The other day, while packed like a sardine in a crowded and sauna-like train car, I thought I heard the sweet, sweet familiar screech of the Green Line inbound to Boylston Station. Nope — I was on London’s Underground, or as it’s mainly called, the Tube (“Chube,” if you sound especially British). But it’s strangely comforting to know that New England decided to take a few pages out of Old England’s transportation book.
According to the London Transport Museum, London’s 1863 premiere of a “sub-surface line,” constructed via covered trench, was the world’s first underground railway. The London Tube system, operated by everyone’s favorite Transport for London (or TFL for short), has grown substantially ever since, connecting Londoners to popular locations including Heathrow Airport. Some of the underground lines run so deep that they were used as bomb shelters during the World Wars. And it’s true: some of the lines feel extremely deep, like three speedy escalators down.
In comparison, Boston’s MBTA and T system, which dates back to early 19th-century horse-drawn stagecoaches on rail tracks, ran its first electric streetcar in 1889. Even back then, it seemed like the residents of Boston had many complaints about streetcar speeds (Green Line slow zones, anyone?) as people joked that they could get around Tremont Street faster by walking on top of the stopped streetcars. I feel that way sometimes on Comm. Ave.
Let’s chat about some differences between the two systems, as experienced by yours truly!
I have been on the Tube many times for social events, class field trips, hanging out with friends, and exploring the city on my own. I like to put my only-slightly-functioning AirPods in and pretend I am a British baddie, and better than the American tourists. Some of the trains have interesting standing seats with a round cushion at about hip-height, which is a new one for me. I am also loving the names of all the stations. They are so quintessentially British, I can’t even explain my obsession with them. “Elephant and Castle” and “Cockfosters” are two absolute gems.
First off, the size of the T system pales in comparison to that of the Tube. While the T serves 153 stations across 5 lines, the Tube has a whopping 11 lines and 272 stations. Let’s just say it’s been an adjustment. I often have a hard time knowing where I am in the city when underground, and having to navigate based on cardinal directions (which is what the platforms are labeled by) is taking a long while to click for me. Luckily, my cell service is absolutely nonexistent underground, and if I ever get really lost, I will probably be eaten by rats.
In terms of delays and accidents, the Tube seems to run much better. Are we really surprised?
I will say, however, that the two trains I have been on this month have been significantly delayed due to other trains running people over. But overall, the trains are fast and frequent. I usually don’t have to wait more than five minutes for a train, and most of the time, I only have to wait around two minutes. It’s magical!
What isn’t so magical is the shape of the trains — you guessed it, they are tube-shaped. I don’t know who thought a curved roof would be a good idea for any purpose other than aesthetics, because I have seen some tall men try to squeeze onto full trains and get their heads absolutely clonked by the closing doors. Because guess what, they start curving in around 5’8” up from the floor. It’s a true test of who on Tinder is lying about being 6’ if you play your cards right.
Another downside is how incredibly impossible it is to evade fares. I mean, what? Who said that? Boston, are they really enforcing that over there? Someone please shoot me a text so I remember to load my Charlie Card in January.
While it’s fairly easy to jump on an overground T without paying, the Tube is completely underground. Not only do you have to tap in at the gates with an Oyster Card or another form of contactless payment, but you have to tap out too! It kind of reminds me of the Charlie on the MTA song that criticizes Boston’s old exit fare system (and is the reason our tickets are called Charlie Cards).
The Tube charges you based on the distance you have traveled, using a “zones” system that I do not understand in the slightest. The fares aren’t cheap either, a Zone 1 trip is ￡2.80 during non-peak times and ￡2.90 during peak, a.k.a rush hour. Don’t be fooled by the pounds. That’s like $4 each way. Insane. Can’t wait to be paying that every day for my internship! The good part is that no matter how many trains you take in a day, there is a fare cap of around ￡9 in 24 hours, so you won’t be charged a crazy amount.
Another huge plus, in my opinion, is 24-hour train services on a few lines (including the Piccadilly line, which runs to the stations closest to BU residences) on Friday and Saturday nights. I know a lot of students who stay out late at clubs on the weekends rely on these trains rather than the slow buses to get home. I think that’s something that Boston’s T is severely lacking — I can’t even count how many times I had to rush to catch the last T.
One of the first times I took the Tube with my friends, she told me a macabre story about the construction of the Tube. Apparently, when engineers were building the lines, they kept running into fossilized pits of bodies buried during the Bubonic Plague. Any time the train swerves, it’s not for the fastest route between stations; it’s because they had to build around the corpses. A quick Google search as I was writing this article revealed to me that this might be a big fat myth, but I think some bones were, in fact, unearthed during excavations for recent Tube constructions.
I love the idea, and I’ll have to research it more another time when I am not distracted by reading all about other Tube urban legends, such as ghosts and phantom screams. Big mistake. I will not be Tubing at night alone now.
Is the Boylston Screech really just the ghosts of the loser Boston College hockey team?
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