London Underground Pop Up Themed Pub opens in September

More celebrations for the 150th anniversary of the London Underground now include the opportunity to drink in a Tube themed bar.  After a successful pop-up at the London Design Festival last year, Camden Town Brewery are installing a micro-brewery and bar at designjunction.

Running from  the 19th - 22nd September 2013 you can apply for free tickets for the bar at The New Sorting Office on New Oxford Street.  The pop up bar will be serving the new Metropolitan range of beers named after the first steam trains that ran on the London Underground.  These were especially created for London Transport Museum by Camden Town Brewery.

The bar itself is designed by Michael Sodeau, and will have some wonderful London Underground heritage station tiles on display (which I first heard about on Ian Visits blog)

The tiles look so well suited to pubs, it'll be interesting to see whether they pop up in other pubs around London after this.

Special  LED Lighting, suspended on Underground line coloured textile cables, by Nud Collection, will complete the Tube themed  look as well as seating inspired  by original Underground moquette patterns but given a whole new contemporary feel.

Opening hours for the pub are Thursday 19th - 10am - 8pm, Friday 20th 10am - 7pm, Saturday 21st 10am - 6pm and Sunday 22nd 10am - 4pm.  Don't forget to apply for tickets, rather than simply turning up.  I certainly look forward to enjoying a bottle of Fowler Wheat beer.

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London Underground; Tube Posted by annie mole Monday, August 19, 2013 Permalink COMMENT HERE
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Drive a Cardboard Tube Train

Ever wanted to drive a cardboard Tube train through Kensington and Chelsea?  Sounds improbable. However, you're in luck this weekend as a cardboard train designed by William Alexander will be picking up passengers on a new "spur" linking the District Line to the Central Line. 

It's a free performance piece by Fitzrovia Noir running from Wednesday 24 July to Saturday 27 July, from 10am-11.30pm and 12.30pm-2pm, with 4pm matinees on Wednesday and Friday.

"By ‘picking up’ passengers on this people-powered train along the way, the artist-driver will establish imaginary overground routes through public spaces with an innovation that responds to 150 years of underground travel in the capital." says the blurb for the event.

No booking is required, so if the weather's dry (cardboard trains don't run well in downpours) it should be an interesting experience.

Full details are at Fitzrovia Noir's site or on the Facebook  page for the event.

London Underground; Tube Posted by annie mole Tuesday, July 23, 2013 Permalink COMMENT HERE
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270 Tube Stations in one A-Z of the Underground Song

The Tube's been referenced countless times in songs. Whether that's generic references such as in James Blunt's "You're Beautiful", The Jam's "Down in the Tube Station at Midnight" or specific stations such as Warwick Avenue. However, there hasn’t been a song to name every single station. Until now.

Image by Adham Fisher

Ben Langham is a London Underground engineer by day and a station music master by night. He collects recordings behind the scenes of the Tube – sometimes from  hidden tunnels and disused  – and transforms them into songs for his Tunnel Sounds project. I blogged about his unique concept some while back but it also caught the attention of BBC Breakfast and CBS News.


For the 150th anniversary of the London Underground Ben felt this called for something very special. A-Z Of The Underground is a hypnotic one-off piece interchanging hip-hop and electronica featuring Kate Mullins (Puppini Sisters), Jaggi and AFS.

Real sounds recorded on the Tube have been edited and layered together with guitars, bass and punctual production based around the Central Line of rhythmic vocals acknowledging all 270 stations. The song can be downloaded for free, or however much people want to pay for a limited time only

So next  time you take the Tube, listen to this audio tour of the tunnels and you might end up with plenty of extra spring in your Stepney.

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London Underground; Tube Posted by annie mole Thursday, July 04, 2013 Permalink COMMENT HERE
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Heathrow Express Celebrates 15th Birthday with giant train shaped cake

While the London Underground is celebrating its 150th anniversary, the Heathrow Express celebrated its 15th birthday with the aid of some cake.  A large train sized cake.  Coming in at 4 metres long, 1.5 x 4m x 2m and taking over 30 hours to install it was on display at Paddington station today.

