Guess Where Tube Quiz

London Flickr users might be familiar with the "Guess where London" game, well IanD has very kindly made us his own version.

He said: "For the past couple of years I've been visiting each Tube station on the network and taking photos of the exteriors and now that I've almost finished (just some of the Eastern Central line stations to go) I was wondering what to do with the photos. To pass away a boring Friday afternoon, I knocked up the attached picture quiz to circulate around the office. Only one person got full marks but not many people here are as fanatical about the Underground as your readers who I am sure could do better."

Mmm, I wouldn't say we're fanatical - well not all of us, but they're certainly a challenge and too be honest I only got about three of them.

He has given some pretty helpful clues, but I think you can manage without them. All I'll say is there are 12 stations in total, one for each Underground line. 5 stations are in zone 1. 6 stations are in zone 2. 1 station is in zone 3. 1 station is in zone 5.

There are no prizes, just the satisfaction of seeing how many of them you can get. Try not to look at the person or people before you when making your guesses in the comments below. I'll put up the answers next week:


Picture 1


Picture 2


Picture 3


Picture 4


Picture 5


Picture 6


Picture 7


Picture 8


Picture 9


Picture 10


Picture 11


Picture 12

Enjoy and thanks again to IanD for devising the quiz.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Unknown Thursday, September 20, 2007 Permalink COMMENT HERE
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Pantless in Prague

No, the National No Pants Subway Ride hasn't become bi-annual and it's not some sort of weird art installation - the nudity on the subway is down to a bet and some kind "friends".

Dennis W, kindly sent me a link to this story which shows how commuters on Prague's Metro are just as blasé as London's Tube travellers.

When the naked man boarded the subway everyone pretended that nothing was wrong:

" 'People were looking everywhere but at him', one of the passengers said later. After a while someone must have alerted the metro staff because the police arrived, covered him up and led him off for questioning.

It emerged that the poor man had lost all his clothes in a bet and his friends had pushed him out of their car in the middle of Prague stark naked. 'He was only trying to get home as fast as possible and he was dreadfully embarrassed - so we let him off the hook' a police spokeswoman said later. "

Lucky that a photographer was on hand to preserve the moment!

London Underground; Tube Posted by Unknown Tuesday, September 18, 2007 Permalink COMMENT HERE
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Would you rename this station?

A London Assembly Member is calling for one of the Edgware Road Tube stations to be renamed to something more intuitive. There are two stations called Edgware Road on the London Underground, one on the Bakerloo line which Murad Queshi believes should be called, "Church Street Market" and another on the Circle, District and Hammersmith & City Line.


Both stations have entrances on Edgware Road but they are about 150 metres apart and separated by a flyover and dual carriage way, so it is a bit galling if you meet someone at the wrong Edgware Road.

Mr Qureshi said: "Whenever you invite friends and family over via the Tube and you tell them Edgware Road, you always end up going to the wrong one to pick them up because they're at the other." The simple answer is to tell them which Edgware Road you mean and I don't think that Qureshi is going to have a lot of luck with this particular campaign.

He's right in saying that there are "lots of anomalies like this", but if the station names were changed to give a more helpful description to where they literally are that would mean changing, well, err, quite a lot of them. Gunnersbury would be renamed to "Chiswick High Road near that horrible carpark".

TfL apparently get several requests a year to change station names, but very rarely agree to them. The last change was made in 1989 when Surrey Docks on the East London line was renamed Surrey Quays. There's an ongoing campaign for Arsenal to revert back to its old name of Gillespie Road (so far about 4,000 people have signed an online petition).

Fortunately there's is going to be some renaming in Shepherd's Bush which also has two Tube stations currently with the same name. The station on the Hammersmith & City Line will be renamed Shepherd's Bush Market in 2008. This makes a lot of sense as it's a good five minutes walk away from the Shepherd's Bush station on the Central Line.

With so few changes it looks like Mr Qureshi will have a long wait. Many thanks to regular commenter John F for giving me the heads up on this.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Unknown Monday, September 17, 2007 Permalink COMMENT HERE
Tweet http://london-underground.blogspot.com/2007/09/would-you-rename-this-station.html

Tube Photo of the Week

It's not that common to see temporary signs on the Tube about subjects other than signal failures, delays and strikes, so it was heartening to see the following picture from Martin Deutsch taken yesterday morning. At King's Cross a person fell onto the tracks and several people managed to stop what could have been a tragedy, so it's amazing to see a public thanks for their action.


