In message of Tue, 28 Sep 2010
10:40:30 in uk.transport.london, Steve Fitzgerald ]
writes
In message
s.com, bob writes

Out if idle curiosity, at what point on the Heathrow loop does
westbound become eastbound? Was there a change with the opening of
terminal 5? Also, is the direction maintained for the length of a
whole line, or do they change with geography? On the Jubilee line,
for example, from a compass perspective, what is northbound in the
east is southbound in the west for the same "logical" direction.

From Hatton Cross to PiccEx Junction (where the T5 extension goes off)
you are referred to as being in the loop. As you can only go one way,
it's not a problem.

Regarding an earlier comment about why the Picc uses east-west when it
'patently isn't'. Well it's safety; the Picc has been defined as an
east - west railway and references internally stick to that. After
all, it is possible to approach Cockfosters heading virtually west on
the eastbound but it would be silly to keep changing the references as
that would just cause confusion. Once we know which is the eastbound
or westbound road it doesn't matter which actual direction it goes; we
could call them direction Fred and direction John for all it matters as
long as everyone knows what we're talking about.

From a customer perspective, all Piccadilly platforms are Eastbound or
Westbound, apart from Finsbury Park where Northbound and Southbound are
used. I assumed this is for compatibility with Victoria Line directions.

Do internal references at FPK use Eastbound and Westbound or NS?

I may as well list my understanding for all London Underground lines:

Bakerloo: NS

Central: EW; flips at Hainault.

Circle: EW except SN at Aldgate. Flips at Aldgate and Gloucester Road.

District: EW

Hammersmith & City: EW

Jubilee: NS - Stanmore to Green Park - otherwise WE

Metropolitan: NS except WE at Chesham, Uxbridge - West Harrow, Great
Portland Street - Liverpool Street.

Northern: NS

Piccadilly: EW except NS at Finsbury Park

Victoria: NS

Waterloo & City: NS
--
Walter Briscoe