Cooling the Tube Lecture - 11th March

One for your diaries if you're interested in finding out what London Underground & TfL are really planning to do about heat, beyond putting up posters like the one below.


"Over 100 years of running electric trains in the London Underground has caused temperatures to rise, especially on the deep-level lines. Heat is generated through the distribution and transmission of electricity, and the motion and operation of the trains - including acceleration and braking. Heat has been absorbed into the earth and clay surrounding the tunnel walls to create the higher temperatures of today.

The Cooling the Tube programme is focused on removing or reducing heat, relocating heat sources and where possible provide cooling solutions to keep customers within safe and comfortable conditions.

The talk on the 11th March at 6.30pm will present the technologies and innovations which London Underground are proposing to adopt, followed by an open discussion. It will be held at The Building Centre, Store Street, London, WC1E 7BT and you can book your place here.

Unfortunately I can't go, as I've got something else on that night, but if anyone does go and wants to write some notes or a guest blog post please let me know. Many thanks.

UPDATE - the post with the notes from the night is here. Thanks to Ian and Pete for making them.

Boris Johnson's Plans for the Tube

So the work towards the Mayoral Elections is beginning to speed up a notch now and Conservative candidate Boris Johnson made front page of the evening papers last night. His headline grabbing pledges to protect London Underground travellers & also run later trains managed to do exactly that - ie make the headlines.


Boris's transport manifesto unveiled yesterday, included the creation of 50 extra transport police to boost uniformed presence at the worst suburban stations and 440 more PSCO's (no idea what they are - I'm sure someone will be quick to tell me) to patrol buses and the Tube.

Boris plans to pay for the extra officers (in addition to the thousand more promised by Ken Livingstone) by cutting the Mayor's rather large media & marketing budget.

Johnson also plans to stop the closure of Tube ticket offices and pledged to extend the Tube's operating hours from central London until about 1.30am on Friday and Saturday nights. He admitted that this might mean that engineering works, which take place at night, could be delayed.

He also promises to bring in direct debit for Oyster cards and more air conditioning for the Tube.

He said "We too often spend our mornings and evenings in cramped overcrowded carriages.....and we pay the highest fares in Europe".


He would also try to negotiate a deal with unions where, in return for agreeing not to strike, an independent arbiter would rule on pay.

All well and good. But (you knew there was a "but" coming), Lib-Dem candidate Brian Paddick said the plans for transport policing were actually beyond the mayor's remit, which does not cover the BTP (British Transport Police).

London TravelWatch chairman Brian Cooke, pulled out of yesterday's launch claiming that if he were there, it would look as though he were endorsing Boris.

Moving on through The Evening Standard there's a full page feature by Tony Travers (Director of the Greater London Group at the London School of Economics) saying that Johnson's transport plans show depth, but need to go much further to solve London's problems.

He said "Taken together, the Boris transport manifesto is mildly "Right wing" on law and order, in that there will be additional policing, live CCTV and new punishments. But apart from that, it is without political leanings. The contents are designed to convince voters that Johnson has joined the sensible party.

And that's it. The sole commitment on fares is to lobby commuter rail operators to reduce them. There is no detail about the future of Travelcards and Oyster fare levels."

He continues: "The Tories' transport manifesto is aimed squarely at showing Londoners they can vote for Boris without the sky falling in. The document is full of referenced sources, stressing its solidity. Voters are expected to read the plans and feel comforted that they could vote for him without threat to their Tubes, buses or fares. But given the gap in experience between Livingstone's decades at the top of London government and Johnson's newness, the Conservatives need to go further than this document...."

"Frankly, London needs radical action to improve its transport systems. The theoretical promise of Crossrail in 2017 is still a long way off. The outcome of the £30 billion Tube PPP remains almost invisible. Since 2003, £6 or £7 billion has glugged into the Underground's track, signals and stations, but there is no evidence of fewer power failures, train breakdowns and signal glitches."

