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Last Tube Times Map

When I started www.goingunderground.net in the days way before this blog, one of the most common questions I was asked (and in fact still get asked) is "what time is the last Tube?" TfL used to do a fairly rubbish job of displaying last times o their site - it's better now but you still have to open up individual PDF's for each line.

But now with the obsessiveness that I love about the internet, someone has painstakingly prepared a Tube Map that shows the first and last tube times for all the lines by station, and even visited Flickr and added a little picture of each station too.


When the page has loaded roll over the map and you get a little image of each station plus information about local pubs and their walking (or staggering distance) from the Tube station with a handy links to Google / Street and Tube maps. You can also change the format of the map to the line of your choice by selecting an option on the left.

The site - Lastrounds.co.uk is still fairly embryonic but it's perfect for planning a night out and is clearly a labour of love. Plus if you're ever caught short after chucking out time you can see where the nearest public loos are too.

I wonder why TfL doesn't employ some of people who create snazzy Tube Map applications or at least add links to them on their site? Over the years I've seen loads of interesting interactive maps but I don't think there's one place that lists them all. I'm sure that it'd make sense to acknowledge that these exist and working in some sort of partnership - or heaven forbid - have a day where people can deliberately play around with the map to see what sort of ideas come out. Maybe one day....

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Wednesday, July 11, 2007 Permalink

Regular reader on derailed Tube

I've received an email from Pete S who was on the Central Line Tube that was derailed yesterday, and he seems to have a very different experience to the commuters quoted in Thursday's London Lite:


"Hi Annie. I was on the train that derailed at 40mph between Mile End and Bethnal Green yesterday morning - only one person had a sprained ankle to show for it on the whole train apparently and no one was scared although a bit shaken up (Dunkirk spirit and all that). It was quite exciting to walk up the tunnel back to Mile End - masses and masses of firemen and coppers hanging around waving torches... an interesting experience!

"Anyways I have the feeling it will be a while until we see Central line services again - I was in about carriage 3 and all the way back through the train each carriage was leaning at a jaunty 20% angle or so against the tunnel wall - hate to think what damage has occured to the tracks.

"Let me know if you want to know any more - don't believe what you read in the papers! (One thing I will say is that there was an off-duty train operator in our carriage who had been up to see the rather shaken driver. He said the driver thought he had seen a battery or similar lying on the rail which caused the train to jump off - I guess it must have dropped off the previous train)"

And he signs off "(a slightly sooty) Pete"

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Friday, July 06, 2007 Permalink

Central Line Train derailed

Earlier today at 9.30am a train came off the rails in the East End, on the Central Line, between Bethnal Green and Mile End stations. A London Underground spokesperson said they were "looking into reports that there was an obstruction on the track....

"At this stage it appears that one passenger has suffered a minor injury to their foot. LU is putting in place well-practised plans to safely remove passengers from the train, and from a stalled train behind it. Both stations have been closed".

TfL announced that by about 11am 700 people were taken off the derailed train , and one stuck behind it (although by this evening this figure was apparently 800 according to London Lite). They were walked down the track to Mile End station.

A number of the commuters thought it was a terrorist attack. One said "At first I thought it was a bomb because there was a loud bang and then smoke. The lady next to me started crying and said she lost a friend in 7/7. Some people started panicking and screaming. I was in the fourth carriage and people began running from the first carriage thinking there was going to be an explosion". However, emergency services ruled this out fairly quickly. Another passenger was also worried it was a terrorist attack "I just thought my time had come and my life flashed before me. Every time I am on the Tube, I worry about bombers". Interestingly we were discussing worrying (or not) about attacks on the Tube in light of the recent incidents, and I'm sure if you were on this train, there's no surprise you would be feeling like this.

Luckily major casualties were avoided as the train stayed upright during the derailment. The first emergency workers who arrived said it was a miracle that no one was killed or badly injured.

More details from the BBC

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Thursday, July 05, 2007 Permalink

Too Complacent at Hammersmith?

Both Barons Court and Hammersmith Tube stations were closed this morning after a suspect package was spotted outside Hammersmith Broadway shopping centre (which leads to the London Underground station).


I normally change at Hammersmith and when leaving the house I didn't know that Barons Court had been closed too, but by the time I reached Hammersmith (about 9.30am) it had re-opened again. No one seemed remotely concerned and only a few people like myself nipped off the District Line at Ravenscourt Park as Piccadilly Line trains were temporarily stopping there. Going through Hammersmith it was business as usual. No extra announcements to look out for suspect parcels and suspicious behaviour, nothing.

