I'm glad that Jago has finally had the decency to apologise for the overcrowding at Covent Garden! I shall stop writing all those letters to my MP about him.
@@RogueWJL I’d agree with the Dante’s Inferno reference. The amount of times I’ve been there in summer and the thing has broken down in a tunnel at CG. There were impromptu wet T-shirt contests last summer…
And here I was hoping gateway stations would be the ones where you use them once just to see what it's like, and before you know it you're using the Underground every day, you can't stop, it's only a matter of time before you get into ever more _hardcore_ forms of public transport...
The actual four kinds of Underground station: - True Underground - Underground but it's overground - Why is a station called that? - Bank Ah yes, Olympia with a slab of Overground with a touch of an Underground shuttle...truly a creative Gordon Ramsay recipe
For Why is a station called that? That would be: Angel Cockfosters (forever the best station name anywhere in the world) Elephant and Castle Battersea Power Station Station (ok, that's just funny) Burnt Oak Manor House Old Street (It's London, almost everything is an old street) Seven Sisters (I've seen the video, I know it's supposed to be for 7 trees. Still strange) Swiss Cottage Tooting Bec Tooting Broadway I'm American, honestly half of the station names sound funny to my ears.
I started by going to King's Cross and next thing I knew I was visiting all 4 Heathrows in the same day. Luckily, my partner helped me go cold turkey and I'm fine again now (unless anyone mentions Platform 9 3/4).
Jago's 4 groups: 1. The Tube 2. Transport & infrastructure 3. Because I find it interesting, OKAY? 4. It's my bloody channel, if you don't like it, tough!
Dear Jago! As a non-native English speaker (born, raised and living in Berlin) with a decade long affiliation to my local railroads, I very much enjoy your playful and meticulous use of your language! Each video of yours not only provides interesting tidbits of your amazing Subway system, but also makes me appreciate your native tongue even more, hoping to improve my own skills in using it. Since I experienced the clogged Covent Garden station as a tourist myself exactly six years ago, I cordially accept your apologies. It's about time for a visit once again - I heard something about a certain new purple line across your city... Cheers from Berlin, Markus
I came for the Underground, I keep coming back for the writing. Which has become by now something I look forward to enjoying every time I see a notification from your channel.
@@robertaries2974 The beauty of a non officially standardised language like French and many European ones. Word usage goes in and out of fashion, more out than back in and in location used. New ones and phrases appear in dictionaries annually (OED and Collin's). 18th century English is very different to 21st, even 20th century was different to now.
No, the idea of categorising stations had never occurred to me despite commuting on the tube for a dunnamany years. But once you point it out it makes a lot of sense, a very pragmatic approach. And, as you say, delightfully nerdy!
I had no idea that Underground stations were categorised in this way. My categories are 1. Home, with 3 nice pubs nearby 2. Work, with 2 nice pubs nearby 3. Interesting, complicated and historical, with a pub across the road 4. Complicated but interesting. Don't know about pubs. p.s. I'm not going to tell you what to do if the platform is busy, you'll all do it.
I think that Mornington Crescent should be a terminal station. All you have to do is mention the name of the station and it is literally game over. All regular BBC Radio 4 listeners will agree, I'm sure. :)
LOVED the cameo in the latest Jay Foreman video man! (and undercover in the previous one) You playing Harry Beck could not have been a cooler and more perfect way to do a face reveal! There's been some cool and special channel crossovers over the years but that just about takes the cake I reckon!
As someone who recently climbed the 15 floor equivalent emergency staircase at convent garden because of the overcrowding at the lifts, this was very validating, and your apology is so well-received.
Having seen a documentary about managing an Underground station, I think one should mention that "Destination" stations may often be the most difficult to manage, because of the passengers. Just one drunk passenger can cause a major disruption, or even a tragedy. Moreover, a "Destination" station may be busy until the last train leaves, with the drunkest passengers boarding that last train; perhaps after they were just sick on the platform. A "Gateway" station, on the other hand, may have many passengers that are clueless, but they will be less likely to start fights or intentionally violate safety rules.
Well I gotta admit, that was a genius way to do a face reveal. On a different channel, and 2 MONTHS AGO, without anyone knowing. Well done mate, well done!
