Time Travelling on the Tube

I love the precision of the wrongness of this sign that Luke Bozier took on the London Underground


Luke said that this wouldn't happen anywhere but London. I think it's something that wouldn't happen anywhere but the Tube. They seem to have a thing on joking about the time. Remember the energy saving April Fool at Wood Green station with the clocks being decommissioned to save power. I wonder what the point of having clocks on the Tube is?

Censorship on the Tube?

What's wrong with this poster advertising Quentin Tarantino's new film on the London Underground?


I've walked past this poster for the last few weeks and thought it was a cryptic trailer to deliberately not show the film's title - Inglorious Basterds. I was expecting to see a reveal with the film's name. However, James Cridland's most likely hit the nail on the head here and said:

"What's missing from this picture? Ah, yes, the name of the film... couldn't have people seeing "Inglorious Basterds" now, could we?"

I'd love to know why the Tube thinks the word Basterds is so offensive. Specially considering the ad with the film's title is carried in Metro and thelondonpaper which are handed out freely at Tube stations.

I'm also surprised the distributors bothered advertising it at all if they couldn't use the film's title. Although perhaps they think Tarantino's name is big enough to not need the title as well. There might be something fun about going to the cinema and saying "Can I see that film with no name that I saw advertised on the Tube?"

Watch out for children on the Tube

Were the staff at Covent Garden Tube trying to say something about the size of children coming through the station?


Tom W spotted this on Monday and also heard the following announcement from the driver of a District Line train: "The next station is Victoria. Change here, surprisingly for the Victoria line, Victoria coach station and suburban rail services. Making sure you take all belongings, luggage and children with you when leaving the train".

Joking aside, some of you probably heard about the child that actually slipped through the gap on the London Underground last week, but was fortunately rescued by a commuter.

Metro managed to find the 'guardian angel' who originally just disappeared after rescuing the four year old at Acton. Tochukwu Mokah said "The mum was screaming. She had already got on to the train and I could hear the train doors trying to close. I lay on the platform and put my hands in the gap. I knew I had to get him out – he was on the track."

It is amazing that you don't hear of more children falling through the gaps. There are obviously lots of "Mind the Gap" announcements, signs and warnings on the platform, but there seems to be little advice or signage about keeping children close by on the Tube or even holding their hands when you get on the Tube with them. A lot of kids I see are quite over excited when they travel on the London Underground. I've also seen a couple of instances of kids who are dawdling being left behind by their parents as the sliding doors close.

Has anyone else seen any signs aimed at kids on the Tube? Or have you seen any particularly unruly kids & wished there were some signs for them?

London Underground Tube Map Shower Curtain

Blimey, people have been asking me for years whether they could get hold of a London Underground shower curtain, and now thanks to the brill @LDN, I've found out there's finally an official one.


It seems to only be available from the US at the moment. Freshomes site says "The London Underground and Izola have collaborated to release the first ever officially licensed London Underground shower curtain. Printed on 100% PEVA, the curtain is virtually odorless and won't offend the senses with the odors often associated with plastic shower curtains."

Izola who produce the curtain have rightly cottoned on to the fact that loads of people from the UK will want to buy this. It's $29 but "Please note to all London residents that your order will be automatically converted into UK currency. The cost of the curtain including shipping is approximately £30 depending on your exact location. Please feel free to email info@izolashower.com if you have any questions."

Happy showering!

Tube Photo of the Week - Tube Aliens

Just some err.. average commuters on the Northern Line. Thanks to Colin for taking this


He said "I was travelling on a Northern Line Tube from Chalk Farm to Embankment last Sunday and saw these 3 strange people on the Tube train, and thought you might be interested for your website."

Colin actually started talking to them (brave move) and knows the back story to why they were dressed like this. He hasn't got back to me yet, but I kind of like to imagine that they had landed from a distant planet and were truing out the London Underground for the first time.

They'd have probably been quite surprised that in typical Tube style, hardly anyone has noticed them as being remotely out of place!