wrote:
On 29.09.16 12:06, Recliner wrote:
On Wed, 28 Sep 2016 16:29:24 +0100, "
wrote:

On 28.09.16 15:02, Recliner wrote:
On Wed, 28 Sep 2016 14:51:36 +0100, "
wrote:

On 28.09.16 14:07, Recliner wrote:
On Wed, 28 Sep 2016 10:52:28 +0000 (UTC), d wrote:

On Wed, 28 Sep 2016 10:32:54 -0000 (UTC)
Recliner wrote:
wrote:
Rode on the bakerloo for the first time in years today. My god the 72 stock
is looking and sounding tired. Whoever is keeping them running is certainly
earning their money. Anyone know when replacements on the way? IIRC there is
going to be a block order for a number of lines.

Yes, see the many discussions on the NTfL, some of which you participated
in.

I was wondering about the state of play now, rather than what tfl promised
X years ago.

According to this report, bids were due to be submitted two days ago:
http://www.railwaygazette.com/news/business/single-view/view/bombardier-hitachi-joint-venture-to-bid-for-new-tube-for-london.html

Alstom, CAF and Siemens are also bidding.

The 1972 stock probably won't be replaced for at least a decade, as
the 1973 stock is first in the queue.

I would think that they would prioritise replacing the 73ts as this is
one of the first things that many people see when arriving into London
via LHR.

Yes, but that's not the reason. The plan is to resignal the Picc for a
more intensive service, which needs the new trains.

I thought that they were also planning to convert the line to crewless,
similar to what they have done on the Paris Metro's Line 1 and what they
were planning to do on Line 4.

That's a long-term aspiration, which is unlikely to be achieved when
the NTfL first enters service. They would need to install PEDs in the
underground stations, and some sort of obstacle detectors in the open
air stations.

I thought that this was all a part of the plan.

I wouldn't go so far as to call it a plan. It may happen one day, but not
by the time the new trains enter service. They'll enter service with a
driver at the front, even if that driver has very little to do. The
self-driving capabilities might just be used to reverse the trains at the
end of the line, and perhaps to take them into the depot.

A more urgent priority is to cool the deep tunnels to make the new
airconditioned trains workable.

On 29.09.16 0:52, Recliner wrote:
wrote:
On Wed, 28 Sep 2016 15:25:56 +0100
Recliner wrote:
The Pyongyang Metro uses ex-West Berlin U-Bahn stock dating from
around 1960. It looked clean and in good nick when I travelled on it
in 2013:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/reclin...57633424928749

I'm impressed you got away with taking those pictures without getting hauled
off for interrogation. Very ornate stations tho I don't think it'll ever be
on my to-visit list frankly.

Yes, those three stations are very ornate; others we passed through were
more utilitarian, like most things in North Korea. With a couple of
exceptions, photography wasn't restricted in the areas tourists can visit.
The bits they really don't want you to photograph aren't open to visit at
all.

Actually, I found some more detailed pictures of the Pyongyang Metro, to
include the Hyeoksin Line.

http://www.earthnutshell.com/stoppin...ongyang-metro/

They changed the lighting at Kaeseon station, BTW: Whereas earlier it
was a row of fluorescent lights in a grill, it is now separate hanging
lights.

One place where you can't take a camera in is the sacred waxworks, the
Kumsusan Palace of the Sun:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/reclin...7633470265514/

Did you see the bodies of the Great Leader and the Dear Leader? I
thought that this hall was closed to all, save a few categories, such as
high-ranking members of the WPK and KPA, high-ranking visiting dignitaries.

I also thought that "outer party" members could occasionally visit, and
that this was a true honour.


The other is the international gifts museum, showing off the often bizarre
and tasteless gifts received by the Kim dynasty over the years:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/reclin...7634297202747/

The guide was perplexed how few gifts were from the UK. They were mainly
from British admirers of the Juche ideology (people like our friend Hils),

Or a few others that come to mind.

In both places, you were free to take as many exterior pics as you wanted.
Curiously, we were far more restricted in what we could visit, see and
photograph on the southern side of the DMZ; the northern side was far more
relaxed:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/reclin...7633469222908/

Were the South Korean soldiers taking pictures of you?

