Northern Line could become even more miserable

The Northern Line (aka the Misery Line) could shut every weekday evening from 8.30pm for a year due to engineering works. TfL and Tube Lines are currently wrangling over plans to introduce improvements on one of the most congested lines on the London Underground. Commuters could face similar closures that travellers on the Victoria Line had from February 2008 (although that line only closed from 10pm).


"Sources close to the talks say Tube Lines wants to do the work from 11.30pm between Sunday and Thursday for 16 months, starting next month. According to TfL, this would mean closing the line north of Stockwell from 8.30pm onwards to get trains back to depots." report The Guardian

Tube Lines said the schedule for the Northern Line upgrade was still being discussed with TfL. "We have worked very closely with London Underground to find a way of getting access to the track while producing minimum disruption to the service. It is an ongoing discussion between us," it said.

Dave Hill from the Guardian's London blog said "It's another chance for Boris to bash Gordon over the PPP. And, frankly, who can blame him?"

Visual Artists Rights Act: Artist Moral Rights in Unfinished Sculptural Works

In Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art Foundation v. Buchel, --- F.3d ---, 2010 WL 297834 (1st. Cir. January 27, 2010), the First Circuit decided a case of first impression that decided a number of complex issues related to the Visual Artists Rights Act ("VARA").

I first wrote about the case here (Visual Artists Rights Act - Right to Display Works That Do Not Yet Exist - December 16, 2007).  The case involved a Swiss installation artist, Christoph Buechel (The "u" in Buechel has an umlaut, but Blogger, unless I am missing something, does not), who, without a clear written agreement, agreed with the Mass Moca to install one of his works.   It was agreed that Mass Moca would pay, and that Buechel would own the copy.

Buechel's installations have been likened to "bristling three-dimensional history paintings" yet are "so obsessively detailed that they might be described as panoramic collage" (full size images here).

The District Court denied Buechel injunctive relief and granted summary judgment against him.   The fact pattern was a law professor's delight:  during the installation, Mass Moca's staff (being directed by emails from Switzerland, allegedly made aesthetic decisions against the artist's will, made "compromises" he did not agree to, covered the work in tarps (allegedly inviting sneek peeks) and held an exhibition next door, which purportedly was orchestrated to subject the artist to ridicule (a local paper referred to the art as "Crap under Wrap").

A few takeaways from a decision that reads like a Peter Greenaway film watches:

1.  artists have rights in unfinished works;
2.  installations are sculptural works;
3. unfinished works are sufficiently "fixed" to be copyrightable subject matter;
4.  if you are going to allege joint authorship (as Mass Moca did, you have to specifically allege your copyrightable contribution);
5.  if you are a museum, get VARA waivers in advance or a clear understanding in writing of who pays for what and what happens if things go wrong;
6.  VARA's moral rights include "attribution" and "integrity";
7. no statutory damages for violations of an artist's right of attribution;
8.   VARA does not include a right of "divulgation" (which sounds a lot like the "display" or "distribution" rights under the Copyright Act;
9.   If you are going to argue that someone violated your rights to prepare a derivative work, if you do not develop the argument on appeal, the court may find that you waived it;
10.  Even if VARA doesn't help you, go back to Section 106 and find another traditional copyright that's been violated and allege it.

Here is the court's summary of its own holdings:
1. VARA's protection of an artist's moral rights extends to unfinished creations that are “works of art” within the meaning of the Copyright Act;

2. The right of integrity under VARA protects artists from distortions, mutilations or modifications of their works that are prejudicial to their reputation or honor, and prejudice must be shown for both injunctive relief and damages;

3. Büchel has adduced sufficient evidence to raise a genuine issue of material fact as to whether MASS MoCA violated his right of integrity on one of his three asserted bases for liability, namely, by modifying “Training Ground” over his objections in a manner that harmed his honor or reputation. His right-of-integrity claims based on the yellow tarpaulins and the mere display of “Training Ground” lack merit;
4. Büchel's right-of-attribution claim is moot, as VARA provides only injunctive relief to protect the right of attribution and the installation no longer exists;

5. The record reveals a genuine issue of material fact as to whether MASS MoCA violated Büchel's exclusive right under section 106(5) of the Copyright Act to display his work publicly;

6. Büchel fails to adequately develop his claim that MASS MoCA violated his exclusive right under section 106(2) to prepare derivative works based on “Training Ground,” and that claim is therefore waived.