Well spotted by Martin and if anyone notices any more cheerful temporary signs on the tube, please let us know in comments.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Unknown Thursday, September 13, 2007 Permalink COMMENT HERE
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Oyster card Barclaycard (l)ondoner-card

The combined Oyster card, Barclaycard and errr, lunchtime snack, booze, book & paper card launched yesterday. We first heard about this new card in December 2006. The Onepulse card combines an Oyster card to use on London Transport, with a credit card and a cashless way of paying for items under ten quid. These currently include Books Etc, Chop'd, Coffee Republic, EAT, Krispy Kreme, Threshers and YO! Sushi. So you'll be able to swipe the one card at the aforementioned shops to pay for your food and drinks.


Sean Gardner, chief executive of a price comparison service site, said it was another step towards a cashless society. He enthusiastically called it

"a genuine advance in the credit card industry and looks set to cause a real stir in London. Experts have been predicting the end of cash for years and this looks set to be another step in that direction."

Hating to be pedantic (as anything that involves carrying less cash around is fine in my books), but why is Londoner spelt with a lower case "l" in the Tube ads? I can understand stylistically keeping everything in lower case, but then why not start the sentence with a lower case "i"? It's looks even weirder because the words: Oyster card, Credit and Cashless underneath the card are capitalised.

Maybe it's just me.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Unknown Tuesday, September 11, 2007 Permalink COMMENT HERE
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Bumper Harris was my great, great, grandfather

I was really disappointed when I read in Time Out (possibly via wikipedia) that one legged escalator tester Bumper Harris didn't exist - or at least that the London Transport Museum had no evidence to back it up. I wasn't convinced then, and am even less convinced now, as I received a message from Aaron who claims that Bumper Harris was his great, great, grandfather.

Bumper arriving for work?

The idea that someone was employed by London Transport to spend their days travelling up and down the first escalators at Earl's Court to prove that they were safe, sounds barking when you first hear it, but why would you want to make it up? And why would Aaron want to devise an elaborate story that fits in so well with all the other things I had heard about the legendary Bumper (that he retired to Gloucester to make make cider & violins)? Judge for yourself from the tale below and if you're a distant relative of Bumper let me know:

"Just thought that you would like to know that Bumper Harris was my great, great, grandfather. He was originally from just outside Bristol and saw a job advertised in a paper at Salford for an engineer. He walked from Bristol to Salford just outside of Manchester to apply for the job, by the time he got there he had worn his shoes out and the man who ran the engineering business felt so sorry for him he gave him the job.

He eventually ended up marrying the company owner’s daughter and moving to London where he went to work on the new underground. Whilst working some of his friends played a rather unfortunate joke on him and his leg was crushed between two carriages carrying rubble and he lost his leg. He was then employed to ride the escalator at Earls Court and made quite a bit of money, eventually ending up owning a number of properties in Greenwich.

After the underground he went on to work on the Severn Tunnel and was in charge of all of the drainage systems at Standish Hospital in Gloucestershire where he retired in Stonehouse to make cider, violins and became a watercolour artist.

When they were excavating the tunnel at Earls Court they found a seam of prehistoric oak that had not yet fully decomposed and 6 walking sticks were made out of it with silver handles, he was given one and it is now with relatives in Stonehouse."

Admittedly the last paragraph is almost too good to be true, but stranger things have happened.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Unknown Monday, September 10, 2007 Permalink COMMENT HERE
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London Underground Fashion Victims

Fashion Victims on the Tube

It's Friday, time for another look at commuters on the Tube who've taken a style and made it their own.

String pants or string vest?

I only spotted one this week which would have put the Tube Fashion Police on alert


He'd taken low slung jeans to a new level of lowness. Guys I've seen before are usually happy displaying their Calvin Kleins or tails. But this guy was proudly showing off his string ... err .... well I initially thought it was a long string vest, but now I think it could have been string pants (and I use pants in the English sense of the word pants - ie underpants).

Who can say. But I bet from the front he looked somewhat like the man who was too baggy up front, who I spotted last year.



That's it for now. The previous victims can be found here and the complete picture gallery can be seen on the following Flickr set.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Unknown Friday, September 07, 2007 Permalink COMMENT HERE
Tweet http://london-underground.blogspot.com/2007/09/london-underground-fashion-victims.html

Tube Strike Off

After Bob Crow's fighting talk, there's been an agreement and the current 72 hour strike by the RMT has been called off (well at least this round). Nine hours of discussions which finished at 11pm last night led to the clarified assurances the RMT were looking for.

