JAMES SPRATT .org

I’m a big fan of the tube; proud that we have such an extensive metro system. Yep, it’s not perfect and it’s no fun when it’s rush hour, you’re packed in like sardines; there’s no fresh air; the person standing to your left is itching; the guy to your right has dandruff which is dangerously close to making contact with your cardie; some pikey is playing their ‘personal’ stereo unpersonally; another goon has decided to take her pram on the train, but otherwise, for what it’s worth, it’s a great system.

Note for Ken (or Boris, come on Boris) – we need it to run 247. Ok, engineering works may be required at certain times so we’ll take a different route, but London should be fully 24 hours and when you need to get somewhere at 3am, you shouldn’t be hindered as we currently are.

I’m also a fan of Harry Beck‘s. To coin a phrase, his map is a ‘design icon’. It is beautiful. However, I (scientifically) estimate that a good 40% of tube journies in central are unecessary as people rely on the map too much, so see the ‘walking times’ one below to see what I mean.

• London Underground Map, Real
• London Underground Map, Walking Times in Central
• London Underground Map, Full
• London Undergroans Map

Yes, I just posted an entry about trains.