We thus remand the case for further proceedings on Büchel's remaining right-of-integrity claim under VARA and his public display claim under section 106 of the Copyright Act.

Although this has been billed as a victory for artist's rights, it showcases some of VARA's weaknesses (no $$$ for the artist if a right to attribution is violated).   It also means that every museum counsel in the country, if not the world, will be trying to force artists to sign away rights as a condition of display.

Again, a decision and a fact pattern worth reading and savoring, but a decision that seems to be unfortunate for Mass Moca, an institution that seemed to be trying to support the avant-garde in an idealistic and trusting, if perhaps misguided manner.
A scaled-down version of the installation was exhibited at Art Basel in Miami Beach in 2007 and sold.

Authentication, Artist Foundations and Catalogue Raisonnes

In Thome v. The Alexander & Louisa Calder Foundation, 890 N.Y.S.2d 16 (First Dept. 2009), the Appellate Division, First Department upheld a decision of Justice Charles E. Ramos dismissing a claim against the Calder Foundation.  

The plaintiff owned a work it believed was created by the late Alexander Calder.  Calder was an American sculptor and artist most famous for inventing the mobile.   The plaintiff sued because the Calder Foundation refused to include the work in the artist's catalogue raisonne.  A catalogue raisonne is a publication that purports to include an artist's entire oeuvre (body of work).

The Calder case came up after another case, Simon-Whelan v. The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, 2009 WL 1457177 (S.D.N.Y.) survived dismissal with allegations that the Warhol Foundation attempted to tamper with the market for Warhol works in violation of federal and state antitrust laws, to wit:

- The Board made unsolicited suggestions to Warhol owners that they apply for authentication;
- Foundation policies of authentication inconsistently applied;
- Board reversed prior determinations authenticating works;
- Board refused to authenticate works the Foundation previously tried to purchase;
- unlike other boards, Warhol Board not made up of independent and experienced scholars

(these are allegations only, at the pleading stage).  A visit to the Warhol Foundation website shows that they license Warhol's brand, the Bond No. 9 perfume pictured above is an example.

In Calder, however, the court dismissed the actions for declaratory judgment and product disparagement.  The court found that it did not have the power to declare the purported Calder work authentic nor to order the Calder Foundation to include it in the catalogue raisonne.  The court distinguished the law of France, where a French court has the power to appoint a neutral expert and to make determinations of authenticity.  According to the Calder court, a court may not act as a connoisseur, except to make rulings on authenticity that are related to actual cases or controversies before it.   In essence, the court found that its function is not to tell scholars what is real and what is not.

The court also found that the Calder Foundation had no duty to the plaintiff to authenticate the work and that the individual officers of the charity who were sued enjoyed immunity from suit.   The fact that the Calder Foundation might own Calder works and thus might enhance their value by restricting the market was not enough to survive dismissal.

Foundations vary greatly in practices, market power, and credibility.  There is no disputing that for certain artists, the foundations act in dictatorial and inappropriate ways, leveraging the artist's power far beyond what copyright law contemplates.

So if you own an artwork that you think is a Calder, how would you proceed?  From the Calder Foundation's website, you would fill out the following application:

Examinations



Owners of works attributed to Alexander Calder may apply to the Calder Foundation for the examination of the work. The Calder Foundation does not charge a fee for examinations.


For the Foundation to consider the examination of a work, the owner must have previously submitted an Application for Registration and a 4” x 5” Ektachrome as well as a written request for an examination.


For works which the Foundation has agreed to examine, the owner will be provided with an Examination Agreement. The Examination Agreement must be executed and returned to the Foundation prior to the examination.


The Foundation does not provide certificates of authenticity and does not assist with appraisals or valuations.


To request an examination, please contact the Foundation directly.

Click here to download the Application for Registration in Adobe.pdf format.

