And so ends diamond geezer's second annual tube week. I don't normally get more than 200 comments in five days, so I'll take that as a success. What is it about the London Underground that so fascinates even people who live nowhere near it? Be warned that I've still got enough ideas up my sleeve for yet another tube week next year. It looks like this annual season is just the ticket.
Tube quiz (10)Name that station (just one more to go) 1) It has only one platform (Chesham, Heathrow Terminal 4, Mill Hill East, Shoreditch) 2) It has only one platform used by tube trains (New Cross, New Cross Gate, Kensington Olympia) 3) It's the only station in its zone (Chalfont & Latimer - zone C) 4) It has the same name as a New Yorksubway station (Kew Gardens, ???) 5) It has the same name as a Parismetro station (Temple) 6) It contains all five vowels (Mansion House, South Ealing) 7) It's one word long and starts and ends with the same letter (Eastcote, Edgware, Hammersmith, Hornchurch, Neasden, Southfields)
Tube geek (10)Quick change
A small black circle on the tube map indicates an interchange between lines. Some of these interchanges involve easy cross-platform walks, while others involve at five minute hike through a labyrinth of tunnels. I've tried to come up with a list of the ten most useful and ten lengthiest line interchanges on the Underground. Feel free to help me out in the comments box if you know of anywhere more appropriate to include. (n.b. only interchanges marked by a circle on the tube map are included)
10 11 best tube interchanges
• Mile End: cross-platform saunter between District and Central lines.
• Finchley Road and Wembley Park: doddle of a platform-hop between Metropolitan and Jubilee lines.
• Baker Street: mini-tunnel between Bakerloo and Jubilee lines.
• Finsbury Park: tiny walk between Piccadilly and Victoria lines.
• Stockwell: short crossing between Victoria and Northern lines.
• Ealing Common, Acton Town, Hammersmith and Baron's Court: same-level interchange between Piccadilly and District lines.
• Oxford Circus: brief tunnel dash between Bakerloo and Victoria lines.
10 worst tube interchanges
• Bank/Monument: They used to show this on the tube map as a wiggly line marked 'escalator link', which was at least honest. Now they've shifted the circles closer together, disguising the lengthy assault course facing passengers who choose to change here. Never try to swap between the Central and Circle lines here unless you have a strong heart and ten minutes to spare. (Dave recommends going via the Northern line instead)
• Green Park: Possibly the longest foot tunnel in the world is hidden between the Piccadilly and Victoria/Jubilee platforms. It's probably quicker to ascend to the ticket hall and come back down via the main escalator instead.
• Waterloo: When they added the Jubilee line station here they forgot to position it anywhere near the Northern line platforms. It's so far from one to the other that they've installed a travelator, like what you always find at airports.
• Paddington: There used to be two different Paddington tube stations, one (Bishop's Road) on what is now the Hammersmith & City line and the other (Praed Street) on the Circle, District and Bakerloo. The two stations were given the same name in 1947, just to trick people into believing they weren't miles apart.
• Hammersmith: On the tube map it looks as if you can change easily here between the District and Hammersmith & City lines. Not so. What the map doesn't show is that the two stations are on opposite sides of Hammersmith Broadway and you have to walk through a shopping mall and across two pedestrian crossings to get from one to the other.
• Charing Cross: The Bakerloo and Northern line stations here used to be completely separate until 1979 when the Jubilee line arrived slap bang inbetween. In 1999 they closed down the Jubilee line station again, but they kept open the scarily long passageway between the remaining two lines.
• Canary Wharf: The nearest DLR station to Canary Wharf Jubilee line station isn't Canary Wharf but Heron Quays. One's a five minute walk from the Jubilee platform and the other's four, which is pretty poor for such an important transport hub. At least the view's nice on the trek inbetween.
• Camden Town: No problem going north on the Northern line, because there's a High Barnet platform and an Edgware platform. Try going south, however, and your train could depart from either of the two platforms so you end up hovering at the foot of the two escalators watching the platform indicators, waiting to dash one way or the other as appropriate.
• Euston: Euston is a breeze between the Victoria and the Bank branch of the Northern (so long as you want north to north or south to south), but a pain between either of those and the C+ branch. (Thanks Chz)
• Kings Cross St Pancras (while rebuilding work continues): If you want to change from the Northern/Piccadilly/Victoria lines to the Circle/Hammersmith & City/Metropolitan lines at certain times of the day they block off the short cut that would lead you directly to the top of the stairs down into the C/H/M lines area and make you walk the long way round. (Thanks pixeldiva)
Nearest station: Wembley Park
I'm just back from spending last night with Prince Charles. I was at Wembley Arena for the Prince's Trust concert 'Produced by Trevor Horn', a celebration of the bespectacled one's 25 years in the music business. We were treated to the reformation of some old bands (including the Buggles, Dollar, ABC, Yes, Propaganda, Art Of Noise and Frankie Goes To Hollywood) plus performances from the very much alive (Grace Jones, Pet Shop Boys, Lisa Stansfield and Seal). Full report over the weekend, where I shall also reveal exactly what Camilla was doing with her right hand during Relax.