On 29.09.16 10:21, Recliner wrote:
wrote:
On Wed, 28 Sep 2016 23:52:59 -0000 (UTC)
Recliner wrote:
wrote:
On Wed, 28 Sep 2016 15:25:56 +0100
Recliner wrote:
The Pyongyang Metro uses ex-West Berlin U-Bahn stock dating from
around 1960. It looked clean and in good nick when I travelled on it
in 2013:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/reclin...57633424928749

I'm impressed you got away with taking those pictures without getting hauled
off for interrogation. Very ornate stations tho I don't think it'll ever be
on my to-visit list frankly.

Yes, those three stations are very ornate; others we passed through were
more utilitarian, like most things in North Korea. With a couple of
exceptions, photography wasn't restricted in the areas tourists can visit.
The bits they really don't want you to photograph aren't open to visit at
all.

Just out of interest, whats this?

https://www.flickr.com/photos/reclin...7633470265514/

Looks like some sort of cremation memorial but it got loads of different
languages. Is this where old western stalinists come to be cremated these
days?

It's the foyer in the base of the Juche Tower, which celebrates the DPRK's
ideology, a weird sort of communism crossed with religion (ie, worship of
the Kims). Those plaques are from foreign supporters of it (mostly extreme
leftwing nutjobs, like our friend Hils). I took this picture of the tower
from across the river, from the balcony that the regime's leaders use to
inspect the grand parades through Kim Il-sung Squa

https://www.flickr.com/photos/recliner/8729042313/in/album-72157633470265514/

The tower is claimed to be the world's tallest free-standing stone tower,
and it's deliberately slightly taller than the Washington Monument.
Pyongyang also has an Arc de Triomphe bigger than the Paris one, and a
fountain bigger than the Geneva one (when they have enough electrical power
for the pumps, which is seldom):

https://www.flickr.com/photos/recliner/8727878551/in/album-72157633470265514/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/recliner/8735159420/in/album-72157633470265514/



You forgot the Ryugyeong Hotel and the building on the DMZ's northern
side.

I have indeed noticed that the North Koreans were trying to one-up their
Western counterparts, though they weren't the only ones.

The boulevard in Bucharest leading to Palatul Parlamentului, which the
late Nicolae Ceaușescu built in the 80s, is deliberately longer than
Champs d'Elysee -- but only by a few centimetres, IIRC.

On 29.09.16 17:15, Recliner wrote:
wrote:
On 29.09.16 12:06, Recliner wrote:
On Wed, 28 Sep 2016 16:29:24 +0100, "
wrote:

On 28.09.16 15:02, Recliner wrote:
On Wed, 28 Sep 2016 14:51:36 +0100, "
wrote:

On 28.09.16 14:07, Recliner wrote:
On Wed, 28 Sep 2016 10:52:28 +0000 (UTC), d wrote:

On Wed, 28 Sep 2016 10:32:54 -0000 (UTC)
Recliner wrote:
wrote:
Rode on the bakerloo for the first time in years today. My god the 72 stock
is looking and sounding tired. Whoever is keeping them running is certainly
earning their money. Anyone know when replacements on the way? IIRC there is
going to be a block order for a number of lines.

Yes, see the many discussions on the NTfL, some of which you participated
in.

I was wondering about the state of play now, rather than what tfl promised
X years ago.

According to this report, bids were due to be submitted two days ago:
http://www.railwaygazette.com/news/business/single-view/view/bombardier-hitachi-joint-venture-to-bid-for-new-tube-for-london.html

Alstom, CAF and Siemens are also bidding.

The 1972 stock probably won't be replaced for at least a decade, as
the 1973 stock is first in the queue.

I would think that they would prioritise replacing the 73ts as this is
one of the first things that many people see when arriving into London
via LHR.

Yes, but that's not the reason. The plan is to resignal the Picc for a
more intensive service, which needs the new trains.

I thought that they were also planning to convert the line to crewless,
similar to what they have done on the Paris Metro's Line 1 and what they
were planning to do on Line 4.

That's a long-term aspiration, which is unlikely to be achieved when
the NTfL first enters service. They would need to install PEDs in the
underground stations, and some sort of obstacle detectors in the open
air stations.

I thought that this was all a part of the plan.

I wouldn't go so far as to call it a plan. It may happen one day, but not
by the time the new trains enter service. They'll enter service with a
driver at the front, even if that driver has very little to do. The
self-driving capabilities might just be used to reverse the trains at the
end of the line, and perhaps to take them into the depot.

