The London Tube

Driverless trains may seem to be the future of transport or even the brainchild of come cartoon writers mind but they are actually here and working. In fact these have been around for a few decades now, lines which use them include the Docklands Light Railway, the Victoria Line and the Central Line.

These lines along with other automated train lines are deemed to be such a success that there are plans to automate more of the London underground lines. With the Jubilee line being heavily automated things seemed to be going well until early November when the line suffered from total communications system failure during the rush hour meaning that drivers had to take to the controls and guide the trains in to the nearest station. Passengers were left in the station as the control room screens went blank for almost an hour with repeated attempts at rebooting the system failing.

London Underground stressed that at no point were passengers at risk and blamed a software problem for the failure, they have since sort assurances from the software providers that this would not happen again and have launched an investigation in to the event.

The RMT union are looking on this event as proof that drivers are still needed on trains ready to take over the controls as well as taking passengers to safety should anything happen like this again. But London Underground officials are still insisting that trains driven by computers are necessary and while they acknowledge there is still a need for staff the role they will play in the train service provided will change.

London is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world, and has an impressive array of historic sights to see and entertainment attractions to visit. There is so much to see and do in London, that visitors will be unlikely to be able to take all of it in with one trip, thus when securing travel insurance for their visit, they may wish to opt for annual travel insurance – which will protect them for more than one visit to London in a year.

If you want to get an overview of the main sights and attractions of London, perhaps the best way to do this, is to take one of the open top bus tours through the city. This will enable you to at least see all of the main sights, and if anything catches your eye in particular, you can explore it in more detail later. The royal homes – such as the Kensington and Buckingham Palaces – are amongst the most popular destinations amongst visitors to the city from other countries. There is also the world famous Tower of London, which is home to the Crown Jewels as well as its dark history of imprisonments and hangings during it time as a prison.

If you are more interested in exploring the cultural history of London, then the city boasts an impressive array of museums and galleries. The British Museum is one of the most famous in the world, but the city also has a wide variety of places catering to more specialist enthusiasms. For people interested in military history there is the Imperial War Museum, while for those interested in the natural world there is the Natural History Museum. If you are more of an art lover London is also home to the iconic Tate Gallery, which houses one of the finest collections of fine art anywhere in the world.

In terms of daytime entertainment attractions, London also has much to offer. There is London Zoo – probably the most famous such establishment in the world, Hyde Park and Madame Tussauds. There is no reason for anyone to be bored in London, whatever they wish to see and do.

The London underground tube system first began to be developed in the middle of the nineteenth century, as Charles Pearson proposed a notion referred to as ‘trains in drains’. It was in 1863 that the first underground line – the Metropolitan – opened, with 30,000 people using the service on the first day. The service became an immediate success story and around 11.8 million people utilised the Metropolitan underground line during the fist year of its’ existence and was considered to have been of benefit to the lowest paid workers who were able to utilise a cheaper early morning service, while also finding it much easier to get to work from outlying locations.

The success led to the development of further lines, with the District line running along the Victoria Embankment being next, followed by the Circle line, which provided a link between the existing two. However, antagonism between rival owners of the east and west lines ensured that the Circle line took over twenty years to complete, with the owners then refusing to sell tickets for each others lines, greatly inconveniencing passengers. The problems that ensued with the Circle line were typical of the development of the Underground, which was created on an ad hoc basis as and when private investment became available.
This meant that there was no central plan for the structuring of it, which has led to some areas having more than one station, each built by rival investors, and why there are some stations – usually referred to as ‘ghost stations’ – which are not needed and unused.

It was a man called Frank Pick, together with Lord Ashfield, who did most to create the modern London Underground system. He commissioned the simplified map in addition to being the first to successfully ‘brand’ the network, with the ‘roundel’ design still associated with the London Underground today. He was also responsible for the combining of the different transport systems in the city as London Transport, while securing public funding for them.

Whether you are a single parent or a couple, travelling abroad with a baby means that you are responsible for the health, safety and general well-being of someone other than yourself, which means that there things you should look into before beginning your holiday. Tips to remember in this situation include:

Vaccinations

If your baby’s due date for an important vaccination such as the MMR one lands during the period of your holiday, it may be best to get the vaccination done before going away. This is more important if you are travelling to a location such as Africa, as measles is still a very common illness there. If you are holidaying somewhere in Europe it will likely be less essential, but it is advisable to speak to your GP to confirm whether there have been significant instances of the illness in the area you are planning to visit.

Travel insurance

Securing the appropriate travel insurance before going abroad is vital anyway, but even more so if you have a baby with you. This will guarantee that, should anything happen to either you or your baby – such as an injury or illness – you will be covered for the cost of hospital treatment as well as travel back to the UK. This is particularly important if you are planning to travel to countries without a national health system, such as America, as without the necessary insurance you or your child would be refused medical care.

Plane travel

There have been concerns about possible links between long distance plane travel and cot deaths, but there is no real evidence to support this. The only particular advice offered by paediatricians and GPs concerning taking babies on long plane journeys is to ideally wait until the child is at least one week old. Unless your newborn has existing problems with his or her respiratory system, there is no need for further precautions.

To find your way around the London Tube may seem overwhelming, but there are helpful color coded lines that are used throughout the transit system to help those trying to find their way around the city. Through these color coded lines, individuals can easily find the route that they are looking for.

Here is a short guide that can help you to find your way about the Tube –

The Bakerloo Line is corporate brown and the Central line is corporate red. These are two fo the perhaps most basic lines that are easy to use.

The Circle line is corporate yellow.

The District line is corporate green.

East London Line is represented by the color Underground orange.

Hammersmith and city line is underground pink

Jubilee is corporate grey.

The Metropolitan line is magenta.

The Northern line is represented by black.

The Piccadilly line is represented by the color blue.

The Victoria line is light blue in color.

The Waterloo and city line is turquoise.

The Docklands LRT line is represented by the color turquoise, through a double line. In the past this was represented by a thick, dark blue outline but has been changed with the recent schematics of the transit system.

The double orange stripe represents the London overground transit services, changed from the variety of representations that have been seen in the past.

Through the unique distribution of colors throughout the lines that are available through the transit system, the large transit system does not seem so difficult to navigate as it first appears. It is truly one o of the most accessible transit systems, as well as one of the largest with more than four hundred miles of track throughout the line and more than two hundred and fifty stations that are servicing this vast area of transit.

Unlike many other transit systems throughout the globe, there are only two tracks through the popular transit system, the London Tube. As there are the sole two tracks which can be seen throughout the transit system, one of the largest rapid transit systems in Europe, there are certain times in which the tracks are closed to accommodate cleaning and other maintenance tasks that occur throughout the tracks.

When does the Tube close? The Tube closes each evening, for a period of nearly five hours, from one in the morning, until approximately quarter to five in the morning. There are some sections of the Tube, through the core downtown section which are opened earlier, closer to four thirty in the morning, allowing those getting an early start to be able to begin their commute through the downtown sections.

Through this time, the Tube is closed for the maintenance that must occur through the early hours of the morning. Through the changes which are currently being undertaken throughout the transit system, there are some parts of the Underground that are experiencing closures through the weekend. Through the weekend is becoming the most feasible time to work on portions of the Tube and therefore more and more portions are being closed through Saturday and Sunday.

There are some closures that occur throughout for the reason that the stations are just too crowded. At these points, there are no travelers or commuters that are let past the ticketing station and there are even some stations that have been developed as exit only stations through the peak times of the day, or through peak times when there are events that are occurring in certain areas. Through these times, individuals may only be allowed to exit from the vehicles through the transit station, rather than being allowed to board them.