Signs of Summer on the Tube

Thanks to @yaili for this lovely version of the standard "Hot weather alert" Tube posters.


Hot Weather sign at Caledonian Road Tube by Yaili
Apart from the typo it seems much more personal than the normal London Underground "Stay Cool" or "Carry Water" posters.


I particularly like the request to "Have a magical weekend my lovelies" and the little PS to ask staff for water if needed.

Other signs that summer's arrived on the Tube - along with the outbreak of sandals & sunglasses - are the stream of announcements about delays due to people who are ill on trains. Not sure if water is a general cure all to stop commuters fainting in the heat & perhaps if water was more readily available, that might help trains being delayed as a result of people swooning.


If you see (or hear) of any other signs of summer on the Tube or your station has any recommendations of how to deal with the heat, let me know!

You might also like:

Hottest Spots on the London Underground - it's from 2009, but I bet it hasn't changed much.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Unknown Monday, May 24, 2010 Permalink COMMENT HERE
Tweet http://london-underground.blogspot.com/2010/05/signs-of-summer-on-tube.html

New Tube Map Cover apes Patterson's Great Bear

"Next stop Irony, for the Northern Line change at Compassion", could be the announcement from London Underground drivers based on the next Tube Map. May's cover, which will be at Tube stations from May 21st, replaces station names with an artist's experience of that part of London.


If you think it looks familiar you're probably recalling Simon Patterson's Great Bear from 1992 where, station names were replaced by famous people. Or indeed any number of Tube map "mash ups" or spoofs which have followed (and usually banished by TfL ever since).

However, the powers that be, have decided in their infinite wisdom, that artistic Tube map mash ups are OK. They probably could have saved some money by getting the wags at b3ta to produce something. The Great Bear was sold at auction for £14,950 and I imagine the artist of this map, Barbara Kruger, didn't come cheaply.

If you can dress up a simple idea with enough creative and artistic words and get buy-in from TfL, convince them it's not going to "damage the brand", you're quids in! Art blog Aesthetica says: "Taking the very familiar visual language of the Tube map, she keeps the main image intact but changes the words – still in their daily uniform of the classic New Johnston Font – and liberates them from their daily function. St. James’s Park is momentarily renamed ‘Fame’, Westminster station becomes ‘Reason’ and Victoria station as ‘Pride’ completes a humorous triumvirate."

Humorous triumvirate, took the words right out of my mouth!

Sally Shaw, Art on the Underground's curator, said: "We are excited and privileged to be working with Barbara Kruger on this project. Untitled (Tube Map) presents a subtly humorous and human interpretation of life in the city, navigated via the Tube. I am looking forward to hearing what our customers think about Barbara’s work and the others in the series via our website."

I wonder whether the full map would also include stations liberated to be accurately renamed "Despair", "Boredom", "Dirty", "Sauna", "Pigeon dropping ridden" & "Pickpocket's delight"?

London Underground; Tube Posted by Unknown Thursday, May 20, 2010 Permalink COMMENT HERE
Tweet http://london-underground.blogspot.com/2010/05/new-tube-map-cover-apes-pattersons.html

Bob Crow on the Tube

For once it's not Mr Crow pontificating about trains & strikes. But a great "celebrity" Tube spot of RMT leader Bob Crow (or his doppelganger) on the London Underground yesterday morning.


It was taken by Mags Halliday who's pretty certain it was Bob Crow. Why? Two reasons a) "He was wearing an RMT badge" and b) He was sitting "legs apart so that he took up both seats, though there were people standing".

Yes, I think we can safely say that's Bob Crow. If anyone's going to do "bloke sitting" or "Tube space invading", he'd be a prime candidate.

If only we had these signs on the Tube

Well spotted Mags, who said "After all these years semi-working in London I finally get a celeb spot on my last trip pre-baby. Although it tells you a lot that I recognise a union leader over an actor or musician".

London Underground; Tube Posted by Unknown Wednesday, May 19, 2010 Permalink COMMENT HERE
Tweet http://london-underground.blogspot.com/2010/05/bob-crow-on-tube.html

Naked Tube

Forget "No Trousers on the Underground" or "No Pants Subway Day", four naked men & women got shocked looks when they travelled through Charing Cross London Underground.


