TfL Publish Tube & Train Stations to avoid during Olympic Games

London Bridge, Bank, Earl's Court, Waterloo, Mile End, Greenwich, Charlton, Blackheath and Stratford stations are on a hit list of London Underground & mainline stations TfL say should be avoided during the London Olympics. For the first time Transport for London have published a list of congestion "hotspot" stations across the capital.

Full details and warnings of all the hotspots are published today on www.getaheadofthegames.com - which provides details of all 88 stations affected. TfL say they've updated and changed some of the advice previously given to us and have said they're now "confident" people have all the correct and relevant information.


At most stations the worst time will be between 7.30 and and 9. 30 am - the height of the morning peak. Journeys in London will reach six million on certain days, which is almost double the amount of the 3.3 million who already use the Tube every day.

TfL also warn that there will be no let up during the Paralympics Games either with many parts of London just as busy.

TfL's Director of Games Transport, Mark Evers said "We have the challenge of people coming back from summer holidays during the Paralympics. I'd encourage people not to think that once we're through the Olympics everything returns to normal London will still be very different during the Paralympics. There will be a concentration of activity more towards the East of London but in those areas and services particular the DLR its going to busy for people getting to and from work".

Another TfL spokesperson said: "The impact of the Games on the public transport network will be tackled by a reduction in those planning to travel; through working at alternative locations including home, staggering working hours, working longer or fewer days, taking annual leave or swapping to alternative forms of transport - including walking and cycling."


Ads like the ones pictured above are in full force now and I've also seen ones with cycling grannies zooming across the capital . I particularly like the one of the chilled out guy travelling down an empty escalator as he takes a different line than normal to avoid the crowds. I'd love to know which London Underground that was as I can't imagine many escalators will be as empty as the one in the cartoon.

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Mail Rail Open Day - Post Office London Underground Railway

Fans of abandoned & disused London railways have a special treat this Saturday. There's a free Mail Rail open day on Saturday 21st April 2012 where you can see some rolling stock of the old Post Office underground railway (Mail Rail). The Museum Store of the British Postal Museum will be opening its doors for a great opportunity to see a range of material relating to this now disused London underground railway.

Mail Rail Carriage photo by Cakehole

Mail Rail used to carry mail beneath London's streets from 1927. Driverless underground trains transported mail between sorting offices and London's major railway stations up until 2003 when the system was suspended. However, in 2012 the British Postal Museum & Archive (BPMA) will carry out some conservation work on a 1930's Mail Rail train retrieved from the network in 2011.

"The BPMA now holds three rail cars in its collection, one being the only known complete example of the original 1927 car. Two of the rail cars are being actively conserved and there are plans for the third. During the event on Saturday there will be chance for visitors to witness conservation first hand and to speak to the conservator undertaking the work. BPMA curators will also be on site to answer questions about the railway and there will be some formal talks and tours about the network and also the pneumatic rail system that preceded Mail Rail. The only known survivors of the 19th century underground system will also be on display." said curator Chris Taft on the Museum's blog.

Mail Rail Photo by Cakehole

On Saturday's event you'll have the opportunity to speak to their team about the preservation of this object, take part in talks, tours, film screenings and other family activities. You'll also learn about the history of the Mail Rail network through historic items from the Archive and Museum Collections.

Post Office underground railway Train waiting at loop crossing (BPMA archive)

The open day will be at The British Postal Museum Store in Debden and starts at 10am and runs throughout the day until 4pm. Booking isn't necessary and you can just drop in. For more details see their site.


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Tube Toilet Seats

Have the London Underground decided to offer priority seating for people who get caught short on the Tube? When going out last night, I glanced up from my newspaper and had to look again when I saw the sign pictured below.


It was one of those occasions where for a split second I thought TfL had decided to test a new area. But no, it's those pesky Spoof Tube sticker people up to their antics again. I spent the next couple of stops trying to get a decent shot of the sticker with my fellow commuters wondering why I was so interested in taking pictures of the top of someone's head.



Particularly as I was giggling so much about me momentarily thinking it was real. I also spent the next five minutes wondering if they should have used the more common spelling of diarrhoea (that's if it is more common?)

Genuine London Underground sign at Bank Station

Which then made me think again about why there aren't toilets on London Underground carriages? Some Tube journeys can take a long time, particularly if you are travelling from one end of the line to another. TfL have produced a Toilet Tube Map, but is that enough? There are also signs like the one above where you could be "dealt with by the Police" if you're seen urinating in passages on the Tube. So what do people with bladder problems do? Specially when faced with ads for bladder control that are currently on the Tube. Doesn't that just make you feel like you want to go to the loo, like hearing the sound of running water?

Photo by Wendy

I always try to make a point of going to the loo before I'm about to go home as I worry what would happen if my train was stuck in a tunnel for ages and I was desparate for a wee. Do other people do the same? Or am I just paranoid about the idea of wetting myself on train? Perhaps if you were stuck in a tunnel for hours on end, someone wetting themselves might be the least of your problems. But it wouldn't be very pleasant now would it?

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Underground Overground : A Passenger's History of the Tube - Book Review

I get sent a lot of press releases of books about the London Underground or railways to review. Most of the time they're variations of "Fun Facts you never knew about the Tube (version 50)" or "A Little Book of Tube Etiquette (version 10)", in other words books that do little more than re-work what's already been published. However, it was with more than some interest when I was sent an email by Andrew Martin's, publishers, asking if I'd be interested in a review copy of his new book "Underground Overground - A Passenger's History of the Tube".

