Take the bus...it's far more rewarding (Underground in general)

Member Name: Bel Ludovic

Product:	Underground in general
Date:	12/04/02 (39 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: extensive network, gets you places fast, free newspapers when passengers leave their seats

Disadvantages: unreliable, crowded, expensive, stressful, dirty

The problem with the London Underground is that it's so damn essential - even if you don't want to use it, the chances are you will end up doing so as it is the quickest way to get to new places you've not been to before in the capital.

But *is* it so essential? I'm beginning to think otherwise. After being made redundant recently, I had to make cutbacks. This meant buying an £8.50 weekly bus pass - quite cheap - compared to a Travelcard that includes Underground. And frankly, I've never been happier in London. Apart from the fact that I can sit on the top floor and admire our capital's vibrant street life and wonderful, diverse architecture, I can avoid all the things I hated about the tube.

I hated the foul, stale air. I hated watching the rats dart between the rails. I hated the visual intrusion that the bombardment of adverts from every available space constituted. I hated the exorbitant expense. I hated the crowded carriages. Having to prise your way out of a crowded carriage at an unpopular station. Having to feel guilty for carrying a bag on your back - and then having to curse your own hypocracy for tutting when bumped into by bags on the backs of others. The not knowing where to look, anywhere but another passenger's eyes. The tourists milling about the platforms. The endless walking between line changes at any given station. Being bumped into by people rushing for trains. I hated it all.

I think a person's opinion of a city is only as good as their experience of it. Taking the tube taints your whole experience of London. Your abiding memories will be of stressed, miserable commuters and the gloomy glare of striplights on dirt. Since omitting all that, I have begun to love London in a way I never did before when relying upon the tube. I have the time to appreciate the complex urban fabric that makes up this city. Part of this is, granted, to do with being unemployed at the moment: I have the time t
o contemplate. I can avoid peak times, and the crowds.

If I had to take the tube again, please let it be the Jubilee Line extension - some great architecture, and it's fairly efficient; the only part of the tube that favourably compares with wonderful new Metros like those of Bilbao and Athens. Lines I will want to avoid are the Northern and Piccadilly Lines, which are always, always crowded - especially the latter.

Otherwise, I consider the tube a means of transport of the last resort, and, together with the shocking numbers of homeless, the unbelievable prices, the Millennium Dome and the snobby fashion victims barking into their mobiles, it's a London embarrassment to be avoided if you possibly can.

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