Transforming your Tube this Bank Holiday Weekend

I was trying to take a picture of the leaflet which announced the Bank Holiday Tube Transformation works and Bolli insisted on appearing in the photo


For once Transport for London had done a very good leaflet. Wonder if they had taken on board the frustration and confusion caused by the errr not so clear leaflets and posters they had previously done for this?


This current one is really super clear and they've even made sure that the Piccadilly Line trains stop at Turnham Green (which will be a massive help for me getting into town - although I still won't use those fooking replacement buses). There's a remarkably clear section with "alternative travel advice" which tells you which local bus services you can use.


For those who asked for more pictures of Bolli, here's others where he wouldn't get out of the way:








Bolli is available for hire to Transport for London for modelling services and only wants food for payment.

London Underground; Tube Posted by annie mole Saturday, May 03, 2008 Permalink COMMENT HERE
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Don't read this if you voted for Boris

I really am not interested in anyone who comments on this post and says why don't you just focus on the London Underground then. There's shedloads of posts in this blog about the London Underground and there will be shedloads more. It's time for a change isn't it. Most of London thinks so. Here's a post NOT about the London Underground.

Please avert your eyes and go off and read the posts that interest you. This is just one post out of hundreds that are about the Tube. Read the posts about bendy buses, Japan, mainline railways and the myriad of other posts that aren't "all things underground" but don't seem to get any complaints. So if you're still reading this post at this stage, you know what you're letting yourself in for.

By about 6pm I felt it was unlikely that Ken Livingstone would win the mayoral elections, but in my heart of hearts I kind of hoped he would pull it off. We know that he didn't and we know that we now have four years of being run by a "character" who is possibly one of the most essentially un-diverse people you could have running a city that prides itself on diversity.

A person who has little appreciation of what it's like to live in London & mix on a daily basis with people of a variety of races, with a people who have a variety of sexual preferences, with people from different parts of the UK, with women who'd rather not be cheated on and lied to by their partners.

Whatever you think of Boris's ability to run this city and there's little evidence of him being any good at that. How anyone can believe that such an undiverse character can change themselves in a matter of weeks is simply beyond me. Time after time after time the man has come up with racist gaffes, homophobic gaffes, Liverpudllianist gaffes and countless others. Yet he says sorry and ahhhh loads of people forgive him until it's time for him to make the next one.

The article in Thursday's Guardian confirmed every suspicion I had about the man. It listed lots of people that you may well admire and respect who were all horrified about the prospect of Boris running this city. David Mitchell, Arabella Weir, Charlie Brooker, Bianca Jagger, Ben Okri and Vivienne Westwood all give quotes in that article of how Boris is unsuitable for the role.

If you haven't the time to read that article here's some of Boris's own words:

"Right, let's go and look at some more piccaninnies."
· Reported remark, while visiting Uganda, to Swedish Unicef workers and their black driver, the Observer, 2003

"It is said that the Queen has come to love the Commonwealth, partly because it supplies her with regular cheering crowds of flag-waving piccaninnies."
· Daily Telegraph, 2002

"I'm down with the ethnics. You can't out-ethnic me, Nihal ... My children are a quarter Indian, so put that in your pipe and smoke it."
· To Nihal Arthanayake, BBC Asian Network, 2008

"Gay marriage can only ever be a ludicrous parody of the real thing."
· Daily Telegraph, 2005

"The clerics gave us [journalists] a wigging for being so mean to the Church of England ... Why did we draw attention to tricky subjects like homosexuality, aka the Pulpit Poofs issue?"
· The Spectator, 2000

"I've slept with far fewer than 1,000."
· On whether he has slept with fewer than 30 women, like Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg, Daily Telegraph, 2008

More from the BBC's site

"If I was in charge I would get rid of Jamie Oliver and tell people to eat what they like" - striking a blow for the right to eat pies at the 2006 Tory conference. He later described Oliver as a "national saint".

