The episode of Thunderbirds, when they envisioned a time that
the whole underground was abandoned.
(Officially abandoned that is, not the unofficial
abandonment adopted by every British Government for 60 years
after World War II).
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The entrance to the Tower Subway - the first 'tube'
line in the world. It ran under the Thames but was only open
for a few months.
This is its north side of the river entrance on Tower Hill, rebuilt
after closure. According to Mark Brader, the equivalent south side entrance "...fell to redevelopment"
in the 1990s.
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There were original plans to build a station at St.
Anne's (in between Manor House and Turnpike Lane on the Piccadilly
Line) but they were shelved before the line was built.
St. Anne's did get this ventilation 'station' though.
It's hardly a design classic yet there is a virtually identical
one between Wood Green and Bounds Green as well.
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Oxford Circus station buildings: the original Central
line one on the left and the Bakerloo line one on the right,
both built by separate competing underground railway companies
before the underground system was nationalised.
This is an excellent example of the wasteful duplication
that direct competition can cause. Transport systems need cohesive
central planning that have ease of use as the primary consideration,
not the commercial interests of the financial world (though it
could easily be argued that greater transport efficiency would
increase company profits by lowering the working hours lost to
transport inadequacies).
Another example of this lack of planning is evident
in the closure of the Central Line's British Museum station;
eventually replaced by new platforms at Holborn to provide better
interchange with the Piccadilly Line there.
Other existing examples include: the separate Edgware
Road stations of the Bakerloo line and the District/Circle lines,
Queensway and Bayswater stations in ridiculously close proximity
to each other, as are Great Portland Street and Regents Park
stations...
(Mar 2004)
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Paris, Barcelona, Madrid...
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...just some of the cities that have efficient and
clean underground systems...
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...it is embarrassing and shameful to compare them
with the London Underground system. That comment however, prompted
this response:
"Are you kidding? The tube
has more character & charisma than all the other underground
railway systems in the world put together.
"The only things embarrassing and shameful are the wannabee
do-gooders that took away the 1938 rolling stock, old style tiling,
trim, facades and soot that are the london underground......
"p.s. other than that comment, your website is awesome,
thanks."
(Ian Bell, email. Apr 2005)
To illustrate and qualify the above remark, on Ian's
behalf, click here
for a photo of an entirely boring station on Lisbon's less than
fascinating Metro.
What was meant by the top comment is that London (in
the webmaster's humble opinion) is one of the finest cities in
the world; it should have one of the finest underground systems
to go with it.
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Lest the impression given is too dismissive of London's
railway facilities...this is Bosra in Syria!
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1938 stock.
These trains with the 'homely' interiors only disappeared from
London's underground in the 1990s.
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Inside of 1938 stock.
The aforementioned homeliness is not visually apparent
here but these trains had wood panelling (not plastic), light
bulbs (as opposed to fluorescent tubes) and seats that you 'sank
into' (although that may have been caused by the ageing springs!).
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1938 stock at Watford Junction when the Bakerloo line
used to run that far.
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Disused platform at Mansion House that disappeared
from sight when the station was rebuilt:
"In fact Mansion house
underwent two rebuilds.
The first in the mid 80's which
addressed the platform area.
This was a major redevelopment scheme involving the demolition
of the buildings over the station, including the substation which
was temporarily relocated in the disused bay road to the west
of your photograph. Beaver House and the Royal Bank of Canada
were partners in redeveloping the site, together with the adjacent
land connecting to Upper Thames Street, although the two construction
sites were initially separately controlled. This project resulted
in the complete renewal of all the platform level architectural
finishes except that an asphalt surface was reinstated on the
platforms, replaced by the later project. All this work was carried
out during Engineering Hours and Possessions, whilst the station
remained open for public use.
The second scheme carried out
in the late 80's and under a station closure was essentially
to rebuild the Ticket Hall."
(Roger Cox)
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The disused terminating platform at Liverpool Street
station on the Met/H&C/Circle lines. It is no longer visible
from the existing platfoms.
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