilliant interview with b3ta she said: "You should have heard the multiplicity of ways they made me say 'Marylebone.' Mahree-lee-bone. M'ree-labbon. Mary Lob-on. It was bleeding hilarious." She also admitted that there were some spoof recordings to pass the time "Me and the producer did record some spoof announcements after the LU suits had left the session, purely for our own amusement. Stuff like: 'The man in the green coat is sitting in tramp's piss.' And 'Passengers are reminded that reading 'Captain Corelli's f**king Mandolin' is strictly prohibited.' "

I know that a number of drivers on the District Line turn off Sonya's repetitive messages announcing the next station or the current station, mainly because it lives up to the name and Gets on yer nerves. But should they really be doing this? What about poor old tourists who don't know where they are going?

The reporter had also asked me whether I thought that voices should reflect the lines, which is an idea I loved. I think a Victor Meldrew sounding voice would be perfect for the Northern Line. I believe that the London Underground once considered having celebrity voices as they do in the lifts at Covent Garden (as you probably know) they use Loyd Grossman whose loose mid-Atlantic vowels tell you to "Turn roight out of Covent Garden for my Favooooorite Museum - The London Transport Museum". I believe that Hugh Grant was also considered. Probably for Notting Hill - although that could be an urban myth! Aren't Joanna Lumley's dulcet tones also used somewhere on the Tube?

It's weird that we seem to have lost The Shouty Man though - who doom laden "Big Brother" voice used to bellow "Mind The Gap". There still is a particularly terrifying and echoey "Mind the Gap" at Bank though - presumably because the gap is so big and perhaps a woman's voice wouldn't convey the seriousness of the consequences if you ignored their warning.

What do you think of automated voices? Who's your favourite, or do you hate them all? Would you like to vote for them like the commuters in Washington? Do you think that the drivers or station assistants should make all announcements, as at least that keeps you reassured that the system is being operated by a real people?

London Underground; Tube Posted by Unknown Tuesday, August 01, 2006 Permalink COMMENT HERE
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London Underground Fashion Victims

Fashion Victims on the Tube

Here's Friday's regular look at our slaves to fashion on the Tube or people with their own unique style spotted on the underground.

So far a good number of people in California have been asking me about asking me about London's heatwave - I'm surprised it's newsworthy over here. But they then sigh and smile slightly to themselves as it's hardly a heatwave by Californian standards. The following two guys, I snapped earlier in the week, were both coping with the heat by displaying a fair amount of flesh.

Man Bags

I'm not sure how well the tight vests go with Man Bags.


Although "Crusty Bint" spotted the photo as I put it up in Flickr and said - "It's a gentleman's sponge bag.... how very dare you ;)"

Tube Fans

I was also being particularly thick or slow or unobservant as it took me a little while to realise what the red item was in the guy on the left's hand. However, when they had both finished reading The Standard Lite, it became all too clear


Actually I'm surprised I haven't seen more people carrying fans on the Tube this summer. Mostly people have been using newspapers as fans, but nothing beats the efficiency of a real fan.

I think London Underground ought to hire these guys as model summer commuters. They're carrying a bottle of water, they've got a fan, they're not wearing many clothes, they're reading the Standard. It's all very, very Metrosexual and they'd be perfect for a staying cool in the heat ad!

That's it for this week. The previous entry for London Underground fashion victims is here and all of them together can be seen on the following Flickr set.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Unknown Friday, July 28, 2006 Permalink COMMENT HERE
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1950's London Underground Quiz

It's a nifty fifites quiz

Fortunately Ben Apps kindly wrote and supplied the prize for this Friday's quiz, as I was wondering what to do from the States.

Please answer the following questions (please don't give any links proving that you know the right answers as that just helps everyone else!!!) and there is a bonus two points if you are the first person to answer your question correctly.

1. What Underground line was the first to have unpainted aluminium trains in 1953?

2. On what date in the 1950s did the last timetabled steam train run from Epping To Ongar?

3. Which existing Underground station was given its current name in the 1950s, and what was it called before being renamed?