Travers concludes: "There is a political sting in the tail of these transport plans. Johnson says that the "same old solutions are coming from City Hall, dripping with fatigue". But unless there are convincing new solutions coming from the Conservatives, too, such a criticism could come back, like a boomerang, to hit them. Johnson needs convincing and eye-catching ideas to solve London's transport problems - so let's hear them."

This is a long post and I appreciate you getting this far with it. I'd love to hear your comments and will make my personal views known in the comments too, rather than making this post any longer.

Monkhouse's Voice from the Grave wins Tube Ad Competition

An advert featuring dead comedy legend Bob Monkhouse, talking to commuters from the grave has won CBS-Outdoor's Underground Writers Competition. The competition was for advertising people to create a Tube advert that explores an interesting and involving concept in more depth.


I think it's absolutely brill. It's an extension of the last year's TV adverts (which I'd never seen before) where Bob is talking to viewers "after" his death. It's a funny, touching and effective charity campaign for Prostate Cancer. Monkhouse died of the illness 2003 and the campaigns were made with the full support of Bob's family.

The Tube Car ad copy has Monkhouse's cheestastic sense of humour "I went to a specialist who told me to bend over. He said "I'm about to insert a finger". I said "Please insert two, I want a second opinion".

To cut a long story short I was diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer and two years later I was dead (It's a bit like travelling on the Northern Line only quieter)."

Copy from the other winning ad includes: "If you think your underground journey's taking a long time, try being 6ft under for eternity. Count yourself lucky. a few more stops you'll be up the escalator, out in the fresh air and back on with your lives. I on the other hand, am down here permanently, thanks to the prostate cancer that cancelled all my engagements forever in 2003."

A total of 212 campaigns were reviewed by a panel of five industry judges. The winner - The Communications Agency's - was announced last week from a shortlist of forty campaigns. You can view the shortlist & the other ad in the winning campaign at www.underground-writer.com.

CBS Outdoor's Marketing Director, Carol Wolrich, said: "Tube Cards are a great place to have a one to one conversation with people. People enjoy reading them, finding them a welcome distraction from their journey and from having to look at other commuters! The aim of the competition was to encourage creatives to make the most of this relationship using Tube Cards to tell a story about their brand."

Even though some of us have been giving CBS a bit of a bashing lately, they do some good things and I bet TfL are responsible for the more puritanical bans rather than CBS themselves.

Farringdon - Clearly trying very hard not to be rude

The guys and gals and Farringdon Tube station must have clearly taken to heart the reports that they were the "rudest station on the London Underground".

I've recently started a new job and have a variety of ways of getting in and out now. One of them is Farringdon and on Friday night, after a few after-work bevvies, three of us went back to Farringdon Tube station. I spotted the following in the entrance:


It says: "We have a shiny new ticket machine here at Farringdon. Please feel free to use it. You'll find it has all the features of its larger cousin. But please remember, Exact Money Only."

What can I say? It's such an example of niceness and just makes you feel like cuddling them.

I'll keep an eye out for future messages! Plus any work mates, who use this station more regularly than me, can you keep an eye out too? Ta!

Nip / Tuck ad Too Sexy for the Tube

Are we turning into the US? Yet another poster (for FX TV's new season of Nip / Tuck) has been banned from the London Underground for being too sexy. The follows the recent U-turn TfL made on the banning of a 400 year old work of art (although Fat Christ is still banned).


"A supporting cast of lovely ladies has been deemed too racy by Transport for London (TfL), forcing one model to cover up in the amended creative for the six-sheet execution. The 48-sheet creative has now been banned outright......An alternate media plan, to cover the shortfall in outdoor, includes rail and stature sights." said UTalkmarketing.

Seriously, what is wrong with that poster? Or certainly nothing beyond what we see on most lingerie adverts every day.

UPDATE - a newer un-sexy version has now been approved by TfL. See if you can spot the difference.