LONDON | DLR, Underground, Tramlink

[hkskyline]

Going underground:
Could we chart the branches and connections of 100 years of music using the London Underground map?
Dorian Lynskey explains how a box of coloured crayons and a lot of swearing helped
3 February 2006
The Guardian


Click above to download fullversion in PDF

It seems like a deeply implausible project: to plot the history of 20th century music on the London Underground map devised by Harry Beck in 1933. Artist Simon Patterson transformed the tube map into a constellation of famous names in his 1992 work The Great Bear, but he didn't have to make them all link up. It is, after all, a tall order to find a saint who was also a comedian. But for this one to work every interchange had to be logical in the context of musical history, an unlikely prospect.

I started out with a packet of coloured crayons, four sheets of A4 taped together and a big box of doubt, but the different character of each line quickly lent itself to a certain genre. Pop intersects with everything else, so that had to be the Circle Line; classical music for the most part occupies its own sphere, which made it perfect for the Docklands Light Railway. There were a couple of false starts but by the end of one afternoon I had assigned genres to almost all the lines and thrashed out most of the major intersections. The key stations naturally went to the most eclectic artists, not necessarily the most important: the Beatles may be more significant than Beck but even their most devoted fan must admit that they never tried rapping.

The system thus in place, the next couple of days were devoted to writing names in, scribbling them out (sorry, Doug E Fresh and Lynyrd Skynyrd), agonising over certain omissions, asking classical music critic Tom Service for invaluable help with the DLR, and swearing just a little bit. Amazingly, there were no calamitous blind alleys. It just seemed to make sense.

I tried as far as possible to be objective. Some bands I cannot stand are in here, while some that I love dearly aren't. I also followed chronology wherever the path of the line allowed it. Each branch line represents a sub-genre: rock sprouts off into grunge and psychedelia when it reaches South-West London; hip-hop diverges, north of Camden, into old school and New York rap. If I was really lucky, the band name echoed the original station name: Highbury & Islington became Sly & the Family Stone.

Pedants, of course, will find flaws. Musical influences are so labyrinthine that any simple equation will be imperfect. Where, for example, does pop stop and rock begin? How can you draw a decisive line between soul and funk? These are problems that have plagued record shop proprietors for decades and they're not going to be solved here. But I think all of these choices are justifiable given the limitations of the form.

Other people will quibble with omissions - it's a shame, for example, that the Circle Line constantly runs in tandem with either the District or Metropolitan lines, thus leaving no room for pure pop acts such as Kylie Minogue and the Pet Shop Boys. I should also point out that, to keep my head from exploding, I limited the remit to western, predominately Anglo-American music. Then there are those changes necessitated by London Underground's understandable sensitivity to explosive references: arrividerci, Massive Attack. For some reason, they also took exception to the late rapper Ol' Dirty Bastard.

But this is not some definitive history of music. It's an experiment to see if one intricate network can be overlaid on a completely different one. The elegance and logic of Harry Beck's design - its combination of bustling intersections, sprawling tributaries, long, slanting tangents and abrupt dead ends, all sucked into the overturned wine bottle of the Circle Line - seems to spark other connections and appeal to the brain's innate desire for patterning and structure. Plus it's fun, as any piece of music journalism created with coloured crayons should be. I hope you like it.

Tell us what you think of the map at www.guardian.co.uk/arts Buy the map at www.ltmuseumshop.co.uk Special thanks to Chris Townsend at Transport for London and Andrew Jones at London Underground.

[Bitxofo]

Original and nice idea.

ThankS

[JDRS]

From BBC News

Thousands join Tube strike vote

Thousands more Tube workers are to be balloted on strikes in a continuing row over industrial relations.

A total of 1,500 train drivers have already voted on the issue with the result due on Thursday.

A further 5,000 workers, including signallers and station staff, will now be joining the vote, the Rail, Maritime and Transport Union (RMT) said.

London Underground (LU) said: "There is no more justification for this ballot than the last one."

"Playground tactics"

Mike Brown, of LU, said the company was committed to consultation with its employees and trade unions "using our agreed procedures".

The RMT claims LU has undermined industrial relations "right across the company".

But Roger Evans, chairman of the London Assembly Transport Committee, said a strike would be unnecessary and "totally out of order".

He said the unions were "resorting to bullying tactics to achieve their goals" and called for them to stop.

'Ignoring procedures'

RMT General Secretary Bob Crow said that the issues affecting train operators still had to be resolved.

Train drivers belonging to the RMT and Aslef unions have been voting over issues including policy on signals passed at danger, health and safety, harassment and discipline.

Mr Crow said the RMT executive had now agreed to ballot all other Tube members.

He said that LU was "ignoring its own procedures and trying to impose changes and bypass its established negotiating machinery".

[andysimo123]

Tubeman I think I have just seen you on the TV. On that program called tube, the one where that train breaks down?

[Tubeman]

Originally Posted by andysimo123

Tubeman I think I have just seen you on the TV. On that program called tube, the one where that train breaks down?

