Friday, October 26, 2007
Tube quiz (25) Going Overground
Within the next two months the London tube map is going to change quite dramatically, twice.
• In two weeks time, on November 11th, the London Overground is born. That's a motley collection of four suburban railway lines (currently run by Silverlink Metro) which will be relaunched and rebranded under the TfL umbrella. The four lines in question run from Richmond to Stratford, from Gospel Oak to Barking, from Willesden Junction to Clapham Junction, and from Watford Junction to Euston. They won't be part of the official Underground network, but they will all appear on the tube map marked by a double orange stripe. It's a welcome shot in the arm for these previously neglected lines, but it's going to make the tube map look a bit of a congested mess.
• In two months, on December 22nd, the entire East London Line will close for major redevelopment work. When it reopens in 2010 it'll be part of the East London Railway (from Dalston to Croydon) and part of the new London Overground. Which means that six current stations are about to disappear forever from the official Underground network. They're Shadwell, Wapping, Rotherhithe, Surrey Quays, New Cross and New Cross Gate. Their days are numbered. Their days are 58.
Which brings me to the point of today's quiz. When the East London line disappears, and six stations vanish, several snippets of long-standing Underground trivia will no longer be true. I'm thinking in particular of...
a) The Jubilee line is the only Underground route that connects with all others.
b) The Thames Tunnel is the oldest section of tunnel in the London Underground.
c) The East London Line is the only line without a station in Zone 1.
d) Six London boroughs are not served by the Underground.
e) Wapping is the only station which has no letters in common with the word 'lobster'.
And I'd appreciate your thoughts on how these essential Underground facts will change, and whether you can think of any other pertinent trivia that'll never be the same again.
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