Station master Cat has own Train

Regular readers of this blog will have seen posts about the station master cat Tama who improved the fortunes of an unmanned station in Japan. The feline member of staff is now so popular, he's got his own train. It's been, errr, kitted out with 101 illustrations of Tama.

Over 10 million yen was donated for the train's renovation. On the opening day the train left Idakiso Station and ran the eight or so kilometers to Wakayama Station, with Tama aboard in the driver's cabin.


Just wonder when the station master Dog will get his special train too?

It's great that the Japanese have these cuddly animals as keepers of their train. On the London Underground, we're a bit more jaded, leading people to think of pet representations like this:


Thanks to Jon Justice for the image above and the Tama story. Who knows what the Japanese actually do on April Fool's Day? Most of the stories that come out of there make it seem like April Fool's Day every day.

TfL upgrades shelved

Today Transport for London announced its £9.2bn budget for 2009/2010 as delivering "major milestones" for the Tube, Crossrail, DLR and the East London Line. This is true to an extent but if you scroll down the headline pleasing release, you'll see some London Underground station upgrades have been stalled.

Metronet's financial bungling seem to be to blame for the deferral of step free access to the Metropolitan & Circle lines at Baker Street. This was supposed to have been part of TfL’s "commitments for the 2012 Games" to "provide step-free access" at this specific station.

Tottenham Court Road Tube to be upgraded

Boris Johnson said "The collapse of Metronet already means that some work must be put back or cancelled, so I will be relentless in making the case to the Government that they should not let other projects falter."

The bus based £40 million Greenwich Waterfront transit scheme has also been scrapped.

One of the projects that got a go ahead was the re-development of Tottenham Court Road Station which will provide additional capacity & serve Crossrail. Nice to see priorities starting with getting some shiny new advertising in, which I noticed on my way home this evening.

Labour group leader from the London Assembly, Len Duvall, isn't wild about the projects and said: "This is the pay more, get less Mayor who raises fares and wastes money on wild vanity schemes but can't find the money for the key transport projects to see London through the recession. Everyone accepts the need for a certain amount of belt-tightening but this should focus the Mayor on the key improvements London's transport system needs. What we are seeing is a shift in priorities away from viable, necessary schemes towards the Mayor's eye-catching vanity projects".

At least we will see the completion of the upgrade of the Jubilee line. This will be delivering a 33% increase in capacity and will serve an extra 10,000 passengers an hour. However, I'm guessing that one of the "vanity projects" Duvall refers to includes the £57m bike hire scheme. I wonder if turning London into a version of Amsterdam, will mean less commuters on the Tube? If so, all well and good. However, it does seem like a shed load of money to invest in a cycling scheme, and it wouldn't tempt non bike riders like me to cycle into work.

Near miss Tube crash prompts investigation

Two rush-hour London Underground trains came within seconds of crashing on Friday night. A signalman was suspended after the driver of a District Line train saw a Piccadilly Line train passing just in front of him, as he left Ealing Broadway Tube.


The District Line train had been brought to a halt, after the driver passed through a red signal. After a few minutes he was given permission to leave & the Piccadilly line train crossed the junction immediately ahead.

The driver was obviously shaken but it's thought that the delay after the red light saved the trains from crashing. The Piccadilly Line was travelling at 25mph and both trains would have been derailed if they'd hit.

A spokeswoman for TfL said "Safety is London Underground's top priority and we have an excellent safety record." The incident has now been reported to the Rail Accident Investigation Board and the Railway Inspectorate. See Current.com / Metro for more.

The investigation will hopefully reveal what happened, but I still don't understand how trains are actually physically able to pass red signals in the first place. I'm sure someone can technically tell me how this will happen, but I remember being shocked that SPAD's or "Signals Passed at Danger" (the Tube equivalent of going through a red light) could take place. I'm assuming this doesn't happen on the DLR where the trains are all fully automated. It seems to be by luck & driver ability rather than the design of the system that more serious accidents haven't taken place.

Fewer Tube Commuters - Is it a trend?

Although it might not feel like it, there are fewer passengers on the London Underground. 1 million fewer people travelled on the Tube this January than in the previous year, and if this is a trend, it's likely to squeeze finances & mean that fares might have to rise.


Tony Travers from the LSE told The Guardian "It would be surprising if revenues did not start to come in under target." TfL's budget requires a 3.5% increase in passenger journeys as well as a 7.4% increase in fare income. None of this bodes well for the funding gap I blogged about a week ago.

Val Shawcross, chair of the London Assembly's transport committee said the January passenger numbers represented a "worrying" trend. She believes that people are "trading down" to cheaper transport like buses.

I think it's early to say whether it is a trend. 81 million passengers is still a lot of passengers and a 1% drop could be seen as a drop in the ocean. But with the current recession and job losses, it makes sense that would be fewer commuters.

A spokesperson for the mayor said "In these uncertain economic times TfL will work ... to maintain the right level of investment and affordable fares. The mayor's commitment to deliver value for money is even more critical now. The operational cost review being undertaken by TfL aims to save money as well as ensuring that services remain unaffected."

I'm not sure how many people are convinced by this. Improvements are being delayed due to arguments about costs, and if fewer people are travelling, revenues will drop and the funding gap will get even bigger. Dave responded to the funding gap post and said "Nothing seems to be changing, despite all the evenings and weekends of their so-called improvement works. I submitted a request under the Freedom of Information Act to TfL about the (non)improvements at the Jubilee Line. I've copied it here and will publish any response."

Let's see how they answer!

Mornington Crescent Board Game

If only someone would bring out a real version of the popular game based on London Underground stations. The wonderful B3ta challenged people to come up with the wrong instructions to something and edz314 produced a Deluxe Edition of Mornington Crescent.


It's brilliant. From the modern and old skool game boards to the counters made up of signals & hats. Many thanks to Robbie L for spotting it. Now we just need Mattel or Hasbro to produce it and everyone could play.

Anything else missing from it though? I noticed the instructions were a bit on the scant side!