Tube Drivers may strike on Boxing Day 2012

We may face Boxing Day disruption on the London Underground for the third year in a row as Tube drivers union Aslef may be balloting members for strike action again this year.


Photo by Tom Roper
Aslef has been demanding triple pay and a day off in lieu for working on bank holidays however TfL stress that there is already a long-standing agreement for working on bank holidays, including Boxing Day.

Apparently talks between TfL and Aslef are already under way, but  Mick Whelan, the union's  general secretary  said: "We have not seen any positive response, but we are hoping it will be resolved. The company has only recently agreed to sit around the table with us."


 Howard Collins, London Underground's chief operating officer, said: "It would be quite wrong for the Aslef leadership to ballot for industrial action while we remain engaged in discussions to resolve this issue. We have had a series of positive discussions with Aslef representatives and there is a proposal on the table.

"LU has a long-standing agreement with all trade unions which cover working arrangements on bank holidays, including Boxing Day. However, we have shown good faith and have further reviewed Boxing Day service arrangements."

It's obviously early days and there is opportunity for a positive result.  However for the past two years TfL failed in legal challenges to get the strikes called off. Even though the RMT union are not involved in this dispute, they may compound the issue by refusing to cross picket lines should a strike take place. 

Related posts
Boxing Day Tube Strike Going Ahead - December 26th 2011
Boxing Day Tube Strike Planned
ASLEF vote for Boxing Day Strike 

London Underground; Tube Posted by Unknown Wednesday, November 07, 2012 Permalink COMMENT HERE
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Star Trek Look-a-likes on the Tube

If you were on the Central Line at Oxford Circus today, you may have spotted Picard, Worf & Data on your journey.  As you can tell by the creases in the costumes, they're not the actors that played the characters but look-a-likes.  Although it appears the budget ran out when they came to Worf & Data, but the Picard look-a-like is pretty good.

Photo by David Parry / PA

Why the Tube was chosen for the promotion of launch of Star Trek: The Next Generation in high-definition, is beyond me.  As far as I know Picard and crew never travelled on the London Underground, although on the Star Trek Tube Tour (a fun tour of the Tube with tenuous links to Star Trek characters), Oxford Circus is the first stop!  Perhaps the time has come for a proper Tube Map mash up linked to Star Trek characters. If it's good enough for Doctor Who, it's certainly good enough for Star Trek.

Hat tip to Andrew for alerting me to the picture from The Evening Standard

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London Underground; Tube Posted by Unknown Monday, November 05, 2012 Permalink COMMENT HERE
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Halloween on the Tube

Tonight's the night on the London Underground to look out for people with colour drained from their faces, walking zombies and those who've lost the will to live (and no, I'm not referring to the people stuck on the Central Line this morning).  It's Halloween.


I spotted these very well kitted out Halloween party goers on Saturday afternoon, clearly getting into the spirit of things quite early. I liked how the guy on the right looked slightly like an old school ticket inspector, checking to see if the undead had still paid the right fares.

Look out for ghosts, ghouls and other Shaun of the Dead extras on your journey tonight and also for people studiously trying to ignore them.

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London Underground; Tube Posted by Unknown Wednesday, October 31, 2012 Permalink COMMENT HERE
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James Bond Street

Following on from the various "guerilla" London Underground stickers that have been spotted across the network, here's a less than subtle transformation.  Someone seems to have taken to heart, the fact that some of the new James Bond film is set on the Tube.


N Vikor spotted this at Bond Street yesterday & uploaded to Londonist's Flickr Pool. It looks like it's an opportunist piece of work rather than some official promo for the film. Although I do wonder why the Bond Empire haven't done something around this station. If it was good enough for Sherlock Holmes, surely it's good enough for Mr Bond

Baker Street Tube was temporarily re-tiled last December for the 2nd Holmes film & previously a Robert Downey Jnr wax work model had its home at the station too.