A team of 15 bakers used  industrial cake mixers, copper moulds, blowtorches and spirit levels to engineer the cake in-situ at the station. It's made of sponge, fondant icing and chocolate.

Keith Greenfield, Managing Director of Heathrow Express said: “Building an enormous carriage-shaped cake with its flavours inspired by the Heathrow Express journey felt like a fitting way to celebrate our 15 years of service. We hope that passengers are able to enjoy a slice as they pass through on their way to or from the airport.”

Come on TfL now it's your turn to make a replica Tube train cake for your anniversary celebrations.  

Photos by Gary Morrisroe 

We had a giant cake Tube map a few years ago for National Baking Week and perhaps the cake could be installed at Swiss Roll Cottage station, or maybe Victoria sponge Tube or even Charing Hot Cross Bun station.

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London Underground; Tube Posted by annie mole Monday, June 24, 2013 Permalink COMMENT HERE
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Lego Tube Maps - 150th London Underground Birthday Celebrations

Fans of Lego rejoice. To mark the London Underground's 150th anniversary, five the Tube maps through the years have been created entirely out of Lego.

Each map is made from 1,000 Lego bricks and they aim to show how the Tube map has evolved from 1927 through to a first look as to what it could look like by 2020.

The maps, can be seen at Kings Cross St. Pancras (for the 2020 map), South Kensington (1927 map), Piccadilly Circus (1933 - Harry Beck's original map), Green Park (1968 map)  and Stratford (2013 map) Tube stations this summer, before moving onto permanent homes at London Transport Museum.

Photo by Ben Sutherland

They've  certainly come on a long way from the interpretation of the Lego Tube Map at Legoland Windsor (pictured above) and the Lego maps made by Duncan Titchmarsh in 2007



Mike Ashworth, Design and Heritage Manager at London Underground, said: 'LEGO have done a wonderful job of recreating our internationally recognized Tube map. 

'I'm sure our customers of all ages and backgrounds will enjoy looking at the five different LEGO maps that show the history and development of the Underground. 

 'The 2020 map at King's Cross St. Pancras shows the new stations and rail links we want to deliver - we hope this fun LEGO map will inspire the young engineers of the future to help deliver our vision.'

You can pick up a leaflet at the stations where the Lego maps are displayed with  details on how to build your own London Underground logo or 'roundel' out of Lego bricks.

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London Underground; Tube Posted by annie mole Wednesday, June 12, 2013 Permalink COMMENT HERE
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Robb Stark from Game of Thrones on the Tube

SPOILER ALERT for Game of Thrones fans .... don't read this is you haven't watched the latest episode of the show .... or have somehow managed to survive several days on the internet without knowing what has happened.




What happens to kings who've just been murdered?  Apparently they end up on the Bakerloo Line.  Robb Stark or rather the actor who plays him, Richard Madden was spotted on the London Underground recently, looking rather pensive.  Stark very recently met a grisly end in a massacre on Game of Thrones much to the shock of many viewers. 

Photo by @DannyBlahBlah

As it looks as though @DannyBlahBlah took this when the weather was a tad more inclement than it is now, one can only assume it was before his very recent demise was broadcast. 

All Robb aka The King of the North needed was for some Tube "joker" to say "Cheer up mate it might never happen" and then he could have turned around and said, "It already has, I've just been brutally murdered".

Dr Who's Alex Kingston spotted by me on the Piccadilly Line

Let us know if you've spotted any other bored looking actors who play sci fi or fantasy characters on the Tube as there seems to be a growing "club" of them.

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London Underground; Tube Posted by annie mole Wednesday, June 05, 2013 Permalink COMMENT HERE
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Tube Map Poster for Chelsea Flower Show's 100th Year

100 years of the Chelsea Flower Show and 150 years of the London Underground.  To mark both occasions the Underground has issued a special poster showing the Tube map with its lines represented as common and unusual flowers.