[Tubeman]

Did I match my online persona?

[andysimo123]

Originally Posted by Tubeman

Did I match my online persona?

Well you seemed petty normal compared to some of the others on the program. There was this women with her tits hanging on the floor and this other guy who looked like someone had tugged on his balls for a week.

Also I recommend you stick an ad on my site, to sell more copys of your book. Am getting like 7-8,000 hits a week and its only been online two weeks.

[hkskyline]

Children to get free rides on London subways

LONDON, March 9, 2006 (AFP) - Children under the age of 11 will be able to ride London's Undergound subway system and the Docklands Light Railway for free from April 2, Mayor Ken Livingstone announced Thursday.

The free rides will be available to youngsters accompanied by an adult from 9:30 am on weekdays and all day on weekend and public holidays, said Livingstone, who oversees public transport policy.

Under-16s have been able to travel for free on Londons buses and trams since September last year, under a scheme that will be extended to under-18s in full-time education this September.

"Free Tube travel for under-11s will help make visiting Londons many attractions more affordable, widen the horizons of young Londoners and encourage the next generation to use public transport as much as possible," the mayor said.

[sfgadv02]

Yea, they have free rides for NYC student that attends high school and below.

[Tubeman]

Originally Posted by hkskyline

Children to get free rides on London subways

LONDON, March 9, 2006 (AFP) - Children under the age of 11 will be able to ride London's Undergound subway system and the Docklands Light Railway for free from April 2, Mayor Ken Livingstone announced Thursday.

The free rides will be available to youngsters accompanied by an adult from 9:30 am on weekdays and all day on weekend and public holidays, said Livingstone, who oversees public transport policy.

Under-16s have been able to travel for free on Londons buses and trams since September last year, under a scheme that will be extended to under-18s in full-time education this September.

"Free Tube travel for under-11s will help make visiting Londons many attractions more affordable, widen the horizons of young Londoners and encourage the next generation to use public transport as much as possible," the mayor said.

Not quite as good for the little darlings as the headline implies, as it would be of no use to schoolchildren, but I think its good as it should encourage off-peak and weekend usership. In fact, this would probably make money as an initiative by coaxing more families onto the tubes at weekends and during school holidays.

[chico_pastor]

For me london Undergound is one of the world's metro systems with more character...It has an incredible history and for me, it's really a pleasure going to London just to see LU.
Here's a picture that I've taken on the 22/03/2005 at Green Park station(at nighT)

[UD2]

ok I've never been to London

but from these pictures, the seating inside the trains seem unneedingly comfortable.

Is that the case systemwide? how does that do for maintiance?

[Tubeman]

Originally Posted by UD2

ok I've never been to London

but from these pictures, the seating inside the trains seem unneedingly comfortable.

Is that the case systemwide? how does that do for maintiance?

Well I don't think anyone's complaining! "Excuse me, my seat is too comfortable!"

All trains have soft seats; some older stocks have sprung seats like a sofa, newer stocks have foam padding under the fabric.

I'd actually like to suppose its cheaper to maintain, because hard plastic seats are crying out to be tagged or scratched with graffiti, therefore they need to be cleaned much more often.

The fabric ('moquette') is quite clever in that the more heavily used it is the brighter and 'cleaner' it looks, as the fibres get compacted down it becomes shinier.

[hkskyline]

Some subway lines close
Bloomberg
1 April 2006

The Waterloo & City line on the London Underground will close down for five months starting Saturday for construction work, forcing 40,000 daily travelers to find alternative routes.

The 107-year-old line will get new track, signal and security equipment, said Transport for London. The line is scheduled to reopen Sept. 1.

Partial shutdowns will also begin on weekends this month on the Northern and Central lines. Partial closures will affect the Victoria line from April 8 to 17 and the Piccadilly line starting in May.

[sweek]

I saw it on BBC London News yesterday, it's quite impressive to see them lift up train carriages.

[Tubeman]

I got a shock yesterday afternoon... I was in the car with my Sister waiting at lights to cross the A4 in Chsiwick and a Waterloo & City Line carriage went past on a low-loader!

[nick_taylor]

Originally Posted by hkskyline

Some subway lines close
Bloomberg
1 April 2006

The Waterloo & City line on the London Underground will close down for five months starting Saturday for construction work, forcing 40,000 daily travelers to find alternative routes.

The 107-year-old line will get new track, signal and security equipment, said Transport for London. The line is scheduled to reopen Sept. 1.

Partial shutdowns will also begin on weekends this month on the Northern and Central lines. Partial closures will affect the Victoria line from April 8 to 17 and the Piccadilly line starting in May.

Its unfortunate - but it has to be done now rather than after an accident or when service levels get seriously bad.

[wwwsam]

Ugly, very uncomfortable inside.

[El_Greco]

^ What about outside?

[Tubeman]

Originally Posted by wwwsam

Ugly, very uncomfortable inside.

Who or what are you referring to?