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October 30, 2005
Tube
This visit, London was the Tube.
It seemed I went everywhere on it and on more lines than usual.
I don't need to take the subway often at home - work is only about a 20 minute walk from my home and Lincoln Center only 10 minutes. The fact that I take the tube more here contributes to the distorted sense I have of the city being more cramped than NYC.
My hotel is in Kensington, which is on the western side of central London. Covent Garden is slightly east of the center. Sadlers Wells is in Islington, to the north. I've traveled on the Piccadilly, Circle, District, Hammersmith & City, Northern, Central and Victoria lines. There's no traces or aftermaths of the July bombings anywhere I've been, but it has been several months. Queensway Station on the Central line is closed until May, 2006 but I'm not certain it’s related.
Instead of a paper Travelcard, you now buy a magnetic Oyster card, which costs the same but can be refilled and can be quickly scanned by a magnetic reader. The card is £18.50 for 7 days unlimited travel in zone 1. If you're coming in from or going to Heathrow, an extension of the card for that trip will cost £1.80.
The London subway is low and cramped - cramped differently than NYC's cars. The cars are smaller, narrower and more frequent. Worse than the cars themselves are the elevators (“lifts”) down to the platforms. They’re worse than packed; there’s little or no crowd control so constantly someone is wandering into them and stopping mid-elevator blissfully unaware that there is a huge pile of people behind him or her needing to get on.
If you're heading to Covent Garden on the Piccadilly line from the west, stay in the back two cars, the exit is there. The lifts will be painfully crowded. If it's more convenient than changing to the Piccadilly Line, there are several alternative stops on other lines close by including Leicester Square, Holborn, Charing Cross or Embankment.
Posted by Leigh Witchel at October 30, 2005 6:25 PM
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