Demographics - Comparing & Contrasting the Passengers

I am beginning to settle into the longer journey from the trees and valleys of Buckinghamshire.

Fortunately my new home is not at the bottom of a dip so it ought to take a real Noye's Fludde to force me out of house and home. My commiserations to all those affected by the recent flooding. Buckingham was hit by a flash flood last week, but it has received little mention due to the overwhelming scale of the problems elsewhere.

This morning I changed onto the Central Line at West Ruislip rather than travel all the way into London Marylebone with Chiltern Railways.

• Generally speaking I would say that about 80% of my peak time fellow travellers on Chiltern wear office clothes of some description
• Getting on the Central Line in West London today, just before the busiest bit of the morning peak, I would say that 80% of my fellow passengers were not sporting collars or any near equivalent
  

I merely point out the contrast- as someone who commuted daily on the Central Line for 18 years, the state of peoples' clothing was something I had simply not noticed.

My train travels through some really smart (and expensive) places such as Beaconsfield and Gerrards Cross, though I should point out that I board well before...

It doesn't take the Brain of Britain to work out that a greater proportion of the people living in those places are likely to work in well paid office jobs than, say, the general population of West London suburbia. Nevertheless I have been surprised by the contrast in attire of the passengers on the two lines used today.

Central Line Service Fully Restored Following Derailment

It is good to note that, following last Thursday's derailment, a full Central Line service ran from the start of service on Saturday. This included the chunk of line that was closed following the incident.

London has had a busy weekend, what with the Tour de France, the Wimbledon tennis finals, two concerts at Wembley Stadium and negligible rain.

There were so many extra people in London that in the central area it was easiest to walk for short journeys (it usually is, but most people are too lazy). Nevertheless the weekend's experience will have been improved for many people by the quick repair work undertaken in the tunnels near Mile End station.

Central Line Derailment in the East End

A west bound Central Line train derailed in a tunnel, at about 9.02am this morning, between Mile End and Bethnal Green. Thankfully there appear to have been no serious injuries though it must have been a frightening incident for all involved. Temperatures apparently got very hot for those stuck in tunnels.

The Rail Accident Investigation Branch are carrying out an investigation into the incident. According to the tfl website, control of the line was handed back to London Underground at 5.30pm. It is however exceedingly unlikely that the line in the area of the accident will reopen in time for the Friday morning peak.

The Central Line is currently closed in both directions between Liverpool Street and Leytonstone, with severe delays on the rest of the line. For travel advice click here and for the current live travel position, click here.