24 Apr 08 Walk To Work Day
It seems that every day of the year is a day for something.
Today, in the United Kingdom, is Walk To Work Day. Did you know that in London there are over 100 tube journeys that are actually quicker to walk, when you take into account the time spent standing in line waiting to get a ticket; waiting for the train; going up and down escalators to reach the train and the street level before and after the journey?
Of course, these days many simply can’t walk to work – we live too far away. But, for those that use public transportation, there is often part of the journey that could be walked. From the railroad station or the bus stop to the office perhaps.
There are a number of advantages to walking.
- Save some money on fares or gas
- It’s a great form of exercise
- You can’t do a lot while walking, so you can have time to think, or perhaps catch up on an audiobook – but it’s time you can use for relaxing a little mentally.
We don’t want to go back to living in city centers perhaps, but nonetheless, it’s a good idea to take the opportunity to walk a little when we can.
Tags: audiobook, bus stop, city centers, day of the year, escalators, exercise, journey, journeys, london, money, public transportation, railroad station, train, united kingdom, walk, walking
18 Nov 07 20 Years On
Today marks the 20th anniversary of the King’s Cross fire on 18 November, 1987, in which 31 people lost their lives – the highest in an Underground accident since a train crash at Moorgate in 1975 killed 43 people.
Smoking on Underground trains had been banned in July 1984. After a fire at Oxford Circus station the ban was extended to all subsurface stations but smokers often lit cigarettes on the escalators on their way out.
The blaze reportedly began at about 1930 GMT in a machine room under a wooden escalator.
The escalator connected the Piccadilly line – one of five underground train routes which run through King’s Cross – with the mainline station.
The fire started as the evening rush hour was trailing off but hundreds of commuters were still in the station which is London’s busiest.
Many passengers were trapped underground as the escalator went up in flames.
More than 150 firefighters wearing breathing apparatus tackled the blaze and searched for survivors.
But they were not able to bring the main fire under control until approximately 2150 GMT.
Tags: 20th anniversary, blaze, breathing apparatus, commuters, cross fire, escalators, firefighters, lit cigarettes, mainline station, november 1987, oxford circus station, piccadilly line, run through, rush hour, subsurface, train crash, train routes, underground train, underground trains
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