The Jubilee line is represented by grey Hydrangeas, Bakerloo line by a Chocolate Cosmos, the District Line by green Chrysanthemums, Piccadilly line by blue tulips, black pansies for the Northern line, red roses for the Central line,  Himalayan Blue Poppies for the Waterloo &City line, maroon Lilies for the Metropolitan line,  blue geraniums for  the Victoria line and  brightly coloured ornamental Allamanda Cathartica for the Circle line. Gerberas are used for two lines - pink for the  – Hammersmith & City line and cheery orange ones for the Overground.

It's the first time the Tube map has been used in a poster for the Chelsea Flower Show and works really well as previous images from the 1930's were a bit unadventurous in  comparison.

It would be great if Sloane Square Tube had some floral arrangements in it to celebrate as well.  Although as it's pretty much underground, the flowers wouldn't get much in the way of natural light. 

Pinner London Underground Station Garden Winner 1966

Last year Finchley Central's station garden was entered into The Chelsea Flower show and there were over 140 entries for TfL's London Underground in Bloom competition in for the best station garden. Displays ranged from the Olympic rings and herb gardens to Japanese meditation-style spaces and beehives.  Back in 1966, 3000 flowers and plants were so resplendent in Pinner's station garden you could hardly see the station name.

The current poster for the Chelsea Flower Show will be available from London Transport Museum shop in Covent Garden Piazza or online at the following link.

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London Underground; Tube Posted by annie mole Tuesday, May 21, 2013 Permalink COMMENT HERE
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Oxford Circus Tube Great Gatsby Makeover

Look out for an amazing 360 degree advertising makeover at Oxford Circus London Underground for the new Baz Luhrmann version of The Great Gatsby.  The entrance to the escalators there have been transformed into a 1920's ballroom.

Photo via @LovelysVintage

In something that looks like the palatial subway system at Moscow,  digitally printed floor graphics and huge graphic wall panels give commuters the impression they're being transplanted into the roaring twenties.

They certainly show how "wrapping" of Tube stations has come on and actually seems really well suited to the London Underground's own long history.  TfL have been known to be quite picky about the makeovers of stations by advertisers.  So this one clearly had close collaboration between CBS Outdoor UK (who are responsible for selling all the ad space on the Tube) and Applied Media (who produced the graphics) to get approval from London Underground for such lavish designs.

Apparently the floor panels have been designed to be extremely durable under the millions of footsteps, pushchairs, suitcase and trolley marks they'll be subjected too. It was also important that they were slip resistant and are easily removable at the end of the campaign.  Applied Media also worked with TfL last year to deliver 120 kilometres of temporary games lanes for the 2012 London Olympics and Paralympics.

I love this period and art deco too, so I'd be happy to see the flooring and ceiling panels left up after the campaign.  It's certainly set the bar for what can be achieved to temporarily immerse  us commuters into another time while we're travelling.

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London Underground; Tube Posted by annie mole Wednesday, May 15, 2013 Permalink COMMENT HERE
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WiFi on Tube - Skipping Virgin Ad

How many people are familiar with the Virgin Media "splash pages" which appear on logging in to London Underground WiFi?  Underground Magazine suggests that this may be all some people ever see.

Their spoof feature echoes a sentiment and frustration I've often felt. "A spokesperson for TfL had this to say: “At TfL we want to offer our customers the most cutting edge technology. That’s why we went in this direction. Emails, instant messaging, your files on the go – these are all things we could have offered, but no-one else currently offers what we do: non-stop, high-speed access to this one advert.......

"Virgin staff expressed delight at the service’s success. “Our research found people crying out for an internet service that was available for the thirty-or-so seconds whilst a train is stopped, and for twenty-eight of those to be spent trying to click past an advert. And in the bit where we we asked for ‘any more comments’, over 80% of respondents wrote, ‘make the button to skip past the advert really tiny, and make it so if you click anywhere else, you just get taken straight to another advert’. So obviously that’s what we did.”

Admittedly I don't hate the advert so much to pay to get it removed, but I wonder how many people would pay for its removal? 