4. Which station was last served by London Underground in the 1950s?

5. In what year was the following picture taken



To enter leave your email address and/or blog/website with your answers in the comments below. Please leave all your answers in one entry and you can only enter once! You have until 23.59 GMT, Sunday 6th August to enter.

Neil will do his paperclip selection from the people with the most points.

The prize is a 1954 tube map donated by Ben


And I'll also throw in a London Underground fridge magnet based on one of Fougasses cartoons.


Have fun!

London Underground; Tube Posted by Unknown Friday, July 28, 2006 Permalink COMMENT HERE
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Bollox to all this - I'm off to San Francisco

Time Out plug blog

Any blogging over the next week and a bit will be from sunny California. I last went to San Francisco in November and sadly didn't get a chance to see very much of it at all. This time I hope to take BART and do a little more travelling outside of Silicon Valley. Any suggestions of must see's would be appreciated!


Plus a belated thanks to Time Out Magazine who made this blog their London Website of the Week last week. Amongst other things, they said "On some mornings it can feel like the only reason to be grateful that the Tube exists". Was good to see they highlighted the Friday Tube Fashion Victims and of the Friday quiz said if you're really lucky you can win a Mind the Gap tie.

Now I have to live up to the challenge of finding more London Underground merchandise! Thanks guys.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Unknown Thursday, July 27, 2006 Permalink COMMENT HERE
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Tube Improvements mean fewer seats

Save our Seats Campaign

With the new Victoria Line stock that I blogged about last week it was interesting to see that there would be "more standing room" as though this was a bonus. The Metropolitan Line seems to be going the same way with new S stock and the local residents are none too pleased about the 30% reduction in seating due from 2009.


Over on Speakers Corner Blog - Russell says

"30% is quite a high figure, and they claim it is all down to meeting new disability legislation. This doesn't make sense at all, that is to be honest an over reaction, a serious over reaction. You might expect to lose maybe 15% at most, but what they are proposing is just mind-numbingly stupid.

To top it off, they are also proposing to have a single carriage instead of 8 separate ones. This stock will also be narrower, which for anyone who travels a large part of the Met line will tell you, that can't be a good thing.

This hasn't been thought out at all well, and I am pleased that papers like Harrow Observer, Pinner Observer, Harrow Leader, etc are trying to get something done. At least someone is thinking with their heads."

The local papers that Russell mentions have a Save our Seats campaign on their front covers and apparently there's a petition at Harrow-on-the-Hill station for passengers to sign. "For those who travel through this station and don't want up to be in a situation where you are even more packed in like cattle in a truck, then sign up." he urges.

Whether you travel on the Metropolitan Line or not I'd be interested in your opinion as there does seem to be a worrying trend towards fewer (and in my eyes, smaller) seats with the new Tube stock. Is fewer seats the way to go to cope with increased numbers of passengers or wounldn't increased frequency of trains be a better option?

London Underground; Tube Posted by Unknown Wednesday, July 26, 2006 Permalink COMMENT HERE
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Third PPP Annual Review

"On time and on budget"....... yet

Must do better. That was the general opinion which came out of the third review of the Tube's maintenance firms yesterday. From a BBC report we learn that Metronet said they had "made progress" and Tube Lines claimed "robust improvement programmes are being moved forward", yet both firms were criticised. Metronet's failure to prepare for the heat resulted in a number of speed restrictions causing unneccessary delays and with the heat. Additionally the company's station renewal programme was way behind schedule "with only 14 out of a scheduled 35 projects delivered - all of which were late."

Tube Lines didn't escape criticism with the Northern Line still unsurprisingly under performing.

Tim O'Toole from the London Underground was far from happy. "Metronet and Tube Lines continue to disappoint in many respects and failed to meet the two key challenges I laid down in last year's report. All parties involved in the renewal of the Tube must commit to delivering improvement at a faster rate than we have seen so far."