I didn't know about these categories, but I did know about National Rail stations being categorised: A - National hub B - Regional interchange C - Important feeder - C1 - City or busy junction - C2 - Other busy railhead D - Medium staffed E - Small staffed F - Small unstaffed - F1 - Over 100,000 journeys per annum - F2 - Others
@@Firitesen This might be because Clapham Junction is dominated by commuter movements from London suburbs and SE England, while Willesden Junction may see more passengers from further-flung parts because of proximity to the West Coast Main Line.
DB in Germany uses a seven-tier system (Category 1 through 7), which governs pricing for TOCs using the station. I'd assume any infrastructure operator over a certain size has a system like this.
@@Firitesen Because... Clapham Junction is Basically all London Regional Or Southern Region Services. WJ has low level and high level and poss hangover from the main line WJ that no one has noticed was demolished years ago
Lemme see. Surface, shallow, deep bore, and the forbidden chthonic stations below the Hodgson-Wheatley Discontinuity (which we prefer not to talk about). ... Oh, we're talking about volume of usage? Disregard that. I said nothing.
When I worked for the company as a Station Supervisor, the stations were categorised as the type of supervising it needed but with a similar rationale. I was an SS1, which was the highest level and that was stations like Waterloo, Kings Cross, Earls Court etc and also Finsbury Park. SS2 was smaller yet still busy stations such as Covent Garden, Southwark, Manor House, etc. SSMF (multi functional) was largely what is now the local stations. The Supervisors at these places usually ran them on their own and (when they existed) ran the ticket office with maybe one or two station assistants. These included stations like Wimbledon Park and Southfields. There was an SS3 category, but that applied to the stations with an LU presence but not owned by them, such as Ealing Broadway and Wimbledon.
TfL categorises its stations differently for statistics as well. There are a total of 7 categories. Airport, City, Inner Suburb, Outer Suburb, Shopping, Terminus, and Tourist.
Jago! Absolutely loved your cameo in Jay's video! Possibly the sneakiest and best face reveal of all time. You smashed it too. Keep up the good work sir. You are the face reveal to my RU-vid algorithm.
I assume Waterloo WAS classed as a Gateway, when it was an international / Eurostar station, but stopped being considered a Gateway once those services were moved to St Pancras International
That seems logical. From the list (link kindly provided by other commenters), the only Gateway stations are Heathrow T23, Paddington, Kings Cross St Pancras, Liverpool Street, Victoria and Euston. The first 5 get airport traffic with overseas visitors, KX of course gets Eurostar. I initially thought Victoria and Liv St were throwbacks to the days of boat trains before remembering Gatwick/Stansted. As for Euston, maybe they are anticipating Scottish independence?
@@iankemp1131 Euston is probably necessitated by it being a terminus of the West Coast Mainline. Daytime services to/from Scotland mainly run from Kings Cross. But perhaps Euston gets the same regard, because it’s the terminus for the Caledonian Sleeper service? Victoria of course serves the coach station as well, which is a hub for both domestic and international travel. I expect all of them may be regarded as Gateways due to very early and late times that they can be busy, because they’re all connections for long distance departures and arrivals?
@@NineWorldsFromDrew Euston services North Wales, the North West, Scotland and the Birmingham area. That’s an awful lot of this country. It’s lines run at capacity every day from early to late. HS2 will start from Euston, ultimately replacing many longer distance services, freeing up currently missing capacity for West Midlands based customers.
Waterloo services have been progressively truncated over the years. Long distance services are now restricted to Weymouth and a unreliable Exeter service. The longest distance commuters into Waterloo are (with minor exceptions) from Poole and Shanklin. So Waterloo sees a lot of repeat traffic and thus there’s no dramatic call for Q combining and pedroute assistance except at busy optional travel times.
Interesting. I think one of the fascinating elements of a network like the Underground is how it's actually run. So much going on, so little margin for error. Years ago when I lived in Central London Covent Garden was my closest stop. I often took the Picadilly line to Holborn to avoid the lifts and the crowds at Covent Garden.
None of this surprises me. I guess it would be about staffing levels. I am in Australia and a wheelchair user. I recently went to Melbourne and decided to try out the train system. I started in the suburbs and went to the city. In the suburbs there was no station staff on the platforms, but once I got to the city, no staff on the platforms, but once I go to the surface there was plenty of staff that actually came up to me and offered any assistance I needed. finishing my trip, I went back to the platform and went to that raised up section of platform at the front of the train. not only did this make boarding easier, but it also alerted the driver that a wheelchair user was onboard, they came out and asked where I was getting off, i told them my destination and when we arrived, they got out and put in place a ramp for me to get off
If Network Rail & TOC:s have a similar system. Bicester's stations, Village & North, would be classed as "Destinations", as should Covent Garden using the same rationale.