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London Underground; Tube Posted by Unknown Monday, October 29, 2012 Permalink COMMENT HERE
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Free Hangover on Board Badge

For those times when you feel a little delicate, some bright sparks - Johnny and Angus - have come up with a way to tell fellow commuters to treat you carefully.  They've released some free "Hangover on Board" badges for London Underground travellers.


I'm pretty certain they won't guarantee you a seat (not that the TfL's official Baby on Board badges actually do this either), but you never know they might stop those eternal optimistics who tell you to "cheer up, it might never happen". Rather than saying "it already has", you can scowl at them and point at your badge.

If there are people who are playing their iPods too loudly, you might also be able to glare at them and point at your badge.

Be warned that the "Hangover on Board" site is not actually to be looked at when you have a hangover, as there's some flashing moquette backgrounds on it which will make you want to click the button to get your free badge pretty sharpish.

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London Underground; Tube Posted by Unknown Wednesday, October 24, 2012 Permalink COMMENT HERE
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Tube Roundel Re-mixed

Look out for a new book by Art on the Underground & Art / Books to be published on 22nd October.  We've seen a number of "re-mixed" or "mashed up" Tube maps.  In The Roundel: 100 Artists Remake a London Icon, the title reveals all as one hundred international artists have re-imagined the London Underground icon through photography, drawings, paintings, collage, sculpture and print.



The new book has an introductory essay by design & architecture critic Jonathan Glancey who looks back to the formation of the Roundel & its typeface a century ago & considers why it's had such an impact not just in London but also globally across cities including Kuala Lumpur, Salt Lake City, Shanghai and Osaka



Claire Dobbin, former curator at London Transport Museum, also discusses the artistic uses of the symbol in from earlier decades.  Created by calligrapher Edward Johnston and transport manager Frank Pick in 1908,
the ‘bar and the circle’ as the Roundel was originally known, was originally introduced to highlight station names on platform walls amidst the chaos of commercial advertising posters.

One of the artists Juneau Projects said of their roundel artwork, Cockades of the Revolutionaries: "The Roundel, for us, is a symbol of anticipation and relief, a silent travelling companion, whether outward or homeward bound. A travelcard becomes a canvas for daydreaming of moles and guitars impossibly torn from its surface."

The book will also have a launch event with a panel discussion on Tuesday 30th October at 7pm at the Hochhauser Auditorium, Sackler Centre, V&A Museum.  Chaired by Jonathan Glancey, several artists who contributed to the book will be on hand to answer questions and throw light on the inspiration for their work. Find out more on Art on the Underground's site.

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London Underground; Tube Posted by Unknown Friday, October 19, 2012 Permalink COMMENT HERE
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Poppy Wrapped Tubes & Announcements for Remembrance Day

Look out for Poppy wrapped London Underground Circle Line trains this year as proposals have been put forward to acknowledge Remembrance Day across the transport network.

Photo by Julian Gajewski

In addition to the Circle line train wrapping, an Overground train and up to two buses will be covered with poppy livery. Normally I've only seen people selling poppies at Tube stations but this year there will also be "announcements to recognise the invaluable contribution of service men and women in London have made to the protection of Greater London and its inhabitants, communicating this to Londoners and others using the transport network who may not ordinarily be aware of the sacrifices made."

It looks as though 50 Tube stations will carry announcements by Barbara Windsor and ads will be displayed at Westminister Tube promoting TfL’s war veterans’ fares concession.  There are also plans for poppies to be displayed on the front and side of every Tube, DLR and London Overground train.

TfL will bear the cost (approximately £210,000) for the activities & advertising which will run up until 30th November 2012.  Full details are on Greater London Authority's website.

< I thought the justification in the GLA's memo for doing this was interesting, "With the passage of time and with the prominence of other matters, be it the state of the global economy, house prices or the alledged activities of the press, it is easy for Londoners to forget the invaluable contribution service men and women have made to and for the protection of London, Londoners and to the way of life to which we have become accustomed".

Although I wonder why this is the first year (correct me if I'm wrong) that this has happened?