While on the subject of using smart mobile devices on the Tube, have you heard new announcements on the London Underground?   A number of my friends have heard station assistants saying "Please stand back from the edge of the platform when using smartphones and tablets".   On the Victoria Line @michald said that the announcer  there sounded quite baffled by his own message.

Are TfL worried that we're becoming so mesmerised by the internet that we'll fall onto the tracks?  Surely we can be just as engrossed in newspapers, books or magazines and we should be warned to stand back from the edge when reading those too?

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London Underground; Tube Posted by annie mole Friday, May 10, 2013 Permalink COMMENT HERE
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Tube Carriage Supper Club - 25th May 2013

For those who were asking when the next Tube carriage supper club, there's bad news and good news.  The bad news is that Alex had set one up for 11th May which sold out in about an hour.  The good news is he's now going to run another on the 25th May, to cope with the demand and there's also a little extra capacity.

It really was great fun and you can find out more about what happened when I went to last Tube Carriage Supper Club.  My friend Rosana from Hot & Chilli, who told me about the event also has a post from the event.

Once again the menu looks great - it's different from the one myself and Rosana had and also being late May you'll be warmer than we were.  It's a lovely opportunity to roam around the old exhibits at the Walthamstow Steam Museum too.  Book online here.

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London Underground; Tube Posted by annie mole Monday, April 29, 2013 Permalink COMMENT HERE
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Tube Supperclub on Victoria Line Train

Eating on the Tube - love it or hate it?  TfL launched a poster campaign a few years ago encouraging us not to eat smelly food on the Tube which almost caused a diplomatic incident between Britain & Italy due to its implication that all Italian food is smelly.  We've probably all been on the London Underground when someone's been eating chips, chicken, a kebab or even a packet of cheese and onion crisps, and it's really got up our noses.

However, not all Tube food is a bad thing as I had the pleasure of dining on an old Victoria Line carriage last weekend.


This wasn't a rushed sarnie or breakfast croissant on the Tube, but a delicious four course meal as part of the Basement Galley's celebrations of the London Underground's 150th anniversary.  The by-line of Alex and Tom's supperclub is "Underground Dining", but this was the first time they'd taken the whole concept really Undeground.  OK we weren't on a carriage physically travelling on the Victoria Line itself, but on an old Victoria Line train stationed at the Walthamstow Pumphouse Museum.

If you've been to a supperclub before you'll know that the fun is all in the unknown. You usually don't know the location until the last minute. You don't know who you'll be eating with. Even though this was miles away from where I lived, I knew I couldn't turn down the opportunity of eating on the Tube.

My friend Rosana Mc Phee from Hot & Chilli who discovered the event, met me at Walthamstow Central Tube and we then spent about 10 minutes trying to find the right bus to get to the Museum.

Fortunately some fellow diners were also on the bus & confirmed we were going the right way. The Pumphouse Museum is a bit ramshackle from the outside, with old rusting coaches, buses and bus stops "displayed" in a fairly haphazard fashion.  So it was with some trepidation that we wandered round to back of the Museum to our train which was hidden in a very large marquee.


Once through the sliding doors we were more relieved.  All looked extremely well set out, crisp white table cloths and candles mixed against the backdrop of in-line carriage maps and old Tube posters. We stood in the aisles chatting, drinking wine  (we weren't strictly on public transport so not subject the Boris booze ban!)  and getting to know our fellow diners. The tables were set so most of us were sitting on the train's own comfy moquette seats whereas others were on seats by the sliding doors. 


We settled down to our starter of Green Pea & Basil Purée followed by Salmon poached in a Black Pepper Broth, Rucola Salad, Truffle & Parmesan Vinaigrette. With the sounds of the sliding doors swooshing open & shut as the food was carried in and our empty plates taken out, it felt as though the train should have been moving.


However, it didn't take long to forget that you were in a train and just spend time enjoying the meal, wine and company.


There were only 22 of us that night, but Alex thinks that by re-arranging the seating a little he could fit around 30 people into the carriage.


