floating in the city

london mayor demands return of the river thames

Above: The London Underground Tube map without the River Thames.

London Mayor Boris Johnson has demanded the return of the River Thames after discovering that the world famous river has vanished from the London Underground Tube Map (see above).

The latest version of the Tube Map, published in September, has been edited by Transport for London designers who removed the Thames because they felt the map had become "cluttered" and had lost its "simplicity".

Now they have been forced to replace the historic waterway by the Mayor, but it will take them until November, presumably because it is a very big river with a lot of water.

Mr Johnson said: "I hope Londoners will imagine the Thames in place until it reappears on the maps, and will not forget their beautiful river."

Floating in the City says: perhaps the Tube Map should include the London canal system, which after all is part of the London transport network and even includes tunnels.

high speed youtube canal trip round london

The speed limit on London's canals is 4 mph, and everyone knows the canals are slow. But now, even if it is raining outside, you can go on a high speed trip round the 'London Loop' in less than an hour on a souped up narrowboat, with no chance of a speeding ticket thanks to this video by PaulandtheBear. The trip includes the Regents Canal, some great views from the middle of the River Thames at top speed and back to point zero via the Grand Union. They even catch the 'floating in the city' mooring as they zoom past on the fastest narrowboat in London, yet somehow they manage to leave no wake at all. This video is a bit how a 'Waterways View' version of Google's 'Street View' might be. On the other hand at those speeds the 'London Loop' could become the waterways equilivent of CERN.