The BBC report that "Although strike action has now been suspended, TfL warn that commuters will still face delays on Wednesday morning..... Union officials will meet again on Friday before deciding whether to press ahead with a second 72-hour strike next Monday.."

A TfL spokesperson said "We are pleased the RMT has suspended its strike action at Metronet following the clarification of all jobs and pensions issues. We will now work to provide the best possible Tube service on Wednesday."

However, it's best to check the Tube's website for the very latest to see how the ten lines that were affected will get back to normal.


Bob Crow was in fighting form at a demonstration outside the Department of Transport yesterday.

He said: "We said we will strike three days this week and three days next week. We are only 24 hours into the strike and already it is causing massive disruption. Let us see what Metronet have to say when we meet them. If they do not meet our demands then further action is likely. We will carry on as long as it takes."


As he continued The Evening Standard must have been positively salivating:

"We recognise we are causing massive disruption but our responsibility is to our members. Our apologies are real, these are not crocodile tears we are shedding. But we have two options: either we roll over and cave in or we fight it.

"I do not believe the public is against us. I think a very significant number of passengers support what we are doing. You only have to talk to people to find that out." Mmmmmm, what people?

Crisis negotiations resumed yesterday and led to a resolution of the London Underground strike which had been due to continue until 6pm on Thursday evening.


Definitely bookmark the Tube Refund page - apparently the Customer Charter which offers a refund if your journey is delayed by more than 15 minutes has different rules for delays caused by industrial action. But TfL said "A relevant form will be posted shortly" - let's hope the site's servers hold up to the demand.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Unknown Wednesday, September 05, 2007 Permalink COMMENT HERE
Tweet http://london-underground.blogspot.com/2007/09/tube-strike-off.html

In ur toob syztem

Blokkin ur toobz


I 'spose I had to do it.

Other Web 2.0 Tube strike stuff - which is sadly a lost cause - the If 100,000 Londoners join then maybe we won't have another tube strike! Facebook group. I think Bob Crow is Facebook proof, the "anti Bob Crow Facebook group" is getting a spurt in membership though.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Unknown Tuesday, September 04, 2007 Permalink COMMENT HERE
Tweet http://london-underground.blogspot.com/2007/09/in-ur-toob-syztem.html

Tube Strike - Thank God for the Northern Line

I cannot believe that I would be so pleased to get onto a Northern Line train. I smugly set off home yesterday evening thinking the strike wouldn't be too bad for me, as I'd be able to get the Piccadilly Line back most of the way. After all Mr Tim O'Toole had told me & hundreds of thousands of other Londoners that the Piccadilly Line would be "expected to be running normally". Sadly he was wrong.


Me and a number of other commuters stared at the notice at Leicester Square. Our strike free Piccadilly Line had suddenly found itself under RMT control - or rather the section between Hyde Park Corner & Acton Town and Acton Town & Uxbridge had. Why they couldn't just say Hyde Park Corner and Uxbridge is beyond me.

Fortunately the Northern Line was running like a dream. A pleasant dream and not the usual nightmare that one tends to naturally associate the Northern Line with. So I hopped on at Leceister Square and took a mayhem free journey to Waterloo to get a mainline train back.


On the Tube I read the rest of the article covering Ken's blast. Tube bosses are unable to estimate how many trains will be running for the rest of the strike. They "warned that stoppages would increase as the strike progressed" and "refused to rule out complete closure of the network". So don't be too smug like me and think you're alright Jack if you're travelling on Piccadilly, Central and Jubilee Lines.

As usual try to check the live inaction updates on the Tube's site before leaving.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Unknown Tuesday, September 04, 2007 Permalink COMMENT HERE
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Three day Tube strike will go ahead

Unless there are any last minute negotiations and agreements with the RMT, it looks like Monday's Tube strike will be going ahead. From 6pm on Monday 3rd September, more than 2,300 of RMT's members will go on strike for 72 hours. Apparently the only lines that won't be closed are the Jubilee, Northern & Piccadilly Lines - although as the sign above and email (below) from Tube MD Tim O'Toole says - expect them to be much fuller than usual.



