Limehouse to Oxford Street
September 3, 2009 by Tyler
I leave the house right on time at 08:00. It is a short walk to the Limehouse Direct Light Rail (DLR) station. Unlike the tube stations, DLR stops don’t always have barriers. They operate on the honour system and passengers swipe in and out on the Oyster card readers of their own accord. The system works fine on days when I remember to do this – you would think I’d have my daily commute down to an artform by now, but there are bad days when I forget and have to run back down the stairs to swipe in, or worse, find myself at Bank being charged a full day’s price for my ticket.
The DLR comes every five minutes or so. In peak hour it comes regularly, already packed with commuters from the eastern suburbs like Lewisham, Island Gardens, Stratford and Beckton. My regular train is at 08:07 and I always choose the first carriage. This is because it is the closest carriage to the exits at Bank, my interchange station. We pass by towering council flats, hip new container block housing, and the shiny, distinctive shape of the 30 St Mary Axe in the distance, home of the Swiss Re offices and affectionately known as the Gherkin (for obvious reasons). Just after we pass the Shadwell stop, we plunge into underground darkness before arriving at Bank.
A web of tube lines extends out from Bank – it is one of the busiest stops on the London Underground. I usually arrive at about 08:15, and then it’s a short walk up two tube escalators, then down some stairs before I find myself on the Westbound Central line platform.
There is heavy traffic at Bank, so I find myself dodging other commuters and hurrying up the right hand side of the escalators towards the Central line. I needn’t worry, really, because Central line trains come every two minutes – there is one at 08:19, another at 08:21, the next one at 08:23 – but I can’t help trying to keep up with other Londoners.
At St Paul’s and Chancery Lane, the two immediate stops after Bank, the suits and their Blackberries get off. At Holborn, the tourists, bound for the British Museum, alight. At Tottenham Court Road, shopkeepers head for their day’s duties. And finally, four stops after Bank, the train gets to Oxford Circus and I disembark with more than a little relief.
Connect with me at the social networking site for commuters and join my journey.
From Sherlock Holmes to Zero Longitude
July 28, 2009 by Rhys Leonard
The Baker Street stop is a little touristy, thanks to the giant statue of Sherlock Holmes at the entrance. I watch in amusement as the tourists dart in and out from underneath the feet of the regulars hurrying to the tube. Even at rush hour, this early in the morning, there’s bound to be at least one there, hurrying to be first in the line that invariably forms at Madame Tussuad’s across the road.
From Baker Street Station, I catch the 08:11 Eastbound Jubilee line to work in the morning. I aim to be on the platform, waiting for the train, by 08:05 – if I miss my usual train I have to wait a whole ten minutes before the next one comes, which is a lifetime to wait for a tube service. Most trains on other tube lines come every 3 to 5 minutes.
There aren’t very many passengers and I usually find a seat, or at least, a strategic place to stand when I board. Everyone sits huddled over their papers, books and iPods. It takes about 13 minutes to get to London Bridge Station, where I leave the underground chaos of the tube and change for the Thames Clipper.
Most Londoners don’t even think about the river as an option when they commute, but taking the Clipper is an underrated transport option. I prefer it to the dirty and claustrophobic tube, even if it is slightly more expensive. I use a monthly season ticket that costs £100. Oyster card holders get a slight discount on Clipper tickets, and from November 2009 commuters will even get to touch in and out like they already do on buses and the tube. I have the added plus of not worrying about tube strikes and the like – as long as I can get to London Bridge or even to Westminister or Waterloo, the Clipper will take me straight downriver from these stops to Greenwich, whether or not the tube lines are running.
My boat comes at 08:32, and I catch the Clipper towards Queen Elizabeth II Pier. It is a pleasant morning journey, taking approximately 20 minutes depending on the tide. We call at Tower Pier, pass the brooding Tower of London, skim underneath Tower Bridge, then stop at Canary Wharf with its glossy, glassy skyscrapers, then at Greenland Pier and before arriving at my final destination – Greenwich Pier.
Join this journey from Baker St to Greenwich
Colchester to London
July 15, 2009 by Paul Ford
The 08:37 ’slow train’ pulls up and leaves on time. It’s half empty, probably because of the last 2 days of strikes. Beautiful day today as we fly through the Essex countryside. Woman puts on her makeup with a Metro on her knee.
Catch up on with email and Twitter. Zone out until I notice the sunny countryside views outside. Post a pic on Twitter. Hardly notice that we’ve stopped at Chelmsford. The train fills up now and the makeup woman gets off. Still plenty of seats. I must admit I prefer to stand. I used to hate it and once considered bringing a fold up stool with me on my commute. I never did though.
Win an exclusive tour of London Transport Museum
July 8, 2009 by Paul Ford
You can be a part of a London Transport Museum exhibition and win a behind-the-scenes tour.
All you have to do is share your London commuting experiences.
London Transport Museum would like to know where you travel from. How long does it take? How do you pass the time? What’s the strangest/funniest thing to happen to you on your commute?
If your story is selected you win an exclusive tour of the London Transport Museum, and may feature in an exhibition opening in autumn 2009.
Send your story in an email to communities@ltmuseum.co.uk with your name, telephone number and email address.
Good luck!
Wimbledon to Borough Markets
July 7, 2009 by Chelsea Dodd
In the lovely leafy suburb of Wimbledon, commuters have two choices to get out of Zone 3 and into central London – the train or the Underground. I always choose the train, because it’s faster and more comfortable compared to the District Line, which creaks its way past fourteen stops before it intersects with the Jubilee, the tube line that will take me ultimately, to Borough Markets where my modelling agency is based.
At rush hour, the Southwest service comes every three to four minutes but each carriage is filled with commuters coming in from Woking, Guildford and Chessington, to name but a few of the outer suburbs. I jump on the 08:14, which will get me to Waterloo by around 08:35, and head for a strategic handhold near the middle of the carriage. At , two stops away, most of these sober, dark suited workers will alight for other Overland trains to other London destinations and sometimes if I’m lucky I manage to snare a seat. It takes almost twenty minutes from Wimbledon to Waterloo, as passengers push, jostle and shove to get off or on the train, so a seat is a rare and treasure thing for sore, aching feet.
After Earlsfield, Clapham Junction, and Vauxhall, the train pulls up to Waterloo. I jump off the train, diving into the mass of humanity that flows out of the station, head out the barriers and down escalators into the bowels of the London Underground.
Here the fun really begins. The Underground station at Waterloo is a mess of neon lights, people, buskers, “travelators”, and escalators. Pick the wrong entrance and you could find yourself wandering around following “This way to the [insert name] line” signs for what feels like ages. I dodge the traffic across Waterloo station, head past the benign, life-size elephant made from chicken wire and go down the escalators towards the closest entrance to the Jubilee Line. This little manoeuvre saves me time threading through the traffic below-ground.
Counter-intuitively, the closet tube stop to Borough Markets is actually not Borough on the Northern Line as many would have expected, but London Bridge. From Waterloo it is only two stops to my destination, a short journey which takes three to four minutes on a good day; five to six if there are delays. My total journey time from the south west to south east takes about half an hour, inclusive of transit times.
