The London underground is amazing, and just as we have mastered how to travel anywhere using it, it’s time to leave for Paris.
The bigger stations are huge – often at least 3-4 times bigger than Brisbane’s Central – and split across multiple levels with the platforms vertically above each other for the connecting lines. With so many platforms and connecting lines it’s not always immediately obvious which tunnel to follow to find the platform in the direction you want to go.
The longest we had to wait for a train was about 7mins – which was during some kind of signal failure problem. Often you only had to wait 1-3 minutes. It makes QR look very ordinary indeed.
Some of the stations are over 100 years old back when steam engines were used - you can still smell it. As the Underground is so old over time lots of changes have occurred as stations and lines are opened, closed or moved. If you’re interested this website covers the history.
This is a modern station out of central London called Canary Wharf which is on the way to Greenwich:
We changed at Canary Wharf to the DLR (Docklands Light Rail) which is a tram like system that has no driver! It was controlled by a man moving up and down the train who pressed buttons at each door to close the doors and start the train off to the next station. Other than that it was automatic.