(alarm beeping)
Next station Whitechapel.
Morning, it is day six, Elizabeth line,
cross rail, purple train.
The PAs are still really loud.
Starting my day today, my journey on a train,
because on the train for the first time is
my friend, Ian.
Good morning, Geoff.
How are you?
All the way from Yorkshire.
All the way for Yorkshire.
Previously in least used (indistinct)
You're in London.
First impressions?
It's just huge, isn't it?
And very, very purple and awesome.
And where are we going today, do you know?
Have I told you?
Have you told me?
Whitechapel.
Whitechapel! We're going to Whitechapel.
It's Whitechapel station.
All right, Ian, lead on.
This is all you.
Oh where are we going? This way.
No we're here, this is it.
You've got to take us on a station tour of Whitechapel.
We're exploring!
Oh, okay.
Today's t-shirt, again, is purple.
Link on screen now for all your purple trend needs.
But I'm also additionally carrying a bag
with me today.
Ian I brought you a gift.
Ah, tools, excellent!
Tools? Do you know what's in there?
Have you worked it out?
It's a wheel. It's a measuring wheel.
It is. It's a measuring wheel.
I know you like distances,
and I'm struggling a little bit
to find something interesting about Whitechapel,
bless it, because it's the only station so far
that has only got a single entrance/exit.
It's only got a way in/way out at one end.
So to make Whitechapel a bit more interesting
what I thought we'd do
is walk to the other end
'cause there's this thing about
well the the platform is 260 metres long,
so I'm going to get you to accurately measure
the length of Whitechapel platform.
Oh look at that.
It's a good old fashioned trundle wheel.
And I got you a purple t-shirt as well.
Oh, Geoff, you're too kind.
Is that all right?
We've come to the far eastern end
where there's a door to nothing,
but down this cross passageway
and in there, there is an emergency exit.
Fire escape only.
But generally, If you want to change at Whitechapel,
don't be at the eastern end
or if you want to exit at Whitechapel,
don't be at the eastern end.
So if you're travelling east, be at the back of the train.
If you're travelling west, be at the front of the train.
Which applies to a lot of the Elizabeth line stations.
Generally, don't be in the middle of the train.
A lot of the exits and entrances and i/e change points
are either at the front or at the back.
But of course,
if you want to find the less busy part of a train,
sit in the middle.
More chance for a seat in the middle
if people get used to being at the ends
for their entrance or exit points.
So maybe, the strategy should be sit in the middle
for the quiet part, for a seat,
and then as your train is approaching your destination,
then get up, because they're walkthrough trains,
and either walk to the front or the back of the train.
I've worked it out. That's the way to do it.
Right. Are you ready with the wheel?
We've got the wheel.
The wheel. Would you like to extend the wheel?
Are you ready to get strange looks?
I'm used to strange looks, Geoff.
Ian, in your own time. Go.
Let's go!
All the pressure.
Didn't start my Garmin!
Or your Strava.
Oh no!
You could map it on Strava.
To Heathrow Airport and to Reading.
How we doing? What are we on?
I feel I should have a high-vis on.
A high-vis?
A high-vis. Pick those people up there.
No, surely it should be a purple vis.
A purple vis. Oh, one of those lovely Elizabeth line ones
that staff have got.
Yeah. Let's steal one of those.
You've gotta hit the door. Donk!
240 and a smidge.
I think some others are 260.
You know what we're going to have to do, don't you?
I'm gonna have to measure all...
You're gonna have to measure all of the platforms.
We don't know if that one's the same.
So we've got to do every platform of every station, twice.
Yeah.
Just in case, like, the curvy platform
at Tottenham Court Road is longer than the straight platform
at Tottenham Court Road.
Where do you measure the curvy platform?
Well, that is, oh do you do like a straight?
A straight line?
What would you do?
Middle. Middle for diddle.
Middle for diddle?
Middle for diddle. That's the way to do it.
That's not an expression!
Of course it's an expression!
I think I might have been a bit rude about Whitechapel
by saying it was the most boring one.
I could argue it's the most interesting one
because Whitechapel has actually got some station art work
which the other core stations,
Bond Street, TCR, Farringdon, don't have.
They do look very similar,
and when you roll into say Tottenham Court Road
on the cental line with its tiles,
you're like, "Oh, I know where I am!"
But here they all look a bit similar.
Except for Whitechapel which has got this.
"A Sunday Afternoon in Whitechapel"
Chantal Joffe, I'm going for, I apologise
if I've pronounced that wrong.
The artwork spanning the platforms
of the Elizabeth line station
here at Whitechapel
seek to reflect the local east end London neighbourhood.
The artist made the work as an avocation
of Sunday afternoons spent in the area.
The works were initially made
as small-scale paper collages
that were subsequently enlarged
and rendered into laser-cut aluminium.
TFL, why don't more of your stations
have interesting artworks like here at Whitechapel?
Either way, I've not really checked them out yet,
so I'm going to.
So set to 30 seconds of music,
we're going to count them,
here's all the artworks here at Whitechapel station.
(rhythmic, jazzy music)
We interrupt this montage after the 10th one
'cause I'm at the far eastern end of the eastbound platform
but the trains don't stop all the way down here
so it's unlikely that you're ever gonna see this one.