"I will add Papua New Guinea to my global itinerary of apology" - after suggesting the country was known for "chief-killing and cannibalism"

But London believes it's time for a change and that Boris is the best person to do the job.

If my making a political stand which you disagree with makes you never want to read this blog again, go ahead and don't read it anymore. I won't be sorry to see you go. Right now, I'm about to join this Facebook Group - Boris not in my name and will also become a fan of Boris Watch - as you can bet your bottom dollar I'll be watching him like a hawk.

London Underground; Tube Posted by annie mole Saturday, May 03, 2008 Permalink COMMENT HERE
Tweet http://london-underground.blogspot.com/2008/05/dont-read-this-if-you-voted-for-boris.html

Who will be London's Mayor? Long Wait begins

Well that's it. The wait begins. Polls closed at 10pm yesterday. Counting for London Mayor does not start until 9am this morning with the results expected around 12 hours later at about 5pm ish.

It's going to be a very close call. Boris the Buffoon may possibly just do it. No one really knows despite Evening Standard's usual accurate billboards hardly representing what's in the paper.


Meanwhile on the bbc's site or watching their election live coverage you might like to see Jeremy Vine doing a rather odd cowboy accent with a stetson and gun toting and shooting party / seats ie cans off a fence.

Emily Maitlis is "blogging, twittering, chatting, whatever" as she speaks to "blog land" or rather some bloggers who've been selected to give people's online views.


At time of writing Boris Johnson's dad is talking to Emily Maitlis saying that he's not a buffoon and saying The Guardian's approach is libellous. Well he would say that wouldn't he?

Whatever happens later today it will affect London's Transport either for better or for worse. I'll carry on blogging about the Tube and it will certainly be interesting if I have to expose Boris's inexperience and buffoonery.


Right now people do seem more interested in the story about this blog that a lot of other news today, so I've got a responsibility to keep people informed.

Personally I'd rather be blogging about the Tube being improved rather than it being turned into even more of a nightmare for the next four years - but who knows - it ain't over till it's over.

London Underground; Tube Posted by annie mole Friday, May 02, 2008 Permalink COMMENT HERE
Tweet http://london-underground.blogspot.com/2008/05/who-will-be-londons-mayor-long-wait.html

Playing Cards with the Tube

Cards featured a lot in my day yesterday. At lunchtime I went off to see Channel4 for a work and play related event. I'm soooo lucky that my day job has quite a lot of resonances with my blogging life and it means I get to combine the two.


Someone at the event made exactly the same comment, but she felt that only two people in the world read both of her blogs, as the things she did at work and play were very unrelated.

On the way back, I sheltered in the rain and stood gazing up at the London Underground Head Office (which is really close to Channel 4's office). I was sheltering under the canopy of the Met Police's head office (they're all really close to each other, near St James's Park Tube Station, so I use them as landmarks).

It was weird though because I'd never noticed the flag flying from their building before. Maybe it always has been or maybe it was something to do with elections.


I was a little too close to their front door and was taking a picture - obviously making me a terrorist. The nice policeman on the door asked me what I was doing. I told him. He said "Fine, can you just move over a bit as you're blocking the entrance. Nasty weather isn't it." Then we had a bit of a chat about how pants it was one minute and how sunny then next. I never thought I'd hear myself saying this, but he rocked!

Coming home last night I saw the perfect example of the extreme ends of Tube commuters. There's those that try to hide behind their papers and never look at anyone wanting to get the journey over with as quickly as possible. Then those that use the long journey as a way of getting other stuff done and an extension of their bedroom, office, living room, whatever. The two below definitely fell into the latter category:


They were engrossed in their game of cards and seemed to be taking their playing very seriously.

Anyway time for me to get ready for work now. I've got a busy busy day and then tonight I'm off to see Iron Man with some blogging mates. Sizemore, Jess, Tiara Diamond (may not be safe for some offices), Whatleydude & L J see you all later.

Oh and if anyone wants to know how Bolli my newly acquired cat is doing, as you can see below he's demanding breakfast and doing well


You would not believe how much this cat can eat. He acts as though he's starving most of the time and would seriously eat all day if I let him.

London Underground; Tube Posted by annie mole Friday, May 02, 2008 Permalink COMMENT HERE
Tweet http://london-underground.blogspot.com/2008/05/playing-cards-with-tube.html

London votes for Mayor today

Well it's finally arrived. The day of reckoning. The day that Londoners can choose who is going to become their Mayor for the next four years. Obviously, I've been following the mayoral campaign for quite some time as London's Transport and the London Underground is a key part of the Mayor's responsibility and also as three million people use the Tube in London every single day it's bound to be of importance.


Most of you, who've been reading this blog for some time, know who I'm going to vote for as Mayor. I'm not going to try to influence your vote with this post. Even though I'm apparently influential & popular now (it's official Reuters say I am - thanks guys & Jane). It's not fair, I'm not a politician, I'm not going to use the Reuter's traffic to say vote for X. You're hopefully grown up enough to realise the importance of your vote. You are sensible enough to know that voting for who is going to run London isn't about who might make the funniest Mayor. It's not necessarily about change for change's sake. It's not about who's more "right on than thou". However you vote today will influence your travel and life in London for the next four years. That's quite some time, so think carefully.

I've shown the ad above because voting is not a joke. As much as I joke about stuff on the Tube and can see the funny side to things, I take my power as a voter seriously and I urge you to do the same too.

What am going to do is show you what two people of very different ages have been saying or seeing about the Mayoral campaign. Peter is in his sixties, Kate is 25.

At Tuesday's London Blogger's meet up I was talking to Peter Marshall who was telling me that he had blogged very recently about seeing Ken Livingstone on the Tube:


"My photographs of London owe a great deal to Ken Livingstone and his transport policies at the GLC in the 1980s that made a quantum change in transport across the capital. It's hard now to imagine the difficulties and of getting around the city before the Travelcard - assuming you aren't in the class that always travels by taxi.

As Ken left, I decided it was time for me to go as well, and I wasn't at all surprised to find myself following Ken into Aldgate East underground station. I sat down on the train next to him, and after talking briefly asked if he would mind if I photographed him on the tube.

During the few stations to Embankment, where we both changed, he sat there catching up with reading a few documents. Several groups of people - including some Norwegian tourists - came up and talked to him and some took photographs too. As always, Ken had a smile and a few words that made them all feel welcome."

Kate wrote a piece that the Londonpaper chose to feature about the importance of 2nd voting. She used the votematch service that I also used last week.


She wrote: "I have found various tools on the internet to help me decide who to vote for. The best by far has been VoteMatch (www.votematch.co.uk) The website is set up to tell you which candidate you agree with most. I was surprised by the result it gave me. All of the mayoral candidates have answered a set of questions (yes, there are more than two candidates). The questions are designed to bring out the differences in their policies (again, yes, Ken and Boris have policies). The website then tells you, in a very helpful graph, which of the candidates you should support".

Like Kate I'm still undecided on who gets my 2nd vote for Mayor, even though votematch helped. I certainly know who's not getting it. With the London Assembly vote I'll probably take Ken Livingstone's advice and vote LibDem.


Polls open at 7am and close at 10pm. From a weather front in London, it's going to be dry & sunny in the morning and really wet again in the afternoon. Please don't forget to vote and don't assume your vote doesn't matter. As usual look forward to comments whether you are from the UK or overseas. Thanks.

London Underground; Tube Posted by annie mole Thursday, May 01, 2008 Permalink COMMENT HERE
Tweet http://london-underground.blogspot.com/2008/05/london-votes-for-mayor-today.html

Webby Awards only 2 days left to vote

Amazingly Transport for London's website is up for a Webby! "Transport for London's (TfL's) website has been nominated this year for two awards in the internet equivalent of the Oscars...... The body nominated TfL's website for excellence in its interactive design, creativity, usability and functionality.

"TfL's site is the only one representing London and the UK in its category. The other nominees are Peace Corps, EnergyStar@home, San Francisco International Airport and the city site 'Secrets of New York'."

In 2005 I was lucky enough with this blog to be a Webby Award Honoree. I've never appeared in their listings since, but hey, life's not all about Awards (Three times Bloggie Finalist & never won - I'm not bitter, not at all, not even slightly, wouldn't like to mention it).

Anyway as well as the ones which are nominated and judged by the industry experts, there is a People's Voice Voting site, where you can "Vote for your favorites from five nominees in Web and Mobile Sites, Interactive Advertising and Online Film & Video".

You need to register to vote but once there you can then vote for sites in as many categories as you like. Well done to TfL for getting there. Another site that you might be interested in voting for is MOO.com, I've had MOO mini cards for ages. Most of the bloggers I know have MOO cards. At last night's London Blogger's Meet up if you had a business card for blogging the majority were MOO cards. Moo.com are in the 'Marketplace' group in the 'Retail' category and under the 'Services' group in the 'Services' category.

I will declare an interest here in that Mecca who works for MOO has been banging on about this for days now and I just want to shut her up by blogging it, as my ears are beginning to hurt.


I met her for a drink after she went to the Webby Awards Party and she was shamelessly schmoozing up to the Webby Awards team, in the pub.

Anyway voting closes on the 1st May, so get your votes in now. Many thanks.

London Underground; Tube Posted by annie mole Wednesday, April 30, 2008 Permalink COMMENT HERE
Tweet http://london-underground.blogspot.com/2008/04/webby-awards-only-2-days-left-to-vote.html

Tube Mice Spotting, Mayoral Elections and London Bloggers

Just got back from an excellent night out at the monthly London Blogger's meet up at the Coach & Horses organised by Andy Bargery. On the way there I spotted a really top ad for the mayoral elections at Chancery Lane:


It's particularly effective because Chancery Lane on the Central Line has loads of mice running around on the tracks and I spent the next five minutes waiting for the delayed train, trying to take a picture of the little blighters. A guy next to me noticed what I was doing and said "But aren't they rats though". I said in full anorak mode, "That's a popular misconception but rats are at least double the size of these mice", and added "Don't you think the ad's good though?" He looked up and said "Yeah I spose it is but I was too busy watching you watching the mice".

Eventually, I managed to get a shot of a mouse just above the tissue on the picture below:


It looks very unimpressive and I showed the guy next to me who asked me why I didn't video them. "Too much memory", I said, meaning it used up too much memory. He said "Well I bow to your superior knowledge of memory and Tube mice".

I then managed to squeeze myself into the train that arrived and wedged against everyone else made it to the Coach & Horses.


Had a really fun night and chatted about US blogs to Tom Reynolds who'd come on the basis of my last minute Twitters, Chris Applegate who'd done the same. Representing Londonist were Tiki Chris, Matt Brown & Dave. Graham from London Connections also updated me on the Bank Monument fracas and the fact that London Underground had seen it fit to actually produce a leaflet about the mess.

Nice chats too about Three & Out, blogger's integrity & selling out or not with Peter Marshall, Francine, Jaz from Shiny Red & Lisa from a blog that will remain nameless to protect her from she knows what. Also met for the first time the very lovely Malcolm Eggs from the London Review of Breakfasts who was much younger and slimmer than I had imagined. He'll be Nom, Nom, Nom 'ing with us later next month.

Apologies if I met you and left you out of the "roll call" above, but it was also nice talking to you and it's always good for me to see how new bloggers are finding all this blogging lark.

Later today I expect to learn how I can make at least half a million pounds from my blog. Prada, Orange, Kelloggs, Walls, Churchill, Kodak, Unilever anyone? I can't wait to hear about that that fab new club, CakeLimeFellowsElectricGalloo, that's opening in Shoreditch. Join me now! (No I'm not drunk)

London Underground; Tube Posted by annie mole Wednesday, April 30, 2008 Permalink COMMENT HERE
Tweet http://london-underground.blogspot.com/2008/04/tube-mice-spotting-mayoral-elections.html

Love on the Tube Survey Results

Thanks if you completed the Tube Hottie survey to find out which London Underground Line has the hottest commuters on it (that's hot in terms of 'you're looking hot baby' rather than 'get your sweaty armpit out of my face' hot). The results are now in:


Strangely enough the line we love to hate - the Northern 'Misery' Line, is the line we love to love on, with the sexiest passengers - "spiky haired indie kids" to "hot city types".

So far both Metro and thelondonpaper liked the results so much they reported on them last week. I also got a call from someone at Reuters so we might see the results in a few other places too. Many thanks too, to the gorgeous hottie Rob Hinchcliffe at Qype for twisting my arm and getting me to run such a err .... eye-catching ad on the site.

The survey also found some classic chat up lines to pull your hottie such as 'I bet you're getting off at Angel' and 'Do you use the Tube often'. Let us know if you'd like to see the full list.

London Underground; Tube Posted by annie mole Monday, April 28, 2008 Permalink COMMENT HERE
Tweet http://london-underground.blogspot.com/2008/04/love-on-tube-survey-results.html

Flickr Mini Meet Photos on London Transport Museum Site

Please accept my apologies, I have been meaning to post this for weeks. You may remember that along with Sizemore, I helped to organise a Flickr Mini Meet at the refurbished London Transport Museum.


Seventeen of us got together and ended up uploading over 680 photos to Flickr from our afternoon. The Museum were so impressed with the photos that they wanted put some up on their own website. So we used a public vote to help choose the best five. Thanks if you voted!

Those five are now up on the London Transport Museum's website (and indeed have been up for a few weeks now .... oooh .... sorry I did mean to post, work and loads of other stuff got in the way).

So congratulations to Fimb, James Cridland, Meg Pickard, Phill Price and Chutney Bannister for getting into the top five. As the museum are so lovely they've also linked to the whole Flickr stream from that day anyway.

Also, just in case everyone else is feeling left out, me and Sizemore heard last week that as a result of this, the Museum want to run a Flickr Photographic Scavenger Hunt with our help, which will involve a lot more people. We're having initial meetings in a couple of weeks time, so watch this space for what I'm sure will be another great day.





Video by Sizemore
Thanks to all photographers who took part in February as it was the quality of your work, feedback and your general enthusiasm which made all this come off.

London Underground; Tube Posted by annie mole Monday, April 28, 2008 Permalink COMMENT HERE
Tweet http://london-underground.blogspot.com/2008/04/flickr-mini-meet-photos-on-london.html

Three and Out take on London Underground

Just when you thought the stories about the much talked about "Tube Suicide" film Three and Out, couldn't get better, something else happens. Last week a commenter calling themselves "Keith & Barry" left a comment which purported to show in full, an internal memo from LU MD Tim O'Toole apologising to staff for upset the film may have caused them and I added an update to my initial post on the whole ASLEF protest thing here. At the time I was a little sceptical as the memo could have been a spoof, but I reckoned it wasn't. Looks like I was right - it wasn't.


The makers of Three and Out are now running full page adverts where they show the process of how they got approval from senior staff within the London Underground - including - Occupational Health, Employee Communications & Counselling & Trauma Support. They paid London Underground £200,000 to film the parts that were filmed on the Tube. Not surprisingly they are now more than a bit miffed that Tim O'Toole is now "back peddling" because of ASLEF and RMT's protest and is saying to staff "the film does not reflect reality and is in poor taste in attempting to make a suicide event ‘funny.’ "

How many films do reflect reality I'd like to ask - but that's by the by. If I don't have the brain power to distinguish between reality and fiction I'd consider myself more than a bit challenged.

I love the headline to this ad, referring to London Underground's whole attitude to the film 1 was deliberate (LU giving them approval & taking their dosh), 2 was bad luck (the whole ASLEF slamming Three and Out without even seeing it part), 3 was his way out - (Tim O'Toole's back peddling to appease LU staff). It's genius and running the day before the film opens to the public is also genius. I imagine it will be in Metro this morning too.

Take a look at the whole ad, it's not only funny but shows the loops you have to go through to get anything approved by the London Underground. It's also interesting to see that one of the film's screenwriters had been a firefighter for 20 years and faced a lot of fatalities in his job, including death on trains.

One of my colleagues yesterday asked me if it was as crass as it appears, which shows that the union's manipulation of the public has been working. I told him it wasn't. I've said many times now, that I didn't think it was hysterically funny. I didn't think it should have been billed as a rom-com. I still stand by all of my initial comments when I saw the whole film.

As ever the London Underground has proved to be a subject that everyone has an opinion on. I can't wait to hear other people's thoughts when they go to see the film for themselves. Good luck with the nationwide screening Three and Out - you deserve it.

Update - I didn't see this until someone mentioned it in my comments, but according to the BBC - the film makers at Three and Out plan to sue London Underground. Although my blog isn't mentioned by name, like others say in the comments below, I'd be surprised if it was anyone else's. The BBC report:

"Mr O'Toole's memo, posted on a blog, said: 'Clearly the film does not reflect reality and is in poor taste in attempting to make a suicide event 'funny'.

'We cannot control the script or scenes shot elsewhere.

'In hindsight, we may have been better off refusing co-operation... LU has provided no endorsement for the film, and there is no doubt that it would have been made and released whether or not LU had co-operated.'

A WBE spokeswoman said it had taken the first stage of legal action by notifying Mr O'Toole and LU of its intention to sue." read the BBC report in full here. Incidentally I didn't "post" it on my blog, it was submitted to my comments!

London Underground; Tube Posted by annie mole Friday, April 25, 2008 Permalink COMMENT HERE
Tweet http://london-underground.blogspot.com/2008/04/three-and-out-take-on-london.html

Cats can Improve Station Popularity

We're not talking about fat cats here (not the 100 people earning over £100K at TfL), but real cats. Thanks to Jon Justice, I learnt that a cat named Tama was officially named Station Master at an unmanned station in the Wakayama Electric Railway (Japan, where else?).


Well, the feline Station Master has proved to be incredibly popular, drawing extra tourists to the station and generating a nice little earner for the Railway.

Station Master Cat
by pocarisweater

Here's how the cat got to be a station master & some of its duties (according to JapanProbe who translated the video clips)

In January of 2007, the president of the railway decided that Tama, a cat belonging to a shopkeeper at an unmanned station on the line, would be named stationmaster.

Stationmaster Tama begins every day with a stretch on the floor of his master's shop. He then puts on his stationmaster cap and greets customers as they leave and enter the station during the morning rush hour. His master sometimes helps him wave to train passengers.

Much of Tama's day is spent entertaining fans who have come to catch a glimpse of the famous stationmaster. A shop at the station sells a variety of Tama-branded souvenir goods, including buttons, snacks, and a special photo book.

When Tama puts his front legs together, the patterns on his fur form a heart shape. It is said that it is good luck for couples to visit Tama and be shown the heart mark.

Stationmaster Tama sometimes gives radio interviews and attends local events as a VIP.

Perhaps we ought to have some cats manning un-manned stations on the London Underground. I know the unions would need to get involved to make sure they had worked their way up the ranks and had the required skills. But I think they'd do alright. Cats are quite good at looking as though they don't give a shit. They do things in their own time, yawn & stretch a lot and probably wouldn't need to be paid much in the way of a salary.

London Underground; Tube Posted by annie mole Thursday, April 24, 2008 Permalink COMMENT HERE
Tweet http://london-underground.blogspot.com/2008/04/cats-can-improve-station-popularity.html

London's Transport & Mayoral Campaign

The campaign for London Mayor is getting into full swing now and yesterday Ken Livingstone announced his plans for the Tube.

Interesting proposals and a challenge. The thing that most Londoners are aware of is one thing, which the "headline grabbing" leaflet from Boris Johnson shows. London's Transport is a mess. It's fine for tourists and people who use it occasionally but if you have to rely on it every day it really is a pain in the butt.

As much as people think I love the Tube, I don't. I find it interesting and I find the people on it interesting & funny. But if I had a job which meant I didn't have to use the Tube again, with other things being equal, I would take it like a shot.


I must thank Pete from The Londoneer for taking a picture of the leaflet. He said: "I went to the Stonewall-organised Mayoral Hustings at the NFT on the Southbank on Saturday, and I thought you might be interested in a piece of Boris's election material which has an interesting take on the Tube map."

It's very interesting. What to me was even more interesting is what Pete said about Boris at the hustings. "Boris, was much larger than life, but other than bendy buses and cycle routes he doesn't seem to have a handle on any other issues - some of his comments had the whole audience writhing with embarrassment at times. And when he prompted laughter, it was entirely 'at him' rather than 'with him'. I feel for him, poor man. Completely and utterly out of his depth ...."

One of the better things about Ken Livingstone is that he does use public transport & the Tube when I don't think he needs to (ie he's got the money to taxi more). He doesn't just use it for spin doctoring but travels on it pretty much like everyone else.


There's been a number of sightings of him from me and other readers of this blog. Therefore he's aware of all the delays, overcrowding, break downs, crime, (expense - not so much as expense is relative to what you earn), heat, confusion, bad communication and all the other stuff that goes to make daily Tube commuting such a pleasure.

Views and comments as usual, much appreciated!

Having problems deciding who to vote for? VoteMatch can help

I came across a fab little tool yesterday - mainly because they added my blog to their blogroll - thanks guys! Here's how they describe the site:

Vote Match is a short quiz that voters can fill in to match their views with the views of the election candidates. In the interests of minimising any unintended biases, the tool is intended to be as transparent as possible:

Candidates and parties will be asked to provide their own answers based on their own published policy.

Users can include and/or exclude parties and candidates from the survey as they see fit and add extra weight to those issues which they consider to be important.

The website does not simply give you an answer - it shows you how the results are calculated.

Vote Match is not about telling people how to vote and we do not support any political party. Rather, it is about encouraging voters to consider which issues are important and informing them about where the parties and candidates stand.

VoteMatch has been used by over 25,000 people since it's launch on March 28th. I've just completed it - it took me two minutes to do and no surprises that Boris Johnson came last for me. The Green Party & Ken Livingstone were pretty much neck & neck. Give it a try yourself & see what comes out.

London Underground; Tube Posted by annie mole Wednesday, April 23, 2008 Permalink COMMENT HERE
Tweet http://london-underground.blogspot.com/2008/04/londons-transport-mayoral-campaign.html

Three and Out Movie Premiere & ASLEF

Train drivers's union ASLEF were handing out leaflets at the West End premiere of Tube comedy Three and Out last night.

Simon Rigglesworth was there and uploaded a picture of the leaflet.

If you're planning to go and watch the film, I'd suggest not reading the letter in full as it reveals one of the number of twists in the movie.


To see Simon's other pictures from the premiere including Gemma Arterton looking very glam and Mackenzie Crook looking very ... err ... like Mackenzie Crook.


Nice shots of the Paparazzi at the premiere from internets_dairy


Three and Out opens nationwide from April 25th and we've got the unions to thank for turning this interesting black comedy into a film that loads of people are talking about.

Marc Benton (who stars in the film) is doing the voice over for the radio ads and a reviewer calls the film "deliciously twisted" - which having seen the whole film, is a fair view in my opinion (I was lucky enough to be invited to a blogger's screening). Just heard Mackenzie Crook on Heart FM saying that he hopes the drivers will actually watch the film as "they've kinda got the wrong end of the stick."