I was a very big fan of Andrew Martin's weekly "Tube Talk" column in ES magazine back in the early noughties. In fact a lot of his observations were the inspiration for features in Going Underground (my static Tube site before I began blogging). To my shame I never knew that since then he'd gone on to write seven historical thrillers about Jim Stringer, a railway detective of the early 20th century.

When I got a copy of the book, it was one of those books where I thought, "I wish I'd written that". Andrew has produced an informative, well researched and yet extremely engaging story of the London Underground. A book that will have you nodding in empathy. A book that truly understands that any history of the Tube must involve a thorough look at the people who made the London Underground. That's not just the engineers, designers, inventors ("seldom entirely normal"), politicians and staff, but in equal measure the people who actually travel on it every day.


The blurb on his publisher's site - Profile Books - gives a good intro "Underground, Overground is a highly enjoyable, witty and informative history of everything you need to know about the Tube .... The London Underground is the oldest, most sprawling and illogical metropolitan transport system in the world, the result of a series of botch and improvisations. Yet it transports over one billion passengers every year and this figure is rising. It is iconic, recognised the world over, and loved and despised by Londoners in equal measure"

They go on to say that Andrew "attempts to untangle the mess that is the Northern Line, visit every station in a single day - and find out which gaps to be especially mindful of. " You'll also find the "definitive" account of the Mind The Gap announcement - I discovered that it involves Michael Winner!



The book follows a chronological social history of the Tube. Beginning with the perpertually busy Charles Pearson, the "gadfly" solicitor who ardent campaigning in the 1840's and 1850's led to the early development of the London Underground. Moving onto the expansion of The Metropolitan Railway and the various political & engineering wranglings for deeper level lines and a whole chapter on Texan Charles Yerkes who was responsible for electrictrifying the Underground.

"Yerkes introduces a welcome note of loucheness to our story, and the only mentions of sex you'll find in most Underground histories are associatated with his name. He was twice married and had many affairs.... Yerkes, was an American, and that ought not to surprise us. American tourists on the Tube seem rather gauche sorts, delightedly photographing each other in front of any old station roundel, but really it's their Tube. We have seen that Americans were the pioneers of electric traction, and most of the unfortunate investors in Yerkes schemes would be American."

Andrew commends & sums up the principles that Yerkes laid down for those "who would escape a life of drudgery" which are quoted in a book on Yerkes called Robber Baron, written by John Franch

1. The worst-fooled man is the man who fools himself.
2. Have one great object in life. Follow it persistently and determinedly. If you divide your engergies you will not succeed.
3. Do not look for what you do not wish to find.
4. Have no regrets. Look to the future. The past is gone and cannot be brought back.

Wise words from an Edwardian time and something you might recognise amongst today's radical thinkers and mavericks - it sounds like it could have come from Steve Jobs moving Stanford speech, quoted many times after his death last year.

But I digress, although if anything, that's the one "problem" with this book, it makes you think so much about the people behind the Tube, that those looking for a straightforward history (I wasn't) may find it not to their taste.

Frank Pick and Albert Stanley (better known as Lord Ashfield) are also given a chapter for their work in "making London what it is today", note that Andrew says "London" what it is today & not the Tube, as it shows the main point that most good London Underground historians & writers recognise - London would be nothing without the Tube. This sprawling pervasive system that is equally the bane and the boon of our lives has shaped London like no other transport service introduced to the capital.

Tube fans and people who are generally interested in the social history of London will find this book a delight. There's also enough Tube trivia in it to keep those who like odd stories very happy too. You'll find answers to essential questions such as "What inspired the famous Underground roundel logo?" and "Would you die if you urinated on the power rail in the centre of the Tube tracks?"

"Underground Overground - A Passenger's History of the Tube" is published on 3rd May 2012 at £14.99. You can pre-order discounted copies as a hardback or eBook on Amazon now.

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72 hour Tube Strike from April 24th 2012

Following yesterday's votes, the RMT have confirmed they will be holding a 72 hour Tube strike from 4pm April 24th 2012 in a row over pensions. RMT has been demanding that all Tube Lines staff, be allowed to join the TfL Pension Scheme and receive the same travel concessions as those who work for LUL, including former Metronet staff. This will affect the Jubilee, Northern and Piccadilly London Underground Lines.

Photo by Ofer Deshe

The RMT say "Parity would bring Tube Lines staff free travel within London and 75 per cent of the cost of travel on the mainline railway – the concession that all Tube staff, including ex-Metronet people, already get."

A positive ballot result to achieve this parity means many Tube Lines staff will not be working from 16.00 on Tuesday 24th. RMT General Secretary Bob Crow said: “This is a massive mandate for action following a straightforward demand for parity with other Tube staff. This dispute is about justice and about ensuring that all groups of staff under the umbrella of London Underground receive the same rights and benefits.”

“We have gone through all the negotiating channels on both these issues but Tube Lines has refused to budge and have refused to engage in meaningful talks and that pig-headed approach has raised the temperature on the shop floor and is reflected in this result.

“Former Metronet employees have been allowed back into the TfL Pension Fund (TfLPF) and now also have the same travel facilities as other LUL employees. Tube Lines is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Transport for London and there is simply no excuse for refusing to give equal pension and pass rights."

There is still a potential opportunity for it to be called off as Crow said: “The union remains ready to talk, and this strong mandate for industrial action shows Tube Lines and TfL the depth of anger there is over this blatant lack of fairness and justice.”

Watch the news and keep an eye on TfL's site for the latest on this. There's more on this announcement in The Telegraph.