Trains in LA

So pleased to have a break from the London Underground and public transport for the last week while I'm in California. However, thought you might like to see the closest I got to the subway in LA. It's the entrance to the Hollywood Highland Metro station on Hollywood Boulevard.


Never rode the subway there, so I've no idea how it compares with the subway in New York or elsewhere in the US. If anyone's used the LA Metro, let me know.

At the weekend, I really enjoyed taking a tram up to the Getty Center. The sun was pouring through the windows, the sky was blue, it was warm, the air was clear. If only Tube travel could be like this!


As you can see from the picture below there were fantastic views of Los
Angeles. Luckily there was a break in the weather (last week California had big winter storms and it rained from the day we arrived).


Back in London on Saturday, but in the meantime, here's a link to my Flickr set of photos from California, Los Angeles & Santa Monica - will be updating it over the coming week - as I have a backlog of photos to upload from the weekend

Invitation: February 11 Lecture at Cincinnati Museum Center on Recovery of Nazi Looted Art

Cincinnati Museum Center at Union Terminal

invites you to an evening with

Raymond J. Dowd, Esquire
Partner, Dunnington, Bartholow & Miller LLP
Thursday, February 11, 2010
6 p.m.

Heavy appetizers and cash bar

7:30 p.m.

Insights Lecture Series

Murder, Mystery, and The Dead City

Mr. Dowd will speak about the battles to recover art stolen from Jewish Holocaust victims, the undisclosed role of the Swiss in laundering looted art for the Nazis, and the implications for U.S. museums holding artworks of European origin.

$25 per person for reception includes parking.

Lecture open to the public. Parking $4.

Reception reservations requested to Sarah McManus

by Monday, February 8, 2010

(513) 287-7074 or smcmanus@cincymuseum.org
In partnership with

Co-sponsored by Northern Kentucky University Chase College of Law and

the Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky Chapter of the Federal Bar Association.

Unregistered Foreign Copyrights in US Courts: No Statutory Damages and Attorneys Fees

In Elsevier B.V. v. United Healthgroup, Inc., S.D.N.Y. January 14,2010, Judge William Pauley considered a plaintiff's claim that a provision of the Copyright Act requiring copyrights to be registered prior to an infringement violated the Berne Convention and thus was "preempted" by the U.S. Constitution.

The plaintiff commenced a declaratory judgment action that Section 412 of the Copyright Act violated Article IV of the U.S. Constitution because Section 412 conflicted with Article 5 of  the Berne Convention.

The problem comes up in the following context:  many foreign publishers of copyrighted materials do not register their copyrights in the United States, even if they publish or sell copyrighted works in the United States.   So when their works are infringed, they do not enjoy the protections of the sections of the Copyright Act that give statutory damages and attorneys fees to persons who have timely registered their works (Sections 504 and 505).

Elsevier provides access to a database on which many of the unregistered copyrighted works can be accessed.  Elsevier alleged that the defendant permitted others to access the database in violation of a subscriber agreement.

The provision challenged was Section 412 of the Copyright Act, which provides:

§ 412. Registration as prerequisite to certain remedies for infringement12



In any action under this title, other than an action brought for a violation of the rights of the author under section 106A(a), an action for infringement of the copyright of a work that has been preregistered under section 408(f) before the commencement of the infringement and that has an effective date of registration not later than the earlier of 3 months after the first publication of the work or 1 month after the copyright owner has learned of the infringement, or an action instituted under section 411(c), no award of statutory damages or of attorney’s fees, as provided by sections 504 and 505, shall be made for —

(1) any infringement of copyright in an unpublished work commenced before the effective date of its registration; or

(2) any infringement of copyright commenced after first publication of the work and before the effective date of its registration, unless such registration is made within three months after the first publication of the work.

Find Section 412 and the rest of the Copyright Act here.

The doctrine of "preemption" is used in a number of different ways in copyright practice, but here the Plaintiff was arguing that the doctrine of preemption provides that where the Exective Branch has validly committed the U.S. under treaty powers and Congress has ratified such commitments, any inconsistent laws are "preempted" by the treaty.

