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January 23, 2004
Inside Outside
There are large parts of the London tube network where the trains travel overground instead of underground. This is the case on the Western stretches of the Piccadilly Line - including the tube journey that forms a part of my daily trek home: Hammersmith to Alperton. It's only a few stops, so doesn't normally take very long - around 15 minutes on most days. Most of the time I don't bother taking a seat - I just stand near the doorway. And I am always in the last carriage of the train - as this is the most convenient for getting off at Alperton. It seems that the whole world gets off at Alperton - which I find rather strange - because the only thing in Alperton are industrial estates and some bus stops. So - I am always ready to jump off first and be the first person through the barriers and sprint for the Route 79 bus if necessary - all without having to dodge the crowds. Whilst I'm standing there - on the tube - near the doorway - I have a habit of sticking my head out the door when the doors open - and gazing down the length of the train - trying to predict when the doors are going to close again. The more savvy tube rider will know that there are coloured signal lights near the front of the train. Orange means the train is going nowhere. Green means that the doors about to close! I love to watch the orange turn green. I always stick my head back inside the train at this point - for obvious reasons. One thing that really fascinates me is the contrast in light and atmosphere between the outside and the inside of the tube train - especially at this time of the year - what with it being dark outside when travelling home. The overground station platforms are bathed in a yellowish light that although should be slightly warming - is instead cold, imposing a sort of murky ambience whilst casting sinister black shadows onto the floor of the platform. The inside, however, is warm and bright - and more like daylight. People who don't get off at the station - carry on doing what they do, completely oblivious to the contrasts in the lights and moods of the outside. Standing near the doorway - I get to dream in both worlds.
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Posted by jag at January 23, 2004 04:34 PM
Comments
I like your description of the experience of waiting for the green light at the above ground stations. My habits are quite similar. I also prefer to stand (getting on at Leicester Square I often don't have much choice...), although if there's plenty of free seats I'll sit down for the last couple of stops. I'll only stick my head out of the doors to check the lights when we haven't moved for a few minutes, which unfortunately happens far too often as the train nears Arnos Grove (at the opposite end of the Piccadilly line to Hammersmith).
Posted by: Stu at January 24, 2004 12:41 AM
I can image that it all slows down a bit towards the end of the line. Annoyingly - the Picc trains do the stop/start thing a lot Westbound between Hammersmith & Action Town - which although is only one stop - it is a very long stretch. Problem is that I think the LU staff at Acton Town are die-hard unionised, work-to-rule types who keep loads of trains waiting in a big backlog whilst they have their tea break.
Posted by: Jag at January 24, 2004 11:39 AM
I think the staff at Arnos Grove have a similar outlook to those at Acton Town. I like to think of it as the Bermuda Triangle of the Piccadilly line - you go into the station but you don't know when, if ever, you'll come out the other side. ;-)
Posted by: Stu at January 24, 2004 05:17 PM
Like the picture of the cold blue inside and the warm fuzzy outside - nice work Jag
Posted by: Annie Mole at January 25, 2004 11:03 AM