Wednesday, June 13, 2007

random stuff part 3 - a morning with the tube

Okie, I have a confession to make, this is probably the most boring post I have ever made, especially if you hate rail. (although 99% of all other posts I ever made are trash and boring stuff as well, but this takes it to a new height)


Normally, celebrating the end of exam consist of clearing up the backlog of anime I accumulated during the revision period, but since I have a weak point for anything that runs on railroad, I decided to take a morning out and travel on a selected tube (equivalent to MRT in Singapore) line today.

some basic info - London is divided into 6 different Travel zones (click me) for pricing purposes With zone 1 representing Central London, zone 2 representing the circular area just outside zone 1 and zone 3 outside zone 2 etc. On NW London beyond Zone 6, there are zone A and D, which is not part of Greater London. For the record, Joseph and I live in zone 2 while the rest live in zone 1, with our school located right in the middle of zone 1.

I decided on the Metropolitan Line(click me) because the station closest to my home is served by this line and this line brings me furthest away from central London haha


Now... to some selected stations that worth some mention...
(The photographs looks blur and sucky because I took them)


Starting Station - Finchley Road (Zone 2)

This is the station I use almost everyday when I commute to school. In a sense, it's like Bishan station because it's slightly below ground.

A typical day on the tube


Station history as an excuse for refurbishment work


Looking for my way to Amersham (my final destination for the day)


My train is arriving soon


My train is here!

Spacious carriage for the win

Map of the line inside the train

Don't play play...





So the journey begins...


Wembley Park (zone 4)
The station that serves Wembley Stadium, where ManU and Chelsea clashed last month for the FA Cup Final


The stadium viewed from the train




Moor Park (Zone 6 & A)
The first station of my trip that does not lie within the hands of Ken Livingstone (Mayor of London)




Chorleywood (Zone B)

Nothing much to mention other than the fact that this is another station that lies outside the reach of Mr Liveingstone and the air is getting fresher. (The 2 facts are not correlated I suppose)



Amersham (Zone D)
Finally we are at zone D - the furthest zone possible for tube.
For the record, Amersham is the second furthest station from the centre of London using Charing Cross as the reference point (click me)



A shop on the platform


I won't be crossing these gates, since I just wanted to feel the rail, but not the place

Waiting for the train to U-turn so that I can go back home





That basically concludes my journey, but since I was already out there, I decided to take a step further and go to the furthest station from centre of London - Chesham


To go to Chesham, we have to change at Chalfont & Latimer (one stop before Amerhsam) for a shuttle service most of the time because there are only 2 through trains each to and from Central London per day (during peak hours).


Chalfont & Latimer (Zone C)


Stations in this are are served by both the Tube and British Rail (for travelling beyond London and even England), so it's not rare to see 2 different types of train meeting at a station.

left - British Rail (Chiltern Railway), Right - Tube (Metropolitan Line)

From Amersham

Platform 1 - British Rail, Platform 2 - Tube (Metropolitan Line)

Some posters at the station (with my reflection on it)


Changing for the shuttle service


The Shuttle Service - Much less carriages than normal service



A bunch of kids are travelling on the shuttle service as well


A Metro (equivalent to Today in Singapore) that I picked up in the shuttle service.

In London, people likes to leave free newspaper in the carriage before they alight, so that it can be passed on to other people / so the commuter herself doesn't have to throw it away


Chesham (zone D)
We are finally at the furthest tube station from Centre of London (40.2 km away)


We can't go any further

so that's it!

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