It's interesting that the London Paper chose to find a commuter from North London who must be travelling on a different Tube system to me and other commuters I've noticed. Mr Smith from Enfield said "I think the level of panic has gone up without a doubt. The public is worried and wary and looking out all the time. After 7/7, people were looking for suspicious men with bags, but now there's a new dimension which makes things scarier because more things can be a threat and the threat is very real."

More people at work at talking about the rubbish weather at the moment and we work less than half a mile away from the failed bombing attempt at Tiger Tiger. A new colleague who sits opposite me at work, who's on secondment from the US, is amazed at how calm we're all being.

Is it because, luckily, no innocent people have actually been injured? Or what is going on? Do we think we can travel more easily in London because areas like Glasgow are now targets too? I still think Mr Smith quoted above is wrong. After 7/7 there was real worry on the Tube and you definitely saw people shiftily looking at anybody with a rucksack (particularly if they looked a bit "foreign"). Today, I sat through a station that had just been closed due to a suspect package outside of it and hardly gave a second glance at the Asian guys (complete with rucksacks) who sat opposite me.

Have you noticed any different behaviour on the Tube? Will the guy from the transparent Freedom bags think he's onto a little earner again? We are supposedly on critical terror alert after all.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Tuesday, July 03, 2007 Permalink

Not on the London Underground

More Tube roundels not in their natural home

Thanks again to all of you eagle eyed guys and gals for keeping on the look out for the Tube roundel on your travels outside of London. Good to keep LU's lawyers on their toes.

Firstly this bar "The Underground" was spotted by Ginny on a trip to Colorado.


Ginny says "It was shot through the window of our rental SUV as we tried to make a left turn onto Nevada Street in Colorado Springs, CO. I happened to have the camera handy and of course the first thought I had was "Aha! A sighting of a NotTheUnderground sign! Now I can make up for completely missing the one right in my own area".

A bit closer to home we have the roundel being used to advertise a scouting event at Brownsea Island in Dorset.


Thanks to Chris "Awkward" McKenna for sending this my way. Not sure TfL's lawyers will get great publicity from going after some clean living campers, but you never know.

Leo sent in a more commercial spot of the roundel:


He said "Living in the southern part of Holland I travel in Belgium quite a bit and have been regularly passing this sign in a small village near Antwerp. Normally it's difficult to stop there, but this time I spotted a parking place not far from the sign - and I had my camera with me - so here you go.

Underground Lighting shop sells lights and lamps - the funny part is that the underground sign is stuck on top of some computer firm's sign!". Cheeky monkeys.

Many thanks to Ginny, Leo and Chris. I also received an almost roundel from a Toronto restaurant, but they hadn't quite gone the whole hog with a complete rip off, probably to err on the side of legality or avoid paying a licensing fee. Please keep your photos of the roundel coming in and I'll add them to the Flickr set.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Monday, July 02, 2007 Permalink

Northern Line Centenary

Last week 15 stations on the Northern Line celebrated their 100th birthday. The Charing Cross, Euston & Hampstead Railway (CCE&HR) platforms were opened on 22 June 1907. Fortunately I was sunning myself in Palma on the 22nd but Gareth was passing through Chalk Farm and saw the celebrations, which sounded similar to ones I saw at Leceister Square last year


He said LU "were getting into the spirit of things by decking the place out in balloons and having some staff dressed in period costume handing out centenary choclate coins to the customers - it was really sweet and I saw loads of people with a smile as they entered the depths of the Northern Line - itself a rare sight!

I grabbed a pic of two of the supervisors in their finery". And very nice cheerful looking chappies they are. Thanks to Gareth for sending them in. Did you see celebrations at any of the other stations?

It looks as though there were some older trains put on from the terminal at Mill Hill East, although this wasn't mentioned on the TfL's site (however, a new station called Morning Crescent did seem to be celebrating!).


When the line was extended northwards and southward in the mid 1920's it became known as the Morden–Edgware Line, although a number of alternative names were suggested such as “Edgmorden” and “Medgware”. Unfortunately neither were taken up and the Line was eventually named the Northern Line in 1937.

It's sad there's only the Bakerloo line that has this amalgamation of names. Personally, I wish the Piccadilly line was called the Cockerdilly line.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Wednesday, June 27, 2007 Permalink

From my train's window

Just got back from a long weekend in Palma, where I didn't think I'd be making any rail travel. However we found a lovely railway that runs through Mallorcan mountains from Palma to Soller. If you want all the track information, length of journey, number of tunnels, blah, blah it's all here


But it was simply nice being in a train in the sunshine with amazing views. Where potentially you can reach out to grab lemons from the trees (although you'd probably break your arm in the process).



