h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

This streach of the underground network is owned and operated by Railtrack so if every the railtrack signalers are on strike beware as this section of the underground also grinds to a halt. Which can be a pain when trying to get from New Malden to Hmaaersmith for work.

However on a plus side the Hampton Court to Waterloo section of railtrack's network which includes Wibledon to Earl's Court is also one of the first section s to be able to get the service going despite limited staff. So that also is worth bearing in mind.

You weren't drunk when you wrote that, were you?

No I was just remembering the last great train strikes and how I was one of the few not affected too badly.

Actually I was talking about the spelling.

Ok I see what you mean now, go easy on me though.

Generally, not nearly enough about Earl's Court and the District Line.

There is a law which states that, if you are standing at a station on the Wimbledon branch, the first train which arrives will not be the one you want (if you're going to Edgware Road, it will be a City train and vice versa). Also, as you pull into EC, there will be a train of the right variety on the opposite platform which will pull out as you pull in (or, if they're being really nasty, just after the doors on your train open). Admittedly, they _do_ seem to be getting better about this one.

The converse is also true. If you are trying to get from the City to Wimbledon, all the trains will be Ealing Broadway or Richmond (I have noticed that, when I want to go to Richmond, they're all Ealing Broadway, so there is some nefarious force at work here). When you get to EC to change, there will be a platform crammed full of people and no Wimbledon train in sight. After twenty minutes and plenty of EB and Richmond trains, a Wimbledon train will finally arrive. Now, I have to believe that the Underground is run by people who know how to write a timetable and run a rail network, so I ask: "Why?" Answers on a postcard.

There is another Earl's Court Westbound rule. This is the one that says: "if you get off a westbound district line train at Earl's Court and there is an empty train on the other platform, it will be to Olympia."

Oh, and see my separate observations about the district line and Mansion House.