Journey to the ends of London

This piece was written more than a week ago but in the run of things happening this last week I never got around to posting it. But a week doesn’t really matter since it isn’t exactly a very topical post but more a general rambling post.

A country's borders are normally fairly well defined (yes, I know there are exceptions) but a city's borders are much more amorphous. For practical purposes Thane and Mira Road are part of Bombay just as Noida and Gurgaon are Delhi. But technically they are not. There are such technical definitions for each city, including municipal limits or postal codes. And there would be other definitions which would be unique to a given city.

In London, a post code definition would be useless as vast parts of London have historical non London post codes. The most 'correct' definition is probably the GLC borders but who remembers those. A more common definition would be "within the M25".

Given the importance of mass rapid transport in major cities there is another way to define the ends of a city – the ends of its mass rapid transport system. Till where can you get within the city on its public transport? In the context of London that means the ends of the tube, the DLR, the overground and the tram – basically all things which move on rail. I am ignoring buses and cab- not really mass transit. I am also not considering the national rail network as that is not a London based network – it’s just that major portions of it run via and through London. Hence the ends of London are the terminus stops of the various tube, tram, overground and DLR lines – those run by TFL (transport for London), effectively.

I realize this is a highly incorrect definition. It leaves out vast swathes of London – especially south London – and takes in areas outside greater London, especially in the North West. But it is a fairly romantic definition, in my opinion, as it comes with a 150 years of history of the underground. London has developed greatly, especially in the northwest, along with the tube. And even today, it is the arrival of a new line which often causes regeneration in an area – as we are seeing today with the Overground. And it is, for practical purposes, a fairly good definition of where one can easily get to in London.

London has 14 lines and around 45 terminus stations (for exact details see the end of the post) and over the last few years, in my normal travels, I had visited a number of them. About 2 years ago, I realized that I had been to more than half of them. I decided to visit all of them and actually made trips, whenever I was free and had the time, to various terminus stations. For example, once I had to meet Anita for a film at Leicester square at 9 pm. She wasn’t going to be free till about 8.30 whereas I was done by 6-6.30 or so. So, I took off to Mill Hill East, spent half an hour there, had a salad at the Waitrose and then got back.
By the end of 2009, I had been to all but 3 of them (excluding tramlink) . Then the overground opened and a new set of terminuses were created. Slowly, over time I visited them as well, whenever, I had some free time…or had a meeting in that general direction. For example, I had a meeting once at Amersham and post the meeting I went over to Chesham…and saw the ducks in the park outside the station. Quite nice…and it was 2 birds with one stone- figuratively.


A couple of weeks ago, when I finished early at work, I went and visited Watford Junction on the overground and thought that with that, I had done it all. Then I realized that, though I was staying near Wimbledon, I hadn’t gone on the tramlink beyond Croydon. So, last week, one evening I went on the tram all the way to Elmers End, Beckenham Junction and New Addington. With that, I had visited every terminus stop on the TFL network. And in the process, had been past every station on the network.

Now, frankly, these were just train rides- nothing much else. So, there really isn’t much to write about them. It’s more about the impressions once has got about London, its transport network and its extremities which I am sharing here.

• The trains are all so different. By their very design the DLR and the tramlink have different carriages. But even the different tube lines are very different. There are 3 or 4 distinct carriage designs and upholstery is different in most lines. Which means in that most cases, one can get into a train and know which line it is (yes, it is rather a stupid way of figuring out which line one is on….but there it is)
  I am assuming that the track width is the same on all trains so I am surprised that TFL has not been able to figure out the best model for the carriages and ensure that they are all designed that way. Still, it does add variety to the network. Interestingly, the latest trains, on the overground network are actually inspired by the Delhi Metro trains.
  



• London is so different at its ends. The stations and the general area at the different terminuses are like different worlds. Those on the western side, especially on the metropolitan line are quiet and, often bucolic. Get out at Watford Station on the met line and you are in front of Cassiobury Park - about 77 ha in area, it goes back to the Domesday Book and has a variety of bird life. Mill Hill East, while not so pastoral is still quite idyllic. Uxbridge was a bustling small town but still with a quaint feel.
  On the other hand, the eastern terminuses are very different in feel. Woolwich Arsenal reminded me of the Bombay local train stations with many small shops and difficult to walk through – at least at one end. Similarly Barking seemed very drab and commercial.
  But the most amazing terminus is perhaps the eastern most station on the network; Epping - not because of the station itself but because it is the gateway to Epping Forest – the hiding place of Dick Turpin. There is actually a forest of about 25 sq km in area within the tube confines and is spread over many tube stations. Anita and I have traipsed a full day all across Epping forest, including those areas which are supposed to be haunted. And I would recommend it to all and sundry.
  