With only strategically placed briefcases and handbags, they travelled as though it was completely normal to be nude on the Tube. Surprisingly it's not a new trend, but to launch Virgin 1's The Naked Office, which broadcasts tonight at 9pm.


The premise is that staff at struggling businesses try to help turn their companies around by stripping off. Steven Suphi, behaviour change specialist and leadership guru, believes that being naked in an office will help boost employees' confidence and develop trust.

In a moment of understatement she said: "For most people in the UK going to work in the nude is a very daunting prospect."

I'd say it's daunting. Where would you carry your iPod and keep your Oystercard handy?

Hat tip to Bernard P who saw this story featured in Australian press.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Unknown Tuesday, May 18, 2010 Permalink COMMENT HERE
Tweet http://london-underground.blogspot.com/2010/05/naked-tube.html

Piccadilly Circus Tube - then & now

The Musuem of London have just launched a great free iPhone app that let's you wander around London and see how various parts looked in the past. Anne from the museum kindly sent me a wartime image just outside Piccadilly Circus London Underground station.


Here's how it works. "Select a destination from our London map or use your GPS to locate an image near you. Hold your camera up to the present day street scene and see the same London location appear on your screen, offering you a window through time. If the image is flipped, just walk around it to see it from the correct viewpoint. Want to know more about what you’re seeing? Simply tap the info button for historical facts.

Once you’ve got the hang of it, use Streetmuseum to create your own trails around London. At home, on the way to work or enjoying a trip to the capital – whatever you're doing, Streetmuseum offers you a different outlook on London."

I'm not sure how many Tube stations are pictured in the app - but for those of you with iPhones, it's another nice app to add to the London Underground related ones.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Unknown Monday, May 17, 2010 Permalink COMMENT HERE
Tweet http://london-underground.blogspot.com/2010/05/piccadilly-circus-tube-then-now.html

Tube Photo of the Week

Great spot by @Joshweller who said "This was on the Tubeline board at Tottenham Court Road station. Only in London..."


Pop star Paloma Faith also saw the sign at TCR and Twitpicced "Even Tube staff agree Cameron is a bad idea".

Hat tip to MichalD RichJM, CTrouper & deekdeester for letting me know!

All it needed was a line underneath saying "and Nick Clegg's the new deputy PM, so any delays on the London Underground are his fault".

Update: The message got removed and according to The Mirror a TfL spokesperson said:

"Our service information boards are in public areas of stations and are used to update our customers of service changes. This message has been removed, we are urgently investigating how it appeared, and apologise for it."

How do they explain all of the other human touches on the service update boards? Does this mean I won't see my daily birthdays & fact of the Day at Kew Gardens any more? What about Mr Warwick Avenue's cheery ones? Maybe there'll be a new TfL rule - no political comments on the noticeboards.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Unknown Wednesday, May 12, 2010 Permalink COMMENT HERE
Tweet http://london-underground.blogspot.com/2010/05/tube-photo-of-week.html

Jubilee Line Upgrade - Line may split

Today TfL's Rail and London Underground Panel reports on the Jubilee Line Upgrades and their status. There's a summary report online of the status, which makes a depressing read in terms of delivery date slippage and the many weekends of closures due to engineering works.


sanity now broken by version3point1
In a nutshell the report says it's likely that the Jubilee Line upgrade won't be finished until October 2010 - making it more than nine months late. In the meantime a proposal has been made to split the work in to more manageable chunks.

London Reconnections goes into the report and what it might mean, far better than I could, so I'd suggest you read that.

In summary he concludes:

"Overall, therefore, the report is well worth a read - whilst it may need to be reworked and re-evaluated after Tube Lines impending takeover, it nonetheless still contains an interesting perspective on the current situation, and it throws an interesting light on the problems those upgrading the Jubilee Line will likely still face - be they Tube Lines or London Underground.

Whether we see a reduction in full weekend closures as a result of TfL's impending buyout of the company remains to be seen. If we do though, it seems likely that this will not be without cost - the temporary splitting of the line. Whilst that may be an improvement, it will still not be a pain-free experience."

