How many ridiculously long escalators can YOU find?
August 4, 2015 2:21 PM   Subscribe

Axonometric diagrams of every London Underground station Glorious, glorious tube station diagrams (not to scale) from Transport for London that will make fans of David Macaulay, Stephen Biesty, or Kate Ascher swoon. From the rather simple Bethnal Green to the much more complex Bank/Monument, enjoy a perspective of stations quite different from the daily commuter's view. (Previously from the same website.)
posted by ocherdraco (35 comments total) 48 users marked this as a favorite
 
I should add, the main link leads to the page for stations with names A-B. Here are the rest of the pages:

Stations C-G
Stations H-M
Stations N-S
Stations T-W
posted by ocherdraco at 2:26 PM on August 4, 2015 [1 favorite]


Oooh, fantastic! Thanks ocherdraco!
posted by carter at 2:30 PM on August 4, 2015


Just to be clear, this is every station that is underground, not every station on the network?

They're very nice.
posted by Segundus at 2:34 PM on August 4, 2015




Not sure. They seem to be missing Mornington Crescent, at the very least.
posted by Earthtopus at 2:36 PM on August 4, 2015 [5 favorites]


No Mornington Crescent. It is impossible to win.
posted by Kattullus at 2:36 PM on August 4, 2015 [10 favorites]


\o/
posted by Earthtopus at 2:45 PM on August 4, 2015 [1 favorite]


Ideal for everyone's next zombie apocalypse RPG campaign!
posted by howfar at 2:45 PM on August 4, 2015


BART, pls
posted by sandettie light vessel automatic at 3:06 PM on August 4, 2015


The original scans are here. Scroll down-ish for links to PDFs.
posted by carter at 3:07 PM on August 4, 2015


Not complete, as it doesn't include the tunnel of neverending doom at kings cross. So I still don't know the shortest route from platforms A and B at St Pancras to the Victoria line.

This is awesome though, only yesterday I was trying to work out how the weird kinky tunnels ay Highbury and Islington fitted together. Now I know. Need to pay attention next time I'm there to see if I can work out where the original entrance to the platforms were before they moved the station entrance over the road.

Yes, I do spend a lot of time on the tube thinking about tube station layouts...
posted by Helga-woo at 3:18 PM on August 4, 2015 [2 favorites]


Cool.
Angel has the longest escalator in the UK. The station's layout is weird because they moved the station around the corner onto a different road. The old station just carried passengers straight up and down with lifts. I think the big cylinder between the platforms is the old lift shaft.
posted by w0mbat at 3:31 PM on August 4, 2015 [1 favorite]


Kentish Town station looks fun.
posted by mattoxic at 3:48 PM on August 4, 2015


Not complete, as it doesn't include the tunnel of neverending doom at kings cross. So I still don't know the shortest route from platforms A and B at St Pancras to the Victoria line.

It's referred to as "To Northern Line Access Tunnel And Platform". It takes you much further east, so it's definitely much longer than going via the subway to the Northern Ticket Hall and down the passageway to the old Tube Ticket Hall.
posted by grahamparks at 3:49 PM on August 4, 2015


Angel has the longest escalator in the UK. The station's layout is weird because they moved the station around the corner onto a different road. The old station just carried passengers straight up and down with lifts. I think the big cylinder between the platforms is the old lift shaft.

Interestingly, Bond Street Crossrail will have an escalator only a tiny bit shorter (about 50cm). Indeed the way it's designed seems almost deliberately done so that it doesn't break Angel's record.

I asked one of the station designers whether this was deliberate, and whether it was in any way related to not wanting the occasional crowding problem caused by foreign and domestic escalator groupies hanging around taking pictures and blocking commuter flow (yes, a genuine occasional problem at Angel).

"No comment" was the official answer. But it was accompanied by a very devious grin.
posted by garius at 3:50 PM on August 4, 2015 [8 favorites]


I'd love to see one of the Wheaton Metro Station here in DC, home of the western hemisphere's longest escalator. (Though I suppose xkcd already did a drawing of it...)
posted by Fortran at 3:55 PM on August 4, 2015 [2 favorites]


Here's a map of KX/StP and a description of how to get to the Victoria line without having to make the Great Subterranean Trek through the Corridor Of Doom. It's as grahamparks says - go to the Northern Ticket Hall and thence to the Vic. And ignore the signs!

