It's only five months since glass-bottomed cabins appeared on the Dangleway. Well, the gimmicks come thick and fast in North Greenwich because the latest is aerial singalongs. It's called Cable Car-aoke, and I can't believe nobody's thought of it before.
It's on offer from 13 November to 19 December on Thursday and Fridays (twelve evenings altogether), very much with an eye on the Christmas party market. You get microphones, party lights, a speaker and a playlist of 1000 songs to sing along to. Don't expect built-in facilities, it looks more like someone's been to Argos and bought two portable karaoke machines. Those who pay up get two return trips, i.e. four crossings, i.e. about 40 minutes. Overall prices range from £69 for two people to £109 for six. Drinks cost £5 extra per person (with photo ID required if you go alcoholic). Solo singers aren't permitted.
So far none of the slots have been booked, let alone sold out, but imagine the rush there'll be when London's party animals get wind of this latest upselling wheeze.
2) Europe for less
Eurostar are offering 25% off fares between late November and mid-March in a Flash Sale that ends at 11pm tonight. I was considering a day trip to Rotterdam for my birthday, but I checked and it turns out Monday is the day all the museums are closed.
3) London's next dead bus
TfL have released the results of a consultation they launched in July, and will indeed withdraw route 283 and reroute the 72. This is despite 79% of respondents saying the change would have a negative effect on their journeys. In effect they're withdrawing route 72 and renumbering the 283 because all this is smoke and mirrors. The switcheroo will take place on 13th December. If you want to go for a final journey before then, it's up to you whether to pick the 72 (the next dead route) or 283 (the next dead number).
4) TfL25 Prize Draw
Fancy a raffle prize for zero effort? TfL are running a special anniversary draw for 28 different gift experiences, from Royal Opera House tickets to a trip up the Battersea Power Station chimney. I suspect the Hidden London tours of Green Park will be quite popular, and the Cheeky Elf Cake baking experience in Haggerston rather less so. Don't fret over answering "What do you love about London during the festive period?" because all prizes will be selected purely at random. You have until 7th December to apply and nothing to lose by having a go.
5) Here comes Great British Railways
Yesterday the government published its Railways Bill, the major legislation that ensures "The Secretary of State may by regulations designate a body corporate as Great British Railways." A lot of it is about how to liaise lawfully with the authorities in Wales and Scotland so not intrinsically informative. One thing we do know is that "passengers will ultimately be able to purchase tickets through a new GBR website and app, replacing 14 existing operator ticketing platforms" so prepare for big change there.
6) Hitting the cap
I saw this advert on the Overground. I think it's new.
It's to encourage you to take advantage of daily capping because "once you've reached the daily or weekly cap, every journey will be completely free." The key paragraph is this one.
"If you're travelling in Zones 1-2, you'll unlock free travel for the rest of the day once you've made two peak and one off-peak rail or tube journeys."
And I wondered, is that true? I guessed not, because in the smallprint down below it says "Exceptions may apply".
The z1-2 cap is £8.90.
For z1-2 rail journeys, two peaks and an off-peak costs £3.90 + £3.90 + £3.20 = £11.
For z1-2 tube journeys, two peaks and an off-peak costs £3.50 + £3.50 + £2.90 = £9.90.
So it is true, two peaks and an off-peak do trigger the daily cap, and after that everything's free.
BUT if your journey combines tube and rail (e.g Battersea Park to Green Park) you end up on a much more expensive fare scale.
For z1-2 tube AND rail journeys, two peaks and an off-peak costs £5.90 + £5.90 + £5.10 = £16.90.
That's way over the daily cap, which in fact kicked in after the second journey not the third.
Also you might assume TfL's maths applies to a journey solely in zone 2, but it totally doesn't.
For z2 rail journeys, two peaks and an off-peak costs £3.00 + £3.00 + £2.70 = £8.70.
For z2 tube journeys, two peaks and an off-peak costs £2.10 + £2.10 + £2.00 = £6.20.
Neither of these trigger the daily cap.
For z2 rail journeys you need to make a total of four trips and for z2 tube journeys you need to make five.
This is because TfL's caps always assume you've been to zone 1 even if you haven't.
And I mention all this because I don't think many people understand how capping works. They just tap and go and find out later what they paid, which is just how TfL likes it.
Exceptions do indeed apply.
7) Easter closures
If you're planning on travelling over Easter, it pays to plan ahead.
Bakerloo: closed north of Queen's Park District: closed east of Whitechapel Hammersmith & City: closed DLR: closed west of Poplar Lioness: closed
Also don't expect to get the Metropolitan north of Harrow-on-the-Hill over May Day weekend.