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London Underground; Tube Posted by Unknown Tuesday, October 16, 2012 Permalink COMMENT HERE
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Spoof London Underground Stickers "Craze"

Welcome if you arrived to my blog from the BBC's article on the Guerilla Sticker Craze on the Tube and thanks to Andy Dangerfield for interviewing me about it.  As I said in the article, these stickers have actually been around on the London for many years in some shape or form, but recently they have become much more inventive.

They've moved from the subtle No Talking, No Eye Contact and No Sitting (I first saw these back in 2004)

 

To more imaginative ways of displaying our frustration with not being able to get seats on the Tube

Spotted by @Whateleydude in 2008

My favourites are the non graphical ones as they actually do blend into the commute more. 

Spotted by Stuart Clary in 2004

However, the inventiveness of the Stickers on the Central Line series which first started appearing last year took things to a new level with an accompanying blog and commentary


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

The stickers have also made their way onto other trains in London such as the Gatwick Express


As Andy points out in his article there are some websites around that are selling the stickers, and now that the "craze" has been published in The Sun today & on Mashable in the US, one can only imagine there will be even more interest and even more inventiveness in the creations.

If you spot any more on your journeys, let me know.

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London Underground; Tube Posted by Unknown Thursday, October 11, 2012 Permalink COMMENT HERE
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Folding Tube Maps

Here's something to pass away the time on a London Underground journey.  Matt Scroggs has taken up the task of folding Tube maps into interesting geometric shapes with some nice results.

He said "after re-reading chapter two of Alex's Adventures in Numberland (where Alex learns to fold business cards into tetrahedrons, cubes and octohedrons) on the tube, I folded two tube maps into a tetrahedron"

Sometimes in pubs I used to spend time folding empty crisp packets into shapes (don't judge me!), so I can see how Tube map folding could become rather addictive.  Perhaps it will take on & we'll see people folding maps with the same intensity as being invovled in a Sudoku puzzle.

Matt has moved on from one map to using a number of maps, which you can see on his blog. He is also spreading the joy by leaving the folded creations on the map holder at the end of his journey

"Each time I take the Tube, I am going to fold a tetrahedron from two maps and leave it on the maps when I leave the tube. I started this yesterday, leaving a tetrahedron on the maps at South Harrow. In the evening, it was still there.  How often do you think I will return to find a tetrahedron still there? I will be keeping a tetrahedron diary so we can find out the answer to these most important questions...:

Hat tip to IanVisits who found Matt's blog

London Underground; Tube Posted by Unknown Tuesday, October 09, 2012 Permalink COMMENT HERE
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Oxford Circus Central Line Interchange Changes?

Can anyone help with the strange interchanges at Oxford Circus London Underground or the Direct Access to Central Line Conundrum. London Lass sent me an email about some puzzling goings on at the station last night.  She wrote: 

"Why I am putting fingers to my keyboard, is I was hoping you might be able to shed some light about what's going on at Oxford Circus Tube Station. 

Photo by mattbuck4950

On arriving at the station last night I was greeted by a blocked off accessway (that usually takes you to a little escalator which whisks you down on to the Central Line platforms) covered with a plethora of construction and planning notices. 

An LUL member of staff was standing next to the blocked off accessway so I asked him what was going on? He replied, dont worry, the Central Line was still working. Ok so why has the usual accessway been blocked off?, I chirruped back. He replied that it was nothing for me to worry about. Oh, well is it works being carried out?, I chirruped further. Escalator, he chimed back, follow the notices on the way for alternative route to the Central Line. 

And do you want to know how long it takes to use their `alternative' route (esp. in the middle of rush hour)? Another 5-10 minutes on your journey (depending on how fast you walk) as it takes you to another bank of escalators, on to the southbound Bakerloo Line platform, which you then have to walk down, exit, walk on further, round and round, and then walk up and down steps, until you finally manage to come full circle to reach the Central Line platforms. 