Kentish Town station is quite fun, but that's mostly because it's on the way to the Pineapple.
posted by Devonian at 3:57 PM on August 4, 2015


I am reading this on the tube.
posted by incster at 4:04 PM on August 4, 2015 [1 favorite]


This is really cool. Angel came to mind immediately, I was astounded when I stepped on. Think I heard Bond Street a million times, just glancing at it I heard the stop called.
posted by lawliet at 4:26 PM on August 4, 2015


Helga-woo, here's how to manage King's Cross.
posted by Ned G at 4:50 PM on August 4, 2015 [2 favorites]


They are technically axonometric diagrams, which is 3D-like, but not to scale.

that's not right, is it? axonometric is to scale. it's a general term for the family of projections that includes isometric and oblique (the ones you are most likely to have learnt at school, if anyone learns technical drawing at all these days).
posted by andrewcooke at 5:08 PM on August 4, 2015 [1 favorite]


These reminded me of a really neat vintage Boston subway map from the 1950s.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 5:46 PM on August 4, 2015 [4 favorites]


Only in Boston would you draw a map with north oriented to the right for no reason whatsoever. Wouldn't want the city accidentally becoming easy to navigate, now would you?
posted by schmod at 6:35 PM on August 4, 2015


They look to scale to me... and 3D too, not just '3D-like.'
posted by Flashman at 6:36 PM on August 4, 2015


Ooh, I'm a transit nerd and cartographer so this is kind of hitting my sweet spot. Russell Square is the station I know the best, delighted to see that spiral staircase rendered so beautifully here.
posted by everybody had matching towels at 7:17 PM on August 4, 2015


No Baker Street? I was visiting the UK in May and was thrilled to get lost amongst so many platforms.

Still! Totally fantastic find.
posted by dry white toast at 7:19 PM on August 4, 2015


These reminded me of a really neat vintage Boston subway map from the 1950s.

The Orange Line used to terminate in Everett?! Fascinating.
posted by threeants at 8:18 PM on August 4, 2015


Having just finished up my first trip to London a week ago, I was amazed at the variety in the Tube stations and noticed the very long escalators as well. My first thoughts drifted to some post-Apocalyptic world where all Londoners lived underground.

By the way NEVER ascend the wrong way on an Underground stairway on London. I made the (unintentional!!) mistake of doing this on my first Tube trip during rush hour no less and the situation could not have been scarier if everyone had been body-snatched and was pointing to me, arms outstretched, and hissing.
posted by AGameOfMoans at 10:40 PM on August 4, 2015 [4 favorites]


Ahhhh, but is it quicker to use the subway and have to dodge confused people in two ticket halls, or stay above ground, cross the road, dodge confused people looking for taxis and artisan cakes, and drop down at the stairs by Euston Road. Decisions, decisions...
posted by Helga-woo at 11:44 PM on August 4, 2015


Canary Wharf looks like something out of Logan's Run.
posted by TheophileEscargot at 1:04 AM on August 5, 2015 [1 favorite]


You should try traveling through Canary Wharf on a Sunday afternoon. The surrounding area is like 90% financial district, so it's like traveling through a particularly orderly post-apocalyptic city.

(They filmed quite a bit of 28 Weeks Later in the Canary Wharf area, and it works for exactly this reason. I've stood exactly where Robert Carlyle's character greets his kids coming off the DLR.)

(Extra trivia: The not-really-an-island area where Canary Wharf is located is called the Isle of Dogs. No one's entirely sure why.)
posted by Mr. Bad Example at 2:05 AM on August 5, 2015


that's not right, is it? axonometric is to scale.

To split hairs, it is only to scale along the axes of projection. Angles are not preserved by the projection (right angles in real life are not 90ยบ in the projection) so anything off-axis is distorted.
posted by cardboard at 5:52 AM on August 5, 2015 [2 favorites]


By the way NEVER ascend the wrong way on an Underground stairway on London. I made the (unintentional!!) mistake of doing this on my first Tube trip during rush hour no less and the situation could not have been scarier if everyone had been body-snatched and was pointing to me, arms outstretched, and hissing.

Hahaha -- I went to London for the first time earlier this year, and freshly off the airplane and jet-lagged ended up walking on the wrong side of the (long!) tunnel between platforms at Leicester Square. The silent scorn and exasperation from everyone who passed was quite an experience (but also made me feel at home, because it's exactly how I react to people who can't read the damn signs for some reason.)
posted by junco at 12:11 PM on August 5, 2015 [2 favorites]


The not-really-an-island area where Canary Wharf is located is called the Isle of Dogs. No one's entirely sure why.

We do know why it's called Canary Wharf, though. It's because trade from the Canary Islands used to arrive there.

And the name Canary Islands derives from a Latin name meaning "Isles of Dogs."

Canary Wharf is where trade from the Isles of Dogs came to the Isle of Dogs.
posted by grouse at 5:40 PM on August 5, 2015 [5 favorites]


I visit family in London every few months, and end up spending more time navigating Kings Cross St. Pancras than I do seeing my family.
posted by channey at 3:07 AM on August 14, 2015 [1 favorite]


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