London with all the rain on the lines seemed a million miles away. Did we have any lines or stations closed due to the wrong time of rain when I was gone?

Monkeyboy 69 has sent me in the direction of Sparkes68's photos of a flooded line at Tame Bridge, just so I can see what I missed.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Monday, June 25, 2007 Permalink

Curvy Tube Map

A guest post from map man Maxwell Roberts who wonders whether the "rules" behind Harry Beck's London Underground map are past their sell by date:


"A lot of people take the Underground map and play about with the names. Anyone can do it (unless the TfL copyright lawyers get them), and awarding a Turner Prize for this seems to be going a bit far to me. Quite a lot of people have got in touch with me, who like me are not happy with the current Underground map design, too many zig-zagging kinks rather than the elegant straight lines of times long ago. Several people have had a go at redoing the Underground map themselves to get rid of the worst of them, and generally they seem to do a better job than the 'experts' at TfL.

Myself, I have been wondering whether Henry Beck's rules are past their sell-by date (he was wondering this himself towards the end of his life). Once a metro system gets complicated, it's virtually impossible to show it well by using them, so I've been having a go at throwing the rules in the dustbin instead.


The all-curves map is completely new, you won't have seen it before. (I'd seen Max's previous map at a London Underground Railway Society lecture) I've got rid of the kinks by having smooth gentle curves all the way, in theory easier for the eye to follow because a lot of the jerkiness has gone. I would be interested in people's responses to this map. A lot of people (not particularly map geeks) say that it is inviting and fun to look at."

I like it, although it does remind me of a wasp or some strange insect with a long proboscis forming the eastern end of the Central Line. If you can get out of the habit of seeing Beck's as the norm, although it's a bit disturbing at first, I think the kinkless ones make more sense.

But as Max says he'd be interested in hearing your thoughts and if you want to see the whole map click from here.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Thursday, June 21, 2007 Permalink

EastEnders Tube Baby?

Wobbly headed pregnant Dawn from EastEnders fled Mad Doctor May and Drippy Rob after being abducted by them and threatened with an early Caesarean conducted by the psycho pill-popping GP. Where did she head to get away from it all? Walford East Tube station and the delights of the District Line.

I was particularly proud of her giving a mouthful to the guy sitting in the reserved seat "Oi can't you read", she said thrusting her bump in his face. No subtle "Baby on Board" badges for Dawn.


After plonking herself down, we learnt that her baby was going to be called "Summer", but due to a plot device, sorry incident, at Tower Hill, I think she'd be better off re-thinking the child's name.

Stepney or Debden has a nice ring to it. Or how about Toyah Upney Beyonce Emily?

The familar closing drum beat was preceded by Dawn wailing "Me waters have broke" and the camera panning down to a seat you certainly wouldn't want to sit on after she'd left. You can watch the highlights of the episode here.

Sadly, I'll miss Thursday's episode and will have to watch catch-up TV. But will this be the Tube's second carriage birth? Surely some more kids been born on Tube carriages since Mary Ashfield Eleanor Hammond (rumoured to be named Thelma Ursula Beatrice Eleanor) in 1924?

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Wednesday, June 20, 2007 Permalink

Ken on the Tube again

You can say what you like about Mayor Ken (and there's plently to say at the moment), but he certainly practices what he preaches as far as travelling by London Underground is concerned. He was spotted taking the Tube at Finchley Road on Saturday when according to spottee Toby Bryans, half of the system wasn't working.


Toby was off to Wembley Park and said "Whilst I was waiting, a certain Mayor turned up on the platform and boarded a north-bound Jubilee Line train. I have always heard tales that he still uses the Tube and it was great to see them confirmed even on a day when half the network was down."

He's recently been spotted in a muffler and I spotted him between Westminster and Blackfriars a few years ago


The challenge looks as though it's going to be for someone to spot him on the Tube without his raincoat. I'd also love to see him reading the Standard, particularly on a Ken bashing day like yesterday!

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Tuesday, June 19, 2007 Permalink

London Underground Fashion Victims

Fashion Victims on the Tube

It's Friday's look at Tube Fashion Victims, TFV's or commuters spotted on the Underground where the fashion police have had a day off or commuters have taken a style and made it their own.

Wash with care

I can't believe that this woman was seriously wearing a dress like this unless she was at an exhibition.

On the occasions when I'm at exhibitions (I'm actually at the NEC today), I'm lucky that I don't have to wear a "uniform" apart from a T-shirt with the company's branding on it. But if I did have to wear a uniform I wouldn't wear it home. Her bag looks big enough for her to have been able to carry a change of clothes. So perhaps she does get a kick out of wearing a dress with massive washing instructions on it. The mind boggles.

