Down in London, the underground railway network is commonly known as "The Tube". Of course, half the people who visit this corner of the blogosphere will have direct personal experience of "The Tube". However, the other half may never have been to London and will therefore have only a dim awareness of what "The Tube" is like in reality.
It is the world's oldest underground railway system and with eleven tracks and 272 stations, it remains one of the largest networks even though it has been overtaken by a dozen Chinese cities and Moscow too.
But my purpose in making this blogpost is not to spew out facts and figures about "The Tube" and how it compares with other underground railways. No, I wanted to focus on the people who ride "The Tube".
Every journey is different with an ever changing cast of actors and actresses boarding the train and leaving it. You never know who will come together. Different people with different stories to tell if you could only corral them in order to record their varied tales.
If you are lucky enough to have a seat, you look across at the people facing you. You note the different ethnicities - travellers from every corner of the world... Africans, Asians, Scandinavians, people from the south of Europe, North Americans, South Americans, Arabs, Jews, Australians. There are even people from The British Isles! And there are old people, young people, children, disabled people, poor people, wealthy people, people who have been to football matches, tennis players, students, hippies, Goths, tattooed people and the unadorned too. Some carry bags from "Harrods" while others carry musical instruments, flowers or huge suitcases.
Almost always. there is a calm, unwritten respect between passengers. They police themselves as they move between stations. The atmosphere is rarely intimidating even during busy times when the carriages are packed - with standing room only. We are all social beings and "The Tube" is a great leveller. Briefly - while riding on those subterranean trains - everybody is equal.
The others are strangers that we will probably never see ever again. This is what it means to be in a city of ten million humans. Nowadays, many lone travellers can be seen inspecting the screens on their smartphones - secret worlds where they can briefly hide away and avert their eyes as the tube train thunders onward to Pimlico or Putney Bridge, Sloane Square or Stepney Green, Holborn or Hornchurch.
I have fond memories of riding the Tube during my visit to London. It sure beat the traffic up above.
ReplyDeleteI think I saw where you and Judy sat because there was some graffiti on the train wall - "BRUCE + JUDY WOZ ERE".
DeletePeople watching. That's what you do as you ride on the tube.
ReplyDeleteYou are right there. We never stop observing our fellow human beings.
DeleteI get dizzy looking at the map, but just like the New York subway, I imagine it's one of the easiest and perhaps quickest ways to get around.
ReplyDeleteIF you know where you're going!!!
Stick Donald Trump on "The Tube" and he'll be down there for weeks - totally lost and confused.
DeleteWe took the Tube to and from our hotel out near Heathrow to Westminster station, so we could gawk at Big Ben, Parliament, Westminster Abbey and the Tower of London down the Thames a bit. "Mind The Gap!"
ReplyDeleteWhat - the gap between my teeth?
DeleteIn rush hour it can be unbearable but is the fastest way to get around London. I was on it yesterday!!
ReplyDeleteI hope you said a friendly "hello" to your fellow travellers.
DeleteWhat amazes me is the number of people still reading papers. I mean, papers on paper, not the news on their smartphones.
ReplyDeleteIn recent years, my visits to London were only to change between St. Pancras and King's Cross on my way to or from Yorkshire. No tube necessary, only a five-minute walk (if that) across the road.
At London tube stations travellers can pick up free copies of either "The Metro" or "The Evening Standard" (not sure that the second one is still being distributed).
Deletei always struggle for the first ten minutes or so with tubes..... it's definitely a way of life.... once you get the whole "this side for that way" or "the other side to go clockwise" then it all falls into place..... the whole non-communication whilst travelling on tubes is intriguing though
ReplyDeleteIt's like there are unwritten rules concerning etiquette on "The Tube".
DeleteI find The Tube unfriendly and overcrowded and makes me feel paranoid and claustrophobic. Airport departure lounges aren't much better. They are even worse when your travelling on your own. Give me a bus any day of the week.
ReplyDeleteCertainly, riding on a crowded tube is a weird thing to do when you live a peaceful life on an Irish smallholding next to the sea.
DeleteIt is also surprisingly quick. I had a meeting at County Hall (south side of River by Westminster Bridge). Three of us were going to the airport at roughly the same time. One took a cab all the way to LHR, one took the Heathrow Express (can’t remember how they got to Paddington) one (me) took the tube all the way there. We tuned our journeys door to check in desk. There wasn’t much in it…if I recall my journey was about 10mins longer than the other two but many pounds cheaper.
ReplyDeleteAs public transport, The Tube is brilliant. It efficiently moves huge numbers of people around London. But the trains are rough, noisy and stinking hot. The seating uncomfortable, if you get one. Used by celebrities and rich people, it is a great social leveller and the people watching is amazing. I hated and loved The Tube.
ReplyDeleteLondon is the first subway system that I ever rode; it takes you where you want to go, easily, quickly, and economically. I am always surprised when I come back that my 25 year old Oyster card remembers where I left off. I live a ten minute walk from the Washington DC Metro Rail (our subway system.)
ReplyDeleteI can't even imagine what it's like to use the tube daily. I have been on the NY subway system before but in a very limited way and a long time ago. The tube looks a lot cleaner.
ReplyDeleteIs that your photo at top? I am surprised by the number of people reading newspapers so I'm thinking it's from several years ago (pre-pandemic). No one reads papers on the tube anymore, and I don't even see many books. It's all phones, phones, phones.
ReplyDeleteI was wondering about the many readers of papers, too, but YP had an explanation.
DeleteAh, I see from Google it's a stock photo from 2010. That explains it!
ReplyDeleteI dislike the Tube - the busy lines, anyway. The air is dreadful and the deeper you have to go, the warmer and stuffier it becomes. However, it is a swift way to travel.
ReplyDeleteAs always I am fascinated and envious of your public transit system.
ReplyDelete"A great leveler" indeed. Love that sentiment and love the Tube as it has always been so efficient each time we've visited London (thrice, but still).
ReplyDeleteLooks complicated but your daily commuters are probably used to it. Whenever, I have taken the train or El in Chicago, I always feel like a tourist because I don't do it often.
ReplyDeleteI have been on the tube a bunch of times in my three visits to London. It sure is a sprawling efficient system.
ReplyDelete