Main menu: Home Features 3D Maps User Guide Support Buy Now Disused Tube Blog

District S7

28th October 2014
 

We’ve seen pictures of them running, even witnessed one or two running in service – but not actually been on one yet ourselves, so when we rocked up to Ealing Common last week it was a pleasant surprise to find a new S7 train running an Ealing Broadway to Plaistow service.

S7 Unit at Ealing Common

S7 Unit at Ealing Common

Interestingly, its set number was 753 which according to the Working Timetable is a Lillie Bridge Depot to Plaistow staff trainer, but in this case looks like it was replacing 050 from Ealing Broadway, heading east.

S7 unit at Barons Court

S7 unit at Barons Court

We did – of course – make a note of all the the slightly changed door exit positions at every stop to update the Station Master exit data for a future update!

 

This post categorised under: Infrastructure / Tube
—

Too many blobs

26th October 2014
 
Too many blobs

Too many blobs

It’s always interesting to see where old links on the Internet take you.  Whilst clicking around, we discovered an old BBC article that spoke about the launch of the London Overground back in 2006, and the new proposed tube map. It seems that at the time the designers planned on having interchange ‘blobs’ all along the whole stretch where Overground trains stopped at the same stations as Bakerloo Line trains.

This had never been considered on parts of the map where two lines ran on the same tracks (e.g. the Metropolitan and Piccadilly lines out to Uxbridge) but it seems that it was considered here. Considered, not finalised because obviously they recognised that it was ugly, and didn’t go with it for the final version.

This post categorised under: Alternative Tube Maps / Overground
—

Treasure Hunt

24th October 2014
 

Now this just looks fabulous! It’s the London Underground Treasure Hunt. It’s an offer on lastminute.com with the blurb saying:

“Challenge yourself and a friend to the exciting London Underground Treasure Hunt for Two. Beneath the bustling city of London you can try out your detective skills with this fun and challenging experience.  You will work together to crack the puzzles and find the hidden treasure within 2 hours to be victorious.”

An evening on the tube, going round participating in a treasure hunt, which is clearly London Underground themed … we’ve booked tickets for next month, and will report back on our experience!

Treasure Hunt

Treasure Hunt

This post categorised under: Fun
—

Exposed Underground

22nd October 2014
 

So on our Twitter feed a lot recently, we’ve been playing the ‘WHERE AM I?’ game, with a piece of cut and cover track exposed in the open in a cutting, and we’ve been asking you to try and name where it is.  Some are harder than others, and amazingly some people have got some really hard ones.

So we’ve been putting a map together – a map of all the places where you can see the Underground (mainly at cut & cover level) where it breaks out into the open for a moment before disappearing back into a tunnel.  It looks something like the image below.  Would you be interested in seeing the finished variant?

Exposed Underground

Exposed Underground

This post categorised under: Alternative Tube Maps / Secret trains
—

Paddington photos

21st October 2014
 

We were in the Paddington area yesterday doing some Station Master research and saw something which we think is new – on the approach to the H&C station is a small gallery of old black and white photos, showing the construction of this – the original tube line in London when it was built in 1863.

We’d not seen it before – worth stopping to take a look next time you’re wandering past.

Paddington Gallery

Paddington Gallery

This post categorised under: History / Posters
—

Bus trails

20th October 2014
 

Remember the elephants that came to London a while ago?  Small sculptures placed around key locations in the Capital, part of an art project – well TfL have got on board with the fun, by doing the same with some miniature London Buses.

The press release reads: “Presented in partnership with Wild in Art, the Year of the Bus Sculpture Trails have brought businesses and artists together to create a series of free and accessible public art sculpture trails across London’s streets, parks and public spaces.”

There are three trail installations going live today (Monday 20th October) around London, one in Westminster, one along the Thames, and one in the Olympic Park. A fourth will be added in the new year.