Aside from the odd disgruntled comment on Twitter I havent been able to find any reference to these works on-line (not even on LU's website) and wondered if you might have any information on how long this accessway/escalator will be closed down for?"

If anyone knows what this is about or how long it's going on for please let us know.

Update - Just heard from TfL's Press Office who said "Due to planned escalator maintenance work, the single escalator that leads down to the Central line platforms will be out of service to passengers. Customers wanting to use the Central line from Oxford Circus will be directed to alternate routes around the station by staff and signage that is up at the station. The works which commenced this week are due to be completed by early November. We apologise to customers for any disruption this may cause to their journeys."  So now we know.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Unknown Wednesday, October 03, 2012 Permalink COMMENT HERE
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70 Tube Stations in One Picture Quiz

How many London Underground stations can you find in the picture below?  Someone has made an excellent montage of a street scene filled with puns of Tube station names.  Apparently there are 70 in total!

The full image is in the link here, and should keep you busy for a while!  Many thanks to @NewburyNewbie (who originally found this on News of the Unreal) for sending this my way. The answers may (at some stage) be revealed at the #lookforlonger site & a number of people have seen this as a poster at Tube stations too.

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London Underground; Tube Posted by Unknown Monday, October 01, 2012 Permalink COMMENT HERE
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RMT Strike Ballot over Driverless Tube Trains

The RMT have just announced they will ballot their members for strike action  in protest at plans to test driverless trains on the London Underground.  The union said it will initially ballot members who are set to take part in the trials, but RMT leader Bob Crow warned that other workers could be balloted as well.


Crow said: "RMT reiterates this union's complete opposition to driverless trains. Every train must have a driver, to ensure the safe and effective running of the Underground.

"Plans to scrap drivers or reduce their driving duties are risking safety, services and jobs and are motivated by saving money and undermining trade unionism.

"We will be campaigning for a massive yes vote in this ballot and with further packages of Tube staffing and service cuts expected to be unveiled by the mayor and Transport for London shortly, RMT is on high alert to use every weapon in our armoury to resist attacks on our members and the safe running of the Tube network."

Earlier this year in July the RMT said that London Underground had a secret document "“Deep Tube Railway – Generic Operations and Maintenance Concept – 2020” which  planned to move the entire Jubilee line to driverless operation within three years, with trials starting later this year, and that other lines would  follow.  However TfL denied these trials.

LU's Gareth Powell stressed that consultation with staff would always take place before driverless trains were introduced: "We will always consult with staff on any changes and, because of the timescales needed to develop and introduce new trains and to phase out older fleets, we will continue to need drivers well beyond the point when driverless operation could come into effect."

Are the RMT now proposing strike action for plans that currently don't exist?

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London Underground; Tube Posted by Unknown Thursday, September 27, 2012 Permalink COMMENT HERE
Tweet http://london-underground.blogspot.com/2012/09/rmt-strike-ballot-driverless-tube-trains.html

TfL help Apple Maps Users

Those people grappling with Apple Maps on the new iOS6 have some sympathy from the staff at Hackney Wick London Overground station.  Apple Maps has come into major criticism and most tech press basically think it ... err ... sucks (for want of a better word)!  Apple Maps also doesn't include public transport & Ben Mathis @binny_UK noticed this "helpful" sign adding to Apple's woes.

Thanks to @MichalD for bringing it to my attention.

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London Underground; Tube Posted by Unknown Friday, September 21, 2012 Permalink COMMENT HERE
Tweet http://london-underground.blogspot.com/2012/09/tfl-help-apple-maps-users.html

Underground Orchestra Preview

You may remember I blogged about a Tube orchestra challenge a few months ago.  I'm pleased to say that things seems to be coming along rather nicely for it.  Tube Challenger Adham Fisher went along to a preview concert last week and has kindly written a guest post of the event.

String Quartet at the Jubilee Line Opening

"This year, a goal is set to recruit people for an orchestra to play at a prestigious London venue on the 12th of December 2012. The orchestra will comprise of musicians met on the London Underground only; if they are seen with an instrument, they must be approached. Original music will be performed, scored by someone who neither reads nor writes music. This is the 121212 Challenge. And on paper, it shouldn't work.