Croc and Roll

I loved this couple's footwear. He was going for the wannabe rock star look with gold snakeskin or even crocodile skin look boots. She was at the other end of the scale with some purple Crocs.


I was in Guildford last weekend and saw someone trying on a silver pair of Crocs. Is the trick with Crocs to buy the most brightly coloured ones you can? Do they even come in colours which aren't dayglo or scream (and with apologies to Kath & Kim) "look at me, look at me"?

Now to finish with two terrific guest spots.

Holey Moley

John Spier spotted the perfect TFV


He said "Saw this guy on the Northern Line - and it was obvious what had to be done - snap him and send it to you!". If you click onto John's flickr profile you'll see that TFV3 is really posing for the camera as well. He's clearly in serious need of some moth balls for his wardrobe.

Dipsy Wipsy

Finally someone who hasn't quite got the Green Goddess look right.


Snapped by Fabien who said "I saw a Teletubby on the Tube last week at Blackhorse Road. Didn't know the Victoria line went to Teletubby Land." I love the look of horror on the guy staring back at her.

That's it for now. The previous victims can be found here and the complete picture gallery can be seen on the following Flickr set.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Friday, June 15, 2007 Permalink

Northern Line trains avoid crash

Fortunately it's not often that I get to say that some Tube trains nearly crashed but it's slightly typical that it happened on the beleagured Misery Line. An investigation is under way after a Northern line Tube train entered a tunnel the wrong way, into the path of another train on Sunday. The train's driver slammed on the brakes when approaching Camden Town station as he saw the other train.

A London Underground spokesperson said "Incidents of this nature, whilst disturbing to the public, (no sh*t Sherlock) are incredibly rare."

I think he or she is right as in all of years of blogging, I don't remember hearing about a train going into tunnel the wrong way. But perhaps these incidents are hushed up.

Thanks to Owen for giving me the heads up on the BBC report.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Thursday, June 14, 2007 Permalink

40 Tube Ticket Offices to close

It was announced today that from March 2008 around 40 of the most lightly-used ticket offices at Tube stations will close and other stations will see a reduction in ticket office opening hours. It's all down to the "success" of Oystercards.

Richard Parry, London Underground's director of strategy and service development, said: "The success of Oyster has led to a huge reduction in the number of customers buying tickets at our stations. This has meant that we have already been able to shift station staff from behind the plate glass windows in ticket offices to the platforms and in ticket halls. By increasing the visibility of staff they will make the stations a safer place and will be able to fully assist customers."

Parry added: "We have also embarked on the biggest programme of investment, renewal and increase in capacity on the Tube since the Second World War. To cope with this extra capacity staff will also be re-deployed to drive these extra trains."

So it looks like some of the faces you saw behind the plate glass will be seen behind the controls of trains.

I'm only a fairly recent Oystercard user (well since September) and I still see TONS of people with paper tickets. Apparently Oystercards are used for 60% of all Tube trips.

Some of these "lightly used" ticket offices may I suppose make sense. See Transport Briefing's penultimate paragraph for the hit list. Maybe your regular station's office is there. Of the ones I use Ravenscourt Park & Chiswick Park are pretty much devoid of staff at the best of times, so losing the ticket office might not make difference there. But what about Regent's Park? I'd hardly say that was a lightly used station and is full of tourists. They're very unlikely to know about or even want to use an Oystercard. Who's going to help them when they're mooching around the station looking to buy a ticket?

Keith Norman from Aslef isn't convinced about the extra staff being easily on hand and said "This raises clear safety issues. The ticket office would be the first point of call for passengers needing help."

So what do you think? Will you miss seeing your friendly ticket office person? Won't they be expected to earn more if they're driving trains? What happens when something goes wrong with the ticket machines? What happens when the Oystercard reader doesn't work?

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Tuesday, June 12, 2007 Permalink

Great Father's Day Present

If your Dad's sick of socks, ties and aftershave and you happen to have just over a grand to spend, why not get him this Metropolitan Line table? It's made from a "reclaimed" enamel sign.


It's a snip at £1250 +VAT and he can rest assured in the knowledge that they are limited edition. Well limited until some other bright sparks have a similar idea for reclaiming parts of the Tube to make into furniture. Cheers to Rob for the heads up on that.

BTW IanD are you still selling those pencil cases and draught excluders that your Mum made from old Tube seat upholstery?






My draught excluder has turned into a handy door-stop at the moment as my house actually wasn't particularly draughty this year.

Alternatively if your dad's into gardening, you can make some flower pots out of reclaimed Metros. Any other ideas for Father's Day gifts with a Tube theme would be more than welcome.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Monday, June 11, 2007 Permalink