Even now, I can already tell that one of the major themes of WIHL will be how London is just a bloody rip off. One of the biggest ripoffs in London however is the Tube. The Tube system charges you a ridiculous £4 per single ride. They don’t care if you’re going one stop or 10, they are going to fleece you for the whole £4. You would think in a city that has so many cameras per square foot that it makes 1984 look like a privacy activists wet dream, the authorities would be able to figure out how to charge the rider a floating rate for distance traveled. But no, I suppose the British education system just doesn’t teach anything other than extortion.
Once you’ve coughed up the GDP per capita of a number of nations to get into the tube station, which more than likely has random holes in the ceiling and water damage on the roof. Let me tell you, nothing quite makes you feel safe below ground in a tunnel than seeing random chunks of the support structure missing or numerous cracks caused by water damage everywhere. Classy London. Very Classy.
So you’re sitting below ground in a tunnel that is probably a nudge on the Richter away from absolute collapse and you get onto the actual train. Now keep in mind how much money you have paid to ride on this rickety piece of garbage. The trains that they run in the tube obviously are not modern nor are they reliable. Not a single day goes by without there being some sort of problem with the whole system. One day, you’ll have a derailed train. The next, a gas leak will cause the whole system to shut down. Even if the trains are running smoothly, you’ll be liable to unforeseen delays on your journey because the train will randomly decide to stop for twenty minutes below ground with the lights flickering on and off. HOORAY!
All I’m saying is that if they insist on jobbing you out of all your cash in order to get a 15 minute ride in the worst subway system in the world, they could at least spend some of that money on improving the network. You would think that the two go hand in hand. I mean the excuse for closing the tube at 1230 is that they need to do maintenance on the track. What the hell are they doing maintenance on when the next day you wake up to Major Delays on the Circle, District, Bakerloo and Metropolitans lines?
Charge less or stay open longer. Oh and Transport for London could probably do with hiring people who are competent at their jobs, maybe then everything won’t break down all the effing time.
WIHL
I hate the tube, I hate london, I hate the english people, I can’t wait to get the hell out of this Stupid country…
YES, I can’t belive what I see in London. It’s most stupit city on this planet.
What a load of garbage!
PS – i suppose if i start using the word ‘hate’ more this will get put on??? Geeez…. the talentless writers out there!
Oyster card anyone?
that’s not true. if you buy an oyster card, some zones only cost you around 2 pounds.
If you think the Tube is the “worst subway system in the world” try living in Toronto. It’s a city of 5 million people and there are only two subway lines.
um….heard of oyster cards?? idiot americans!
Yeah we have, ignoramus. Still a crap load of money to pay for a hideous system that feels like it’s going to fall apart at any second and is not reliable- HELLO delays on every line, just about every weekend!
It’s still a huge fucking ripoff to pay 4 pounds from one stop to the other regardless, even if you’re only going one.
Last month I spent the most miserable travel day I’ve ever spent… on a day trip to London from Paris (July 2010). I’m from Los Angeles, but London seems like an actual hell compared to our LA freeways… which are only a little like hell. We spent 3 hours on a tour bus seeing old buildings that should have taken 30 minutes to see. The entire city center of London was a parking lot. And the tube… is this an entrance to hades? The London underground is the most confusing system of any major subway in the world… at least for those who are visiting. I never did figure out how to get from one place to another without stopping 10 people for directions to the proper line. Yes, the way the British have of posting signs and directions with quaint, British terminology is charming… if you don’t really have to go anywhere. And the heat! You take your life in your hands to ride the underground in the summer (I would hope it’s a little cooler in the winter?). Why should someone risk death every time they ride the subway? Once on board one of those traveling saunas one begins to fear a breakdown… something that could spell death from baking (or stewing, considering the amount of sweat being produced in each train car). Well, all-in-all we were VERY happy to arrive back in Paris after this awful day trip. Say what you will about the frogs… I’ll take Paris any day over London. Oh, and what do you think things will be like when the Olympics come to London? Imagine tens of thousands of angry people going home hating London. That sounds like money well spent.
I figured this one out a long time ago, I just do not use the tube I ride a motorbike and this solves the stress of the tube, so if you want to get around london get a motorbike or scooter or push bike, anything but the tube and then you will find getting around london a lot easier. Peace….
do we hate london. i don’t know. do you? really?
An Oyster card ride in Zone 1 is only £1.90. And if you use the tube frequently just put a Travelcard on it and ride unlimited through how many zones it’s worth. The Tube is one of the best outside of East Asia.