Tube in London is apparently more than 100 yrs old and I was told it has a mention in Sherlock Holmes adventure (A trivia told to me by Prajesh when we crossed the Baker Street station). It’s not very different from the Mumbai trains in terms of the rush and speed and efficiency and I guess similar to the Delhi Metro but much more clean, extremely well laid out and explained.
You will find a chart on every station so that before you board the train you are sure that you boarded the train. Very low on staff unlike India – so tickets are dispensed by machines. The Oyster Card (7 day pass) was a boon and made life so simple. Whether you go by bus or train as many times as you want you just need to carry the card.
You will find a chart on every station so that before you board the train you are sure that you boarded the train. Very low on staff unlike India – so tickets are dispensed by machines. The Oyster Card (7 day pass) was a boon and made life so simple. Whether you go by bus or train as many times as you want you just need to carry the card.
When I saw the multiple line and hundreds of stations in the tube map which I downloaded in India, I was shit scared that I will not make it to the venue in time. But after hopping on and hopping off a few times on Sunday I could easily get the drift and travelled all the days alone. In fact on the last 2 days it was almost mechanical – like a video game which you play. I can visualize all the scenes piece by piece in my mind as I sit here now and write it.
Army of Black
Every day I took the Bakerloo Line from Paddington, got down at Oxford Circus and changed over to the Central Line, took the tube to St Pauls and then walked till the venue of conference. All of this in 20 mnts max. I did this for 4 days and every day was like a replay of previous day. I do not it is because of the weather but 90% of people were in blacks or grey with black shoes. When I would get up into the escalator or walk in the tunnels which connect one line to the other it was almost like I was part of an army.
You could literally hear the click of the boots as you walk. And it is almost like the march past, after some days the efficiency irked me. It was like – no smile, no talk, just people walking, walking, walking and then turning left, waiting for the train, hopping on, getting down, again walking….(reminded me of the Brick on the wall Video by Floyd)….
Every day I took the Bakerloo Line from Paddington, got down at Oxford Circus and changed over to the Central Line, took the tube to St Pauls and then walked till the venue of conference. All of this in 20 mnts max. I did this for 4 days and every day was like a replay of previous day. I do not it is because of the weather but 90% of people were in blacks or grey with black shoes. When I would get up into the escalator or walk in the tunnels which connect one line to the other it was almost like I was part of an army.
You could literally hear the click of the boots as you walk. And it is almost like the march past, after some days the efficiency irked me. It was like – no smile, no talk, just people walking, walking, walking and then turning left, waiting for the train, hopping on, getting down, again walking….(reminded me of the Brick on the wall Video by Floyd)….
I almost felt like I was surrounded by an army of Black wherever I went
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