Bus-spotting it may be, but in a nice, artistic, non-anoraky kind of way …

Bus sculpture

Bus sculpture

This post categorised under: Art on the Underground / Buses
—

Olympia – HSK Shuttle

17th October 2014
 

Something we’ve only just noticed on carriage maps of District Line trains is the way that the shuttle service is shown between Olympia and High Street Ken.

Obviously trains to/from Olympia are very infrequent and are thus shown as a dotted line, but why then does the in carriage map show the ‘shuttle’ service as being a solid line to High Street Ken?

Yes, there are regular Wimbledon to Edgware Road services (as well as the Circle) which makes this a non-restricted service, but following the logic of the carriage map here, it’s clearly showing a shuttle service between Olympia and HSK, in which case shouldn’t the green line between Earl’s Court and HSK also be a dotted line instead of a solid one?

Solid line to HSK

Solid line to HSK

 

This post categorised under: Map / Tube
—

Just visiting

17th October 2014
 

For the first time ever this week, we saw something that we’d only heard about before, but never seen. There is a variant of the Oyster Card called the Visitor Oyster Card.

Typically, you’d get one of you live outside of London, and you can order one online from the TfL website to have one sent to you, pre-loaded with PAYG money to spend for when you visit London.

The difference is though, is that the £3 deposit you pay to get is NOT refundable (unlike a regular blue coloured Oyster card), and you can only load Pay-as-you-Go credit onto it, you can’t load Travelcard/Seasons onto it – just PAYG.

Aside from all that they’re quite pretty too and a much more colourful than your regular blue-coloured Oyster! And here’s what they look like …

Visitor Oyster Card

Visitor Oyster Card

This post categorised under: Oyster
—

Step-free London Bridge

11th October 2014
 

We’re a bit confused about the step free arrangements at London Bridge station.  They recently finished building a new ‘side entrance’ into the station along with a shopping parade, and next to it, what must have cost a lot of money to build, an ‘S-bend’ style ramp with a wide guide .. for, wheelchair users right?  Uh, no.

Step free London Bridge

Step free London Bridge

This is the sign that greets you by the entrance to the new ramp indicating that it’s for people with luggage and pushchairs only – because there’s no lift here, only escalators.

For complete step-free access at London Bridge you have to use the entrance/exit round on Borough High Street, and here’s where we spotted something else unusual – the lifts are inside their respective gatelines – meaning that if you’re a wheelchair user changing between the Jubilee and Northern you have to exit through one gateline, and then enter back through another!

This is fine if you’re on a travelcard or Freedom pass, but if you’re on Pay As You Go Oyster (or Contactless) then it will sting you for two fares, so you have to make sure that you ask the station staff to let you out of one barrier, and back into another.

This post categorised under: Accessibility / Lifts
—

New Tube for London

10th October 2014
 

We almost don’t need to mention it .. considering everyone else has, but in case you somehow missed the TfL press release yesterday which showed us the plans for the new tube train for London, coming … not that soon on the Piccadilly, Bakerloo, Central and Waterloo & City Line.

The BBC reported it here, Diamond Geezer here, even a design breakdown on Wired here. And of course, there’s a promotional video.

Go and see the display yourself at King’s Cross for the next month, and place a bet with yourself whether the timescales laid out will really happen.  We’re betting that we won’t be alive anymore by the time driverless trains do come to the tube.

I’m wondering if the tight curves and bends (bendier than other lines) on the Bakerloo line really can mean that new standard stock can be rolled out. Others are wondering due to the phrasing used if it really is air conditioning, or just air cooling.    Having on-board information screens is great though, but feels like we’re ten years behind the times as we should have those already – so they’ll be welcome.

And if the new trains are walk-through, it does beg the questions – why weren’t the new Victoria Line trains introduced only a couple of years ago made as ‘walk through’ trains instead of separate carriages?

Anyway. Aside from all that. You also have to ask yourself – are the new London Tube Trains as good as the new Russian Moscow trains …

This post categorised under: Future services / Tube / Video
—
← Older Entries
Newer Entries →