All stations I saw appeared litter free with no signs of vandalism,
however it is probably fair to say every single one looked very dirty
and smelt like a public toilet! Most of the stations I used did show
signs of renovation work in progress although in a couple of cases
this meant that platforms and passageways were open with surfaces
potholed while they were in the process of relaying them. Also there
were no staff to be seen inside the ticket barriers on most stations.

They seem to be people who sit all day in a glass box, who you can't
understand what is being said.

One thing that caused me a great deal of confusion is that the
stations often have seperate external entrances for each direction of
travel, and no internal bridge/underpass if you enter via the wrong
one. Sometimes these external entrances were a block apart with no
signposting between them. I guess this is something you get used to,
but as a first time visitor to a station it is baffling.

The map is huge and confusing. The only thing I remember was the Q diamond,
and never understood what it did, compared to the Normal Q line.

About the same as the UK, less evidence of tagging on the trains
compared to the UK however they had a far worse etching problem,
probably down to some lines having everthing internal covered in
stainless steel plating. The newer trains had dot-matrix screens and
clear recorded announcements, just like the Jubilee and Northern
lines. One line also had lights behind each station on the route maps
above the windows which indicated the trains current position on the
line. One thing missing on all lines was seat cushions, the moulded
plastic seats quickly become uncomfortable. On most trains you could
look out the front window (drivers cab is on one side) which was kind
of cool to stand by for a near drivers eye view.

When I was there I was on a train that was announcing every station wrong
because it was an express train, used on a local service.

No tube maps posted on platforms (usually the only one is outside the
gateline), no destination/time indicators on platforms, most
announcements muffled and distorted (yes, much worse than London).
Signs were of variable quality. Given that multiple destinations
depart from the same platforms, and there are express/stopping
varients of services this lack of info didn't help.

The one thing that annoyed me. You swipe the tickets in a turnstile like
they do with Credit cards in a shop, but my card refused to swipe and I
spoke to the unhelpful man in the glass box and he muffled something to me
in another language, and he opened the side gate, which I went through, and
held open for about 3 others. Their revenue protection is awful. Anyway, I
missed a train and sat on a horrible platform with 10 buskers and watched
the dogs/rats run along the track and loud trains whizz through the middle.
Think of the Central line at bank and times the noise level by 5.
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