London Underground; Tube Posted by Unknown Wednesday, May 12, 2010 Permalink COMMENT HERE
Tweet http://london-underground.blogspot.com/2010/05/jubilee-line-upgrade-line-may-split.html

Will NYC subway have as much CCTV as the Tube?

Today Boris Johnson is showing Mayor Bloomberg from New York City round the London Underground in an effort to display how he's tackling crime.


No urinating on the Tube photo by futureshape
Apparently Bloomberg "is particularly interested in London's use of CCTV" and more so in the 12,000 cameras on the Tube (which will soon be rising to 14,000).

The Mayor's office said "This will ultimately mean that no one will be able to enter the Underground network without their face being recorded by CCTV - a development which has aroused considerable interest in New York."

I'm all for safety on the Tube, but I'm not sure how Boris is able to balance this with the Conservative party's election manifesto. One of the points states that it will be "curtailing the surveillance powers that allow some councils to use anti-terrorism laws to spy on people making trivial mistakes or minor breaches of the rules".

Video surveillance to tackle real crime is great. But low level nuisance like people having a wee in Tube corridors - is that really an offence for the police? Will that be extended to people who are sick in Tube passageways too?

A month or so ago I had lunch with Chief Inspector Paul Wilson who runs Neighbourhood Policing for the British Transport Police. It's possible to see what crime levels are like at individual London Underground stations.

He stressed to me that it's possible to report low level crime and nuisances on the Tube, such as unruly kids, rowdy drunks and the like to their local Neighbourhood Policing Teams. This seems more sensible to me than putting up a CCTV camera with the aim to catch someone urinating!

Anyway, Chief Inspector Wilson would be very keen to hear your views of crime on the Tube. Do you have any specific questions for him? Did you know about the Neighbourhood Policing System? Have you ever reported a crime on the Tube? Do you feel we have another police visibly patrolling stations, What do you think of the levels of CCTV on the network?

London Underground; Tube Posted by Unknown Tuesday, May 11, 2010 Permalink COMMENT HERE
Tweet http://london-underground.blogspot.com/2010/05/will-nyc-subway-have-as-much-cctv-as.html

Tube Strike Threat as PPP ends

It didn't take long for the RMT to start talking about London Underground strikes as Public Private Partnership (PPP) was brought to an end on Friday. Transport for London, bought out the shareholders of contractor Tube Lines for 310 million pounds, ending the much maligned public-private partnership.


You would think that Bob Crow would be happy that the Tube was now (or at least from June) back in state control. But no! He fears that a number of maintenance jobs could be at risk and said:

"We still want concrete assurances on jobs and conditions and we are preparing to ballot our members for industrial action."

So on the one hand it's a "a welcome development and would kill off the privatisation disaster on the tube once and for all." according to his comments on Friday. Yet on the other a perfect excuse to go on strike.

In a press statement just released he said "We have made it clear again today that unless we get assurances that staff will not be expected to pay the price for the collapse of Tube Lines and the last knockings of the failed tube privatisation experiment we will push on with plans for action and our ballot of members will go ahead."

Shouldn't there at least be a chance for the ink to dry on Friday's announcement, before Crow rushes in all gun ho with a ballot for a strike?

London Underground; Tube Posted by Unknown Monday, May 10, 2010 Permalink COMMENT HERE
Tweet http://london-underground.blogspot.com/2010/05/tube-strike-threat-as-ppp-ends.html

Brown & Cameron Tube Pole Dancing

What would you do if you saw two girls dressed as Gordon Brown & David Cameron pole dancing on the London Underground? Nothing much. In typical Tube style, the commuters in the video seem pretty non plussed.


Maybe if Cameron & Brown actually travelled on the Tube, there'd be more eyebrows raised.

Thanks to @Bash for finding the video and to @Utku who was one of the bewildered people in the Tube while it was going on.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Unknown Friday, May 07, 2010 Permalink COMMENT HERE
Tweet http://london-underground.blogspot.com/2010/05/brown-cameron-tube-pole-dancing.html

Oyster Card Error Messages

There seemed to be a malfunction with the Oyster Card reader at my London Underground station this morning. I have an annual Oyster Card, so the strange reading didn't bother me, but I wonder what happened to others with Pre Pay on going through the gate. Would they have got a free journey? Would have been charged several times? Would they have a problem making a return journey?


