A Northern line excursion

A very foggy morning this morning and not an ideal one for TUT. I broke a glass on my way out of the house and by the time I'd cleared it all up I was very down on time. I did manage to get one of the last through trains which was going to WHC (White City), though. Nevertheless I ended up being quite late. Predictably, LIS was exceptionally busy but, again, the crowd cleared fast after a relatively empty Uxbridge train hoovered up most people and I was able to get a Circle line train to Hammersmith which took me to King's X.

After class I met a friend and we went to Elephant & Castle, enabling me to sample the TBTC (Transmission Based Train Control, a form of ATO (Automatic Train Operation)) between King's Cross St. Pancras and Angel. The system went live between Highgate/Chalk Farm and Angel/Euston (Charing Cross branch) on 27/10. It was, of course, already live between High Barnet/Mill Hill East and Highgate (the first section to go live "NMA 1" was High Barnet - West Finchley and the second "NMA 2" was West Finchley/Mill Hill East - Highgate. Highgate/Chalk Farm to Angel/Euston (Charing Cross branch) is "NMA 3"). I'd already experienced it north of Highgate (and hadn't been impressed) but I was glad of the opportunity to see what it's like at this later stage in the roll-out. It was, as predicted, a short journey consisting of constant switching between power on and power off, power on and power off, power on and power off. Not especially comfortable and noisy, too. We were also on a refurbished 1995 stock train which is, visually, very pleasant, with its dark blue surroundings. The seats are much much harder, though, which I can't say I'm a massive fan of either. Initially the Jubilee line suffered from an equally noticeable effect, but in my subjective and limited experience it seems to have gotten better. I really hope they get it ironed out soon. Out of interest, the next section to go live ("NMA 4") is Angel/Euston (Charing Cross branch) - Oval, then ("NMA 5") Oval - Morden and, finally ("NMA 6"), Chalk Farm to Edgware.

In spite of this, I do like the Bank branch of the Northern line and it was a nice journey (particular when the train was being manually driven). Elephant & Castle is, I think, lovely, with some wonderful tiling and a nice old-fashioned roundel:

The distinctive tiles and roundel of Elephant & Castle's Northern line platforms. (Image courtesy Phillip Perry (via Wikipedia))

Nothing very exciting on the way back, except that I came home via HAI (Hainault) (where I had quite the wait) since I wanted to see my friend off at her stop. Also, I happened to notice on the way back northbound up the Northern line to Bank that the T/Op was opening his cab door and physically looking out on the platform when opening and closing the doors. Now, I know the 1995 stock has in-cab CCTV for this purpose (checking nobody's caught in the doors, nobody's fallen down the gap, that sort of thing - making sure everyone's safe) so I guess they were broken? In that case you can have a look for yourself on straight platforms, but I do believe on any platform where you can't see all the way to the back of the train 'cause it's on a bend, you have to get the assistance of a member of staff.