Yes ... I think the categories that Jago refers to must be only in regard to the people entering or leaving the station; people changing lines, or to/from mainline rail or Overground don't count. Whitechapel confuses me: since the Eliz.line is encouraging people to change there, TfL must be aware of it as a transfer point - yet they have re-categorised it as a 'destination'! Why not have a category for stations that are principally or to a considerable extent 'Interchanges'? Perhaps the whole analysing thing is more about the mental quirks of the people who end up in jobs like transport organising - maybe there's scope for a video about other things they do more generally
I was thinking that there would be a specific category for interchange or even major interchange as they would need to be managed completely differently, particularly for staffing, passenger information and passenger safety
@@ricktownend9144 It feels like TfL's "destination" category isn't what we'd think of as the English meaning. For example, if it includes Waterloo, most people go there to interchange on to National Rail. Same with Whitechapel, as you say. So it seems to be jargon for "heavily used throughout the day and busier than a metro".
Completely agree, all big hitter metro systems distinguish themselves by their nearly endless variety which makes using them such a pleasure. Taking London and Berlin, they consist of: 1. Full size railway services (Berlin RB, RE; London SWR, Thameslink); 2. Urban Railways (Berlin S-Bahn, London Subsurface Underground); 3. Underground railways (Berlin, U-Bahn, London the Tube); 4. Light Rail (Berlin, Trams, London DLR, Trams).
Never will have a chance to put to good use all the knowledge I gain over the year about the UK train and Underground systems, yet I enjoy this videos a lot!
Keep them coming Jago. I find your videos informative, entertaining, relaxing, I and a friend used to get a ticket called a 'Red bus rover' from Hounslow East Station for 5 bob (25p) an we could spend all day exploring the Underground. So watching your videos from our new home of Greece is very therapeutic. More power to your elbow (or your video camera) 😊
I doubt your Bus Ticket would take you on the underground. As I only travelled by bus I never knew there was a weekend day ticket that covered Tube and Bus, I forget the fare and cannot recall the adverts from publications. I think they started in 1952 with the festival of London exhibition
I think the Red Rovers were for red buses only. There was a ticket called a Twin Rover which gave you a day's travel on buses or underground. I actually used one twice - it got me to places like Woodford, West Ruislip and Woolwich for only 5 bob in 1966 and 1967.
I had no idea. Thank you Jago; one of your best and most informative/interesting from my point of view. I'll bet there's a zone/financial overlay template to go with these categories and age and usage stats. The socioeconomic aspects of mass transit are just as fascinating as the pure history and geography of the system. Keep 'em coming please.
When i worked at Victoria stations were ‘grouped’ as mentioned, at the time (15 years ago) we were in a group of 2 with Warren Street so i had to work at both fyi.
Thats quite interesting and if I had ever thought about it, logical. But I'm as oblivious as the next content producer. I've always loved the tube for not being homogenised. It wears its history very visibily and thats part of its charm. As long as theres a roundal to indicate where a station is. Then inside and below ground are where the changes happen. Its also very Tardis like. Great video.
Thanks Jago - I was thinking that there was some sort of categorisation for the stations on the London Underground. It's really interesting hearing about the categories. 👏🏾
Well, you know I enjoy your videos Jago. And the Four Kinds of Underground was another utterly enthralling attraction in which I totally immersed myself. The visuals, along with your meaningful verbal guidance, made what could be boring to some, an educational romp by rail through the very heart of London Town. And I, for one, can tell you love being tour leader. You obviously put a lot of time into your research. And you are passionate about it. Mate, people like me south of the equator, with British roots, are like sponges, soaking up all you have to offer. Keep it up dear chap. You are our underground, trans planet link to the locomotion of London!
I've never been to London but the more Jago I watch, the more prepared I will be for when I do eventually get a chance to visit! Fascinating as always!
I love that I've know learned about this, great food for thought as I commute and continue to explore London (also lovely to see my local 'destination' station shown
One of these things that I'd never thought about, and wouldn't have guessed even from the title (I was wondering if it was tube, subsurface, above-ground, terminus, an operational categorisation) but it seems supremely logical with hindsight after it has been explained. Certainly surprised that Waterloo isn't a Gateway; what about all those southern folk having a day out at the shops and sights, maybe for the first time?