Our main course was piping hot, which was some feat considering Alex & his team only had a  very small kitchen at the Museum to heat things up in.  Kilner Jar appeared full of  yummy slow braised beef in a Móle sauce with garlic mash and wilted spinach.


This was followed by a Pimm’s Fruit Salad and a beautifully presented plate of sliced of cheesecake: White Chocolate &; Vanilla, Lapsang Souchong Tea, with a glass of Kiwi Smoothie.


Over tea and coffee we shared our amazement that no one (well no one as far as we knew had run a supperclub in a Tube carriage) and applauded Alex for his idea and great food.


It would be lovely to return in the summer for an event like this.  Firstly, as it was a little cold and secondly, as I wondered how it might look with less bright lighting from the Tube's overhead lights and more reliance on candlelight.  Both my and Rosana's Tweets during the meal led to many excited responses saying "How did you hear about this?", "When's the next one?".

Keep an eye on the Basement Galley's Twitter feed for when the next one will be, as Alex says he'll definitely run another.   There's some more of my photos from the Victoria Line Train Supper Club and the Pumphouse Museum here.

Eating on the tube :-s by fitzlaurafitz

In the meantime, next time you're eating on the Tube, close your eyes and imagine the white tablecloths, glasses, cutlery and candles and you'll get a rough idea of our experience. 

UPDATE - 29th April 2013 - due to popular demand, Alex is having another two supper clubs on this train.  11th May is already sold out but you can book tickets for the one on the 25th May now.

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London Underground; Tube Posted by annie mole Sunday, April 14, 2013 Permalink COMMENT HERE
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Photobombing Fun Tube Pictures

Looking for a way to brighten up your Tube commute?  An anoymous photographer is making quite a splash across the net right now by strategically using free newspapers to create some fun forced perspective pictures.  "Photo bombing" fellow commuters means you can potentially get to see celebrities travelling with you every day.

The photos are mostly on buses or on mainline train journeys but you can easily see how this would work for London Underground journeys.

The photographer's choices for this are fun, but I loved a shot that I blogged about a few years ago where Meg Pickard captured a lady reading on the Tube.  This wasn't set up but just a lovely spontaneous  moment where everything worked together brilliantly

Photo by Meg Pickard

Chutney Bannister's "The Surreal Line" set of photos on the Tube also show how cross platform ads can mingle with commuters to create some interesting perspectives.

Thanks to @MichalD for initially alerting me the to current "photo bombing" photos and you can see the full set of them all on Shortlist.

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London Underground; Tube Posted by annie mole Friday, April 12, 2013 Permalink COMMENT HERE
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We Love Steam! 13th - 14th April - Acton Depot Open Weekend

Here's a date for your diaries. If you missed out on seeing the Underground steam engine that travelled on the Tube system earlier this year, you can get a close up look at it at the Acton Depot Open Weekend on April 13th and 14th.

Photo by clogsilk

Also on display will be the restored Metropolitan Line 353 carriage which again was part of the 150th anniversary celebrations of the London Underground. Model displays will feature miniatures of the Met No.1, and a Lego fans will be kept happy with a representation of Baker Street in 1863.  You can have a footplate ride on Ffestiniog Railway’s 150 year old steam engine Prince.


There's also steam rides on the Acton Miniature Railway, film screenings, hands on workshops where you can get the opportunity to make your own model steam train, talks, and book signings.

More details on the open weekend here. It's always an extremely popular weekend as the queues for the event often snake back to Acton Town Tube station.  With a chance to see the steam train up close I imagine this weekend will be busier than usual.

I've been to the weekends there several times and spent hours pottering around the Museum’s collection.  There's over 400,000 objects at the Depot including signs, vehicles, old ticket machines, station clocks, small objects, posters and more.

Tickets cost £10.00 for adults, £8.00 for senior citizens, £6.50 concessions and £5.00 London Transport Museum Friends. Accompanied children under 16 get in free.

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London Underground; Tube Posted by annie mole Saturday, April 06, 2013 Permalink COMMENT HERE
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Train becomes Tube

For reasons as yet unknown an A Class 20 diesel locomotive at the Midland Railway Centre, has been painted in London Underground corporate livery.

