Adventures in the Underworld – and twinning the Tubes

Simon Calder’s Travel Week [View in browser]( [The Independent]( [Travel] Simon Calder’s Travel Week [Simon Calder]( Written by Simon Calder | September 24, 2021 A 4am cycle ride across south London to a Tube station may not sound the most glamorous assignment in the history of travel journalism. But goodness, it was rewarding. I gatecrashed a public transport party populated by gleeful Tube enthusiasts plus local residents whose property values have just doubled. The occasion: [the opening of the capital’s Northern Line extension from Kennington via Nine Elms to Battersea Power Station](. While London mayor Sadiq Khan and transport secretary Grant Shapps mingled with other dignitaries, a choir performed a creditable version of The Jam’s ‘Going Underground’ and I met dozens of cheerful locals and the happy people of the Underworld. Open day: London's newest Tube terminus, Battersea Power Station station (as purists insist it is called) “It’s a moment of history,” said Seb from Essex. “I just love the railways.” Chris from east London told me: “It’s my first chance to do a first train. It’s something that doesn’t happen every day.” John, who lives two minutes’ walk away, predicted the link will change his social life “Getting friends to come here has been a nightmare because we’re cut off.” Meanwhile purists deplored the sign above the entrance to the £1.1bn project. What’s wrong with “Battersea Power Station”? Well, to align with every other stop on the Tube, it should read “Battersea Power Station station”. My suggestion to rename the Northern Line the North-South Line to recognise its increasing presence on the less-fashionable side of the Thames was politely ignored. Instead, everyone shared the joy of Lia Calzolari from Hertfordshire. She declared: “I’m the happiest I’ve ever been.” Waiting game: Tube enthusiasts await the first Northern Line train to Battersea Power Station Transport for London, which runs the Tube, is far from joyful. Among its many problems: the overseas visitors who normally pump hundreds of millions of pounds into the system are staying away from the UK. So I present a cunning plan to lure foreign tourists to Britain: Tube Twinning. The idea is to inspire visits and stimulate exploration by pairing each of London's 272 Underground stops with a station in another city. Try it yourself: Bank merges with New York's Wall Street. Waterloo twins with Austerlitz on the Paris Métro, celebrating each nation's most famous victory. Covent Garden has a flower duet with Las Rosas in Madrid. And back on the Northern Line, Angel embraces Angel Gallardo in Buenos Aires. Let me know, via s@hols.tv, your perfect subterranean pairing. Destination of the week: “Oscars museum” in LA Dream Academy: the latest addition to the appeal of Los Angeles As [the US opens up to British visitors]( from November, the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures takes a cue to open its doors. The much-delayed debut of the “Oscars museum” in Los Angeles will be next Thursday 30 September. “The largest institution in the United States devoted to the arts, sciences, and artists of moviemaking” promises the wide-screen story of the art, technology, people and social impact of cinema. If you plan a Californian Christmas, note that the doors open at 10am every day of the year – including 25 December. Deals of the week: FlixBus UK and across Scotland - One reason National Express and Stagecoach (owners of Megabus) are [contemplating a merger]( is the looming green menace in the shape of the FlixBus empire. The German brand is expanding in the UK, luring passengers on board its acid green inter-city coaches with low fares. Even last-minute bookings are cheap: London to Bristol is £3, London-Manchester (via an interesting route taking in Leicester and Stoke) £7. Booking further ahead, the Glasgow-London fare is just £10 on some October departures, for a 10-hour overnight journey via Edinburgh, Newcastle and Sunderland. - Long weekends are set to make a comeback when [the rules for returning to England ease on Monday 4 October](. From Manchester to the fine German city of Cologne, Ryanair has a £30 return trip out on 1 October, back on the morning of 4 October – the first day on which fully vaccinated passengers will not need a test-before-travel. The post-arrival PCR test you are still required to take is likely to cost more. Question of the week: Could more countries exit the UK’s ‘red list’? Question: Will the UK “red list” change on a set schedule as before, ie every three weeks, or are countries stuck until the new year? Answer: There are currently 54 nations on the UK's red list – the highest risk category, from which 11 nights in hotel quarantine is obligatory on arrival. Since May countries have been moved between “traffic light” categories every three weeks – on Wednesday this week eight nations, including Turkey, Egypt and Kenya, left the red list. Announcing the changes, transport secretary Grant Shapps said new rules on international travel will remain in place at least until the new year. This led many people to infer that the regular reviews would end. But the government has confirmed they will continue. Expect announcements on 7 and 28 October, 18 November and 9 December. I predict that by midwinter the number of countries on the danger list will be far fewer than the current 54 – with South Africa among the first to shed the burden. 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