On the buses

Due to a recent mishap with my little toe, I've had to reduce walking to a minimum during my London commute, whereas normally I try to maximise the potential of exercise on my way to work; stomping through woods, running up and down escalators.

Last week, when I could hardly walk at all, I had to take minicabs, but then realised that I could virtually get from door to door on the bus. True, in order to travel from North London down to Camden, I needed to first make my way further North, and change buses, but at least this method meant I didn't have to get onto a crowded tube, and stand all the way down into town. Plus two buses is a fraction of the cost of a minicab, with almost exactly the same journey time.

Although I am a self-confessed London bus lover, I'd forgotten what a fantastic view you get while sitting up on the top deck. (this week I managed the steps up). You get a whole new vista of London, especially now when the trees are turning and the autumn colours are at their best.

Yesterday, for instance, after a VAT seminar (I know, my other career is soooo interesting), I took a bus from Covent Garden all the way to North London, and when the bus drove past Kings Cross, I saw for the first time the new facade. (The King's Cross development has finally been finished). The sun was setting, painting the beautiful cornices of the St Pancras Hotel and the new windows of the station building with a golden glow. I felt truly lucky to live in such a beautiful city.



Mayor of London Boris Johnson opening the new King's Cross Station Square last week.
Video: The Telegraph Online


But, for an author, the best bit of travelling on the bus is the overheard conversations you are privy to.

On the tube, people are much quieter; they don't have mobile reception of course, but there also seems to be something about a bus journey which encourages conversation. There are the usual, 'I'm just on my way home' kind of telephone calls, or acquaintances meeting up by accident and getting into a deep conversation about somebody else's marriage. I've heard people do telephone interviews on the bus, or tell little porkies about why they're late for work. 'Traffic is terrible,' they say when the bus hurtles down a hill.

But the best conversations are from teenagers, who seem to think anyone over the age of twenty doesn't hear (or more likely understand) what they are saying. Boys tent to talk mainly about sports, but the girls! The girls discuss TV programmes as if they were populated by real people, they discuss their friends, their objects of desire, their enemies. All at the top of their voices. If I ever have another young character in my novel, I'm going to spend weeks on buses during school kicking out time. There could not be a better way to get a true teenage voice into your book!

Next week, sadly, I'll be back on the tube. All this lounging about and earwigging on the top of the double decker buses will not keep me fit, or keep my back in shape. Though I might just sneak a few bus rides in when the weather is too wet or cold for a hike through the woods!

London a friendlier city during the Olympics?

Picture: Time Out 

Before the 2012 Games, the greatest worry for the organisers and ordinary Londoners was transport. How would the already overcrowded public transport system cope with the extra 260,000 people estimated to come to London during the Olympics? Even I had my doubts before the games, when, once again I tried to catch the tube on an ordinary commuting day from Kings Cross, and had to wait for several trains before being able to squeeze myself (dangerously) onto the carriage. I also knew that many tourist hot spots, such as Covent Garden tube station, are often closed during busy times.

However, today on Day 7 of the Games, the general traffic chaos which was predicted in central London has not materialised. As a family we've been to three events, and have found that we've got to our destinations pretty much in the time predicted by the official transport sites, such as Get Ahead of the Games and TFL. Even the Jubilee Line, which goes to the Olympic Park, was OK on Tuesday when we were making our way back from the women's gymnastics at the O2 Centre at the same time as the spectators were leaving Stratford. We haven't, though, tried to drive into the centre of town. (But this is something we'd not normally do anyway, so it'd be foolhardy to drive in London while the city hosts the biggest sports event in the world.)

It does seem that both the tourists and ordinary Londoners have kept away from the city, so much so that the retailers are complaining that the visitors have been scared away by the pre-games information campaign. But then it's fairly typical for this country that if one day we predict the end of the world, the next we are dissatisfied that it never happened and life carries on as normal…

For me, however, I've noticed an improvement in the general mood while travelling on the tube and bus. On several occasions now the Englishman and I have got into conversations with people on the tube, something which never normally happens. The few commuters who are not having duvet days working from home, seem to be more than happy to help the visitors find their way, or even smile (the country is going to the dogs) at tourists draped in their countries' flags, celebrating a medal, or just being happy to be here in London.

