The London underground can be a daunting place to be. To anybody experiencing this for the first time it can be particularly scary. There are so many things to do and nobody ever tells you what exactly you are supposed to do. Where do you get your ticket and how do you know what zones you need? Why do some people have a swipe card? How long will my journey take?
On a recent trip to London I observed in general how people act, react and move through and around the Underground. There was a large group of twenty of us in London for a conference and we used the ‘Tube’ regularly, whether it was the twenty of us at once or in smaller groups, however there were noticeable differences between us and the others using this service.
On entering the underground straight away there appears to be a lot of confusion. There are booths with people standing queued in front of it, above the small booth window a little sign reading ‘Tickets & Advice’. This suggests that this would be the best place to stand and wait for tickets; however along the sides of one wall not too far from the booths people appear to also be flocking to these large black ticket machines. These machines are probably the quickest way of getting a ticket. I noticed that some people were taking forever at these machines, some would have to select the different language option and even then it appeared to not fully explain the options. At the machines it is easy to tell the difference between those people who do not regularly use the tube and those that use it for commuting every day. Normally those who are new users are a bit like a rabbit in headlights, wide open eyes, trying to be aware of everything and not give away the fact that they are panicking and uncertain what they are to do. There are choruses of “Where are we going?”, “What zone are we needing?” , “What ticket do we need?”, all the while as the people behind are becoming more and more impatient and tutting at the length of time they are having to wait at the ‘express’ queue. Sometimes it can be note that some people just jump in front it is although all manners are forgotten and those people who are in a rush or know what to do feel it a necessity to queue jump. Those people with oyster card are some of the worst as their thoughts appear to go along the lines of “I only need to swipe my card and put money on it”; it is this attitude by some people that adds to the new user’s initial shock and fear of the tube.
Next thing after the ticket machines we have the ticket barriers, although these are a helpful device (they are in place to make sure every person on the tube has paid, thus reducing crime etc), some people treat these as a hindrance. People remarkably turn into prehistoric beings and animal instincts start to show through. There is pushing and blatant queue jumping, apparently most people who use the tube are deaf and cannot speak. Very rarely do you hear an apology and even rarer an “excuse me”. Unfortunately a friend’s ticket would not allow her to pass through the barrier, as a new user of the tube she was confused and tried to insert the ticket in numerous different ways. This process must have taken thirty seconds but to the man behind her he acted like she had been holding the queue up for hours. He shouted “Get out of the way! Buy a ticket!” Now had he taken a couple of seconds to ask her if she was okay he then could have helped her by suggesting she speaks to the man looking after the barriers who would in turn look at the date on the ticket and allow her to pass through. I understand that to people who live or work in London this is an everyday solution to getting home or to work but they treat everyone as though they should not exist, the tube should be tourist free. Perhaps I am exaggerating but the amount of traffic and the rush at which people push and barge their way through is overwhelming.
Observing people getting onto the tube or waiting on the platform can be quite amusing, different people approach it in various ways. I note some people hold back and when hearing the train is approaching push forward to get to a better place, others attempt to guess where the doors will be when the train has stopped; others are certain of where they want to stand and are not going to move for anyone. It is funny to see all of these people at once as the train approaches, it descends into chaos and it is like some kind of animal dance. There are the people who wait lurching forward, the people who know exactly where they want to stand resisting and pushing backwards, then we have the guessers who run back and forward to get to the door, trying to judge speed distance and time, all whilst looking like a demented hungry hyena. Without going in depth too much about the warning signals, the sounds of “Mind the gap please!”, “Stay behind the yellow line”, “Please let customers off first” appear to be ignored as people throw themselves onto the tube. Once on the tube those that are seated are lucky enough to be so. Most times people tend to squash themselves up in front of the doors. The experience reminds me of a tin of sardines all squashed together with no room to move. People appear to want to keep themselves to themselves whether they try to read a book really close to their nose, sometimes it even bangs off of their face as there is really no space to move. Other people read the newspapers, listen to music, and use their iPhone or laptop, basically anything they can to not speak to each other. This leads to an eerie experience as there is hardly a noise on the tube apart from those people who are not used to the tube and find it a novelty.
On entering the train there is once again a battle to try and get a seat or the best possible standing place, there is not really any regard for the elderly, pregnant or those with lots of luggage. In fact those with luggage are treated worse than anybody else, as though they are stupid for bringing suitcases into the underground. Whilst on the train it would appear essential not to make eye contact and it is noticeable that people are looking each other up and down but as soon as the eye line is reciprocated they look away really quickly as though they were looking at a fly or something else. People do not speak to each other even when getting off the tube, sometimes if somebody does speak it comes as a shock and everybody else’s body language becomes quite defensive. Most of people’s gaze tends to be on the line map above the seats in the carriage, it is noticeable that they are counting the stops until the need to get off. On exiting the tube once again the platform is chaotic “Where do we go now?”, “How do we get out?” the confusion of people trying to figure this out is almost amusing eventually you can “see” the click in people’s brains as they realise they should just follow everyone else. Again this is an animal trait, like sheep, if lost the best thing to do is follow everyone else. Back up to the ticket barrier there is once again the rigmarole of barging and pushing. All of this pushing can save an impressive five minutes or so off of a journey. As some first time “tubers” noted- “Why do people rush so much? If they miss this one then there is another one in two minutes.”
The Underground system is truly an amazing one, the design, mechanics and thought process that has gone into this is massive. To a degree it is highly successful, however if the attitudes of the users changed it could be a much more enjoyable experience for all. The title of a musical that sums the experience for me is “Stop the World, I Want to Get Off”