Tube geek/watch (9)Inaccessiblity
The Underground network is a nightmare for disabled passengers. Very few stations have step-free access from street level and, even if you can get down to the platforms, even fewer allow you to change lines. Victorian planners weren't well known for their adherence to accessibility legislation and so the older deeper lines are the worst. It's better on the Jubilee line extension (and Docklands Light Railway) where 100% of stations have lift access, but if you venture outside East London you can expect your wheels to be grounded. Transport for London have very helpfully provided a tube access map that shows just how bad the problem is. The map even shows stations with step-free access in one direction only so that, for example, you can depart Amersham station on the Metropolitan line but you can never get home again. Brilliant. You'll find a clearer, and therefore scarier, version of the map here.
Below is the diamond geezer tubegeek guide to line-by-line accessibility. I've calculated the number of possible return journeys on each line and what percentage of those return journeys are accessible in a wheelchair. It makes for grim reading.
You'd expect the Jubilee line to be top of this list, but who'd have thought that the ancient District line would be second. The green line still has less than 4% of its possible journeys with step-free access though, which is still rubbish. Then there are three lines where only one accessible journey is possible - the East London line (Canada Water → New Cross), the Bakerloo line (Harrow & Wealdstone → Willesden Junction) and the Circle line (Westminster → Liverpool Street) - and two more lines with zero accessibility. You've probably never seen a wheelchair on the tube, and this is why.
Thank goodness that additional journeys are possible if you change lines. For example, how can a wheelchair-bound passenger travel by tube from Tottenham Hale to Liverpool Street? Simple. Take any Victoria line train to Finsbury Park, then cross to the southbound Piccadilly line platform and take a train to Green Park. Make your way to the Jubilee line (via two lifts and an extra-long passenger walkway), then it's one stop to Westminster where you ascend to the Circle/District line platforms and wait for a Circle line train (clockwise only) to take you round to Liverpool Street. The total number of stations on this journey is 31, whereas an able bodied passenger could do it in 8.
Transport for London have an obligation under the Disability Discrimination Act (1995) to make all their stations and trains fully accessible. Currently only 40 out of 275 stations meet this standard, and even then there might be a scary gap between the train and the platform as well as a nigh-impossible step up or down of up to 12 inches. Only a few key stations will be added to the step-free list over the next 20 years (Balham, you're due in 2024), for which you can blame poor funding and ancient infrastructure. The best solution for wheelchair users appears to be to use the bus network instead, 100% of which will be accessible within the next two years (sob, Routemasters, sob). Or maybe TfL should just buy everyone a taxi.
Tube watch (8)Bow Road station update They're spending lots of money doing up the Underground. You can tell this because every weekend they shut down half of the network. Last weekend you couldn't travel anywhere up the eastern end of the Central line, this weekend Wembley Park is (again) a no-go zone, and the following weekend the entire middle chunk of the District line will be out of action one more time. You have to check where you're going very carefully these days in case what should be a quick tube trip turns into a bus replacement nightmare. Then there are tens of stations being closed for months, for part of the day at least, so that workmen can erect big blue hoardings and then pretend to deepclean the walls behind. I actually saw some of these workmen at Bow Road yesterday, during the rush hour no less, which was something of a revelation because I had thought that workmen at Bow Road were imaginary creatures like leprechauns or something. There are two big doorways in the front of the station building, one of which never ever opens. Until last night. Through the autumn gloom I saw a long secret room bathed in golden light, packed with orange-coated men in clean white helmets. There were at least four of them anyway, either busy renovating this space no travelling passenger ever uses or standing around in cryogenic storage until this whole sorry modernisation illusion is finally over. To give them their due these mystical workmen have somehow managed, over the last nine months, to paint half the ceiling, hang some lights and plug in some new cameras. But not a lot else. If this is where the government's hard-earned tube subsidy is going then I'd rather they'd left the old station as it was - rundown, functional, and 100% open.
