If you’ve visited my favorite city, or read my flowing prose
in the first part of “Down the Tubes,” (Of course you have!), you’ll know the
Metro System is a great part of any London adventure.
In Part II, I’ll enlighten you about another side of the
tube system you may not have (in your inebriated state) considered. The Tube as art. I’m talking about line and shadow, and flashes of
color.
The London Tube is not just for transportation; it’s also a
haven of design, and beauty. Not that I
have come close to capturing even a portion of it. With (by my count) 381 stations and a
scattering of platforms at each station, it’s impossible to capture more than
just a glance of the designing whims in the London Underground. “Banks” alone has ten platforms.
Maybe I find the London Underground forever fascinating
because I’ve spent so much time, wading through the crowds, cramming myself
into packed carriages, and standing on platforms, idly waiting for the next
train.
It’s not just working hours that bring the crowds. Londoners like to play and they use the tube
to get everywhere. Prime dinnertime, and
cocktail hour, and ‘round midnight, after the theaters let out, you can find
yourself mobbed. Covent Garden. Leicester Square. Piccadilly Circus. A quiet riot of people.
In the morning peak, Waterloo is the busiest with about
50,000 people in a three-hour window and overall it’s the busiest with 89.4
million passengers each year.
Over 2.7 million people ride the tubes every day. When I’m in London, I’m one of ‘em. Sure, I do a lot of walking and I’ve tried
the bus a few times. Oyster Cards work
on buses and subways. You get to see a
lot on a bus, a lot more than down in the tubes. Problem is, buses plod along in heavy traffic,
and you better know your bus routes, or be joyful about serendipity.
(stats from London For Transport: https://www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/about-tfl/what-we-do/london-underground/facts-and-figures)
One evening on the Piccadilly Line, my son and I were
crammed so tight we had to take turns breathing. He found himself pressed against three lovely
young women, their faces only inches apart.
“Well,” he said, “As long as we’re stuck here, we might as well
introduce ourselves.” They thought it a
good idea as well. Londoners are like
that, polite, even in the face of brash young American males.
But, the London Underground (which is 55% above ground) is
not always so crowded. The vast majority
of the time, meandering tourists have no trouble finding a seat and enjoying
the ride.
While you’re standing in the station, any station, gaze at
the walls. Yes, there are posters galore,
but also fabulous runs of tiles, and in the larger stations, beautiful arrays
of lights and shadows. Even the rush of
the train can be abstract amalgams of speed and color.
No wonder the Underground has set the mood in so many
movies. The most common locations are Aldwych, a no longer used tube stop on
the Piccadilly line, and the unused portion of the Jubilee Line in Charing
Cross.
Aldwych was also used as the model for the London
Underground in the video game Tomb Raider 3.
In no particular order, I offer some photos taken at various
times, in various tube stations.
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