Thursday, July 23, 2009
I was out on the western arm of the District line yesterday, and I stopped off at the first station past Hammersmith. It's located close to a nearby park, which is called Ravenscourt Park, and that's also the name of the station. Ravenscourt Park is a twin-island affair with parallel platforms on a high embankment, and Piccadilly line trains rush through the middle every few minutes without stopping. Two separate staircases lead up from the cavernous ground level ticket office, each with a pair of benches at the top, part-enclosed in a weatherproof shelter. And above the centre of each bench, carefully enamelled for longevity, there's a newly-installed TfL roundel. Which looks like this...
How the hell did that happen?
There must be a good reason.
1) TfL are saving money by slimming down the names of all their stations to just the first word.*
2) It's part of a surreal project for Art on the Underground (which is also why the red paint doesn't go right up to the edge).*
3) The council's about to concrete over the park with new housing, so best not mention the word 'Park' any more.*
4) It's part of a subliminal advertising campaign for the new Harry Potter film.*
5) Somebody in the sign workshop goofed, and nobody supervising the installation thought to check.
*(Actually no, that would be silly. There'd be stations in Central London called Oxford and Leicester, and another nearby called Green, and a station up the Northern line called Burnt, and three nextdoor stations each called Clapham, and ten stations all called West. It would never work)
*(Actually no, the red bit really is supposed to stop before it reaches the edge, because this is a reproduction 1920s roundel)
*(Actually no, because Ravenscourt Park is a much-loved recent Green Flag winner)
*(Actually no, that would be Ravenclaw)
Surely it can't be number 5. What do you think?
<< click for Newer posts
click for Older Posts >>
click to return to the main page
