Good morning we are back out on the District line for the last time
Yes, it's epsiode twenty the last one - for now in this series of End of the Line as we go to Wimbledon
So yes I've come here by District line today to the station where there's tube and National Rail
South West Trains and Thameslink and Trams sadly no Overground or we could all go wombling free
but the thing that I implore you to do right now there's a link in the description
that is to download the 'End of the Line' Bingo sheet where you play along by crossing off or ticking out the
words as I say them in this video and as it's the last episode I have this sneaking suspicion
that we might just tick them alf off
So Wimbledon is in Zone 3, not Zone 6 and like Richmond and Upminster
does not have any classic roundels on the platform as the station isn't managed by TfL
Tube trains depart from platforms one to four stopping South Western Railway Services stop on
platforms five and eight Platform 9 is their news for Thames link and platform 10
is then used for trams and let's get that big issue out of the way first
now Thameslink trains used to use both platforms nie and ten
but when the Trams the tram link came in here that took over platform ten
and it was just platform 10 until later it was then split they added the second one and it's now
10A and behind me there is 10B and as the trams are inside of the gate line at Wimbledon it leads
to a small anomaly, because normally on trams you only touch in once when starting a journey
instead here at Wimbledon if you start a tram Journey you have to touch it on the Main Gateline
and then again on the validator on the platform and if you arrive by tram
and want to carry on by National Rail train then you have to tap on the Oyster Validator on Platform 9 or if by
tube then tap on the validators on platform one to four before continuing your journey
And talking of tapping in and out at a gate line on the on the side entrance to Wimbledon here
now Richmond had a side entrance but the Wimbledon one is a lot easier because everyone uses
it to go to the Center Court shopping centre which is right there but more on
the tennis in a moment as first we've just got to confirm that the underground didn't
used to go further but there are buffers and dot matrix displays for the tube platform
no waiting room though or shelter and its platform canopy isn't as nice as the one at Richmond
Wimbledon isn't a rural setting the station delivers you right out onto the High Street
along with its bus stops and, this deer sure! No Wimpy though which is a shame but I
do like a sneaky Footbridge over the railway with a view and Wimbledon has one
cut down this side package here immediately across from the main entrance and it'll take you
to these steps where you can then watch the trains to your heart content all day
warm day sun's out coat off oh and it's
a brilliant bridge to just sit and watch all the trains go by
Wimbledon is also of course the point where limited SWR service runs along the District line train
one in the morning and one late at night and passes through tube stations that video is here on screen now
if you've not seen it and also Wimbledon isn't the station to travel to get to the
tennis championship for that you'll want to come here to Southfields instead but during the time
that the tennis championships are on Southwestern Railways do then actually use platform six and sevem
to have some stopping services to cope with the extra number of passengers and from the end
of these platforms you can get a good view of the Wimbledon 'A' signal box built in the late 1920s in
fine Art Deco style what you can't see from here but further up the line though is Wimbledon
Train Care Depot where drivers book on and there's also a secret platform dented Road star fault
is a tiny platform where Railway staff can get on or off special trains that occasionally stop here
I'm sat inside the entrance of South Wimbledon station because the thing that intrigues me
most about Wimbledon is look how far apart the District Line is spaced apart from the
northern lines South Women station on the tube map when in fact they're actually quite close
like less than a mile apart and certainly when we used to do tube challenge we used to
run between the two of them so if it was up to me I would redesign the tube map to have the branch
of the northern line be much closer to the branch of the District Line
Back at the main station, and I must give a shout out to this South African shop that's using the Comic Sans font in 2023
and totally putting it off well done that shop, along with several others is located on the overbridge
at Wimbledon the same place where you'll find the Labyrinth here too
and to finish remember back in episode seven of end of the line when we discovered
that there was a windmill at upminster well, Wimbledon has one too
admittedly, it's up on the common a distance away and a few stops on the 93 bus
but it is a splendid kind of must-do thing for you to do when you come and visit Wimbledon
if you'd like to visit Wimbledon and it's windmill or any of the 20 stations featured
in this series that is very simple just head out onto the underground this weekend with
your oyster card and make a day out of it or possibly consider going to all 20 yourself - just a thought
and that's it we're all done except ... hang on I think there's just one more thing to mention
and in all the excitement of it being the last episode the end of the series at the
end of the end of the line I realise I forgot to do one thing to check so I've got to go back
down to Wimbledon station to see whether it's got a car park car park is that the
now what we're gonna do you're gonna have to tell him I'm not telling him
I'm not telling him get a bit funny about it won't he to see whether it's got a car park
Full House [Music] you're not playing that stupid game again are you
no no whether it's got a car park
stupid car park it's got a car park not now Jeff I've not got time for this
Bingo nonsense I'm a little busy building something whether it's car park of course
[Music] of course not doing maths and spreadsheets and other things Car Parker! that's what they call me
not just because I had to come out and walk the dog all right let's go here we go well done
[Music]
Sorry, did someone say something about car parks?