The Plaintiff pointed to  Article Five of the Berne Convention which states:  “the enjoyment and the exercise of [rights under the Convention] shall not be subject to any formality.”   Find the full text of the Berne Convention here.

The District Court analyzed whether the Berne Convention was "self-executing" and found that it was not.  In other words, for any provisions of the Berne Convention to be binding, enabling legislation has to be adopted by Congress.  The Court looked at the legislation implementing the Berne Convention and noted that Congress decided not to change Section 412.

Noting that no federal appellate court has ruled on the question of whether the Berne Convention is self-executing, but that other courts in the district found it not to be self-executing, the Court found that it cannot serve as a basis for a preemption claim under Article IV of the US Constitution.

Since the District Court found the Berne Convention not to be self-executing, it found that Article 5 could not serve as the basis for a preemption.    The question of whether Article 5 and Section 412 conflict were not reached, leaving the question in the hands of diplomats.

London Transport Museum Film Collection online

London Transport Musuem have just added a film collection to their online archives. The initial films cover films going back to 1910 up to the 1970's. The musuem says it includes "the classic British Transport Films 'All that mighty heart', along with a lesser-known gem 'Our Canteens'."


Flicking through the eight titles, I was drawn to a film from 1932 showing the 'new' Piccadilly Line extension and seeing how stations that I often travel through now, such as Acton Town and Hammersmith looked back then. You also get to see crowds of thirties commuters (most of the men in hats) boarding the London Underground at Piccadilly Circus & using the ticket halls at Hyde Park Corner.

It's a great collection to browse and dive into, not just for transport buffs, but also to see how film & animation styles have changed over that period.

Weekly strikes on Jubilee Line over Tube pay

You might face some severe disruption on the Jubilee Line from 7.30pm 27th January 2010 and then each Sunday evening from 7.30pm on 31st January 2010. Maintenance workers who are members of the RMT & employed by Alstom are walking out in a dispute over pay.


It's claimed that staff based in Stratford are paid less than "their brothers and sisters elsewhere on the Underground". The pay gap is said to have grown to thousands of pounds.

However, on Wednesday a new proposal was put to the table for the RMT to consider.

Bob Crow the RMT leader said "Despite lengthy talks aimed at reaching an agreement that ensures that Stratford Market depot fleet staff get the same wages as their brothers and sisters elsewhere on the Underground, Alstom have dug their heels in and left us no option but to take decisive action to break the deadlock.."

A TfL spokesperson told the Press Association: "This is a matter for Tube Lines, its contractors and the RMT and we urge them to resolve the matter quickly without any disruption to Londoners."

It's hoped that a decision will be made by Monday.

Update - Jan 27th 2010 - These have been suspended as a new pay offer is now being considered.

Tube staff vote for strike action

There was an over 90% majority vote for strike action in a dispute between the Metronet signal staff and London Underground management over the imposition of new rosters for maintenance workers plus handing over work to external contractors & breaches of agreements. The RMT have described this rather more emotively on their press release and accuse London Underground of "unilaterally ripping up agreements, bulldozing through shift patterns that treat staff like slabs of meat that can be pulled off the shelf when it suits managers and of threatening job security through increased use of outside contractors"


The union leader Bob Crow said, of the LU: "It's their bully-boy management style which has forced us into this dispute."

He continued "LUL seem to be hell bent on confrontation by tearing up the Signals Framework Agreement and by unilaterally introducing new working practices which mean they can make people work what hours they like, when they like."

London Underground are denyiing the union's allegations and their chief maintenance officer, Phil Hufton, said striking over rosters was "ludicrous".

He said: "We are planning to introduce a roster covering 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to ensure planned engineering staff are always available. That agreement already exists, but the RMT is trying to tear it up.

"They should stop threatening industrial action at every opportunity."

As yet it's not been announced when the strike action would take place if the dispute is not resolved.

Update - the first of the Tube strikes started Friday 5th February 2010

Looting and Exploitation in Nazi-Occupied Europe by Dr. Jonathan Petropoulos

Dr. Jonathan Petropoulos delivered a lecture on Nazi art looting in Vienna last fall, focusing on the case studies of art dealers Curt Valentin and Otto Kallir, both of whom moved large quantities of artworks from Nazi Germany into the United States during and after World War II.   A link to Dr. Petropoulos' lecture on video is here at the Art Stolen from Fritz Grunbaum blog.

