How can seven stops & one change be faster than two stops & one change
Back in the UK where I faced the delights of a wet dark November day and a new job and new route to work (why, oh why can't I live in Goa - white sandy beaches, hot sun, mad Indians on motor bikes, no traffic lights, cattle in the road and no bloody tube).
Geoff and Neil assured me that it would be far quicker travelling from Waterloo to Shadwell by getting on the "fast" Jubilee Line to Canada Water and picking up the "new and efficient" East London Line, a couple of stops north to Shadwell. I personally thought Waterloo and Shitty Line to Bank - change on the the DLR and go one stop to Shadwell - sorted. And in fact that's what I did in the morning, it took about ten minutes. Coming home, I thought I would give the "tube experts" route a try, as they reckoned the time spent walking from Bank and DLR interchange would be the same as the extra stops involved.
They were wrong! The East London line was really smelly and crowded and stopped just before I needed to change, for no apparent reason apart from enjoying the view. The Jubilee Line was packed - I never realised so many people worked in the East End - it took about twenty minutes - remind me never to listen to them again.
Tuesday, November 9, 2004
More District Ramblings
Right, just a few more days blogging on my new route to work, and I'll have got it all out of my system, and i'll go all quiet again. In the meantime, more things that have occured to me:
Is it me or is Earl's Court station looking much nicer these days? The brand new lift that spans the two platforms is now in operation and looks very clean and modern - but the rest of Earl's Court this morning just 'felt' a lot cleaner and spacious than normal!
At High St. Ken, I've got a brand new game that I play each day going home now, and it's similar to Neil's infamous "Chocolate Challenge". It's.. "Can buy a copy of the Evening Standard in less than 20 seconds".
That's right.. annoyed that i didn't have a paper to read the other day, I realise i was towards the front of the train near the 'Grab-a-bite' kiosk that is on the southbound platform of HSK. It lines up with the rear of the first carriage, or the front of the second.. and it can be done.
Train pulls in, doors open - hand over your 40p, grab a copy of the 'Standard' and jump back on the train all within 20 seconds. The other day that I did it, I even managed to get my orginal seat back before anyone else pinched it - much to the amusment of the lady sitting opposite me. So try it, next time you're passing through...
Is it me or is Earl's Court station looking much nicer these days? The brand new lift that spans the two platforms is now in operation and looks very clean and modern - but the rest of Earl's Court this morning just 'felt' a lot cleaner and spacious than normal!
At High St. Ken, I've got a brand new game that I play each day going home now, and it's similar to Neil's infamous "Chocolate Challenge". It's.. "Can buy a copy of the Evening Standard in less than 20 seconds".
That's right.. annoyed that i didn't have a paper to read the other day, I realise i was towards the front of the train near the 'Grab-a-bite' kiosk that is on the southbound platform of HSK. It lines up with the rear of the first carriage, or the front of the second.. and it can be done.
Train pulls in, doors open - hand over your 40p, grab a copy of the 'Standard' and jump back on the train all within 20 seconds. The other day that I did it, I even managed to get my orginal seat back before anyone else pinched it - much to the amusment of the lady sitting opposite me. So try it, next time you're passing through...
Monday, November 8, 2004
I don't like Mondays ...
Take a gold star and go to the top of the class if you can tell me who had an early 80's hit with that song title (Answer at the bottom).
Had a first 'celeb' spot on the tube this morning for a while - well i say 'celeb' but it wasn't A-list, it was merely BBC Londons local TV news reader, Emily Maitlis sitting on an Edgware Road bound district line train that I was on this morning.
I hopped off at my usual changepoint of Notting Hill, and whilst waiting on the westbound platform, spotted something that I've never seen before. About halfway down are some grills/gates at the edge of the platform, that if you peer into you can see an old corridor, stairs going off somewhere, and on the side - this old poster.
It's an old Childrens Society poster, where the amount of money is still listed in shillings! Pre-decimal! So at least 1960's... it's been their 30 years. Cool.
And yet someone has stuck up some plastic folders and some sort of information sheet/notice over the top half of it! Wonder where the corridor goes to though ... Anyone know?
Oh, and it was the Boomtown Rats. Easy.
Had a first 'celeb' spot on the tube this morning for a while - well i say 'celeb' but it wasn't A-list, it was merely BBC Londons local TV news reader, Emily Maitlis sitting on an Edgware Road bound district line train that I was on this morning.