The Midland Railway Centre is one of the homes for old trains undergoing refurbishment. More pictures of the train above can be found here. I love the idea that old locomative trains can get a make-over as a London Underground train.

Here's another carriage undergoing a makeover. You can see that most of its cab end has been replated.  Known in the trade as LU Choppers, it's unlikely that you'll get to see them in London, but they'd certainly turn a few heads if they made it down here.

These "hybrid" Tube / Trains remind me of the Tube/ Bus/Train that was refurbished last year



Thanks to @julog90 for bringing this to my attention. 

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London Underground; Tube Posted by annie mole Monday, April 01, 2013 Permalink COMMENT HERE
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Are Contactless cards creating problems on the Tube?

A Reddit user had spotted the following sign at a London Undeground station recently, implying that some contactless bank cards are being charged on Oystercard readers on the Tube.  As most people know, TfL recently rolled out a service where those with contactless cards could pay for bus fares.  From late 2013 you will be able to use cards to pay for Tube journeys too.

No one else on Reddit the specific issue above but someone had said their contactless Barclaycard messes up the gates on the Tube.  I was wondering if anyone else had experienced their contactless cards working on the Tube, or somehow confusing the barriers.  When the whole idea of contactless payments for travel was first planned back in 2006, there as already some worry expressed about confusion.  Head of credit cards at Moneysupermarket at the time said: "This type of innovation is very much welcomed in the cards market," said  "However, the convenience of having three payment types on the same card could potentially lead to customer confusion about which part of the card is being debited."

I'm sure that someone from TfL will be able to shed light on the above photo, or explain what the problem at this station was, however it there are warning signs on TfL's website about not keeping your Oyster card and contactless cards together.

"If you keep your contactless payment card and Oyster card together (for instance in a wallet) and touch them on the yellow card reader together, the reader will normally reject them both. This is because we can't be sure which card you want to use. If you have more than one contactless card (Oyster card, payment card or building pass), please choose the card that you intend to pay with, and touch it on its own on the yellow card reader. If you don't there is a small possibility that payment will be taken from a card that you did not intend using."

Bear in mind this is relating to buses and not the Tube.  Nonetheless the above sign is worrying and hopefully it's a one off case. Any thoughts appreciated, specially if you've noticed your own contactless cards causing havoc with the barriers on the Tube.

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London Underground; Tube Posted by annie mole Wednesday, March 27, 2013 Permalink COMMENT HERE
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Print on Demand Posters of Max Roberts' Tube Map Redesigns

Map fans and Tube geeks love Max Roberts' re-designs and re-workings of the London Underground map. His posts are some of the most popular on my blog and recently his Circular Tube map received a ton of coverage online and in national and London newspapers. Over the years, a number of people have asked for poster versions of his maps and in response he's produced a poster print on demand service for your favourite maps from his collection.


They're availabe in A2, A1, A0 and oversize (44 inches for the short dimension) and printed on Olmec matt photo archival paper, 230gsm. Max is a stickler for detail and will check all prints for quality and pack to perfection before dispatch.

As as special introductory offer when you buy any poster, and have the opportunity to buy his book Underground Maps Unravelled for just £35.00 including postage, which is £10.00 off the cover price.

You'll see a small selection of Max's maps on this page but remember Max has designed over 100 different maps for cities worldwide, too many to list on that page. He says "You will also find designs scattered around the internet, sometimes as slideshows, also included with exhibition reviews. If you would like a specific design, and you can describe it verbally (e.g. the page number from my book) then order directly by using the button below. I will email back with a thumbnail to confirm that this is the design that you want. Alternatively, email me with a description and an image, and we will take it from there."

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London Underground; Tube Posted by annie mole Saturday, March 23, 2013 Permalink COMMENT HERE
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Queen on Tube for Underground Birthday Celebrations

Later today the Queen will be winding her way down to Baker Street, where along with the Duke of Edinburgh and Duchess of Cambridge, she'll be visiting Baker Street London Underground station to mark the Tube system's 150th birthday.