Our local area are hosting the Dutch at Alexander Palace, which they've renamed Heineken House, and I'm getting quite fond of seeing the orange-clad revellers on the bus, smiling and generally being happy. What a difference a few days make to the general mood in the country! Gold medals help, of course…

Helen Glover and Heather Stanning who won gold yesterday. Photo: Guardian

My guide to London Transport

The Olympics are nearly upon us and so I thought I'd give you a little personal guide to how to get around in London.

Before I start I should make it clear that I have the worst sense of direction of any person I know. I couldn't find my way out of a paper bag and often get lost in London.

Because of this, I never leave the house without my iPhone; that little blue dot on the digital map has saved me many a time, although the 3G reception in London is appalling and can fail you when you are most in need. So I make sure I prepare, prepare and prepare.

The best way to find out how to get from a to b in London on public transport is to use The London Transport site. Apart from the many maps and general information, the part of the site I most use is the search facility. It gives you the best route on the tubes and buses, which will have the shortest walk underground on stations when changing tubes, and it will even give you a little map for each change. They also give you an approximate time, which I find is always more than adequate, especially as I'm quite a fast walker. All the same I give myself another 10 minutes, and print a map of the place I am going to. I know this sounds excessive, but I hate getting lost and being late.

London also has so called Boris Bikes - named after the London Mayor, Boris Johnson, which you can rent for half an hour at a time. I haven't yet used these but would think that they are a lovely way to get a different view of London.

There are a few apps which I use while on the road.

1. The LJP app will give you the same info as the site, including status of the tube and overground lines and buses, a tube map and other useful bits and pieces.
2. Bus Checker, which gives you routes and a live bus timetables.
3. Tube Pro is an app for the severe control freaks. It gives you the tube carriage you should take to be closest to your exit at the other end. (I don't have this, but the Englishman loves it).
4. Barclay Bike App which tells you where you can find the Boris Bikes and live status on how many are available where. (As above).
 
There are also a few useful things to know when travelling by public transport in London:

1. Always let people off the tubes, trains and buses before getting on. It's polite and it makes sense.

2. Even if it doesn't look like it, bus stops have a queuing system. I've once witnessed a man being quite firm with a woman and her two teenage children who tried to queue jump. I can't repeat his words here, but be assured the woman and her off-spring made their way dutifully to the back of the queue.

3. Most busses do not sell tickets: you have to buy them in advance from machines at the bus stops.

4. All buses, tubes, overground and trains have an effective system of telling you what the next stop is. On the tube the woman even tells you which side of the train the next platform is.

5. When crowded, the tube can be hellish, especially if it's very hot. Often it's easier to get on a bus, or walk. In the centre of London tube stops are very close to one another, so it's worth checking on a map how far your destination is. But if, in a crowded compartment, you find your nose precariously close to a tall man's armpit, don't even think about making eye contact or cracking a joke about the situation. In London it's just not done. Try to pretend you're alone on the train, everyone else does.

6. As a Londoner, I use an Oyster card, a prepared travel card, which can be topped up at tube stations or newsagents and similar shops. It costs a little to buy one, but it is the simplest and cheapest way to get around. But there are day travel cards, and single tickets, all of which can be bought from the underground stations.

No-one really seems to know how London's public transport will cope with the additional crowds that the Olympics will bring. There are many people proffering the chaos theory both publicly and privately. There's even a comedy TV series on the preparations for the 2012 games, something that could only be done in Britain. (Brits do like to laugh at themselves.) But I think we who live in London will all do our bit to make the visitors feel welcome. I am a huge supporter of the Olympics, and believe that the games are a resolutely good thing for London.

So enjoy your visit, whether you are coming to London for the games or just for the shopping, and use the public transport. It's cheaper than taxis, it's much better than it was, say ten years ago, and it makes you feel like one of the locals!