I hopped off at my usual changepoint of Notting Hill, and whilst waiting on the westbound platform, spotted something that I've never seen before. About halfway down are some grills/gates at the edge of the platform, that if you peer into you can see an old corridor, stairs going off somewhere, and on the side - this old poster.
It's an old Childrens Society poster, where the amount of money is still listed in shillings! Pre-decimal! So at least 1960's... it's been their 30 years. Cool.
And yet someone has stuck up some plastic folders and some sort of information sheet/notice over the top half of it! Wonder where the corridor goes to though ... Anyone know?
Oh, and it was the Boomtown Rats. Easy.
Wednesday, November 3, 2004
This 'n' that
Had to go to Goodge Steet this morning.. skipped down the escalator at Waterloo, then the steps - could 'hear' a train in the platform, and ran round the corner just as the doors closed. Damn! Next train: 9 minutes wait!
Eventually got to Goodge Street. Up the steps from the platform... to the lifts - just as the lift doors closed. Damn! Ran up the steps to keep myself fit, to watch the woman in front of me actually DO that thing with Oystercards that is often joked about but I've never seen. She had hers in the bottom of her handbag and simply palced her handbag on top of the reader, and the gates opened! Nice.
Talking of gates, I saw these at Canarfy Wharf the other week and took a picture of them.
They're a new design that I haven't seen before.. anyone seen any other instances of these new gates anywhere on the network? Just wondered.
Eventually got to Goodge Street. Up the steps from the platform... to the lifts - just as the lift doors closed. Damn! Ran up the steps to keep myself fit, to watch the woman in front of me actually DO that thing with Oystercards that is often joked about but I've never seen. She had hers in the bottom of her handbag and simply palced her handbag on top of the reader, and the gates opened! Nice.
Talking of gates, I saw these at Canarfy Wharf the other week and took a picture of them.
They're a new design that I haven't seen before.. anyone seen any other instances of these new gates anywhere on the network? Just wondered.
Tuesday, November 2, 2004
Knots-in-hill gate
That's a terrible pun! Sorry. But you do feel like you could tie yourself in knots sometimes negotiating the corridors that LU want you to walk down, and this week we return to Notting Hill Gate.
Tell me - how much power has an LU employee got to stop you walking the 'wrong way' down a corridor? It's not breaking the law - is it a by-law? I don't think so .. so just because LU say "Not this way", or "No exit" doesn't mean that you can't, right?
Here's a (rapidly drawn) sketch of Notting Hill Gate as it was when I came through it this morning.
I changed from the District/Circle lines and was going down to the Central line platforms, so I was okay.
But if you're coming UP from the Central to go to the District/Circle, there is a 'rope barrier' (the green dotted line), where they make you take the much longer route of going up a second set of escalators, into the ticket hall area, and then down the steps to the D/C platforms. Why? When it's quicker to take the corridor that isn't blocked off (the red line being where there IS a gate to stop you) and get to the D/C platforms that way.
There was even a LU employee (brown blob) standing there looking menancing as if to tell you not to take the shorter, quicker route to the D/C platforms. So what would he do if you took it! Hold you back and restrain you? Maybe I should try it tomorrow morning and find out.
Obviously someone is going to come back and give me the 'safety' rant here, as it only happens during the morning peak, and say that it's 'good for passenger flow' (or something). Right?
Tell me - how much power has an LU employee got to stop you walking the 'wrong way' down a corridor? It's not breaking the law - is it a by-law? I don't think so .. so just because LU say "Not this way", or "No exit" doesn't mean that you can't, right?
Here's a (rapidly drawn) sketch of Notting Hill Gate as it was when I came through it this morning.
I changed from the District/Circle lines and was going down to the Central line platforms, so I was okay.
But if you're coming UP from the Central to go to the District/Circle, there is a 'rope barrier' (the green dotted line), where they make you take the much longer route of going up a second set of escalators, into the ticket hall area, and then down the steps to the D/C platforms. Why? When it's quicker to take the corridor that isn't blocked off (the red line being where there IS a gate to stop you) and get to the D/C platforms that way.
There was even a LU employee (brown blob) standing there looking menancing as if to tell you not to take the shorter, quicker route to the D/C platforms. So what would he do if you took it! Hold you back and restrain you? Maybe I should try it tomorrow morning and find out.
Obviously someone is going to come back and give me the 'safety' rant here, as it only happens during the morning peak, and say that it's 'good for passenger flow' (or something). Right?
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