Shaun Buswell is the man behind this, and as the lead singer in the more-than-15-strong "folkchestral" band bearing his last name, is used to managing big groups. Things are coming together now and material is being previewed. After a London Eye concert, Buswell took to the Union Chapel last Friday (September 14th) with four members of the still-forming Underground Orchestra.

Gaz Brookfield opened proceedings, a most energetic man-and-guitar combination. So overawed was he at playing in the Chapel that he turned deftly away from the microphone for rude words and played his ode to the West Country unamplified. He made way for Cook And The Case who constrast with darker, brooding melodies.



Buswell and the orchestra filed on stage; the total number could be around 21. "This song's called Tuning Up," says Shaun, as strings, brass and electric pitch the customary A. Three songs later, most of the ensemble departed to leave Shaun to perform a stripped-down Sleep with his producer who had flown in from Gothenburg, and returned with more superb classical arrangements to complement Buswell's songwriting.

Tuning Up is reprised by Shaun throughout, as the orchestra wait for him to align to certain songs. He makes up for this with his banter, however, announcing it was his birthday (he'll be in the bar afterwards until further notice) and having Happy Birthday sung to him from the reasonably full house. He introduced all of the musicians, spoke about his challenge and even mentioned some chap named Adham Fisher and the Guinness World Record for visiting all Tube stations, which he might try at some point. His Guinness application for "largest orchestra consisting of people met on rapid transit" has not been confirmed yet...


With the 10:30pm curfew looming, the orchestra launched into Lebanon - which in full flow has a tiny hint of Live And Let Die about it - and end with The Road, an uplifting piece written specifically for the 121212 Challenge. A standing ovation ensued; the audience loved what they have heard.
The venue has not yet been announced but the full Underground Orchestra will be in concert on 12/12/12. Reserve that date, for based on tonight, it works. "


Many thanks Adham for the review and look out for more updates as the orchestra forms.

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London Underground; Tube Posted by Unknown Thursday, September 20, 2012 Permalink COMMENT HERE
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How others see the Tube

Having just got back from Bangkok, I spent some time travelling on the BTS (Skytrain) and Bangkok's Metro system looking at the whole system as an outsider. There'll be a post on my thoughts soon.  This reminded me that Jon Justice had recently seen a Japanese animation with some surprisingly accurate renditions of the London Underground.

"K-ON!" is a Japanese animation about a group of teenage girls who form a band in after-school hours. Recently I was watching the film version where the girls visit London and I was really rather amazed at how accurately they depicted the Tube. I was rather expecting something more along the lines of the fantasy London that most Japanese imagine (do you realise that, according to her official biography, Hello Kitty was born and still lives in London?). 
 

But no, this was the Tube looking pretty much as the Tube actually does. The accompanying "making of" DVD shows members of the animation staff visiting London and taking lots of photographs.

I was quite astonished. Even in pictures where the station name isn't visible, I still recognised them" (ie Earl's Court is shown above).

I agree with Jon on this and there's a lovely feel to the illustrations, particularly this last one which is incredibly detailed with the level of signage & signals.  Thanks Jon for sending this on.

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London Underground; Tube Posted by Unknown Tuesday, September 18, 2012 Permalink COMMENT HERE
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How the Tube Network Coped with the Olympics

On Tuesday evening, a lecture was held at UCL to look at how the various transport networks coped during the Olympics. The talk was arranged before the Olympics, when there was still a lot of doom and gloom so there was a risk it would be a wake for the service - but who knew that wouldn't be needed.


As was pointed out, in fact that lack of total collapse of the network means that Londoners may look at how the network performed in a nearly flawless manner during the Olympics might then wonder why it isn't always like that. Of course, part of that was thanks to the total suspension of all road works and weekend engineering closures on the railways - which sadly have to return.

