31. Stratford

Sunday 16th February 12.30pm

No roundel picture? Well if there was one on the eastbound Central Line platform I'm buggered if I could find it! I wondered if it might have been because the station serves so many other types of trains: Overground, DLR, national (to Cambridge according to a platform map, which seemed useful but weird as I'd never seen any listed when I'd been at Cambridge - turns out they go via King's Cross and Liverpool Street, then you swap to something else - cheats!), and international (Eurostar obviously - how I love the announcement as you pull into King's Cross for international departures). But that would mean different types of train turning up on different platforms every day which is a rubbish way to run a railway, so it shows what I know! Perhaps they forgot the signs? I bet the Jubilee line platform has them as it's fancy and modern.

The platforms are all above ground and it's a bit characterless but practical. There's a stunning new entrance that looks a bit like an airport but because I was nipping into the Westfield shopping centre I didn't go through it. I imagine it's one of those stations that seems well connected but the reality of using it is a hideous nightmare. At least the mainline stations in the centre of London have the sense to separate the trains and Tube.

Wikipedia entry here.

Updated 10th January:

As I expected, the roundel was on the Jubilee line platforms: