BowRoadupdate: It's been four months now since the first blue wall appeared at Bow Road tube station as part of a major infrastructure regeneration project. Four months during which the station has been overrun with blue walls and safety notices, even if nobody yet appears to have done any actual redevelopment work. I thought you might like to see one of these legendary blue walls, given that I've been going on about them for so long. So here's one.
This is the shorter blue wall on the eastbound platform. It's fairly typical of the five blue walls on the platforms, blocking off half the previous width for waiting passengers. Above the wall there's a long metal grille, with a silvery sheet hanging down behind and a couple of green cylindrical loudspeakers spaced out along the top. And across the front of the wall there's a whole array of 'essential' safety notices. From left to right...
• We apologise for any inconvenience caused (I suspect they should be apologising for the lack of work)
• Tube map (this map opens up after 10pm so that a giant 'Station closed' sign can be displayed to passing trains)
• No smoking (not that you've been allowed to smoke on the underground for the last 15 years anyway)
• Storage licence (permission to erect a hoarding here until March next year, signed by somebody official)
• Poster (it's a London Underground poster, presumably because nobody else wanted to buy the space)
• Fire Point (just in case you can't spot the big red fire extinguisher underneath)
• Bow Road (it's about half the size of the original station name roundel behind the wall)
• ← Way Out (just in case you can't spot the stairs ten yards to the left)
• ← Bow Church DLR Station (what they don't tell you is how long a walk it is)
• Safety helmets and safety footwear must be worn (I've never seen a single person on the platform complying with this instruction)
• two small white stickers awaiting two more signs to be affixed over the top, namely...
• Fire exit - keep clear
• No unauthorised persons allowed past this point
• Caution: Site Entrance (optimistic usage of the word 'site' there)
One day, honest, I'll come back and show you how lovely the newly refurbished station looks. In the meantime, catch up on the daily Health and Safety update in the comments box.
Bow Road update: It's been four months now since the first blue wall appeared at Bow Road tube station as part of a major infrastructure regeneration project. Four months during which the station has been overrun with blue walls and safety notices, even if nobody yet appears to have done any actual redevelopment work. I thought you might like to see one of these legendary blue walls, given that I've been going on about them for so long. So here's one.