Transport for London naturally collects an awful lot of information about people moving around the city, and some of that is made available under controlled conditions to researchers at UCL.

However, what was the impact of the past year worth of warnings that the tube network would be hideously overloaded? Based on what is still very preliminary analysis, of those Oyster card users considered to be regular commuters, some 87% did not change their journey.

The impact was considerably greater though amongst the occasional travellers - with around half adjusting their trips in some way.

One of the difficulties of the Oyster card system is that it records the entry and exit points, so if people altered when they travel, then that shows up - but if they catch trains at the usual time, but change the route they take once on the network, that would not appear in the data.

There is also the impact of Olympic ticket holders, who were also given a magnetic card based train ticket. For example, I went to the Olympics, and also traveled around a bit on my paper ticket - so my occasional Oyster use seems lower than it was in fact.

It's worth looking at those numbers again though - 13% of regular commuters and about half of occasional travellers adjusting their travel. Put another way, that released capacity on the Underground equivalent to an entire Crossrail project.

Yes, Crossrail arrived this summer - or at least a simulation of it. And that was despite the network carrying more passengers than normal for this time of year. Which shows just how significant encouraging working from home occasionally or traveling a bit earlier in the morning could have if maintained long term.

In the recent TfL board minutes, it was noted that West End Tube station demand during the Olympic Games was up by an average of seven per cent compared with 2011, with a peak uplift of 27 percent on the afternoon of Saturday 4 August.

During the Olympic Games, over 62 million journeys were made on the Tube -- up 35 per cent on normal levels. Tuesday, 7 August was the busiest day in the Tube’s history, with 4.57 million passengers, while Sunday 5 August saw 78 per cent more passengers than a normal Sunday last year.

Back at the UCL lecture, some frankly slightly confusing graphs were shown with more detailed analysis of the passenger traffic volumes on a per-day basis, but one was quite funny.

The sheer size of the TV audience for the Opening Ceremony had an impact on public transport with people staying in pubs or at home to watch it. But once the theatrics were over, and the athletes started the long parade around the stadium, traffic on the tube started to rise before dropping as journeys finished - then spiked back up again at the end of the Opening Ceremony.

It seems the athletes parade really wasn't that interesting. Need to persuade the National Grid to release details of the kettle surge on the electricity demand!

There was a lot more at the talk about other transport networks, and TfL will be publishing its own medium-term analysis on the Olympics in December, with a more in-depth report due next year.

UCL video their lectures, and you will be able to see the whole lecture on their YouTube channel shortly.

London Underground; Tube Posted by IanVisits Thursday, September 13, 2012 Permalink COMMENT HERE
Tweet http://london-underground.blogspot.com/2012/09/how-tube-network-coped-with-olympics.html

Banana peel hazards at Waterloo tube station

Passing through Waterloo tube station yesterday my eye was drawn to this hazard just in front of the doors on the platform.

I'm not sure if it was a casually discarded hazzard by some lazy idiot, or a cunning plan by London Underground to encourage people to stand away from the doors and let passengers off first.

Talking of which, wouldn't it be great to have some sort of ED-209 type voice barking at people to stand away from the doors when a movement sensor detects someone is standing right in front of them. You have 5 seconds to comply!

Impressively, most people seemed to notice the banana peel and step over it. Well, I say impressive, in a way, slightly disapointing that my camera didn't end up with a more amusing, if potentially harmful photo.

Incidentally, the reason I was passing through the station was to get to a lecture at UCL with analysis charts showing how passenger numbers fluctuated during the Olympics. More about that later this week.

London Underground; Tube Posted by IanVisits Wednesday, September 12, 2012 Permalink COMMENT HERE
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Weekend closures resume on the London Underground

Now that the Olympics are over, the Tube and Overground networks start to return to more conventional working.

The smiling happy faces heading to Olympic venues have been replaced by glum commuters reading the Metro or studiously ignoring each other.

...and the weekend engineering works have returned.

