15. Liverpool Street

Thursday 30th May 1.10pm

Way back in the days of slam-door trains and every seat having a table - the 80s, surprisingly - trains from my part of Norfolk used to arrive in London at Liverpool Street. So for a few years, while friends were at college in London, this station would be the one we'd would end up running through in an attempt to catch a train we had no chance of catching. It was also the place where we would dodge fares, although I have no idea how and to be honest the idea makes me shudder with shame! But then the trains switched to King's Cross and I rarely find myself in Liverpool Street any more.

While the train station has been updated with marble and space the Tube station hasn't really and is as pokey and crowded as you'd expect from somewhere serving four different Tube lines. More excitingly I made my journey on one of the new Hammersmith & City trains (I'm resisting the urge to use the phrase "rolling stock" as it's beyond trainspottery) - they're far more spacious than the old trains and instead of having doors at either end of the carriage which you can't actually use they're open to the next carriage so you can see all the way down the train if it gets on a straight bit - this is beyond exciting! (The trains are like this in the Barcelona metro, so we're finally catching up.) They've done something clever inside the carriage so there's a lovely big gap between the seat and I think they're air-conditioned too! Disappointingly the only thing they don't do is tell you which side of the train the doors will open on, which they do on the older Victoria line trains, and which is really useful, although I'm note entirely sure why.

Wikipedia entry here.

14. Euston

Saturday 25th May 5.50pm

Another station I wouldn't normally use as it's a short walk down Euston Road to King's Cross. I've only used the mainline station it's attached to a couple of times to go to Manchester, but it does get a mention in The Smith's song London.

It's a charmless station, which is a shame as the area around it is rather nice, and it's really well connected. And I don't like to join in with the rather predictable bashing of anything on the Northern Line, which actually isn't that bad, just fractured and unloved.

Wikipedia entry here.

13. Tottenham Court Road

Saturday 25th May 5.40pm

This is a station they ought to encourage you to avoid as it's currently a building site due to redevelopment as part of the whole Crossrail thing. [One day soon I will get very excited about that but first I've got a Tube network to get round.] It's hard to imagine that this busy end of Oxford Street, which used to be a crossroads and shops, is now a huge building site. Still, I bet the engineering is amazing!

It's another one of those central London stations I'd never use because it's so close to others - it's just a short walk from Leicester Square or Oxford Circus - and of course it's on the Northern Line, which is confusing with its different branches, which from this station doesn't stop at King's Cross. But it needed ticking off the list, and I had time before my train so why not?

It's a bit crowded and dated - the top of the escalators are surrounded by mosaic arches which looks cramped and overpowering and in need of a make-over - once it had character but now, in comparison to the anything on the Jubilee line it looks horribly old-fashioned. And down on the platforms it's looking tatty and half-finished, which is what it is really. I even saw a temporary roundel which said TOTTENHAM CT. ROAD, which was so inelegant I winced.

Wikipedia entry here.

12. Covent Garden

Saturday 25th May 2pm

This is the Tube station they don' really want you to use - for years you could only exit it on a Saturday afternoon, and they still suggest you use either Holborn or Leicester Square to avoid the crowds. So I always avoid it, but I wanted to check it off my list so I risked the crowds on a Saturday afternoon and do you know what, they weren't as bad as lots of other stations I've been through.

The main problem is the lack of escalators, meaning you have to queue for the lifts, unless of course you want to tackle the stairs - 193 steps, equivalent to a 15 storey building, which they warn you only to use in case of emergency. Now I'm a gym goer I was tempted to try them but thought better over it. Probably wisely.

There's some lovely tiling on the platforms:

Wikipedia entry here