They have that feature on the U-Bahn Wien, and I heard that LUL wanted
to introduce that on the Northern Line, though the RMT killed that idea.

wrote:
On 29.09.16 0:52, Recliner wrote:
wrote:
On Wed, 28 Sep 2016 15:25:56 +0100
Recliner wrote:
The Pyongyang Metro uses ex-West Berlin U-Bahn stock dating from
around 1960. It looked clean and in good nick when I travelled on it
in 2013:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/reclin...57633424928749

I'm impressed you got away with taking those pictures without getting hauled
off for interrogation. Very ornate stations tho I don't think it'll ever be
on my to-visit list frankly.

Yes, those three stations are very ornate; others we passed through were
more utilitarian, like most things in North Korea. With a couple of
exceptions, photography wasn't restricted in the areas tourists can visit.
The bits they really don't want you to photograph aren't open to visit at
all.

Actually, I found some more detailed pictures of the Pyongyang Metro, to
include the Hyeoksin Line.

http://www.earthnutshell.com/stoppin...ongyang-metro/

They changed the lighting at Kaeseon station, BTW: Whereas earlier it
was a row of fluorescent lights in a grill, it is now separate hanging
lights.

One place where you can't take a camera in is the sacred waxworks, the
Kumsusan Palace of the Sun:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/reclin...7633470265514/

Did you see the bodies of the Great Leader and the Dear Leader? I
thought that this hall was closed to all, save a few categories, such as
high-ranking members of the WPK and KPA, high-ranking visiting dignitaries.

I also thought that "outer party" members could occasionally visit, and
that this was a true honour.

Yes, we saw both bodies, in their open casks. They're in separate palace
wings, each preceded by halls full of pictures and objects celebrating that
particular despot's glorious rule. You know you're getting close to the
holy of holies when the background music gets more mournful, then you have
to go through an airlock with air shower, so you don't bring in external
dust. You then form up four abreast to enter the sacred room. You have to
bow on three of the coffin sides, and try to look serious.

The locals really do get emotional, many in tears. I don't think they're
putting it on: they really think they're in the presence of god. To my
surprise, they seem more affected in Kim Jong-il's room than in his
father's, Kim Il-sung. Maybe most were too young to remember the president
(yes, Kim Il-sung remains president for all eternity, despite having died
in 1994).

After Kim Jong-il's room, each group gets treated to a lecture by a woman
who sounds just like the North Korean TV news announcer we see after each
nuclear or missile test, with exactly the same sonorous vocal cadences.
It's in Korean, of course, so she has to keep stopping for our local guide
to translate into English. As every foreign group goes through exactly the
same sequence, our guide must have done this hundreds of times, and must
know the speech by heart, but still has to translate it afresh each time.

The waxworks is only open to foreigners on certain days. This seems to be
because they have to set up a separate entrance with its own cloakroom for
possessions; foreigners have trouble understanding that they have to
*completely* empty their pockets, and not just follow airport security
rules, so you keep getting sent back if you left so much as a tissue in
your pocket. It's apparently against the DPRK constitution to take such
things into the sacred presence of the immortals. You also have to be
dressed respectfully (ties, closed shoes, etc).

Once you finally get it right, foreigners (and, I suppose, privileged
locals) are swept past the long queues of locals, all dressed in their
finest (men in uniforms or their shiny local synthetic black suits, women
in uniform or colourful traditional dess). You feel a bit guilty at being
whisked past the long, solemn queue, while treating it all as a bit of a
lark, when the queuing locals are anticipating the most profound experience
of their lives.

I reckon they were emotional than the faithful patiently queuing to get
into the Aedicule in the church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/reclin...7661199185941/


The other is the international gifts museum, showing off the often bizarre
and tasteless gifts received by the Kim dynasty over the years:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/reclin...7634297202747/

The guide was perplexed how few gifts were from the UK. They were mainly
from British admirers of the Juche ideology (people like our friend Hils),

Or a few others that come to mind.

In both places, you were free to take as many exterior pics as you wanted.
Curiously, we were far more restricted in what we could visit, see and
photograph on the southern side of the DMZ; the northern side was far more
relaxed:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/reclin...7633469222908/

Were the South Korean soldiers taking pictures of you?

We couldn't see any. The American and South Korean soldiers kept out of
sight, and of course there were no visitors on the southern side, as the
southern DMZ was closed because of the high tension at the time.

On the south, we weren't allowed into the DMZ, or even to take pictures of
it from the observation point; there were no photography restrictions on
the north, and the cooperative KPA officers were happy to join in selfies,
or take your group pics for you. I suppose the difference was that the
south was afraid the north was planning an invasion; the north knew they
had no invasion plans that day.