Trying the make the best of a bad report a spokeswoman at Tube Lines spoke of the Misery Line as though it were a wayward child: "The Northern line continues to be a challenge and... we too are disappointed and frustrated by the slow progress being made with its reliability".

Perhaps they need one of those Nannies or child psychologists that seem to be invading TV at the moment to come in and sort out the Northern Line. I can just see the reality programme treatment.

"Dr Tanya in Tiny Tube Line Tearaways has more challenging & complicated problems to tackle with little Angel and Colin Dale. In this series she'll tackle not only the problems of laziness, tantrums and breakdowns which so many loving commuters experience, but will also be looking at selective delays, coping with communication failure in a family dynamic, and what to do if you suspect your Tube Line might have Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder."

London Underground; Tube Posted by Unknown Tuesday, July 25, 2006 Permalink COMMENT HERE
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Misery Line Quiz

And the winners are......

Thanks again to Dmitri for supplying the prize for the quiz where we wanted you to sell the Northern Line - that's sell as in promote or advertise. (Goodness knows how anyone could really sell the Northern Line as who would be mad enough to buy it).

There was a clear winner in this case but Dmitri and myself also wanted to give some runner up prizes

So John B gets a prize for suggesting that Infernos night-club at Clapham Common is his favourite place to visit on the Northern Line. I've had the misfortune of visiting Infernos on a couple of occasions and I would say it's name is very appropriate as to me it was like a "hell hole". But John manages to see the positive side: "It's like the 1970s crossed with a Student Union nightclub, but good. This is an amazing feat." Coupled with this he managed to find a quote on the TfL website that said the Northern Line was "one of London Underground's most reliable lines". Admittedly this was in 2003!

Andrew also gets a prize for a slogan selling the Northern Line "Tranquility of Mornington Crescent may go up as well as down. London Underground is not responsible if you go mentally insane whilst at Camden Town trying to work out which platform to use." I suppsed it's more like the reams of small print you get on those financial services ads.

Jon Allen's slogan wasn't exactly a slogan more like an ode to the Misery Line - but sung to the tune, "Morning has Broken" it certainly deserved a prize:

"Morden has broken,
Like the first morning
Sonja has spoken ,
Like the first announcer
Praise for the Tube lines,
Praise for the Tube trains,
Praise for them running,
Fresh from the depot.

Sweet the leaves new fall, sunlit from heaven,
Like the first leaf-fall, on the first Tube tracks
Praise for the sweetness of the Tube drivers,
Sprung in full comfort in their train cabs

Mine is the Northern Line,
Mine is the morning
Born of Victorians, Yerkes saw play
Praise with elation, Praise every morning
Ken's recreation of a new age."

But the overall winner as a good all-rounder was Pete. As a favourite picture he highlighted the Archer at the top of East Fincley Station.

His favourite place is "The ArtsDepot - a lovely arts centre, gallery and performance space at Tally Ho Corner in North Finchley - I went to a Make Poverty History gig there, where the "Camden Cowboys" (half of Madness) performed."

And the simplicity of slogan - "The Northern Line, Gateway to Barnet" stood out.

So Pete wins The Northern Line book - very kindly donated by Dmitri and I will raid my Tube booty bottom drawer to come up with some surprise prizes for Jon, John B & Andrew.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Unknown Tuesday, July 25, 2006 Permalink COMMENT HERE
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Frank Sinatra on the London Underground

Old Blue Eyes on the Tube

You may have seen a lot of these posters on escalators advertising the musical Sinatra.


His copy of the Daily Telegraph is mocked up and I'd imagine the rest of it probably is to as even if Ol' Blue Eyes was on the Tube, I don't think the London Underground would have had in-carriage displays back then. It looks like a fairly youthful picture of Sinatra.

However, apparently Frank Sinatra did have an interest in public transport to some extent. I was on a London Walk a few weeks ago and we stopped outside one of those little green black cab driver "houses". Our brill tour guide regaled us with the following urban myth. Frank Sinatra was staying in a fairly swanky hotel in London and saw a little green hut outside and wondered what it was.