This led me to wonder whether there was listing of Oyster Card codes and whether it was worth knowing what they meant.

Naturally, someone (@markylon) has come up with a listing of Oyster Card codes that looks pretty comprehensive. There's almost a hundred codes covering a variety of things that can happen when you pass through the gates at a Tube station.

Some of my favourites are "82 - Illogical use of ticket" - the mind boggles as to what that would be. "33 - Illogical interchange through gates", also got the person who published the listing thinking. But he elaborated. An illogical journey is not taking the Tube from Covent Garden to Leicester Square (why would you want to do that?), but "is when, say you exit through Monument station and re-enter at Tower Hill"!!!!

There are also error message 61 - 63 which are for spending too long at an interchange, on a journey and on a platform. Just how long is too long to spend at a station? How many hours? What if you'd had a long day & fell asleep?

Error message 41 was also puzzling. "Zig Zag through gates". Does this mean something like going through and then immediately coming back through the same gate? Would you even have long enough to do this before the barrier closed behind you?

If you know of any other messages which are not on the list, let us know. Or if you can think of any activities or behaviour such as "Taking too long to go through gates" or "Trying to take a huge amount of luggage through the standard gates", of which there should be error codes for.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Unknown Wednesday, May 05, 2010 Permalink COMMENT HERE
Tweet http://london-underground.blogspot.com/2010/05/oyster-card-error-messages.html

Tube Pic of the Week - Red Bull

A case where Red Bull doesn't give you wings. Kate R spotted a sleepy London Underground commuter, trying but failing to stay awake with the assistance of a can of Red Bull.


She said "It was almost like an ad for Red Bull in that he was holding it perfectly upright with the logo facing out."

Kate didn't stay on the Tube long enough to see where he got off, but wouldn't be surprised if he'd missed his stop.

One of my most embarrassing Tube sleeps was waking up just as I pulled into my station, but then stupidly standing on the wrong side of the train waiting for the doors to open. I've seen a number of other people do this, so know that I'm not alone in this disorientation. However, a sleepy woman in Zurich managed to delay a number of trains in her dozy state. She leapt off her train after falling asleep and jumped off before it had pulled into the station.

She said "I didn’t notice we weren’t in the station because I’d been napping. I thought it was a long drop down."

London Underground; Tube Posted by Unknown Tuesday, May 04, 2010 Permalink COMMENT HERE
Tweet http://london-underground.blogspot.com/2010/05/tube-pic-of-week-red-bull.html

London's Biggest Circle Line

Ever wanted to see what the London Overground will eventually look like when all of the extensions are complete? Thanks to Nigel Doran (Nigello on Twitter), who found a great map of the concentric circles.


Click on this page and you'll see the map in various stages (well, current & new). I'm guessing that TfL will never show the lines in this way, which is a pity, as it would make a lot more sense of the orbital railway and links with the London Underground.

Who's for a massive Circle Line party, when it's all finished?

London Underground; Tube Posted by Unknown Wednesday, April 28, 2010 Permalink COMMENT HERE
Tweet http://london-underground.blogspot.com/2010/04/londons-biggest-circle-line.html

East London Line opens today

After a few false starts with a soft launch, a section of the new East London Line will be opening to the public today. Boris Johnson will cut the ribbons, or whatever, in an opening ceremony at Dalston Junction station and travel on a special service this morning. Then commuters can travel between Dalston Junction and New Cross from 12.05.


Busy Platform by Martin Deutsch
The line cost £1 billion but opened ahead of schedule. I'm sure lots of people will be heading over to the East End today to be the first travel on the shiny new trains and visit the brand new stations: Shoreditch High Street, Hoxton, Haggerston & Dalston Junction.


Shoreditch High Street Station by Bryon Manley
For now trains will be running between New Cross Gate and Dalston Junction, Mondays - Fridays only. There will be no early morning or late night services, with a 7am - 8pm pattern. The full service is due to open on May 23rd. Once it's fully up & running, Transport for London estimate that around 100,000 people to use the service daily.