So, everybody, come to the eastern end
of the eastbound platform at Whitechapel
and take a selfie of yourself with this one
and let's just post that so that this one gets some love.
'Cause otherwise, no one's ever gonna come down here.
Back to the montage.
(jazzy music resumes)
And that's number 20.
So there's 10 on each side.
Symmetry. That makes me happy.
You like symmetry?
If it was unbalanced,
come in here, you're in the video.
Don't just stand over there.
Was it me, or did a train just run through empty?
Just now?
It did.
That's interesting.
It did not stop.
And have you noticed, then,
how people are all gathering at this end of the platform?
Nobody goes to the eastern end of Whitechapel station.
It's a long walk. Why would you go all the way down there?
How long is it?
240 and a smidge.
The smidge is important. Let's not forget the smidge.
But to exit the station, or to connect to the tube,
or the overground,
I feel there's gonna be a test here.
No. Lifts or escalators?
We need to do the lifts.
Could you lead on to the lifts, please, Ian.
Let's go to the lifts.
Because I have changed to the overground,
but I don't know where the lifts are.
This way.
Thanks for leading on.
This is a new discovery for me.
Is it a solitary lift?
What's down there then?
That's just straight to the other...
Okay.
Now we're in. All the buttons.
Where are we going?
It looks complicated.
It does, doesn't it?
Hang on, so it's -3 for the tube,
but -4 if you're going overground.
And we're on -7.
There's a cunning map here, but hang on,
this map hasn't got the levels on though.
So the level numbers here
aren't correlated in the diagram here.
Do you feel like they should?
Of course they should!
This is terrible user experience.
What level is this?
Minus three. So this is as far as we go in this.
There's stairs here.
I feel like those stairs go all the way down.
I didn't see stairs at the bottom.
I wanna know where those stairs go.
Let's go.
Okay, right. Here we go. Right, right.
So -4, and that lift is here,
and there's just a short staircase
that takes you between -5 and -4
and -4 is the overground platforms.
We're on the northbound overground here
and then -3 you can actually see up there.
That's the sort of floor that they built
above the overground platforms.
That didn't used to be there.
And that's the -3 level.
So look down there, you can see
the overground southbound platforms.
But could you try and find the way
to the northbound overground platforms, please?
By following the signs.
Sign there. Overground, northbound.
Platform five. Let's go.
And the escalators are to your right,
so if you'd come up the escalators,
the escalators come out there
Steps here.
But there's more steps here.
That takes you down to the northbound platform.
Just in time, look!
Ian just said something
very, very, very intuitive.
Say that again?
So these pink touch points,
I know what they're for,
but how does anyone else know
what that thing there is for?
And you are not a Londoner,
and you know what they're for.
It's to prove that you've changed somewhere on the way.
Yeah, exactly.
But you're right.
Why is there not some sort of notice
that tells people who don't know that's what it's for?
Why don't pink oyster pads have a sign by them
saying "Touch here to prove you came a cheaper way."
Which is what they need.
Why don't they?
So on the northbound overground sign,
we're going up from -3,
sorry, from -4.
The overground is -4.
And then the new sort of mezzanine concourse level
they've built is -3.
And that, then, lets you change down
to go back down to the District line
for the underground level.
Morning! How's it going?
Is it all mad?
Yeah.
Are people getting used to it?
Slowly.
Yes.
Just gonna walk backwards.
I'm going up these steps here.
Presumably this is then -2.
Ian's gonna get the lift down there.
Are you all right?
See you in a second. You get the lift.
And this takes you up to the gate line area.
Ian will appear from this lift like magic.
How was it?
Short.
And then where's the tube, please?
Where's the tube, Ian?
Oh, geez. This way, isn't it?
This way.
We don't actually need to get down to tube platform level
'cause this has been here for a while.
I did a YouTube short a while ago
when they redid this bit.
But yeah, there's lift that side
and a lift that side, and that takes you down
to the District and Hammersmith & City lines.
What I'd like to do is take you to the gate line
and show you the other exit/entrance.
Cool.
(card reader beeps)
Main entrance/exit is down there.
Whitechapel road.
And there's a lift to negotiate this.
But at this point, if you do a 180,
ooh, look, there's another way out here.
Let's go down there.
And that is the rear entrance, Durward Street,
at Whitechapel.
So same gate line.
Ah, there we go! With limited opening hours.
They're not that limited, are they?
It only closes at night.
I feel like we should get a shot of the main entrance
of the Whitechapel station
just to confirm that it's there.
Yeah, absolutely.
So there you go. We're all heading off home.
Please press subscribe.
Thanks to Ian, and also randomly,
Mr. Andy Calling All Stations
just randomly turned up.
You happened to be here by chance?
Funny seeing you here.
What a small world. What are the chances.
Do you want to plug your video, Andy,
and then run off onto the train?
Yeah, I actually have to go to work.
So Calling All Stations, we did an exposé, I suppose
on all the stations, just like Geoff did, so.
But you did it in one amazing combat video.
Real quick, can you ask everyone to press subscribe?
Press subscribe, smash the bell.
I think that's the thing, isn't it.
And watch Andy, too.
Say bye, Ian.
Bye!
It's gonna dwell now.
It is. No, there we go!
(alarm beeps, doors whir closed)
Do you watch his channel?
What channel?