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Anybody who has ever travelled on
London underground will have used
the escalators. Many of you will
have
stared mindlessly at the legs of the
person in front of you, or the
adverts
on the wall. You might even have
risked catching the eye of
somebody
travelling in the opposite direction.
How
many of you, however, have
noticed that between most
escalators
there is usually a large metal
panelled area? The area is usually
quite wide, and has "Stand on the
right" and "No smoking" signs along
the length.
Canary wharf is perhaps the best
example of this, as you descend
into
the main atrium area there are
numerous escalators, and large
expanses of panelling between each
elevator.
My proposal is simple. Remove the
metal signs, so a large, smooth,
piece of metal is present. A new
"premium" london underground
ticket would be introduced. Holders
of such tickets would be permitted
to
slide down, to be caught on a
suitably soft mattress. Kind of like a
water slide, just without the water
(which would cause havoc with the
tube system, but might be meritted
on the higher lines such as the
DLR?).
In a sense, this is a refinement of
http://www.halfbakery.com/idea/
Alternative_20Tube_20access_20for
_
20dare_20devils#1015413113,
however I'd suggest this is
something
that can be built cheaply, very
easily,
and very quickly,
and result in significant funds for
London Transport. And a happier
travelling public.
For rock climbers, the challenge of
climbing up the slide would be
available, but only in off peak
hours.
For those with peculiar tastes, the
signs could be left for a 'rougher'
ride for the more 'adventurous'
londoner.
Buskers at the bottom of slides are
best advised to avoid the area.
Actually, best not tell them. They'll
soon learn.
Once successfully implemented, this
could possibly be licensed to other
underground systems.
Earlier, more extensive proposal
http://www.halfbake...for_20dare_20devils
Dedicated tunnels required. Regretfully no support for fetishists. [rleyton, Oct 04 2004]
helter skelter buses - some fool did it.
http://www.halfbake...r_20skelter_20buses
[po, Oct 04 2004]
canary warf
http://www.voidware.../gallery\cwarf4.jpg
many times, ive *very* nearly tried it! [barkinghugh, Oct 04 2004]
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Annotation:
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I wonder whether, in fact, the little signs and nodules of metal sticking out every 50cm or so on the slope are designed specifically to stop people from decending at speed. If you've ever tried decending as they are now, you'll know it's not a comfortable (and certainly not a premium) service. |
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I'm sure they probably are. Hence
the "embrace and extend" idea to
do away with such deterents, and
charge for the privilege. |
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Without such bumps, it would be
fun. And if you can charge £20pp
to go to a theme park, £1.50 or
somesuch on your tube ticket each
week is a small price to pay... |
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I've always thought of this, or running down. Weird. You could drape a rope down it to hang on too. |
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you'd need to be quick getting off at the bottom, in case some fat guy with 3 laptops and a briefcase is right behind you.
Course, if it were a pretty young thing, you might be tempted to dally.. |
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Also you'd have to make sure people didn't slow themselves down with their feet since a multiple pile up would not be pretty. Especially for the person travelling headfirst. |
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Perhaps a straw matt could be supplied, or, (as in my day as a wee nipper), half a canoe seems to get the best speeds up on a serious slope. Those orange safety ropes that you see on ski runs could guarantee riders safety. You know, like the one Milla Jovovich wore in Fifth element. |
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[Rods] - Take out the stairs of the buses and replace with helter-skelter. This would exit directly on to the pavement. |
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ha! ive been thinking of doing this for *years*. in fact the sticky-out metal bits look like they might hurt a lot. although ive spent a lot of time checking out stations with less deterrent. some have handrails with knobbles that ive been almost tempted to slide down. one thing tho' is that you get a really messy t-shirt or pants if you try this stuff. PS. ive added a link to a picture i took at the warf. enjoy. |
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I've ridden many subways and the London Underground is pretty far from premium. |
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Once at Waterloo station, a gang of kids tried to mug me for my Sony Walkman, but they were so unprepared they didn't even bring a knife. Somehow they thought peer pressure would do the trick. |
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Re [barkinghugh]'s link. This is a Freestyle track, No?
Mmmmmmm.........Moguls! + |
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