London Underground Fashion Victims

Fashion Victims on the Tube

It's Friday and time to look at the TFV's or Tube Fashion Victims. Commuters who are uber trend setting so much that they will follow a trend regardless of how it makes them look.

This week we have our first canine victim and to be honest - it's a bit like with my friend last week in that he knew he was having his photo taken.

First he was a little camera shy


Then I was able to zoom in a little on his trendy camouflage harness.


Then I decided to identify myself to the dog's owner as he just wasn't playing ball or smiling for the camera. "Come on Elvis, this lady wants to take your photo", said his owner. Elvis - what a great name for a dog that permanently looks like it's doing the mother of all lip curls.


I had to find out where Elvis's clothes came from. It was part of the bestselling Orion Harness range from Puppia:


Anyway Elvis was a real sweetie and let me pet him & I'd like to thank his owner for letting me take the shot.

That's it for now. The previous victims can be found here and the complete picture gallery can be seen on the following Flickr set.

Olympic Training - Extra Cars on the DLR

Thanks to my work colleague for giving me the heads up on this. Mayor Ken and DLR chairman, Ian Brown launched the new Docklands Light Railway carriages at West India Quay yesterday morning.


The new carriages, have sleeker designs, larger windows and are in a bright red "reminiscent of the old London Underground pre-1960s livery". They'll form a substantial part of the DLR fleet throughout the London 2012 Games. Trains are being lengthened to three carriages to deal with growing passenger numbers from 2010.

However, as my colleague pointed out, the diagram Ken & co are carrying makes it look as though they are just moving from one car to two cars (ie 100% extra capacity). Surely it wouldn't have been difficult to have added an extra car to reflect the real three car situation?

If you'd like to see pictures of the trains actually running Ian has a post and some shots in his Flickr stream.

Mrs Metro-Land at the London Transport Museum

One of the good things about the new LT Museum were the people acting in the spirit of the time. This Saturday, the museum has an event where the eccentric "Mrs Dilys Muybridge" will tell visitors what it was like to live in Metro-Land. Or rather the suburban life of the 1930's.


I might try to pop along as it's amazing how well these actors manage to keep in character. The two below initially didn't want me to photograph them together because they are from different historical times.


Speaking of Metro-Land and the London Transport Museum, don't forget you can vote for the pictures from our recent Flickr Mini Meet that you'd like to see on the museum's site. Many thanks.

Heathrow Terminal 5 opened today - great

As someone who lives under the runway of Heathrow Airport, I'm not exactly dancing in the streets about Terminal 5's opening. I belong to the Kew Society and in fact have been actively campaigning against some of expansion of the airport and I strongly support HACAN's aims. So you'll have to forgive me for NOT getting my knickers in twist about the great opening by the Queen today.


This release about BAA's broken promises to local residents makes me feel sad and annoyed.

Anyway, I know that a lot of you probably are excited about the opening. Terminal 5's "insider" had been in touch with me some time ago (probably as a result of this post) and invited me & other bloggers I know to visit Terminal 5 in advance of its opening. I declined the invitation but instead asked a number of questions relating to the new London Underground station.

Here are the questions I asked on 11th February & answers I received on the 10th March (I've edited the answers slightly to allow for the insider's English - as English isn't his first language):

So - when will "guinea pigs" or the general public be able to test the new station?

Actually London Transport and BAA officers are already taking the Piccadilly line trains to Terminal 5, even if the station is not opened to public yet. NB - It opens to the public in about two weeks time.

What sort of signage is there in place or being planned around the Tube and where to make changes, where to travel to after you arrive etc, etc

All the signage in the Tube (on the Piccadilly Line) relative to the new T5 station is already in use and has been updated.

Will they be in different languages?

No, signage will be just in English

What about accessibility of the station entrances and exits? Assuming there's going to be space for people carrying large luggage and help for people who are disabled.

To enter and exit the station there are 4 lifts + 6 escalators

4 lifts has meant to allow access to T5 for disabled passengers and big luggage

What's the scheduling and roll out period for getting Terminal 5 added to the Tube car diagrams?

The tube has been already added the car diagrams

Also, the roof of the station has been made with the same material used for the Eden Project in Cornwall. It is a nice one.



So there you go. The full set of pictures of Heathrow Terminal 5 London Underground Station are here. Enjoy!

Man wanted over train sex attack

Fortunately this didn't happen on the Tube, but a bit of a cautionary tale for us ladies who fall asleep late at night on public transport (I do this on the London Underground all the time!).



"A woman fell asleep on a train and awoke to find a man sexually assaulting her.

British Transport Police believe the attacker preyed on the 26-year-old as she dozed on a train from Victoria to East Croydon The serious sex attack happened at Victoria station on Saturday, March 1 between 12.15am and 12:35am.

The man was white, slightly overweight, aged 35 to 45 years with light brown cropped receding hair. He had glasses and wore a dark blue Adidas jogging top.

Police believe the man lives in the Battersea area and appeal to anyone who may be able to identify him to contact officers.

Anyone with information should contact the BTP on 0800 40 50 40 or the Witness Appeal Line on 0207 391 5275, quoting background log B4 of 11/3/08."

Thanks to Londonist where I saw this originally.

And yes, before anyone mentions this, I can see the irony of posting this just after a post which sort of moans about how much CCTV we have in the UK. It's a double edged sword and I don't know what the answer is.