Considering the lack of works carried out over the past 6-weeks, they are of necessity returning with a vengeance. In fact, looking at the tube map for this weekend, it might be easier to summarize it as "stay at home". Which coincidentally was a part of the message to encourage people to work from home during the Olympics to help reduce overcrowding.

TfL is rather pleased that a decent percentage of those who could change their travel plans actually did so, and it will be interesting to see just how much of that change continues now that the Olympics are over.

When you think how much extra capacity was released by people spreading their commute around a bit or working from home occasionally, and at a time when the network carried record numbers of passengers - it would be wonderful if we could keep that going.

Back to the weekend works, and TfL says that the effect of the works has been reduced by 10 percent compared to last year and by 25 percent compared to two years ago. Although that comparison is affected by the Jubilee Line debacle which saw parts of the line closed almost every weekend.

Something to look out for though if you use the Central Line - they warn that there will be a longer closure on the Hainault loop in the last week of October and the first few days of November.

One small crumb of comfort - there will be no weekend works at all on the Underground during December.

Enjoy your Christmas shopping! 

PS - whenever the East London Line is closed, and the tunnel isn't part of the works, they should try to let people walk through it again. That was incredibly popular last time.

London Underground; Tube Posted by IanVisits Tuesday, September 11, 2012 Permalink COMMENT HERE
Tweet http://london-underground.blogspot.com/2012/09/weekend-closures-resume-on-london.html

Death Line on the London Underground

The tube network has been the venue for a good many films over the years, including quite famously An American Werewolf in London - where a commuter is stalked by the wolf down unrealistically empty corridors.

However, another film followed the stalking theme, but this time the villains are two cannibalistic descendants of the Victorians who built the tube tunnels!

Neither man nor woman any more, they lurk in an unfinished tube station and venture out for fresh meat amongst the commuters around the Holborn area.

Incidentally, this is set around Holborn - and the American Werewolf film was based in Tottenham Court Road. Evidently that bit of the Central Line is to be avoided if you don't want to end up dead!

Death Line (Raw Meat in the USA) was filmed in 1972, and curiously for a horror movie, was filmed on the actual underground network at both Holborn and Aldwych tube stations, although the cannibals lair was evidentially filmed elsewhere.

Staring Donald Pleasance, it also features a fleeting appearance by Christopher Lee.

The film trailer though is to our modern eyes hysterically funny.

I suspect that the scared student grabbing the station staff and shaking him wouldn't be approved of today though.

The best bit though is the final note on the trailer - that the film is "an experience in ultimate terror so fearful, that no additional scenes can be shown in this preview."

You have been warned!

A final note - eagle eyed tube geeks will notice that video cover in the USA features a New York train, not the London Underground. How dare they!

London Underground; Tube Posted by IanVisits Monday, September 10, 2012 Permalink COMMENT HERE
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The tube map - as a radio circuit board

Oh look, yet another variant of the London Underground tube map, how tediou.... oh, my goodness, that one's rather good!

An "artist in residence" at the Design Museum, Yuri Suzuki -- in collaboration with Masahiko Shindo -- has built this circuit board based tube map.

But no mere aesthetic concept, it is also a fully functioning radio. Fortunately, the river is described as part of the electronics, as I doubt actual water would have been a wise idea.

The layout reminds me of an electronics toy I had as a kid, which I slightly miss as it comes from the days when being able to read the colour codes on resisters was considered a valued skill as opposed to today where it would probably be hipster nerdishness. A bit of hunting around on the web and some luck with google keywords tells me that the "toy" was the Gakken EX-System which encourages you to experiment with building electric circuits.

Nostalgia!

Incidentally, the story that Harry Beck based his original map design on the electronic circuit board is a myth. There is indeed a Beck style circuit board design tube map in the archives, but it was apparently a joke that was presented to him long after the tube map had been adopted by London Transport.

The artist in residence programme runs until next January, and the circuit board tube map will also be on display at the late-night opening on the 21st September.

London Underground; Tube Posted by IanVisits Friday, September 07, 2012 Permalink COMMENT HERE
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