Unions UNITE and TSSA were also due to go on strike with Metronet but both have called off the strike as they were happy with the guarantees over pensions, redundancies and any forced transfers made as a result of Metronet's collapse. Mayor Ken carried out discussions with all union leaders and wrote a letter stating that all of their demands had been met:

"I outlined my views on how we should proceed following the collapse of Metronet and, specifically, that no Metronet staff should suffer any loss of pension, employment or be transferred. You indicated that you would need these commitments to be confirmed by the current employers, Metronet and the Administrator.

"The Administrator and Metronet have written to you today giving you the necessary assurances that there will be no reduction in jobs or transfers of employees from Metronet during the period of administration and that your members pensions will be fully protected.

"I can confirm that no Metronet employees will lose a penny of their pensions. The guarantees provided to members of the TfL Pension Fund under the Greater London Authority Act and the London Transport Pension Arrangements Order 2000, will remain and be abided by Metronet and the Administrator and that the Metronet business will be transferred to the subsequent employers on this basis, as part of a full Scheme Rescue and ongoingly."

After further reassuring comments he concluded "With clear assurances from the Administrator and Metronet that there will be no job cuts, transfers or losses in pensions as a result of the collapse of Metronet, and my clear commitments for the future security of all Metronet staff, it would be unreasonable to proceed with strikes which will disrupt the lives of millions of Londoners and lose Metronet employees considerable sums in pay."

And yet Bob Crow from the RMT states that the Ken's comments are "not enough" and that letters from Metronet & the adminstrator fall "way short" of what was demanded. Stating that "the guarantees we need can only come from the employer."

He said "What we sought was firm, unequivocal guarantees, but frankly our members are being asked to stake their jobs and their pensions on a pig in a poke...... When the jobs and pensions of our members are at stake - not to mention the Tube upgrades that the capital cannot do without - vague assurances are not enough, and the strike by our members will go ahead at 6pm on Monday".

Keep an eye on the Tube's site and listen out to the news on Monday morning for how this will effect your journey home from Monday night and the following three days.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Unknown Monday, September 03, 2007 Permalink COMMENT HERE
Tweet http://london-underground.blogspot.com/2007/09/three-day-tube-strike-will-go-ahead.html

Chav Tube Map

Fashion Victims with a difference

Thanks to Chris from qwghlm.co.uk, who pointed me in the direction of a chavtastic Burberry Tube Map designed by emvee.


It's in the shape of a baseball cap (well, sort of, but you can see the Burberry check pretty clearly). There's also a handy key to the map in the bottom right hand corner.


I wonder if there are statistics as to which stations are the worst for pickpockets? Even though we hear that crime on the Tube is decreasing (with robbery down by 21 per cent). I can't see London Underground wanting to develop this as a map though.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Unknown Friday, August 31, 2007 Permalink COMMENT HERE
Tweet http://london-underground.blogspot.com/2007/08/chav-tube-map.html

Tube ban Heelys

London Underground have been carrying out some selective footwear banning, as Balham Tube station have banished the kids' wheel-bottomed trainers from their platforms.


I can only imagine that Balham has problems with hoardes of kids zooming around. The sign at Balham doesn't explain exactly why they're banned, but Transport for London said they came to the decision after comments from commuters and because more children had used the station during the holidays.

A TfL spokeswoman has remained tight lipped about whether or not the ban would be imposed at other stations.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Unknown Thursday, August 30, 2007 Permalink COMMENT HERE
Tweet http://london-underground.blogspot.com/2007/08/tube-ban-heelys.html

Facebook Group for pretend DLR Drivers

A good way to get in the news at the moment seems to be to build a Facebook Group and get over 1,000 members to join it. It doesn't really matter whether anyone actually does anything in a Facebook Group, allegiance seems to be enough. Anyway, Parliamentary researcher Kieron Merrett set up a Facebook Group for people who like to secretly pretend they are driving the driverless Docklands Light Railway train. Bizarrely, Mr Merrett categorised this as "Extreme Sports" in Facebook.


Prior to the article in the londonpaper there were 1,400 members and now this has bumped up to around 2,000.

About the people who like to pretend drive, a TfL spokesperson (rather strangely) said "I suppose this way you're living a bit of the dream".

Members of the group seem happy to know they're not the only people who "live the dream". Some people claim to rush for that front seat so they can have their fun and get narked when the real "driver" is there.

My favourite quote is from Sarah, who was clearly so excited she forgot how to spell "i did the exact same thing, my boyfriend thought i was strange, but it was soooooo forfilling!!! it wasnt until i read the local paper (canary news or summat) that i realised that i wasnt the only one who pretended to drive the train!!! yay!! apartently the govoner of london transport views this page everyday to see what were all talking about!! woo hoo!! so mr transport man, if you are reading this, please could you put some pretend levers and buttons on the front of the train so we can get the 'real' driving experience, that would be ace!!"

