London's Biggest Circle Line

Ever wanted to see what the London Overground will eventually look like when all of the extensions are complete? Thanks to Nigel Doran (Nigello on Twitter), who found a great map of the concentric circles.


Click on this page and you'll see the map in various stages (well, current & new). I'm guessing that TfL will never show the lines in this way, which is a pity, as it would make a lot more sense of the orbital railway and links with the London Underground.

Who's for a massive Circle Line party, when it's all finished?

East London Line opens today

After a few false starts with a soft launch, a section of the new East London Line will be opening to the public today. Boris Johnson will cut the ribbons, or whatever, in an opening ceremony at Dalston Junction station and travel on a special service this morning. Then commuters can travel between Dalston Junction and New Cross from 12.05.


Busy Platform by Martin Deutsch
The line cost £1 billion but opened ahead of schedule. I'm sure lots of people will be heading over to the East End today to be the first travel on the shiny new trains and visit the brand new stations: Shoreditch High Street, Hoxton, Haggerston & Dalston Junction.


Shoreditch High Street Station by Bryon Manley
For now trains will be running between New Cross Gate and Dalston Junction, Mondays - Fridays only. There will be no early morning or late night services, with a 7am - 8pm pattern. The full service is due to open on May 23rd. Once it's fully up & running, Transport for London estimate that around 100,000 people to use the service daily.


Starting to get crowded by IanVisits
Look out for blog posts from IanVisits (pictures here), London Reconnections, Londonist and Lewminesce who I'm sure will be some of the first travelling on the trains today. I might even try to make a short journey myself, it'll be change from travelling on the London Underground.

UPDATE - Londonist have pictures of the opening at Dalston with a group of Labour protesters, Bollywood dancers & Boris in the first train:

"The only people scoring political points were a cabal of Ken Livingstone acolytes grouped outside on Dalston Lane, clutching banners that hailed the East London line as a project completed through Labour investment. It's a fair point, and Boris' performance for the cameras conceals the fact that London Overground is a project that Ken pushed through."

UPDATE: Martin Deutsch was on the first public East London Line train and took some pictures of the crowded line, along with the first dog & first bicycle to travel on it!


The East London Line's first dog meets the East London Line's first bicycle by Martin Deutsch

NYC Subway Map shows fewer riders

Interesting use of Google maps in New York, where figures showing subway ridership have been mapped onto each station. In all, the system had 1.58 billion rides last year, officials said, this meant a decline of 2.7 percent from 2008. The New York Times puts most of the decline down to job losses.


Hat tip to MichalD for the link.

Wonder what a map of the London Underground would look like on this basis? Have you noticed fewer people at the Tube stations you use regularly?

Burnt toast closed King's Cross Tube - twice

Should there be a toast ban for London Underground staff? Jo deBank of passenger group London TravelWatch wonders whether it should be a possibility as King's Cross Tube station was twice evacuated and closed for 20 minutes due to fire alerts caused by burnt toast. "This might sound minor but to shut such a busy station — which disrupts the journeys of thousands of passengers — is serious", she said.


The Underground Toast by Dwro8ea
The Evening Standard report that "firefighters were called to the station after smoke began billowing from singed bread left unattended in a toaster — once at 8am breakfast time and the other at 6pm tea time."

This was confirmed by a TfL spokesperson who said closures on March 13th and April 7th were caused by "smoke from a toaster in the staff area of the station. London Underground has extensive heat and smoke detection systems, fire alarms and sprinkler systems and both alerts were dealt with quickly."

Apparently, burnt food in staff kitchen also led to a closure at Caledonian Road Tube station on the Piccadilly line earlier this year.

The official report concluded: "Upon inspection of room found the cause of smoke, someone had decided it was a good idea to store their box of Rice Krispies and four custard cream biscuits in the oven."

Perhaps there ought to be a new kitchen Inspector just for these incidents, like Inspector Sands who is called for when a fire alarm has been set off. If you hear "Could Inspector Ramsey or Inspector Oliver make his way to the control room", you'll know that settings on the staff toaster need adjusting.

How To Chat Someone Up On The Tube

Want to get together with someone on public transport? Surprise, surprise, there's an app for that. Likeu which could be useful for the London Underground. Now that the London Lite's gone, taking with it the "Love Bites" small ads. The app's described as the equivalent of sending a mate over to speak to a cute stranger.

You might have more success with it than using the chatting up tips in a video I've just found. If you have a spare five minutes, have a look - it's pretty tongue in cheek. My favourite tip is on the opening question:

"Try and ask a question that requires more than a 'yes' or 'no' answer. Don't ask "does this train stop at Victoria?" as they can simply say "yes", and end the conversation. Instead, ask an "open question" like "how do you get to Victoria?" as they will have to reply with a more detailed answer which will help you get a conversation going.

However, do expect them to look surprised that you've spoken up, and be prepared to repeat the question if they are startled. If they're genuinely interested in you they will be happy to start chatting. You'll be able to tell if they are not interested. If it is going badly, and you feel embarrassed, just get off at the next stop!"

How To Chat Someone Up On The Tube

And remember "too much smiling on the Tube can look odd, so be careful not to overdo it."