Starting to get crowded by IanVisits
Look out for blog posts from IanVisits (pictures here), London Reconnections, Londonist and Lewminesce who I'm sure will be some of the first travelling on the trains today. I might even try to make a short journey myself, it'll be change from travelling on the London Underground.

UPDATE - Londonist have pictures of the opening at Dalston with a group of Labour protesters, Bollywood dancers & Boris in the first train:

"The only people scoring political points were a cabal of Ken Livingstone acolytes grouped outside on Dalston Lane, clutching banners that hailed the East London line as a project completed through Labour investment. It's a fair point, and Boris' performance for the cameras conceals the fact that London Overground is a project that Ken pushed through."

UPDATE: Martin Deutsch was on the first public East London Line train and took some pictures of the crowded line, along with the first dog & first bicycle to travel on it!


The East London Line's first dog meets the East London Line's first bicycle by Martin Deutsch

London Underground; Tube Posted by Unknown Tuesday, April 27, 2010 Permalink COMMENT HERE
Tweet http://london-underground.blogspot.com/2010/04/east-london-line-opens-today.html

NYC Subway Map shows fewer riders

Interesting use of Google maps in New York, where figures showing subway ridership have been mapped onto each station. In all, the system had 1.58 billion rides last year, officials said, this meant a decline of 2.7 percent from 2008. The New York Times puts most of the decline down to job losses.


Hat tip to MichalD for the link.

Wonder what a map of the London Underground would look like on this basis? Have you noticed fewer people at the Tube stations you use regularly?

London Underground; Tube Posted by Unknown Monday, April 26, 2010 Permalink COMMENT HERE
Tweet http://london-underground.blogspot.com/2010/04/nyc-subway-map-shows-fewer-riders.html

Burnt toast closed King's Cross Tube - twice

Should there be a toast ban for London Underground staff? Jo deBank of passenger group London TravelWatch wonders whether it should be a possibility as King's Cross Tube station was twice evacuated and closed for 20 minutes due to fire alerts caused by burnt toast. "This might sound minor but to shut such a busy station — which disrupts the journeys of thousands of passengers — is serious", she said.


The Underground Toast by Dwro8ea
The Evening Standard report that "firefighters were called to the station after smoke began billowing from singed bread left unattended in a toaster — once at 8am breakfast time and the other at 6pm tea time."

This was confirmed by a TfL spokesperson who said closures on March 13th and April 7th were caused by "smoke from a toaster in the staff area of the station. London Underground has extensive heat and smoke detection systems, fire alarms and sprinkler systems and both alerts were dealt with quickly."

Apparently, burnt food in staff kitchen also led to a closure at Caledonian Road Tube station on the Piccadilly line earlier this year.

The official report concluded: "Upon inspection of room found the cause of smoke, someone had decided it was a good idea to store their box of Rice Krispies and four custard cream biscuits in the oven."

Perhaps there ought to be a new kitchen Inspector just for these incidents, like Inspector Sands who is called for when a fire alarm has been set off. If you hear "Could Inspector Ramsey or Inspector Oliver make his way to the control room", you'll know that settings on the staff toaster need adjusting.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Unknown Thursday, April 22, 2010 Permalink COMMENT HERE
Tweet http://london-underground.blogspot.com/2010/04/burnt-toast-closed-kings-cross-tube.html

How To Chat Someone Up On The Tube

Want to get together with someone on public transport? Surprise, surprise, there's an app for that. Likeu which could be useful for the London Underground. Now that the London Lite's gone, taking with it the "Love Bites" small ads. The app's described as the equivalent of sending a mate over to speak to a cute stranger.

You might have more success with it than using the chatting up tips in a video I've just found. If you have a spare five minutes, have a look - it's pretty tongue in cheek. My favourite tip is on the opening question:

"Try and ask a question that requires more than a 'yes' or 'no' answer. Don't ask "does this train stop at Victoria?" as they can simply say "yes", and end the conversation. Instead, ask an "open question" like "how do you get to Victoria?" as they will have to reply with a more detailed answer which will help you get a conversation going.