I must admit that I did imagine I might be driving, the very first time I managed to get in the front seat. But after a year of commuting on it the novelty wore off. It does mean that you can get some good "driver view" shots though.

Any other DLR pretend drivers are free to "out" themselves here. Otherwise, you have a spiritual home on Facebook.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Unknown Wednesday, August 29, 2007 Permalink COMMENT HERE
Tweet http://london-underground.blogspot.com/2007/08/facebook-group-for-pretend-dlr-drivers.html

Tube ban Rampant Rabbit Ad

Lighten up TfL. The ad on the left has been banned by Transport for London, even though the Advertising Standards Authority have cleared it. The Ann Summers ad for its vibrator would apparently be OK if the words "Rampant Rabbit" and any mention of pleasure were removed. Mmm, sort of defeats the object of the ad then.

A TfL spokesperson justified their position by saying: "Consumers purchasing magazines make a conscious choice to read a magazine. Millions of people travel on the London Underground each day and they have no choice but to view whatever ads are posted there. We have to take account of the full range of travellers and endeavour not to give offence in the adverts we display".

Obviously Anne Summers are up in arms (like the guy who used a Rampant Rabbit to rob a bank) about the decision. Their chief exec complained "I don't understand. There is nothing remotely offensive about it. This is censorship gone mad."

TfL do seem to be getting on their high horse about some ads though and last month banned an ad for Gay Times magazine because one of the men was in a "state of undress".

If you look at them extremely enough, any advertisement could cause offence to someone else. I could take offence at the following hair conditioner ad, as it assumes that all men are commitment phobics, yet that wasn't banned.


What are your thoughts, do you think TfL have gone "censorship mad" with Ann Summers?

London Underground; Tube Posted by Unknown Tuesday, August 28, 2007 Permalink COMMENT HERE
Tweet http://london-underground.blogspot.com/2007/08/tube-ban-rampant-rabbit-ad.html

TfL services takeover bid

Transport for London said it had lodged a "formal Expression of Interest" in taking over Metronet's two PPP maintenance contracts, which cover three-quarters of the Tube network.

It follows the announcement of a series of London Underground strikes over job losses faced by Metronet staff. Metronet planned to invest £17 billion in the Tube but went into administration due to serious financial problems.

TSSA general secretary Gerry Doherty said: "Returning Tube maintenance to TfL could ultimately deliver a stable, economic and efficient structure that is better able to meet the needs of Londoners than that delivered by the failing private sector under the PPP arrangements."

RMT leader Bob Crow appeared to welcome the move and said: "It is the RMT's view that tube maintenance should be back in the public sector under the direct control of London Underground. If this is to be a serious bid it will obviously be a welcome step in the right direction."

A TfL spokesman said it would submit its formal application to run Metronet's Tube maintenance service at the end of September.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Unknown Tuesday, August 28, 2007 Permalink COMMENT HERE
Tweet http://london-underground.blogspot.com/2007/08/tfl-services-takeover-bid.html

Tube Delay Generator

Inspired by the fab marketing speak generator and by yesterday morning's delays on all the lines I was travelling on, I put together a London Underground Tube Delay Excuse Generator


I'm not a programmer, so it's pretty basic. I also couldn't work out how to get it to play within this blog post itself, so when you click the image above, it will open up in a new window.

You might also remember Reggie Perrin's late train excuses that he gave to his secretary, so this owes a nod and a wink to him too. However, I've tried to keep it as 21st century Tube Speak as possible.

If you've a driver, or train operator or customer service platform assistant or whatever - you might be able to send me some more delay excuses, sorry perfectly rational reasons that I can drop in over time.

Enjoy.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Unknown Friday, August 24, 2007 Permalink COMMENT HERE
Tweet http://london-underground.blogspot.com/2007/08/tube-delay-generator.html

Three day Tube Strike planned

We've not had that many threats of strike action this year (possibly because the summer's been so bad, there's no point in extra days off). However we now have the possiblity of some industrial action on the Tube next month.

Members of the Unite and Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) unions will hold 72-hour strikes on 3 and 10 September. A 48-hour strike by the Transport Salaried Staffs' Association (TSSA) will begin on 4 September.


