Archway renamed to Whittington?

Islington residents have got a sort of yes from Boris Johnson in their bid to rename Archway London Underground station. However, he told them not to hold their breath as it would be very costly. Walter Roberts has been campaigning for some time to get Archway Tube named after on of London's much earlier mayors, Dick Whittington.


Roberts told the Islington Gazette "The Dick Whittington legacy is one of inspiration, courage, dedication and the first great English romance.

"If London's most famous son gets a Tube station named after him, it would point many tourists in the direction of this Gateway to the North in a way Archway can't as it sounds dull as ditchwater. The name Archway is irrevocably linked to the suicide bridge and the dreadful Archway Tower which is loathed as one of the worst examples of contemporary architecture.

"It falls to reason therefore that the area would benefit commercially and culturally if the station is renamed - perhaps as Whittington Cross or Whittington Stone."

Thanks to John Bull from London Reconnections for the hat tip to this.

TfL are less enthusiastic about the change and said "London Underground receives a number of requests each year for the names of Tube stations to be changed. The cost is substantial and it's time consuming." You may remember the many requests to change Arsenal's name.

A spokesman for the Mayor said "As well as changing signs along the line, there are the costs of changing maps and announcements.

"Given the pressures on Transport for London's budget, it seems unlikely that the names of Tube stations can be changed in the near future."

I don't want to rain on the residents parade, but that sounds like a NO to me. However, if it somehow became a yes, it sets an interesting precedent for changing names of Tube stations to be associated with famous people & stopping them sounding "dull as ditchwater".

Which ones do you think need changing and any celebs you think they should be named after?

Face Behind The Station

Regular readers will know that on this blog, I love to try to highlight the more human side of the London Underground and show that Tube staff have personalities. Well it's good to see that Maria Cox has undertaken a massive photography project with a similar objective. She visited every station on the network and took a photograph of a member of staff.


"There is more to the London Underground than getting from A to B," she says, "there is a friendly face at every station, often ambiguous and lost in the hurly burly of working life. Many commuters take these people for granted, often giving them abuse, but I have been struck and very impressed by how friendly and important to the safe working of the tube network the Station Supervisors and other underground employees are."

Alongside each photograph is a biographical piece about them, so you can find out their likes and dislikes, famous people they've met on the Tube and strange incidents they've encountered.


Thanks to both LDN and Vikki Chowney for the heads up to this!

Hopefully her project will be exhibited on the network but you can find out more about The Face Behind the Station and see more pictures here.

End of the World on Northern Line

Great spot by Kate Matlock at Old Street Tube this morning:


Looks like the people who write the temporary signs are getting more of a sense of humour. Last week we had Northern Line delights.

Perhaps this policy of not so quietly veiled sarcasm is the new norm on the Misery Line?!

No "Man Sitting" on the train badge

Female commuters in Boston have got so fed up with "man sitting" on the trains, they've designed a badge and sent an open letter to the MBTA hoping that something will be done to stop it:


"We've designed a badge for public transportation customers to wear in order to encourage passenger civility. We hope to raise awareness of fellow passenger's comfort with this visual reminder.

"Often, we believe, some T-riders aren't aware that they're taking up three seats with their knees. Of course, there are many other discourteous behaviors, like occupying additional seats with your belongings, but the particular posture depicted on our button is the most commonly complained about offense found in our survey of T- passengers.

"We hope you will adopt this button to display or distribute as a way of encouraging courtesy among your riders. If you contact us we will provide you with some of these buttons for your use."

Thanks to Charlotte Cooper for the heads up to this!

Go for it ladies and let us know if it's a success over in Boston. If so I'll start a similar campaign for the London Underground.

Tube Map shows hottest spots

TfL have revealed the hottest spots on the London Underground to identify the areas which need the most cooling. The heat map compiled on July 28 - the hottest days of last year, showed the Central Line was the warmest. Luckily it was already coloured red. That part of the network was above 30C (86F).


The baking Bakerloo Line was the next hottest. Between 4pm and 7pm, most of its stations were in the highest temperature band, although things got cooler the further south you went. Even in the coolest stations the temperature hovered at about 25C.

On the map the green areas show 26 degrees, moving up to 29 degrees in the yellow areas, with the read areas at 32 degrees centigrade.

In previous tests, temperatures in some carriages during the summer have exceeded 35C, which would make the network officially unfit for transporting cattle.

The Underground hotspots can be seen on this map and more information is on The Times.