Tube Etiquette Poetry Hopes To Improve Travel Behaviour

M@
By M@ Last edited 121 months ago
Tube Etiquette Poetry Hopes To Improve Travel Behaviour

Photo by Rooney Wimms in the Londonist Flickr pool.

Look out for these two poems on the tube. They won TfL's Travel Better London competition, which asked for lines of verse that promote courtesy on the network.

Over-18s winner Alex Bishop offers the following advice to people playing music:

Rock ‘n’ roll may stir the soul

And drum ‘n’ bass may have its place

But down that urban rabbit hole

It leaves a more divisive taste

That tinny blare, we’re forced to bear it

Please turn it down, no need to share it

Under-18 winner Toni Omitogun, meanwhile, wrote about travelling in crowded areas.

You should try not to push or squeeze,

For sometimes all you have to do is say please.

Although your delays might be slight,

You may stop people getting to their families that night.

Even if you are trying to be polite,

Try not to make spaces too tight.

It's hoped that the posters will help, in some small way, to reduce tensions on the underground, and even have a positive impact on delays. The Underground's MD Mike Brown reckons 400 hours of delays were caused by passenger travelling habits last year. These include littering, holding train doors open, and overcrowding at the platform entrance when there's more room further along. Somewhat strangely, the press release also lists "Inappropriate use of passenger alarms and passengers falling ill on trains" among the "travel habits" that need changing. So if you have a habit of collapsing on the tube, please desist.

As Bill and Ted once observed: Be excellent to one another.

Last Updated 21 February 2014