The planned action is over job losses faced by Metronet staff. TfL reckon that they are addressing all the issues.

They said "there is no reason whatsoever why the lives of millions of Londoners should be disrupted by industrial action. Threatening Londoners with two three-day strikes on the tube when no action is being taken to disadvantage any employees is wrong." So we'll have to wait and see.

For more on this check out The Guardian.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Unknown Friday, August 24, 2007 Permalink COMMENT HERE
Tweet http://london-underground.blogspot.com/2007/08/three-day-tube-strike-planned.html

London Underground Fashion Victims

Fashion Victims on the Tube

It's a Friday, so the Tube Fashion Victims or TFV's are back. The completely rubbish weather means that our TFV's are really not out in all their summer glory so we have a fairly autumnal view.

Super Furry Uggs

These girls were really going all out for TFV mode. We have the gold strappy gladiator sandals and of course the ubiquitous Uggs making an entrance. Their poor little arms are fairly laden down with some oversized handbags:


As if the Uggs weren't bad enough she also appears to have sat down on a load of bleach.

Male Crocs

The first man I've seen wearing Crocs on the Tube


I suppose we can be thankful they're not orange or pink and that his not wearing giblets, sorry jibbitz in them.

Micro skirts at Glamoursmith

Hammersmith is not called Glamoursmith for nothing. And if you're under twenty you probably don't care about how cold it is at the moment as you still have the opportunity to wear or almost wear skirts.


I love the way the gaggle of girls are in matching sandals and all look as though they've consulted each other on the exact length of their clothes. Shame they didn't go down to the tanning shop to get a St Tropez, as they're all looking a tad pasty.

That's it for now. The previous victims can be found here and the complete picture gallery can be seen on the following Flickr set.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Unknown Friday, August 24, 2007 Permalink COMMENT HERE
Tweet http://london-underground.blogspot.com/2007/08/london-underground-fashion-victims_24.html

Would you stop a Tube thug?

A case for bringing back Guardian Angels?

I'd like to think that we all haven't been there. Witnessing a nasty scene on the Tube where someone is getting attacked or harrassed and deciding what to do. BBC Radio 2 presenter Jeremy Vine was interviewed by Radio 4 about how he witnessed a man getting beaten up on the London Underground and he and fellow passengers did nothing:

He said: "I was sitting in a Tube carriage next to an attractive young woman who was reading a magazine. There was a guy sitting opposite me, who was kind of Neanderthal. He had obviously taken an interest in this woman" After all the usual, 'come on darlin' give us a smile' rubbish, he started tapping her on the knee. Eventually he got off the Tube and the carriage collectively gave a sigh of relief. One passenger also gave him a V sign when the doors closed and unluckily for the passenger the doors decided to re-open.

"The thug runs back in. He's six foot three, his muscles are so big they're flexing against the Tube glass, and he just starts beating seven bells out of this fellow.

"And I did nothing. The carriage was pretty full. But none of us did anything. It was terrible...... It wasn't fight or flight, it was fight or sit there and watch. And I chose to sit there and watch. And I've replayed it many many times. I'm very unhappy that I did that, and I now have sort of resolved that if I see a similar kind of situation where I see someone being attacked like that, I will intervene with unmitigated ferocity.

"I was sitting there and I had a biography of Oscar Wilde and it's about 700 pages. I reckoned that this biography would have made a serious dent in his skull and also that it would have been a classy way to bring this guy down to the Tube floor, but of course as I have all these thoughts it's already too late. In fact the moment you think about it, it's too late."

I'm not too surprised that no one did anything. The closest I've been to this situation since blogging, is when I was getting hassled by some drunk on a Tube and most of the people sitting near me chose to get off at the next stop. Fortunately, I sat it out through bloody mindedness and I was lucky that he wasn't violent. I've no idea what I would do if the boot were on the other foot though. I certainly wouldn't have left the carriage as just a physical show of numbers can help.

But in the case of someone getting physically attacked, I'd like to think I'd intervene or at least shout at the person. I'm sure most people hope that someone else will be brave enough to do something (it's almost like giving up seats to people who need them - although they doesn't require bravery). As Vine says by doing nothing we're giving trouble makers permission to continue. He later found out on a bus journey that if one person stands up, others will usually follow suit.

Has anyone else been in a similar situation on the Tube or public transport? Or do you have any advice on what you could do to defuse a situation like this?

London Underground; Tube Posted by Unknown Tuesday, August 21, 2007 Permalink COMMENT HERE
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