London- The London Underground is a public system of transport which serves a large part of the city. It is the oldest underground in the world and the largest in Europe. It is vitally important to Londoners and people living in the outskirts, especially commuters and student. Many tourits also choose it to move around. We asked some of them to answer a few questions about the Tube and the use they make of it.
A lady with a briefcase, on her way to work, told us it takes her a hour and a half to get to work every day. “I prefer the Tube because it’s quicker and there is less traffic.” When we asked for her opinion about the price of the ticket, she shook her head and said “way too expensive”. Not surprisingly, most of the people we talked to agreed. “Could be cheaper” another said. This is a hot topic nowadays, with the fares increasing more and more each year. Although the services are considered to be good, the excessive cost of using them has been raising complaints.
A smartly-dressed young man from Manchestern looked more relaxed than the average tube user, so we dared ask, half-jokingly, “why is it that Britons are always in a rush, especially in the underground?” His answer was priceless: “I have no idea! I run because everyone else is running! What is more, you have to, otherwise you are going to get pushed aside.”
An elderly man was less enthusiastic about the underground: “I don’t like it very much, to be honest. It is convenient at times, because it covers places that you couldn’t get to in any other way, but it’s too crowded, especially at rush hours. I don’t normally take it, but today it was my only option, because I missed my train and the next one is in half an hour – I’d be late to work.”
Being late is a common fear – a nightmare, even. Everywhere you can see notices encouraging travelers to “stand clear of the doors” and “use the bins provided” because items trapped in the doors and litter “cause delays”.
In order to provide users with a good service, many people work for the London Underground. We interviewed them too, to get a different point of view. “The most crowded stations are King’s Cross and Victoria, because all lines are covered and trains to the airport depart from there. They serve roughly two million people everyday.”
We also asked about terrorism. “They used to be quite frequent” one member of the staff revealed “but after 2005 new safety measures have been taken so they have diminished. There are more suicidal attempts, though. The other day, for instance, there were delays on the Circle line because a body was found on the rails.”
People of all nationalities take the Tube; many of them are in London on holiday. We thought it would be interesting to aske them to make a comparison between this underground and the systems of transport they have in their countries.
A group from Italy praised the Tube because it provides users with an excellent service. That’s why, even though the prices of the tickets is quite high compared to the underground of Milan, they prefer it. Some German students noticed that their underground is fairly similar to this one. “It’s very efficient and not that crowded, considering how large London is. The oyster card is really useful, it is good value for money” they added.
A couple from Moscow said that their underground is the second largest in the world and gave us some more details about it. “It has 12 lines and it’s very capillary. The announcements you hear on the trains are different depending on the direction: it’s a male voice going from the outskirts to the centre and female voice going from the centre to the outskirts.”
photo from http://www.inachisio.com/