Tube quiz (8)Interchanges
Can you name these 22 tube interchange stations? I've swapped all the colours of the lines around just to make it a bit harder. (Answers in the comments box)
Tube geek (8)Lines of colour
Ever wondered precisely what shade of blue the Victoria line is? Wonder no more. Bakerloo: Pantone 470 brown (#994F14) Central: Pantone 485 red (#D42E12) Circle: Pantone 116 yellow (#F7D117) District: Pantone 356 green (#007336) East London: Pantone 137 orange (#F7A30A) Hammersmith & City: Pantone 197 pink (#EB9CA8) Jubilee: Pantone 430 grey (#8C8F91) Metropolitan: Pantone 235 mauve (#8A004F) Northern: black (#000000) Piccadilly: Pantone 072 blue (#2905A1) Victoria: Pantone 299 blue (#00A3E0) Waterloo & City: Pantone 338 green (#7DD1B8)
Tube quiz (7)This way or that?
Each of the tube journeys listed below is possible on two different tube lines. Which line is faster (that's time, not distance)? (Answers in the comments box, and congratulations to Nico and Chz - 100% each) 1) Notting Hill Gate to Liverpool Street: (a) Central or (b) Circle? 2) Paddington to Embankment: (a) Bakerloo or (b) Circle? 3) Baker Street to Waterloo: (a) Bakerloo or (b) Jubilee? 4) Euston to Stockwell: (a) Northern or (b) Victoria? 5) Finsbury Park to Green Park: (a) Piccadilly or (b) Victoria? 6) Kings Cross St Pancras to Hammersmith: (a) Hammersmith & City or (b) Piccadilly? 7) Kings Cross St Pancras to Uxbridge: (a) Metropolitan or (b) Piccadilly? 8) Westminster to West Ham: (a) District or (b) Jubilee? 9) Bond Street to Stratford: (a) Central or (b) Jubilee? 10) Ealing Broadway to Mile End: (a) Central or (b) District?
Tube geek (7)Growth of the tube network 1860s: 33 new stations, 3 new lines (Metropolitan, District, Hammersmith & City) 1870s: 27 new stations, 2 lines extended (Metropolitan, District) 1880s: 33 new stations, 3 new lines (Circle, East London, Northern), 2 lines extended (Metropolitan, District) 1890s: 24 new stations, 1 new line (Waterloo & City), 1 line extended (Metropolitan) 1900s: 84 new stations, 3 new lines (Central, Bakerloo, Piccadilly), 2 lines extended (Metropolitan, District) 1910s: 26 new stations, 2 lines extended (Bakerloo, Central) 1920s: 19 new stations, 2 lines extended (Metropolitan, Northern) 1930s: 23 new stations, 4 lines extended (Bakerloo, Piccadilly, District, Northern) 1940s: 41 new stations, 2 lines extended (Northern, Central), 1 line cut back (Metropolitan) 1950s: erm, nothing 1960s: 4 new stations, 1 new line (Victoria), 1 line cut back (Metropolitan) 1970s: 5 new stations, 1 new line (Jubilee), 2 lines extended (Victoria, Piccadilly), 1 line cut back (Northern) 1980s: 1 new station, 1 line extended (Piccadilly), 1 line cut back (Bakerloo) 1990s: 7 new stations, 1 line extended (Jubilee), 2 lines cut back (Central, Piccadilly) 2000-2010: 13newstations planned, 3 lines due to be extended (East London, Metropolitan, Piccadilly)
The numbers may be a bit approximate in places because it's not always easy to tell what is a new station and what isn't. But it is clear that the golden age of tube building was exactly 100 years ago at the turn of the 20th century, back when property developers were trying to open up suburbia for London's commuters. Things dropped off somewhat from the 1950s onwards, which you might argue is because governments are more careful with their money than private companies, or maybe they're more cautious, or maybe they're more short-sighted. And maybe, just maybe, expansion is picking up again in the 21st century. Let's hope so.
Tube watch (6)Visiting every tube station
About 20 years ago some friends and I tried visiting all the stations on the Underground. It wasn't a very serious attempt, more a university students' day out, and we were slightly hamstrung by having to start and finish at the tube station nearest to where I lived. Nevertheless we made it to 224 different tube stations, which sounded a pretty good total until we realised we'd missed nearly 50 stations out. It wasn't as easy as it looked. There wasn't a Jubilee line extension to contend with in those days, but we did have to make our way all the way out to Ongar (now deceased) as well as popping down the Holborn spur to Aldwych (ditto). We took a useful shortcut by walking from Ickenham to West Ruislip (I believe if you're taking these things seriously you're supposed to run) but we also discovered that the biggest problem with these attempts is that unplanned delays always conspire to make you miss planned connections. People take things much more seriously these days, and the record for visiting all 275 stations currently stands at 18 hours, 35 minutes, 43 seconds. Well done Geoff! Let him tell you the full story...
