Getting around London is going to become even more expensive

by Anna Brones on

You might have thought that London was already expensive, but next year you can look forward to budgeting even more money when visiting the English capital. Mayor Boris Johnson plans to raise London Underground train and bus fares next year by an average of 6% above the inflation rate.

What exactly does that work out to? The cheapest London Underground fare which you can get by using an Oyster prepaid card will rise to £1.60, or $2.85, in January from the current price of £1.50. That doesn’t seem like a huge change, but for people — and even tourists — who use public transportation on a frequent basis, it certainly feels like it.

The current London Underground cash fare for a ticket — £4 — is reported to be the highest in the world for a subway system; apparently the city really wants to keep its ranking.

Mayhem on London’s Underground as alcohol ban goes into effect

by Jeffrey White on

Labeled “Last Round on the Underground,” an orgy of drinking and merry-making yesterday throughout London’s famed subway network led to the arrest of 17 people and other dust-ups with local authorities.

Yesterday was the last day before a citywide ban on drinking alcohol on the Tube went into effect. At first, thousands of revelers gathered — many in costumes — for parties on the Tube’s many trains. But when police moved in to close things down, so to speak, things turned violent.

Besides the arrests, there were a half dozen assaults on Tube employees and police, the International Herald Tribune reports today, and several trains were so heavily damaged that they had to be taken out of service, sending significant delays rippling through a subway network that had 1 billion passengers in 2007.

Starting today, you cannot drink alcohol anywhere on London’s public transport system. While the move, meant to make the network safer for all travelers, has the backing of various alcohol-awareness groups, some of the people who are most displeased with the new law are not who you’d expect: The transport workers themselves.

Union representatives argue that their workers will be put in danger when forced to confront people breaking the alcohol ban, as is certainly likely to happen.

Skiing in the London Underground

by Dave Luna on


The man in the video above found the perfect spot for downhill skiing. The location is clear of skiers and snowboarders, requires no lift ticket, and… lies beneath London? Yes, you read that right. Though, it’s not so much a back-country trail as it’s the longest escalator in Europe.

The footage shows the anonymous skier hurtling down an Up escalator in London’s Angel Tube Station. He could have endangered the lives of anyone going up the moving walkway, but luckily it was clear. Officials from the London Underground subway system have seen the YouTube entry and derided the stunt as “dangerous, stupid, and irresponsible.” I agree with the tube authorities, but — you have to admit — it was probably a really, really fun ride.