The Queen has recently been suffering symptoms of gastroenteritis and this is her first public engagement in more than a week, so the Tube should be quite honoured. Although unsurprisingly the Queen isn't an anorak and doesn't make a habit of visiting stations or travelling on the Tube. She is pictured above on the opening of the Victoria Line in 1969.  As you can see she's making the major faux pas of having her bag take up a seat.  Still it was only her second trip ever on the Tube.

She last visited a Tube station for a much more sombre occasion in February 2010. She went to Aldgate station to view a memorial plaque dedicated to the seven people killed at Aldgate during the July 7, 2005 bombings.

The Queen, Philip and Kate will view a restored 1892 carriage and then meet station staff and apprentices involved in the restoration of the rolling stock. They won't be travelling on a moving train, but will walk through a new S7 train before the unveils a plaque, naming the train Queen Elizabeth II. 

TfL would be missing a trick if they didn't give Kate a "Baby on board" badge - but we'll have to see.

The royal party will also meet staff from the Railway Children charity, an international organisation which works to help homeless youngsters.  More on the BBC.

The Queen first travelled on the Tube in May 1939, when she was 13 years old and still a Princess. She was pictured with her governess Marion Crawford and Princess Margaret.

UPDATE - Pleased to see that TfL did give Kate a Baby on Board Badge

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London Underground; Tube Posted by annie mole Wednesday, March 20, 2013 Permalink COMMENT HERE
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Geri Halliwell's Top Tube Travel Tips

Yet another celebrity waxing lyrical about the joys of travelling on the London Underground. After 17 years of Tube-free travel, for some reason, Geri Halliwell travelled one stop on the Piccadilly Line on Wednesday morning.  Such a momentous occasion for her she felt obliged to Tweet travel tips too.

  

Carrying a copy of the Financial Times, with a hole in the front cover - presumably so could travel ingonito and still peer at fellow commuters - she Tweeted "Forgive me for being a brat:-after 17 years & yesterday's 2 hrs of traffic-lets save time & money-the tube".

Quite why she bothered remains a mystery, when walking between Piccadilly Circus and Leicester Square would have saved her even more money.

Feeling "liberated" by the experience and since not travelling Underground for almost 20 years, Halliwell tweeted a couple of Tube tips for those of us not used to a daily commute.

"Tube tip – doors stops at platform entrance, or below sign, more seats at end carriage. oh & it's not smelly just saying."

"Rules of the tube, I notice no one smiles or looks at each other, like stay out of my zone."

It's almost as though Ms Halliwell felt she'd be travelling on a whole new system from when she last took the Tube.  One where those of us who don't have a daily commute of 40 minutes or more, or have the luxury of an empty carriage, feel the need to smile at each other.

Fellow Spice Girl Emma Bunton who co-presents the breakfast show on Heart was challenged by Jamie Theakston to use the Tube this morning when she revealed she hadn't used the system for 15 years.

Bunton has some problems swiping her Oyster card and said: “I got an Oyster card and as soon as I put it down, it said ‘seek assistance’. I started saying hello to people but no-one was having any of it.”

She added: “I know everyone has to do it in the mornings and the rush hour in the afternoons and it’s a toughie, but I enjoyed my moment.”

I'm worried that Victoria Beckham might decide to follow in the footsteps of Emma and Gerri and Tweet about how Tube travel plays havoc with her bunions.  Or how no one noticed her travelling in her shades and just returned her pouty look with an equally dark Paddington stare.

Will there be more of a trend of A list celebs travelling on the Tube now if only to give them something to Tweet about which make them seem like "normal Londoners"?

 

For my part, I get more joy out of spotting celebs like Alex Kingston, Roland Gift and Justin Lee Collins on the Tube.  They don't see Tube travel as a special event or a moment to be enjoyed.  Like the rest of us commuters, they just look bored or end up staring into space hoping there won't be any delays or random people trying to strike up a conversation with them.

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London Underground; Tube Posted by annie mole Thursday, March 14, 2013 Permalink COMMENT HERE
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