Tube quiz (6)Name that station
I asked you to name a tube station which includes the name of... 1) ...a mammal. You found 8: Blackhorse Road, Buckhurst Hill, Colliers Wood, Elephant & Castle, Lambeth North, Oxford Circus, Rickmansworth, Seven Sisters. 2) ...a bird. You found 9: Canary Wharf, Cockfosters, Finchley Road, Finchley Central, East Finchley, West Finchley, Goldhawk Road, Hendon Central, Ravenscourt Park. 3) ...a tree. You found 5: Bayswater, Burnt Oak, Elm Park, Oakwood, Royal Oak. 4) ...a country. You found 3: Canada Water, Holland Park, Swiss Cottage. 5) ...a football team from the Premiership or Championship. You found 10: Arsenal, Gunnersbury, Fulham Broadway, Leicester Square, Liverpool Street, Preston Road, Tottenham Court Road, Tottenham Hale, Watford, West Ham.
Tube geek (6)Station to station
The average distance between stations on the London Underground is almost precisely one mile (1600m). But neighbouring stations are only precisely the same distance apart on Harry Beck's topologically morphed tube map, not in real life. Some stations are so close that the train barely has time to accelerate out of the platform before braking to stop at the next, whereas trains can travel for well over five minutes between certain other 'neighbouring' stations. With the aid of Ian's marvellous map annotated with inter-station mileages (via Annie), here's my list of the stations on the tube that are the closest and the furthest apart:
Closest together (Zone 1) 1=) Leicester Square → Covent Garden (0.16 miles, 260m) 1=) Embankment → Charing Cross (0.16 miles, 260m) 3) Cannon Street → Mansion House (0.19 miles, 305m) 4) Cannon Street → Monument (0.21 miles, 340m) 5) Leicester Square → Tottenham Court Road (0.24 miles, 390m) next 5: Holborn → Chancery Lane, Waterloo → Southwark, Edgware Road → Marylebone, Goodge Street → Warren Street, Embankment → Waterloo. tubegeek comment: That's a very strong showing for Leicester Square station and for the Northern line (Charing Cross branch). In fact from Euston to Waterloo there are seven Northern Line stations in less than two miles, which feels a little excessive. Plus you can see why they close Cannon Street station after 9pm and at weekends, given that it's so close to the two stations on either side (and to Bank too).
Closest together (outside Zone 1) 1) Rotherhithe → Canada Water (0.20 miles, 320m) 2=) Bow Road → Mile End (0.30 miles, 480m) 2=) South Ealing → Northfields (0.30 miles, 480m) 4) Rotherhithe → Wapping (0.32 miles, 510m) 5) Stamford Brook → Turnham Green (0.33 miles, 530m) next 5): Canada Water → Surrey Quays, Earls Court → West Brompton, Holloway Road → Caledonian Road, Finchley Road → West Hampstead, Finchley Road → Swiss Cottage. tubegeek comment: The East London line features strongly here, mainly because they added a new station at Canada Water to allow interchange with the Jubilee line. And look, there's good old Bow Road right up at the top of the list too, which is just as well when they keep closing it for renovation work and you have to walk between the two instead.
Furthest apart 1) Finchley Road → Wembley Park (4.50 miles, 7¼km) 2) Chalfont & Latimer → Chesham (3.95 miles, 6½km) 3) Heathrow Terminal 4 → Heathrow Terminals 1, 2, 3 (2.71 miles, 4½km) 4) Rickmansworth → Chorleywood (2.24 miles, 3½km) 5) Chorleywood → Chalfont & Latimer (2.15 miles, 3½km) next 5: Finchley Road → Baker Street, Moor Park → Rickmansworth, Debden → Theydon Bois, Chalfont & Latimer → Amersham, Moor Park → Croxley. tubegeek comment: No surprise to see the outer limits of the Metropolitan line dominating this top 10 because the Met is more of a suburban railway than an inner city metro. There are five Jubilee line stations between Finchley Road and Wembley Park, however, so some would argue that Chalfont to Chesham should be top of this list instead.
Time once again for diamond geezer to go totally tubular with another week devoted to the London Underground. Prepare for five days of quizzes, facts, commentary and obscure statistics. Last year I looked at average speeds, the busiest stations, the great north/south divide, picking the right carriage and journeys where it was quicker to walk (amongst other things). Who knows how much I'll manage to cram in this year. Mind the doors.
And so ends diamond geezer's second annual tube week. I don't normally get more than 200 comments in five days, so I'll take that as a success. What is it about the London Underground that so fascinates even people who live nowhere near it? Be warned that I've still got enough ideas up my sleeve for yet another tube week next year. It looks like this annual season is just the ticket.
Tube watch (8) Bow Road station update
Time once again for diamond geezer to go totally tubular with another week devoted to the London Underground. Prepare for five days of quizzes, facts, commentary and obscure statistics. Last year I looked at average speeds, the busiest stations, the great north/south divide, picking the right carriage and journeys where it was quicker to walk (amongst other things). Who knows how much I'll manage to cram in this year. Mind the doors.