When he heard that it was where cabbies had a rest and a cuppa, he demanded to be shown inside. The cabbies were fairly nonchalant when he walked in, and carried on reading papers as though Frank Sinatra visited them every day.

One of them asked what he did and Frank Sinatra said, "Well I sing a bit". "Hmm" said the cabbie, "Give us a song then". Frank proceded to belt out one of his tunes and the cabbie reportedly said "If I were you, I wouldn't take it up professionally". I imagine the taxi drivers lived off that story for some time, as it was a good one to add to their "I had that xxxxx celebrity in the back of my cab last week" stories.

I suppose it's quite fortunate that Tube drivers don't really get a chance to see the passengers they carry. Not that you would get that many instances of celebrities boarding the Tube and being asked to sing, or act, or do an impression.

However, this might happen if they travelled on the Jubilee Line. The infamous tube driver Richie seems to get a lot of fun watching the passengers and announcing what they're carrying on board. He invited passengers to have a bit of a sing-a-long in car number 4 as he saw someone with a guitar. Also car number five had a person with an ironing board and Richie saw this as an opportunity for people to get their ironing done.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Unknown Monday, July 24, 2006 Permalink COMMENT HERE
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Not on the London Underground

More Tube roundels in strange places

It's great to see you spotting the Tube's famous logo in some unlikely places. Thanks to Geoff's Mum - Tina for sending an 'Underground' sign in Napier, New Zealand when she was there earlier this year.


She said "It didn't seem to lead anywhere, was just in a side-street at the back of a shop. Might be a secret entrance to night-club perhaps!"

Chris McKenna has just come back from the Channel Islands where he visited Jersey.


He snapped a rather err... classy looking sport shop in St Helier "with a logo that is obviously derived from the LU roundel - although from the picture you can see it isn't identical, the intention is clear enough."

Thanks to both Chris and Tina and if you spot any roundels on your travels please send them in and I'll blog and add to the growing set.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Unknown Monday, July 24, 2006 Permalink COMMENT HERE
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Cockney Rhyming Tube Station Quiz

He's a bit of an Elephant

As far as I know there are very few Tube stations that have made it into Cockney Rhyming slang or slang at all. The phrase above comes from Elephant & Castle - so you can guess what it means. I think that some station names are just crying out to become slang. For instance - "You're 'aving Tufnell aren't you?" (Tufnell Park - lark). Or "Remind me to take my Notting tomorrow" (Notting Hill - pill)

I'm sure you can come up with some better ones than those.

1. So that's this week's challenge - you can give up to two suggestions involving a Tube station name or the London Underground or a London Underground character in some way, but they must be different from everyone else's guesses. One point for each suggestion so a maximum of two points.

2. Plus there's a bonus point if you can work out how "I don't give a Pinner" might have evolved using rhyming slang convoluted rules.

To enter leave your email address and/or blog/website with your answers in the comments below. Please leave all your answers in one entry and you can only enter once! You have until 23.59 GMT, Sunday 30th July to enter.

Neil will do his paperclip selection from the people with the most points.


The main prize has been kindly donated by Fimb and is perfect for using when you're on your Turnpike. I'll probably throw in some suprise prizes for particularly inventive ones.

So get your thinking caps on and have a Bob Crow!

London Underground; Tube Posted by Unknown Friday, July 21, 2006 Permalink COMMENT HERE
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London Underground Fashion Victims

Fashion Victims on the Tube

Here's Friday's regular look at our slaves to fashion on the Tube or people with their own unique style spotted on the underground.

Despite the ridiculously hot weather I haven't really spotted anyone wearing their underwear as outerwear - which can happen with some women in the summer time. However there a definite nod to the high temperatures with the three pictures below.

Why not wear shorts

There's the tattered jean look and then there's jeans which as so torn apart you may as well just rip the bottom of them off


Still she has the legs to just about carry this look off.