• The actual stations seem a bit grander as one goes outwards. Probably because there is more space than in central London. The entrances to the station are not necessarily grand (though some like Uxbridge have beautiful arches), indeed some of them have tiny entrances. But there is a majesty about them and their facades which the central London stations don’t always have. Incidentally, 3 central London stations have no external facades at all –Bank, Regent’s Park and Piccadilly Circus.
  



• As you travel about, outside Zone 1, you realize how much of the system is not underground. In fact according to TFL only 45% of the Underground is underground. (

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/modesoftransport/londonunderground/1608.aspx). If one adds the DLR and the overground, both of which are primarily not underground, the actual length underground is perhaps less than 40%. When you also consider that only 7 out of the 14 lines (counting DLR, Overground and Tramlink as one line each) are actually “tubes”, the entire nomenclature begins to seem very suspect.

London is a very beautiful city as one gets out – in almost any direction, except the DLR. It is green and quiet and relatively peaceful.

In spite of the network crisscrossing across the whole of London there are eight terminuses within Zone 1 - that’s almost 20% of all of them. Indeed, there is a line which runs entirely within Zone 1 and till a couple of years ago, there were two. So, some of the “ends” are quite central.

All in all, it’s been an interesting way to get to see to London. I have seen a lot of London because of my trips to various pubs for the Quiz league. But this has also been quite a good way to see around the city – not as detailed - because I typically spent half an hour or so at a terminus, if I had no other work there. Certainly not enough to generate an informed view – but enough to form an impression.

And now Boris is planning to extend the northern line to Battersea creating another terminus. It’s going to require another outing….

Appendix - List of Terminuses

I am defining a terminus as the last stop on a regular service which does not ever extend on either direction while following the same route. To explain with some examples
1. There is a regular High Barnet/Edgware to Kennington (via Charing Cross) service but because some times the trains extend to Morden, Kennington is not considered a terminus.
2. There is a regular Chesham to Chalfont service but sometimes it extends; often to Baker Street and on occasion all the way to Aldgate. Hence neither Chalfont nor Baker Street is considered a terminus but Aldgate is.
3. There is a regular Woodford via Hainault service. There is also a regular Epping service via Woodford, which does not go via Hainault. Hence, even though trains go past Woodford all the way to Epping, Woodford is considered a terminus.

With this in mind, the terminuses are

1. Harrow and Wealdstone (Bakerloo)



2. Elephant and Castle (Bakerloo)



3. Epping (Central)



4. Woodford (Central)



5. West Ruislip (Central)



6. Ealing Broadway (Central/District)



7. Richmond (District/Overground)



8. Wimbledon (District/Tramlink)



9. Upminster (District)



10. Kensington Olympia (District)



11. High Street Kensington (District)



12. Edgware Road (District/Circle)



13. Hammersmith (Circle/Hammersmith and City)



14. Barking (Hammersmith and City)



15. Watford (Metropolitan)



16. Chesham (Metropolitan)



17. Amersham (Metropolitan)



18. Aldgate (Metropolitan)



19. Uxbridge (Metropolitan/Piccadilly)



20. Heathrow Terminal 4 (and 1,2,3) (Piccadilly)



21. Heathrow Terminal 5 (Piccadilly)



22. Cockfosters (Piccadilly)



23. Edgware (Northern)



24. High Barnet (Northern)



25. Morden (Northern)



26. Walthamstow Central (Victoria)



27. Brixton (Victoria)



28. Stanmore (Jubilee)



29. Stratford (Jubilee/DLR)



30. Tower Gateway (DLR)



31. Lewisham (DLR)



32. Woolwich Arsenal (DLR)



33. Beckton (DLR)



34. Bank (DLR/Waterloo and City)



35. Waterloo (Waterloo and City)



36. New Addington (Tramlink)



37. Elmer’s End (Tramlink)



38. Beckenham Junction (Tramlink)



39. West Croydon (Tramlink/Overground)



40. New Cross (Overground)



41. Crystal Palace (Overground)



42. Clapham Junction (Overground)



43. Highbury and Islington (Overground)



44. Gspel Oak (Overground)



45. Euston (Overground)



46. Watford Junction (Overground)
    


47. Mill Hill East (Northern)