The Neapolitan Line
The travel bunny on BBC Breakfast for London referred to the combined Metropolitan, District and Circle lines as the Neapolitan line today. It’s actually quite obvious as they are shown as a multi-coloured line, but why have I never heard it before?
A New Metropolitan Line Train
I took the North London Line today and changed onto the Jubilee line to get to Westminster today and was able to take this photo of one of the new Metropolitan line trains as it passed through West Hampstead station.
New Metropolitan Line Train at West Hampstead
I’m not sure how many of the new trains have been delivered, but from the outside it looked a lot better than the rather tired old trains you see on this and the other sub-surface lines.
London Underground and Overground Interchanges
As I have gold older, I’ve tended to avoid some interchanges between lines, as they are either difficult or they make the journey longer. Now after my strokes, I’m a bit more careful, as some stations are a bit claustrophobic and just too busy.
I was also got on this train of thought, by a friend, who has to get King’s Cross and Gerrards Cross regularly. Usually, they end up taking a slow taxi up Marylebone Road. I thought there must be a better way. In some ways it’s a pity that when they built the new Wembley, that they didn’t find some way to connect the Chiltern, Metropolitan and Jubilee Lines in the area, as this would have given access directly from places like Aylesbury and High Wycombe to the City and East London. As yesterday, I had to go to Oxford Circus I did check out the Bakerloo Southbound to Victoria Northbound connection and I think it is up one short escalator, a few steps and then down another escalator. But you wouldn’t do it with a heavy bag!
I think it illustrates how you must get to know your interchanges in London. Here’s a few of the things I like and dislike.
Access to the Northern Line is much slower than the other lines at Kings Cross, now that they have virtually rebuilt the interchange. So I usually avoid it.’
Green Park always seems to be a slow interchange, as you walk for ever.
Bank is not for the faint hearted, especially as there are a lot of works going on at the moment.
In fact these days, I’ll often look for a bus route that does the transfer and perhaps avoids the difficult stations.
The Anonymous Widower 