Pink Penguin Pumps


I actually really like these and hopefully there was a sense of irony of wearing penguins when the temperatures has been in the high thirties most of this week.
This person's feet must have been quite hot in the socks though. But does pump/Vans/Converse wearing mean that you have to wear socks to stop your feet from sticking to your footwear?

Parisian Fashion Victims

Last time I went to Paris I tried desparately to spot some Metro victims. But the Parisians were all remarkably chic. However the girls below made it onto this post only because I marvelled as to how the one going for the patent leather French maid look managed to walk in those boots.


Stripy tights girl as also in "Goth on a summer holiday" mode but her boots didn't look quite as difficult to walk in.

That's it for this week. The previous entry for London Underground fashion victims is here and all of them together can be seen on the following Flickr set.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Unknown Friday, July 21, 2006 Permalink COMMENT HERE
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Every Tube Line has Severe Delays

ALL Tube Lines have faulty communications equipment


Erm good luck getting home tonight. If anyone could let us know what's been happening on the Tube since about 4pm (I think), it would good to know.

Unless "faulty communications equipment" is a euphemism for "We're too hot and we can't be bothered to run a full service tonight".

London Underground; Tube Posted by Unknown Thursday, July 20, 2006 Permalink COMMENT HERE
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Victoria Line - Have your say

Wet the head of the new Victoria Line trains

If you've ever wanted to be one of the first people to sit in a new Tube carriage and feel some new hard-wearing, vandal-resistant moquette under your derriere, now's your chance.

You have the opportunity to err.... "test sit" the new Victoria Line trains which are on show in Euston Square Gardens before they go into general release from 2009. Thanks to Martin for the heads up on this.


Quite how you give feedback on them isn't really explained, but according to TfL's press release the market research process aims to ensure that London Underground's (LU) passengers are satisfied with the design of the new fleet. Stephen Hall, of Metronet, said the new trains will be "larger, faster and more comfortable with improved accessibility and security features."

The features include a "multi-purpose area" with tip-up seats with space for wheelchairs, pushchairs and luggage and hoorah, hoorah more standing room for rush hour. More seats coping with the increased frequency would be nice rather than more standing room - but I spose we can't have everything.

The Victoria Line makeover also includes new tracks, a new signalling and control system and a more robust power system. "When the upgrade is complete in 2013, the frequency of rush hour trains is likely to increase by 17% and journey times should improve by 16%" continued Mr Hall.

"I believe Londoners will welcome this new breed of train."

I quite like his use of the word breed there as I imagine old Tube trains getting it on to create brand spanking new carriages. So if you get a chance to visit the new offspring of Metronet, let me know what you think.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Unknown Thursday, July 20, 2006 Permalink COMMENT HERE
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Shorts - Tube Drivers allright Jack

Rail & Bus Drivers in the Wrong Trousers

Ahh, the hot weather and once again the Evening Standard gets the opportunity to thank the heat fairies so they can come up with the usual "London Fries" and "Tube hotter than hell" headlines. However for once London Underground drivers haven't got something to moan about as they are allowed to wear shorts while working and can also drive with their cab doors open.

Not so for bus and train drivers though, where there is no leniency given with the clothes they have to wear to work.


So I wonder how Tube drivers manage to have this privilege? According to most reports, buses seem to have the same "EU cattle transportation regulation breaking temperatures" as the London Underground. On some Tube lines air cooling units have been installed in drivers' cabs. The overland trains that I've travelled on the past few days (including the Eurostar) seem to have an amount of cool air being rotated around them, so perhaps drivers' cabs are not quite as hot. However, it still seems unfair that there's a distinction between the transport drivers.

Any other theories as why this is the case? Do you think we might see Bob Crow calling for strike action if the heatwave and shorts ban continues? Particularly as the TUC have launched a "cool work" campaign encouraging employers to let their staff "dress down a little for summer". They say "Bosses should only stop staff from wearing shorts to work if they have first carried out a proper risk assessment, and only people whose jobs could prove hazardous should still be made to work in long trousers."

