Category: Zone 1 Tube Challenge

‘Mind – The – Hashtag’ as Tube typography changes

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London Underground has updated the Johnston typeface. The world is ending. Still, they’re there if you know where to look: the diamond dotting the lowercase ‘i’ and ‘j’ isn’t nearly as high in Johnston and Johnston100 as it is in New Johnston, while the top half of the lowercase ‘g’ has been stretched out to be less perfectly geometric, like it was back in the early 20th Century. The end result, Monotype hopes, is a typeface that is closer to Johnston’s original intent, feeling more personal and less utilitarian than it did before. John Brownlee reports for Co.Design.

Renaming train stations in London

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CityMetric’s Johnn Elledge argues why the stations that will (eventually) be used by Crossrail are all using the wrong names. Like any good argument he not only spots the problem, but proposes a solution…. rename them all with slightly more logical arguments: Whitechapel is fine. We have no complaints about Whitechapel. Although since we’re here it seems a good moment to note the mildly ridiculous fact that, at Whitechapel, the London Underground runs overground, and you have to walk down some stairs to reach the London Overground. Which runs underground. It’s like they’re doing it deliberately. The full naming controversy

Geoff Marshall to the Tube is just like myself to Eurovision

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Delightful interview with Geoff ‘Do I  know the London Underground?’ Marshall on Norton Folgate: Geoff Marshall knows the Tube better than anyone else you’re likely to meet. He was world record holder of the Tube Challenge (visit all stations on all Tube lines in the fastest possible time) for two years. He’s currently planning his next attempt at the Challenge which will take place in May. I sat down with him and Elephantine Dark blogger Edmund Hardy for a chat and a beer. My one claim to Tube running fame is that I beat Geoff in at ‘Zone One‘ challenge many

The geographically-accurate London Underground map

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I love stuff like this: I doubt if Beck would want to put his name to the current [Tube Map] version. If he were to start from scratch today, would he have used the same approach? There are twice as many lines, with London Overground and the DLR moving the emphasis away from the Circle line loop. Also, the map will increasingly be viewed on screen so we are not constrained by the limitations of the printed page.

Here We Go (Underground) Again!

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I guess this page makes it official. Yes, the Zone One Tube Challenge is back on. The date is May 20th, which is one day before I may need to fly out to the USA (again) for another conference. I’ll watch as a few readers scurry off to get their diaries and work out which one. In any case, it;s time to hit every tube station in Zone One in as short a time as possible. Geoff, Neil and I sorted out the details when I interviewed him for The Podcast Network’s “Hello (Geek)” maagzine interview show – or whatever

Zone 1 Race Report – Part 3, Oxford Circus to Kings Cross

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…when we left Tom and Ewan, they were on a Central Line Train, heading out to West London and an encounter with a lift… All this running around is starting to get to my thirst, and as I’ve already finished 2 litres of water (but still, thankfully, not needing the toilet – I guess all the sweating does help) I’m searching for a drink. Bond Street offers a risky answer. A trackside Coca-Cola machine. So with a pound coin ready, and an anxious ear listening for the beeping of the closing doors, I leap out, drop the coin in the