Dr. Petropoulos' studies on Curt Valentin and Otto Kallir are extremely important for those trying to track artworks looted by the Nazis that are now in museums and private collections in the United States and abroad.

According to a newly-released study prepared for the Swiss government by Laurie Stein, former founding director of the Pulitzer Foundation, the Museum of Modern Art in New York was the largest recipient of artworks from Curt Valentin.   Other than Dr. Petropoulos, art historians have completely ignored Curt Valentin, whose clients included a Who's Who of American art museums, colleges and wealthy collectors who snapped up modern artworks as the Nazi terror forced Jews to sell the works at fire-sale prices.   Alfred Barr, the MoMA's first director, was said to be in Curt Valentin's gallery on 57th Street on a weekly basis.

Above is an image of Egon Schiele's Girl with Black Hair, you can see her image at Oberlin College's website here.  In 1998, Oberlin College's then-President Nancy Dye promised the Cleveland Plain Dealer that she would investigate Schiele expert Rudolph Leopold's claim that Girl with Black Hair, along with sixteen other Schieles in American museums, belonged to Fritz Grunbaum.  Dye never published any results from her research.  In 2009, the Cleveland Jewish News reported evidence of Grunbaum's prior ownership, the article is here. 

Art catalogues show that this artwork was in the collection of Fritz Grunbaum before he died at the Dachau Concentration Camp.  The work is at the Allen Museum at Oberlin College, which refuses to document or share its research into the work's provenance prior to its acquisition in Switzerland in 1956 by Otto Kallir.  Kallir purchased it from Gutekunst & Klipstein, a clearinghouse for Nazi-looted art in Berne, Switzerland.  Oberlin's President Marvin Krislov has refused to permit me to meet with Oberlin's art historians to discuss the matter on campus.

Oberlin College has both music and Jewish studies programs.  It is shameful that they do not study the life, career, and art collection of Fritz Grunbaum, considered Austria's greatest cabaret performer and comedian of all time, celebrated by the Viennese with Karl Farkas as inventors of the "Doppelconference" a sort of Abbot & Costello routine.

As one account of Fritz's death at Dachau has it:

It was on New Year’s Eve, 1940, that Grünbaum gave his last performance. Gravely ill with tuberculosis, he decided to put on a show for the entertainment of prisoners in the camp infirmary. Despite his sickly appearance, one of the prisoners recognised him from his glory days in Vienna. Grünbaum pleaded:


I beg of you, Fritz Grünbaum is not performing for you, but instead it is the number [and recited his camp number], who just wants to spread a little happiness on the last day of the year.

Soon after this final show he attempted suicide, but was 'saved' by the SS officers. Just two weeks later, on 14 January 1941, a death certificate was made up for him. He had succumbed, according to the Nazis, to a weak heart.

Tube Photo of the Week

Great emotional penalty fare notice spotted by Rowan Beentje while travelling through Green Park London Underground station:


I quite like the way the language is really specific here, as it brings out that nice "jobsworth" official Tube tone "If you fail to hide your true emotions fully or make any attempt to engage with passengers".

I've put in bold where I imagine the emphasis would be if this was ever to become an announcement.

My blog posts will be a bit sporadic over the next two weeks, as I'll be in California for work. I'll be thinking of you & hope your commute & travels aren't too problematic. Whatever you do, make sure you follow the signs about your emotions to avoid the penalty fare.

London Underground & Snow

Woke up to snow again this morning. However, as you can see from the view from my study window, the Tube seems to be coping with the unexpected downfall. For the London Underground, for once, it's the right kind of snow. Good luck getting into work if you're on a mainline line or using London Overground, as there seem to be a number of delays and cancelled services.


Let us know how you get on and how your station or route is holding up with the snow.

London Underground Ticket Office Closures

London Underground plans to close or cut most of its ticket offices, and to reduce station staffing by over 1,000 staff. A number of people have sent me a link to petition that's been set up by Janine Booth to try to stop the closures.