London Underground; Tube Posted by Unknown Thursday, July 20, 2006 Permalink COMMENT HERE
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Police prosecuted under health & safety laws for Stockwell shooting

Health & Safety breaches but not manslaughter

A year ago this week Jean Charles de Menezes was shot eight times and killed in a Tube carriage at Stockwell station by anti terrorism officers. It's sad that it's taken a year to come to a conclusion and undoubtedly the press will be more concerned with the lack of a manslaughter conviction rather than the serious health & safety breaches.

The senior lawyer on the case Stephen O'Doherty summed up by saying that the police shot "because they thought that Mr de Menezes had been identified to them as a suicide bomber and that if they did not shoot him, he would blow up the train, killing many people,"...."while a number of individuals had made errors in planning and communication, and the cumulative result was the tragic death of Mr de Menezes, no individual had been culpable to the degree necessary for a criminal offence."

To successfully prosecute for manslaughter it would have to be proven that the officers did not "honestly and genuinely" hold beliefs that de Menzes was a terrorist, which Mr O'Doherty said was impossible to prove.

From that standing the prosecution were onto a loser from the start. However it's still a fairly damning situation that there was sufficient evidence to show that the police were guilty under sections of the Health and Safety at Work Act for failing to provide for the health, safety welfare of non-employees. The non employee in this situation being Jean Charles de Menezez and I'd say that shooting someone at point blank range eight times isn't going to do too much for their health & safety.

Although, Ian Blair was not personally singled out for attack here, he's not going to be too wild about the outcome. However, putting on a brave face the police issued the following statement "Clearly we and our national police colleagues will need to consider issues raised by this prosecution and for the implementation of the Kratos policy, which has already been the subject of extensive review since 22 July.

"We believe it remains a legitimate policy and, in the absence of a viable alternative, we will continue to use it where necessary to protect London and Londoners from any threat posed by suicide bombers."

The full statements from the police and Stephen O'Doherty are here.

I'd be interested to hear your views on this. I'm all for protecting the public in the face of a legitimate terrorist threat, but in this instance it's now been proven that mistakes and errors in communications were made. Whatever apologies or statements the police make about this is not going to bring an innocent man back to life. Thankfully we're not used to innocent people getting shot by the police. It doesn't fit in the public's psyche that well. But there have been so many cover ups and leaks of altered log books and dodgy CCTV surrounding this case. You have a feeling that someone ought to be held responsible - but who?

Surely there is something that can be learnt from Jean Charles' death and it saddens me to see the police still taking a defensive stance of the Kratos "shoot to kill" policy - particularly when mistakes in carrying out that policy can lead to the death of innocent people.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Unknown Tuesday, July 18, 2006 Permalink COMMENT HERE
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What's in a name quiz results

And the winner is

For once I shouldn't get one of the Ians (IanD) saying "I was robbed" as he didn't enter this quiz.

However, those who entered did pretty well with station names that contained people's first names and there was some interesting & inventive answers. But a number of the famous Tube People pictured below weren't even guessed at.


The answers are below

1. Harry Beck
2. Charles Tyson Yerkes - the American tycoon repsonsible for electrifying the Tube who makes JR Ewing look like a pussycat
3. Billy Brown - the London Underground's most exemplary passenger
4. James Henry Greathead - inventor of the Greathead Shield - pretty essential for tunnelling
5. Hannah Dadds - the Tube's first female driver
6. Ken Livingstone - amazing how you can recognise someone by the back of their head
7. Edward Johnston - inventor of the Tube's font
8. Frank Pick - MD of the London Underground resonsible for commissioning the above font and also bringing an artistic flavour to the Tube using famous artists to create posters
9. Millie from Underground Ernie - John B guessed Lady Penelope who as far as I know has jib all to do with Tube
10. Redd Pepper - former Tube driver whose distinctive booming voice was discovered by the film trailer producers. He is now the voice behind the Sci Fi Channel and lots of Hollywood horror trailers (can't believe no one recognised him!)
11. Charles Holden - station architect and responsible for the Bahaus look of many stations on the northern stretch of the Piccadilly Line
12. Sir Eduardo Paolozzi - designer of the weird and wonderful mosaics at Tottenham Court Road Tube

The lucky person who was pulled from Neil's paperclip selection is Heather! I was pretty impressed that she'd got Billy Brown too. So very well done to Heather who wins a copy of "What's in a Name".