London Underground; Tube Posted by annie mole Tuesday, April 22, 2008 Permalink COMMENT HERE
Tweet http://london-underground.blogspot.com/2008/04/three-and-out-movie-premiere-aslef.html

Tube Strike that never was - April 28th

Some of you may know that the RMT were planning a 48 hour walk out from April 28th, 2008. Most of you will not, as I pleased to say that it looks as though it has already been called off.

Bob Crow RMT leader said on Friday of the dispute over pensions: "We now have in writing undertakings that when the Metronet contracts are taken back in-house by TfL there will be no outsourcing, and that all Metronet staff will be entitled to join the TfL pension fund and enjoy the same travel facilities as other TfL employees,"

"That marks substantial progress, and tonight's developments will be placed before the RMT executive on Monday, but on the basis of the written assurances received tonight I will be recommending that the dispute be ended."

Although he was supposed to be confirming this on Monday (yesterday) at time of writing he seemed more concerned in jumping on the ASLEF bandwagon & starting to moan about Three and Out - the comedy film about a Tube driver & his search for a suicidal victim to jump under his train.

He actually gives away one of the twists at the end - cos he's such a killjoy - so I'm not going to link to his comments, but part of his quote. He says: "The producers say they have handled difficult issues sensitively, but that is certainly not the case with the film's posters, which are plastered all over the Tube".

Interesting that he feels that this is more important to comment on, rather than being able to confirm to the public whether his recommendation to call off the planned strike has in fact happened.

London Underground; Tube Posted by annie mole Tuesday, April 22, 2008 Permalink COMMENT HERE
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Art Deco Tube Special - Travelling in a 1938 Tube train

In a uncharacteristically sunny afternoon, yesterday we boarded the 1938 train and started our ride from Ealing Common to Uxbridge. The London Transport Museum had put on special trips on a 1938 stock train.


"The train has an elegant semi-streamlined exterior with flush fitted windows ansd air operated sliding doors controlled automatically by the train guard. This was all the last word in modernity in 1938 when most main line passenger trains were still steam hauled with slam door coaches". Think Poirot (outside of London) and you'll know what the museum mean when they wrote this.


"The designers ingeniously fitted all the electrical control equipment under the floor to give the maximum amount of passenger space. The train has comfortable cushion seating, wooden floors and elegant art deco lampshades that would not have looked out of place in a fashionable restaurant or nightclub in the 1930's. Even in rush hours, these trains felt cosy and welcoming. Standing passengers, always known as straphangers in the 1930s, could hang on to the black bakelite grab handles."

To me, riding the train felt a little bumpier than modern stock and it seemed to bounce around a lot more. Unfortunately this made it difficult for me to take a lot of interior shots without them looking really blurry (although the one on the right below was OK).


Over 1200 of the Tube cars were built. They were operated in seven car trains, mainly on the Northern, Bakerloo & Piccadilly Lines. This was quite confusing for Chris aka MisterChris, (it was his first trip to London from Hawaii) & he couldn't quite get his head round being on train that was doing the route of the Piccadilly Line up to Uxbridge yet had Northern Line car diagrams in it.


This particular train was one of the last units to run in regular London Underground service until 1988 (hence the 1970's and 1980's ads in the cars).


Love the salaries on these ads for station guards & foremen.

Right now, the Isle of Wight has three of the former trains in regular use there. Even though some are now painted with strange graffiti


We were given some goodies, at the start of the trip, which make for interesting reading:



Many thanks to DoYouMindTheGap for the better pictures used on this post. His full set of the day is here. Thanks also to Ianvisits who's blogged the day, along with photos. Final thanks to the LT Museum for giving me a free ticket so it meant the trip for me and my friends (including Kris in Hawaii now in London for a bit - regular TFV commenter & Mecca) was cheaper than normal. Kris & Chris from Hawaii also have more in a link from their blog post of the day.

The rest of my pictures from the Art Deco Tube special are here.

London Underground; Tube Posted by annie mole Monday, April 21, 2008 Permalink COMMENT HERE
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