Piccadilly Line

After two years living in South Ealing and Northfields, I'm bidding a grateful and not particularly fond farewell to the Piccadilly Line. I've also used the Central, Waterloo & City, and District and Circle lines over the past three years and none of them give me quite the same mix of frustration and resentment as the Piccadilly (no, not even the District!). I'm not a fan of the Tube in general but the Picadilly is the most difficult line I've used for my daily commute, even though it's fairly reliable and the trains are reasonably new (well, in comparison with the District Line anyway). So what's the problem? Its popularity. The ...  Read the complete review

The Piccadilly line or the Picc as it is known. It runs east/west from Cockfosters to Heathrow/ Uxbridge. Most of the line is controlled from a control centre, shared with the District line based at Earl's Court. The exception being the Rayners Lane branch. The Earl's Court control room, is the oldest control room still in operation. It dates back to 1950. Today, it has virtually all the original fittings with only the slightest hint of modern equipment. The most modern works on Windows 3.1, hence you can see the problem. The Picc trys and operates 27 trains per hour, but realisticly can handle 24. Services mostly run Cockfosters - Heathrow ...  Read the complete review

I use the Piccadilly line every day (note: two 'c's and two 'l's) to get from North London into Leicester Square and back. And, yes, it's packed - from Finsbury Park in to the centre, you're lucky if you get a seat. However, further out, it's much less packed, and much more likely to be comfortable - it ought to be pointed out that the ride gets more bumpy the further out of town you get. One Big Tip: when you go between Caledonian Road and Kings Cross, look out of the window at the same side as the platforms were. You'll see, once the train has achieved maximum speed, the wires in the tunnel disappear, and some bricks, a ...  Read the complete review

Aka "The joys of travelling by vacuum-packed cattle train" Firstly, my advice is, if you possibly can, avoid it at all cost if you are travelling particularly long distances, unless you actually get on at Heathrow. I used to commute regularly on the Piccadilly Line from West London right across to the other side, but cunningly I have found an alternative route, and boy am I glad. It might be the best known line in London, but that is probably due to it linking directly with Heathrow Airport. Basically, the Piccadilly line is touristsville, not many people speak English, and it is always absolutely ridiculously crowded. People get their ...  Read the complete review

Riddle: Where can you travel through 10 consecutive Underground stations that all begin with “H” without getting off the train? Answer: at the Heathrow end of the Piccadilly Line! (2 @ Heathrow, Hatton Cross twice, and the three "Hounslows" twice) As you can see I've had a lot of time to think about the Piccadilly Line! I have used it almost continually since I started work in 1968 until I “jacked it in” in 2000. My journey always involved getting on at Osterley on the Heathrow Branch, stepping lithely (?) over a ton of back-packer's luggage* and travelling variously to Holborn, Covent Garden and for the last 3 ...  Read the complete review