Just the ( electronic now at Wellington ) ticket before my 5 min drive to school on this sunny Monday morning. Heard a steam locomotive whistle yesterday morning on the single track main line. ..excursion to and from somewhere. ..says LeviNZ
The stations have been graded differently for Donkey's years but this newest system was brought in some years ago as a way to cut jobs and costs by abolishing all the old grades of station staff and bringing in new grades with new titles. 🤬 I like many others were given a choice of remaining in my current grade of Supervisor and take a large pay cut or become a manager and not get any extra pay despite having much more work and responsibilities 🤨 They then "promoted" people into the new grade (my old grade) and paid them a lot less than I used to get paid 🤬 Funnily enough these changes didn't affect the senior management at all 🤨 strange that. ( Travel tip don't use Covent Garden always use Leicester Square it's 3 or 4 minutes walk)
Absolutely captivating, Mr H, as indeed the vast majority of your material is. And it has invoked a good conversation about Mornington Crescent. Bliss. Who (apart from Charles Yerkes) could ask for more? Simply splendid. Thank you. Simon T
Yes, I learnt a little about these categories during the round of ticket office closures a few years back. Somewhere I read that Destination stations were a category and would be handled differently. Can't remember where I read that, and the details were scant. So your video was interesting.
It's morning, there's a bit of time for breakfast - bacon is frying in the pan, croissants in the oven - and a new Jago video to watch. Bliss! Thank you for all your videos.
i found this very interesting. I was not aware of categories for underground stations. It makes sense to a point, but as you said, there are bound to be some customisation of individual stations.
Very interesting, I didn't know but it (mostly) makes perfect sense. A few questions to clarify. Where does Stratford sit with these categories, likewise Canning Town, and all DLR stations. Does City Airport station fit? Also, you seperate out London Overground, why, what makes these stations different? Thanks, and keep posting, always brightens up my day to see your videos. (Hopefully Tyne & Wear Metro will be on agenda with the new trains, and Liverpool with it's underground Merseyrail stations too)
The London Underground is a largely self-contained system running on it's own tracks and serving it's own stations. The overground is a collection of existing main line suburban services which have been given a corporate identity and upgraded frequencies and rolling stock to make them more like a metro service from the passengers' perspective but they operate on the complex web of mainline tracks around the capital which are shared with many other trains including freights. Most overground stations are also served by other operators. Although TfL operate both underground and overground, the overground stations are controlled by Network Rail.
I was lucky enough to spend a few weeks in London on vacation when I was stationed in Europe in the mid-eighties. My recollection is stilling in individual cars, sized for six to eight people each. The people were very nice, and curious to meet Americans, it was all very pleasant. Curious though, I seldom see such seating on this channel. Have things changed that much, was it specific rail lines, or something else?
Was this on the mainline railways "compartment stock" can be found (mostly BR MK 1 or 3 or variants) on preserved railways and some West Coast Touring carriages. The A Stock on the Met had through gangway in the cars but the window ends next to the doors gave the feel of cosyness even with 3 + 2 seating
@@highpath4776 Too long ago to have much of a memory. I know all my trips started on the underground, as my hotel was right next to Waterloo, but I did take a trip out of the center of town to find software for my Commodore +4, which was never common. I remember out the window of the compartment we would not in a tunnel, but above the city. But i often see Jago talk about the underground while showing trains not in tunnels, so I don't quite understand the distinction. Me and the wife then had such a wonderful time in London!
Interesting, I always considered Bayswater a destination station, particularly on my commute home after a busy day in the office, however, it would appear LU do not share this view.
London Underground stations come with all sorts of sizes and history including when some tube lines have taken over former railway lines and also share National Rail and London Overground including the Metropolitan Line & District Line. And including the Central Line that has taken over part of the GER between Newbury Park and Woodford via Hainault that there are remains of the old railway line that went from Ilford. Where Ilford depot is located at.
Mister Hazzard, I do love your videos but I do usually am left wondering when I try and go on to read (and see, in the case of maps) your sources. Keep up the entertaining and quite informative videos!
I didn't realise this existed either. I actually found a different method of categorisation in a document I discovered last year, the Station Design Idiom 2 (content.tfl.gov.uk/station-design-idiom-2.pdf ), where they group stations into 21 categories according to the era they were built in, the railway company who built them, the project they were a part of (e.g. New Works) or the architect who designed them. It's actually a pretty fascinating document as it outlines a whole heap of design guidelines that should be followed when building new or renovating existing stations.
