Paris metro gets an IKEA design upgrade

by Jeremy Kressmann on

Mass transportation sure is convenient, but it’s often far from comfortable. Hard plastic seating. Harsh fluorescent lighting. Pungent smells. It’s not the type of environment where you linger longer than necessary. Global furniture uber-retailer IKEA feels your pain and is trying to do something about it – at least temporarily.

From now until March 24th, the company is giving four Paris Metro Stops an interior design makeover, complete with comfy couches and warm mood lighting. Considering the state of your average urban subway stop, covered in old chewing gum and smelling of urine, the idea seems like a good one. IKEA gets some attention-grabbing advertising and riders get a comfy place to chill out while they wait.

The question remains – how long will those couches stay clean? It’s one thing to enjoy an IKEA couch in your home, but with over 10 million residents in greater Paris, you’ve gotta wonder how long those seats are going to stay clean…

10 Reasons London’s Tube is better than the NYC Subway

by Annie Scott on


I’m a New Yorker. I spend plenty of time on the subway. At present, I’m in London, and I just can’t help but notice the staggering differences between the Tube and the MTA. Frankly, there is a lot we could stand to learn from the masterminds behind the Tube. I’m writing this from the UK, so as not to incur bad subway karma (you know, when you have a series of just-missed-the-train experiences) in New York. Someone, please put this into the hands of an MTA official — and tell them to give me a call next time they want to hike up the fare.

10 Reasons London’s Tube is Better than the NYC Subway

1. Full maps in the stations. Not decaying.

Unlike in NYC, where you’re scrambling to find a subway map within most stations, London’s Tube has clean, clear, updated maps posted in both stations and trains. This is a no brainer.

2. Lack of rats.
When I asked around, Londoners did admit to having seen a rat once or twice during their voyages. I don’t think they understand that it’s a daily experience for New Yorkers. Don’t tell!

3. Cushions.
A subway seat is a hard-won prize. The padding the Tube offers is icing on the cake. There are even padded spots to lean on.
4. Seat dividers.
Speaking of the seats, not only are they padded, but in many cases, actual armrests are provided between individual seats. In the rare cases that they’re not,the cushions are separate. Finally, a way to know where, exactly, to sit, and how much space one ought to take.

5. Train times on screens.
In New York, it’s just the L. In London, quite a few Tube stations, particularly in Central London, have screens telling you exactly when the next train is coming, and where that train’s headed. This is helpful information, people.

6. Signage.
The signage in London is better than New York’s by at least a thousand large points. First of all, in New York, when you want to see where your train is headed, you have to seek out some dodgy, dilapidated-diorama-framed paper on a post in the station. In London, when choosing East or West, North or South, a sign with all the forthcoming stops in either direction is provided in an easy-to-read, clear manner.

7. Signage 2.
Secondly, unlike in NYC, when broke-ass peach printed signs tell you that the C’s not running and they don’t necessarily make any sense, and then the C shows up, the Tube offers you a full map of every portion of the railway that’s under construction, with clear directions for detouring any problems. These are universally up to date — as though it’s someone’s job to let the public know their train is or isn’t running. Imagine that.

8. Announcements.
It’s like a revelation. Every announcement made is totally understandable. A recorded voice declares the stop and next stop to passengers in a crisp British accent, and there are no questions. Even changes to service and other station announcements are easy to hear. In New York, “Fourteenth Street, stand clear of the closing doors” often sounds like “Fotinsti. Stankle.”

9. Attractions.
The announcements aren’t limited to just station names. The Tube makes itself extra tourist-friendly by announcing major attractions at each stop. NYC really only does this for Rockefeller Center and Ground Zero. And, as I mentioned, you can’t really understand them.

10. Fewer ads, more maps.
I hear you, Dr. Zizmor, I do, and I know you could do amazing things for my skin, but I just want to verify my train’s route. I can’t deal with you right now. Frankly, NYC’s subway maps are usually old, damaged, or not there. On the trains, display cases are packed with ads and the one-per-car subway maps are often damaged or covered in graffiti. Not helpful.

So, good job, London. You win this one. But don’t get me started on food.

This trip was paid for by VisitBritain, but the ideas and opinions expressed in the article above are 100% my own.

London’s Tube will have (some) air conditioning next summer

by Sean McLachlan on

Londoners love to hate the Tube. The London Underground is said to be overpriced, overcrowded, and prone to breakdowns and strikes, but perhaps the biggest (and most valid) complaint is that on hot summer days the lack of air conditioning turns the cars into ovens. I’ve even seen people faint, either from the heat or the stink of sweaty bodies.

Londoners and visitors alike will have some relief next summer as the city introduces its first air conditioned subway car, which was delivered this week.

But don’t throw away your water bottles just yet. The first air conditioned car will only be on the Metropolitan line, and that line won’t be entirely air conditioned until 2011. By 2015, the District and Circle lines will also have air conditioning.

That’s a long wait, and the nine other lines will have to wait even longer, perhaps forever. Some, such as the heavily used Northern and Piccadilly lines, are too deep in the earth to easily expel warm air. The Piccadilly is the one that goes to Heathrow, so you can have a nice sweat after several hours of cramped seating and airline food.

Oh, and there’s more bad news. Since this is part of a major revamping of the Tube system, prices will go up 3.9 percent, and bus fares will also go up 12 percent. The fare hikes will start in January 2012.

Photo of the Day (10.4.09)

by Jeremy Kressmann on

What year is it? Based on a first glance at Flickr user Cazimiro’s photo, you could be forgiven for thinking you’ve been transported to some kind of “space station of the future.” The shot was actually taken inside Washington DC’s Union Station metro stop, but it feels almost otherworldly. The eerie pink glow of the lights, the blurry silhouettes of passengers and the geometric pattern on the ceiling all lend a sense of visual vertigo to the scene, making it feel at once strange yet familiar.

Want your pics considered for Gadling’s Photo of the Day? Submit your best ones here.

A tour inside Brooklyn’s Atlantic Avenue Tunnel

by Jeremy Kressmann on

Gadling’s Undiscovered New York series first told you about Brooklyn’s Atlantic Avenue Tunnel earlier this year. This past weekend, we headed down inside for a first-hand look. This subterranean tunnel, first constructed in the 1840’s, is perhaps the world’s first subway, pre-dating the system in London by more than 20 years. Each month, the Brooklyn Historic Railway Association runs tours of this forgotten wonder, taking visitors into the depths of a pitch-black tunnel that runs over 2,000 feet beneath busy Atlantic Avenue.

After paying $15 dollars, visitors are escorted to the middle of a busy Brooklyn intersection, where they descend through an open manhole. You creep under a support beam and through a concrete wall and suddenly you’re standing inside a huge underground cave, with ceilings 14 feet high and running the length of eight football fields. Bob Diamond, the explorer who re-discovered the tunnel back in the 80’s, regales you with the amazing story of its construction and use. Along the way you’ll learn about WWI German spies, Cornelius Vanderbilt and the notorious Murder, Inc. gangsters. Bob is incredibly knowledgeable and passionate about his subject, and you’ll find yourself taken in by his vivid descriptions of the tunnel’s construction and the strange history of Brooklyn that created it.

Like so many the world’s great stories, the Atlantic Avenue Tunnel spent many years hidden in plain view, neglected and forgotten until a dedicated individual brought it to light. If you have a chance, make sure to stop by for one of Bob’s monthly tours: it’s a one-of-a-kind New York experience.