London Underground; Tube Posted by Unknown Tuesday, July 18, 2006 Permalink COMMENT HERE
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Multilingual London Underground?

How many languages should the Tube cater for?

I'm off to Paris tomorrow evening and whenever I go to another major city I'm always shamed that London in general has so few multi-lingual signs around. With my limited knowledge of French I still find enough signs in English to negotiate Le Métro. The Tube's a confusing enough place at the best of times but most non English speaking tourists must struggle finding their way, so no wonder they sheepishly follow the crowds.

So I was really surprised to see a random sign in English and Italian at Warwick Avenue on Saturday. Neil & I were heading off to Little Venice and we were greeted with bi-lingual instructions on how to find it:


This puzzled me. Neil thinks that lots of Italians live in Maida Vale hence the sign - but then surely they would know how to find Little Venice anyway. If that was the case why not have bi-lingual signs on other parts of the Tube network if many people of a particular nationality live there?

The only other place that I've seen bi-lingual signs on the Tube is at Waterloo when people are arriving from Eurostar.


Southall apparently is the only station in England which has a bi-lingual station name sign. Even the Tube's website has the map translated into 12 other languages including Vietnamese, Urdu, Panjabi, Greek, Spanish, Hindi, French, Gurjarati and Chinese (although not Italian). There's no translations of the station names themselves, only the keys to symbols and explanations of partial closures.

Has anyone else seen any other bi-lingual signs on the Tube? Or do you have an explanation as to why the Italians are catered for at Warwick Avenue? Perhaps it's down to very vocal residents or some bi-lingual station staff or just a tribute to the winners of the World Cup!

London Underground; Tube Posted by Unknown Monday, July 17, 2006 Permalink COMMENT HERE
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Another Misery Line Quiz

Your chance to "sell" the Northern Line

Do you think I give the Northern Line too much of a hard time? It really isn't called the Misery Line for nothing, but Dmitri would like to try to redress the balance. Last Friday I met up with our favourite commenter from Amsterdam, when he was over to pay his respects to the bombing victims. He wanted to give away a prize related to the Northern Line, and challenges you to paint a good picture of it.

So three parts to the competition

1. Show us your favourite picture of the Northern Line or a Northern Line station. It can be a picture you have taken or created yourself. Alternatively find something on the internet that sums up the Northern Line to you. Dmitri wanted to make it harder and get you to take your own picture, but I'm being a bit more generous here.

2. Tell us your favourite place that you can visit from the Northern Line. It can be a boozer in Burnt Oak, a watering hole in Waterloo or a hip place in Hampstead.

3. Let's say Ken Livingstone wants to increase the numbers of people travelling on the Northern Line. Can you help the Sheriff come up with a slogan or by-line or jingle to get people to travel on it? How about The Northern Line: Faster than a speeding snail?

Just one answer or suggestion for each section please.


Dmitri and I will put our favourites into Neil's paperclip selection and the overall winner gets Dmitri's prize of The Northern Line book. I'll probably throw in some more surprise gifts for the best entries in each section.

To enter leave your email address and/or blog/website with your answers in the comments below. Please leave all your answers in one entry and you can only enter once! You have until 23.59 GMT, Sunday 23rd July to enter.

Have fun and thanks to Dmitri for the prize and competition!

London Underground; Tube Posted by Unknown Friday, July 14, 2006 Permalink COMMENT HERE
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