Tube quiz (12)Name that (closed) station 1) closed on Saturdays [Shoreditch] 2) closed on Sundays [Chancery Lane & Cannon Street] 3) no entry on Sunday afternoons [Camden Town] 4) closed before 7am [Shoreditch & Kensington Olympia] 5) closed after 8pm [Roding Valley, Chigwell & Grange Hill] 6) closed until next year [Heathrow Terminal 4 & Queensway] 7) the last three stations to be closed forever [Aldwych, North Weald & Ongar - on 30th Sept 1994] 8) the next station to be closed forever [Shoreditch]
Tube geek (12)Barrier codes
How annoying is it when an automatic ticket barrier refuses you passage? You may try inserting or swiping your card again, usually to no effect, but usually a queue of frustrated travellers builds up rapidly behind you and you have to shuffle off to get your ticket checked manually. It happened to the bloke in front of me at Bow Road yesterday. He was baffled, but the small green number 11 that flashed up briefly on the barrier's electronic display revealed to those of us in the know what his ticketing sin had been. Naughty man. Below are some of the more common ticket/Oyster error codes and their meanings (and if you want the full list you'll find it here).
00 Valid ticket 03 National Rail only (no Underground validity) 07 Code unreadable (usually when ticket is upside down) 09 Ticket damaged 11 Out of date 12 Not valid at this time of day (e.g. Off Peak Travelcard before 0930) 13 Under value (additional fare due) 19 Start date in future 21 Ticket already used for entry 22 Ticket already used for exit 24 Has season ticket but travelled out of zone and has insufficient Pre Pay to cover extension 25 Unstarted journey 26 Entry and exit at same station 34 Exit not allowed (Pre Pay not validated on journey) 41 Ticket used three times in quick succession at same station (entry-exit-entry or exit-entry-exit or purchase-entry-exit) 42 Pass back - double use in one direction 51 Already used for 1 journey (single) or 2 journeys (return) 61 Too long spent making interchange 82 Illogical use of ticket
Tube watch (11)One hour later
Lots of Londoners would like the tube to run later in the evening. To be honest many drunken partygoers and debauched clubbers would like it to run all through the night, but that's never going to happen because an overnight gap is needed for cleaning and maintenance. Earlier in the year Londoners were asked to vote on a compromise - running services an hour later on Friday and Saturday nights. The results of the survey are now in (in enormous and fascinating detail) and, what do you know, 73% of respondents were in favour. But the proposals would also mean starting tube services one hour later on Saturday and Sunday mornings, and this was by no means universally popular. "How are we going to get to the airport for our early flights?" wailed some, concerned that the first tube from central London to Heathrow on a Sunday morning wouldn't arrive until nine o'clock. And "How the hell are we going to get to work?" asked those who work shifts or weekends, and who face either loss of earnings spent on taxi fares or loss of sleep caused by having to catch a slower, earlier nightbus. The key message from the survey results seems to be that while a later finish might benefit those who choose to have a night out, a later start would disadvantage key workers who have no choice whatsoever. So, expect nothing to change. Or maybe a compromise "half hour later".
Tube quiz (12) Name that (closed) station