It says: "To provide customer service and safety, London Underground stations need more staff not fewer. Popular opposition stopped planned ticket office closures in 2008; now we need the same popular opposition to stop them again."

From a safety point of view, I don't think it's a great idea to have unmanned or unpersonned stations. A number of old British Rail stations have suffered an increase in assaults etc due to de-staffing.

"Leaked proposals indicate that up to 144 ticket offices will be closed and up to 1,200 jobs will be axed, said the Socialist Party website.

"Already scores of jobs around the combine are left vacant, with no intention by management to fill them. Many outlying stations are regularly left unstaffed, which is a health and safety risk for the travelling public - who are already faced with the costliest transport system in Europe."

This is probably one a few times when I find I'm in support of the RMT! If you'd like to sign the petition it's here.

It's also pretty frustrating to find unstaffed stations when you want to ask a question or the Oyster & ticket machines are broken, giving you the prospect of a tiresome explanation at the other end of your journey. I wonder how many people will also use the lack of station staff as a way of dodging fares?

What are your thoughts?

No Trousers on the Tube 2010

Over thirty brave souls braced the icy temperatures in London yesterday to take part in the first No Trousers on the London Underground event. Although over two hundred people had signed up to be in the London part of the global task, the weather meant that most stayed wrapped up. However, if you were on the Piccadilly Line, between 3pm and 5pm, youd have seen the trouserless travelling between Leicester Square, King's Cross and Earl's Court before going back to Leicester Square.



Rammi took part and is featured in trouserless at King's Cross Tube in today's Metro! Updating on Twitter she said "I was in the 5th carriage for most of the ride, with foreign young people and elderly women giving me evil looks. I think photographers outnumbered the participants"

My wishes of warmth didn't work as it it was "freezing" at the meeting point in Trafalgar Square, where she tweeted "W00t for coldness and mismatched underwear in public view!" However once on the trains it was really hot and packed at King's Cross.



Ryan Millar blogged about the Trouserless on the Tube experience too:

"After the first stop we all awaited the signal from Team Leader Seamus to drop trou. Initially, when the six of us in my carriage all de-trousered, the reaction was mild surprise.

Or the old "Look! Don't look!" gambit.

I just leaned up near the door, at the end of the car. Reading. Finally the guy next to me (after a few stops) asked me why I took my trousers off.

"It's hot in here," I explained.
"But what about them?" he asked, gesturing to the other bare legs in the carriage.
"Yeah, they took theirs off too," I agreed.
For some reason this seemed to satisfy his curiosity.

Sounds like London - I bet everyone else was dying to ask.

There's a great set of photos by idulsukin here.



Rammi also pointed me to the video of a trouser removal at Covent Garden. Hopefully next year it won't be freezing & more people will turn up. Well done to the those who braved it & putting London on the No Trousers Metro map!

No Trousers on the Underground 2010

Looking for No Trousers on the Tube 2011 - it's here!

It may be a little bit too nippy or snowy to happen, but so far over 100 people have signed up to the first ever No Pants Tube Ride or No Trousers on the Underground 2010. The No Pants Subway Ride has been running in the US since 2002, starting on the New York Subway by ImprovEverywhere.



I wondered if it would ever make it to the London Underground and typically on what looks likely to be a freezing cold weekend, on Sunday 10th January there'll be people casually travelling around the London Underground sans trousers.

The aim is to be nonchalant and like the US riders to look as though you've just forgotten to wear trousers. The organisers say: "You can wear fun underwear if you like, but nothing that screams out, 'I wore this because I'm doing a silly stunt.' Wear two pairs of underwear if it makes you feel more comfortable. Don't wear a thong or anything else that might offend people. Our aim is to make people laugh, not piss them off."

Good luck to them, and I look forward to seeing any pictures or video on Monday, that's if TfL don't find some way of suing people for public exposure!

Update - Over thirty people went Trouserless on the Tube - see how they got on!

What's the best London Underground iPhone App?