However, do expect them to look surprised that you've spoken up, and be prepared to repeat the question if they are startled. If they're genuinely interested in you they will be happy to start chatting. You'll be able to tell if they are not interested. If it is going badly, and you feel embarrassed, just get off at the next stop!"

How To Chat Someone Up On The Tube

And remember "too much smiling on the Tube can look odd, so be careful not to overdo it."

London Underground; Tube Posted by Unknown Thursday, April 22, 2010 Permalink COMMENT HERE
Tweet http://london-underground.blogspot.com/2010/04/how-to-chat-someone-up-on-tube.html

Prototype Oyster card wallet - balance display

If you need a quick reminder on how much credit you've got left on your Oyster card, this prototype wallet could come in use.


Designers Tom Seymour and David Bruno said "With the Oyster Card Wallet you’ll know how much credit you have on your card at all times, at a glance. So no more waiting for the bus only to be turned away, and no more walking into the Tube gates and holding everyone else up. It's a simple idea that will help the London Underground work a little more efficiently."

It is a remarkably simple concept and I'd be interested to see if it makes it into production. Although as some people on Twitter have said, it might make it easier for pickpockets to tell which cards are worth stealing. That's assuming the pickpockets have great eyesight! Perhaps putting the display on an inside flap in the holder would help - although it wouldn't look as cool.

Hat tip to @LDN and hjd1984 for finding this.

There's a Facebook page for people who want to find out more about this and help the designers get the concept off the ground.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Unknown Wednesday, April 21, 2010 Permalink COMMENT HERE
Tweet http://london-underground.blogspot.com/2010/04/prototype-oyster-card-wallet-balance.html

Location based Tube Game - Chromaroma

If you're one of the people who enjoys playing Foursquare, you could be interested in a new location based game about travelling on the London Underground, launching late this year. Chromaroma was presented at City Hall this morning at seminar on The Possibilities of Real Time Data.

"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."

Chromaroma Visualisations from Mudlark on Vimeo.
It'll be interesting to see what type of "alliances" will be built and might show commuters being a lot more friendly in a gaming environment than in the flesh! Although we might find the opposite to be the case. Moody commuters might find this an opportunity to virtually fight people in a race to be King of Cockfosters, for example.

There was some discussion over privacy aspects in the presentation at City Hall. The game currently scrapes journey history data from pay-as-you-go Oyster users who've already subscribed to the game.

"We have just switched on a blanket privacy policy that gives users the ability to choose which players they want to view their travel data and which they don’t, following the Facebook model. This is obviously essential in a game based around sharing location. Although pinpointing players exact locations is impossible, 1) because it is only based on station entry and exit and 2) because of a 48hour lag between actual journey and journey history being published by Oyster. But looking at journey histories over time it is possible to track patterns of travel and likely times in certain places and surprisingly you can quite easily work out a users approximate place of work and home manor.

Have we created a stalking app and unleashed a litigious monster?" he producers Mudlark ask on their blog.

Do the privacy aspects worry you, or do you think you could tactically use them to your advantage? To build up effective gameplay is it essential that people can see the travel strategies of competing players - otherwise it's like hiding chess pieces!

As the game is still in development, the guys behind Chromaroma would be interested in whether you'd actually play this. Would it make you more aware of the time you spend walking or using public transport? Would it benefit how you used the Tube, or do you just see it as a game?

London Underground; Tube Posted by Unknown Monday, April 19, 2010 Permalink COMMENT HERE
Tweet http://london-underground.blogspot.com/2010/04/location-based-tube-game-chromaroma.html

Two public transport approaches to volcanic ash

Kudos to London Underground for going for the slightly more dramatic way of announcing that there were disruptions to flights due to volcanic ash from Iceland.


I like the use of "drifting" that's almost poetic for the Tube. Although not as dramatic as the headline on Metro's Independence Day style "The day the skies stood still" front page today!

Compare that to the much more formal notice at Liverpool Street station referring to flights in and out of Stansted Airport:


Interesting how National Express decided to include the British Airport Authority in this notice, probably to give it more strength.

Good luck if you planning on flying from the UK in the next day or so.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Unknown Friday, April 16, 2010 Permalink COMMENT HERE
Tweet http://london-underground.blogspot.com/2010/04/two-public-transport-approaches-to.html