InsideTransit

Nearly a year ago I wrote about a deal that was supposed to bring Wi-Fi access to all 277 underground subway stations in the NYC subway system. This weekend, the London Underground Transport for London management group announced that they are soliciting companies for a RFP for wi-fi internet access at about 120 London tube stations. The plan is to have the stations wired up before the Olympics arrive in June 2012.

From the TFL, “A contract will be awarded to the chosen bidder by the end of 2011, which could mean that passengers will be able to log on to the internet from their laptops or mobile devices at stations before the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.”

“The first phase of wider wi-fi provision on the Tube would be to make available the service currently used by London Underground (LU) staff at 16 stations for passenger use, and then to work to expand this service to other Underground stations”

“Research from Charing Cross Tube station found that over half of LU passengers surveyed felt that access to wi-fi would make their experience of using the Tube better.” This is interesting, I wonder what the feedback will be like when people are talking on their phones to no end while waiting on a super hot tube platform in the summer.

Here’s the key statement from the announcement, “As well as improving journeys for passengers, wi-fi services are a potential future revenue source for LU. “

Two years ago, the mayor of London announced a competition to create a new design for the iconic Routemaster bus.

Last week the first photos of a life-size full-scale model was displayed to the public. BBC News has a great slideshow of photos of the new bus. As much as I normally dislike new bus designs as they try to be over-the-top modern while usually ending up looking like crap, this new Routemaster bus actually looks good!

The bus will carry only 87 persons versus about 150 on a bendy bus. The bus won’t have air conditioning (a mistake in my opinion) and frankly I don’t know why there is a need for the hop-on, hop-off from the old days.

The first new Routemaster bus should hit the streets in 2012. The arrival of the new bus is a great reason for me to come visit London!

Ok this is pretty sweet. In 1953 the BBC in London made a point-of-view film of a train running from London to Brighton. In 1983, 30 years later, they did it again. You can watch the journey below – it’s almost like nothing changed! I will suggest you have a bottle of Pepto near you as the movement is very fast in this video.

Now here is something you will probably never seen on any transit system in the U.S. This one comes straight from the London Underground. A bunch of people went on the tube naked (yes, I mean completely naked) to promote an upcoming TV series where experts will help small businesses turn around and become profitable.

The Daily Mail has the full story (NOTE: LINK HAS NSFW NUDE PHOTOS) and they note, “Steven Suphi, behaviour change specialist and leadership guru, believes stripping off in the office will help boost employees’ confidence and develop trust. I believe this extreme process will help them push their boundaries and become a close team that trust each other enough to get naked together.”

I wonder what will happen if this TV show makes it across the river.

This railfan seriously misses death by about one inch — check out the video below. The man with the camera can’t even seem to get out any words like “MOVE NOW IDIOT” or “YOU ARE ABOUT TO GET HIT AND DIE” — instead he lets out some sort of bird mating call.

Please, I beg of you – if you are planning to railfan and take photos of very fast moving trains, be careful and look both ways.

“We were treated like animals”, said one passenger stuck on a Eurostar train. Passengers stranded for hours – some calling it a “death trap”. The BBC video shows passengers who made it out of the tunnels who have some choice words for the Eurostar management.

The Eurostar trains broke down as they left the cold air in northern France and entered the warmer tunnel en route to London.

John Keefe from Eurotunnel, the operator of the Channel Tunnel, said the situation was “absolutely extraordinary and unprecedented”.

“There’s never actually been an evacuation of a Eurostar train in the 15 years that the tunnel has been opened and last night we evacuated two whole trains to get people off.”

The BBC notes that five trains were stuck in the tunnel. Apparently it was freezing in the carriages and very little water or food was provided to the passengers. They continue, “Director of communications Mary Walsh said the company was “extremely sorry” for the delays and refunds would be available for all those affected.”

I’ve been on the Eurostar once in 2006 and overall enjoyed the trip.

Last year Google got cozy with the MTA with the launch of transit directions inside of Google Maps. Last week the Google Maps team has announced the launch of a new layer on Google Maps that displays all of the NYC subway routes directly on the map.

There have been many mashups that created something similar in the past but now the subway lines are displayed directly on the map. So far I haven’t been able to find any errors in the lines and/or stations. I am sure my fellow railfans will find any errors this weekend.

The new subway map lines also work on the mobile version of Google Maps. Google notes that they provide transit directions for 436 transit agencies around the world.

While the subway lines on the map are nice, nothing beats the Swiss Rail mashup that shows the trains in real-time and they actually move on the map!

Ewan also reports that the subway layer works in London as well. He calls it a mess and notes how wonderful the Harry Beck London Tube map still is today.

The Circle Line which runs in the London Underground is growing a hook beginning on December 13, 2009. As the TFL (Transport for London) notes, the Circle Line won’t go “round and round” anymore. Instead the route is growing a hook as displayed in the image below.

Some passengers will now need to switch trains but yet still ride on the same line – pretty interesting. Also, the TFL notes that this should help smooth out the line and reduce delays.

Check out all of the changes coming to the Circle Line by 2016 including air-conditioning! The images and videos of the new tube carriages look a lot like the new cars on the Berlin bahn.

As a railfan, I wish I could be in London for the first ride to Hammersmith!

Have you ever wondered who would win in a battle — a porsche or a city bus? Wel the video below provides details on which vehicle wins.  As a bonus we have included bus vs. bus shelter battle.

Last week the TFL (Transport for London) group put out a new London Tube map. The map removed the fare zones along with the Thames River. London Mayor Boris Johnson was “furious” over the Thames removal.

Apparently both items were removed for clarity. I think the river is one of the things that makes the Tube map special. For me it “grounds” the map and I agree with the London Mayor that it must be re-added.

The BBC has a story about the map change and notes that the Thames River will be re-added later this year during the next map update. TfL said the Thames would return on future maps following an “overwhelming public reaction”. From the BBC story, “Mr Johnson said: “I hope Londoners will imagine the Thames in place until it reappears on the maps, and will not forget their beautiful river.”"

For us NY’ers, it would be like the MTA removing Central Park from the subway map.