Not owning an iPhone, I've never been able to test the various Tube apps that exist for it. But now Londonist, through Andreas (the guy who did the cycling vs Tube test blogged yesterday), has put five Tube iPhone apps through their paces.


He reviews a freebie (Tube Map) and four at 59p (London Tube 09, London Tube, iTrans London Tube and London Tube Deluxe). In principle I love the idea of London Tube (which sounds similar to the Nearest Tube app at £1.19 for iPhone 3GS phones only) as it's the only one that used augmented reality so "using the iPhone's camera functionality you can see an arrow that points you towards the nearest Tube station. However, there is no departure board functionality and the 'points of interest' feature requires additional payment."

Andreas gives London Tube Deluxe his vote. What do you think? Have you used any others or ones with extra bells & whistles like the Tube Exits app?

Faster by Tube or Bike?

There have been a number of experiments where people effectively "race against the London Underground". Running, by taxi and even walking have all been pitted against the Tube. The latest is an experiment by London cycling blogger, Andreas to see whether you can make several journeys in central London quicker by bike.

I don't think it will surprise many of you to know that cycling won, but what surprised both me and Andreas was by how much!


He said "I made the test as fair as possible by starting and ending the journey standing on the same spot. For tube route planning and estimating journey times I used TfL’s journey planner. Above ground I used Bike Route Toaster to plot a suitable route. I then exported the data to my iPhone which is mounted to my bike using the Bicio bike mount.

According to TfL’s planner the journeys should take:

Swiss Cottage to Covent Garden 21 minutes (Tube) 23 minutes (Bike)
Covent Garden to London Bridge 19 minutes (Tube) Not available (Bike)
London Bridge to Mornington Crescent 18 minutes (Tube) 23 minutes (Bike)

I won't go into too many details of the Tube journey because it will be about as thrilling as walking down a staircase. Which incidentally made up a large part of it."

His bike journey had some technical hitches with his iPhone app, so he ended up going the wrong way to Covent Garden.

The walking bits on the Tube were done at a "brisk pace" and his cycling was "fast but not erratic", wearing normal clothes & not cycling gear.

Here's the results

Swiss Cottage to Covent Garden 28 minutes (Tube) 19 minutes (Bike)
Covent Garden to London Bridge 22 minutes (Tube) 13 minutes (Bike)
London Bridge to Mornington Crescent 30 minutes (Tube) 22 minutes (Bike)

"The bike was on average 33% faster. Someone could therefore save 1/3 off their travel times or in the case of these journeys nearly 30 minutes!

The second big surprise was how inaccurate the TfL journey time predictor is. My guess is it doesn't calculate the time required to get down to the Tube and back out again."

You can read more about Andreas' journeys here.

Andreas says he's going to try it with some other routes and see what the results are. He'd also like to know if you've noticed anything about journeys you make by bike or on foot & how they compare with making them by Tube. I currently don't own a bike but would be worried about the fumes travelling round central London & also getting knocked off.

With Boris Johnson's craze for bikes & the upcoming bike hire scheme, it would be useful to see more experiments like this. Maybe even a Tube map or an app showing journey where it is faster to cycle!

Tube Photo of the Week

Balham station on the Northern Line suffered an identity crisis yesterday:


Webponce joked that the station "is making a transfer request to the newer more shiny Jubilee Line. Either that or we're part of conspiracy to confuse South Londoners."

Any other spots of London Underground stations or platform indicators misbehaving would be most welcome.

Excellent! Helen Duffett has just sent me the mysterious non existent Putney Green Station showing at Mile End:


She said "TfL don't know how/when it got there!" & has put the reply TfL sent her in the comments! Wonder how long it will take them to change it?

Tube Picture Quiz

To ease you back into the freezing New Year, I thought it would be fun to post up the photo round of the quiz the London Transport Museum held last year. There are ten London Underground stations in the pictures below:


Two Tube stations have one picture. Five are made up of two pictures and one Tube station is made up of three pictures. 9 and 10 are stand alone Tube stations with the others all mixed up.

There's no prizes, it's just for the satisfaction of seeing how many you can get. Leave the station names in the comments and try not to look at what other people have left.

Have fun!