All Tube Stations Have Fifteen Floors

Sdílet
Vložit
  • čas přidán 15. 01. 2018
  • A mention in the Tufnell Park video that I made last week caused some confusion ... how could 110 steps be the equivalent to a 15 storey building?
    Ah! Yes, so I went out to explain a running gag that we have, involving London Underground stations and the signs that they have at siaircase which may not be entirely accurate ...
    Music by Joakim Karud / joakimkarud

Komentáře • 1,7K

  • @geofftech2
    @geofftech2  Před 6 lety +494

    If you like the "Tubespotting" excerpt, then you all definitely need to watch this clip too ... czcams.com/video/0peduIF3DiY/video.html

    • @CBTvideos
      @CBTvideos Před 6 lety +1

      I was so hoping for a link!

    • @davekirwin
      @davekirwin Před 6 lety

      Haha - I forgot about that.

    • @andrewmorris483
      @andrewmorris483 Před 6 lety

      Geoff Marshall Sorry, stupid suburbian American here, why make the time stations so deep?

    • @roderickjoyce6716
      @roderickjoyce6716 Před 6 lety +15

      It's not a stupid question. Hampstead station is deep because Hampstead is on a hill and the tube line is more or less level all the way through from Central London. The other two stations are deep because the tube lines (small section tunnels, small trains) were built after the main-line railways and the Metropolitan and District Railways (sub-surface lines, normal-sized trains). They had to go under the earlier lines, the Thames, and assorted sewers, gas mains, hydraulic and pneumatic power supplies.

    • @charleschuckfinley3304
      @charleschuckfinley3304 Před 6 lety +18

      Geoff mate - would it not have been easier to count the steps going down and then taking the lift back up?

  • @UKcuber
    @UKcuber Před 6 lety +6588

    In this video you climed 688 steps, which is equivalent to about 15 storeys.

    • @mashiroikaze
      @mashiroikaze Před 6 lety +107

      I only regret that I have but one like to give for this comment...

    • @dawndoherty1
      @dawndoherty1 Před 6 lety +17

      53 Stories

    • @garyb8373
      @garyb8373 Před 5 lety +209

      He climbed the equivalent of three 15 storey buildings, and that's the equivalent of 15 storeys.

    • @TomyLobo
      @TomyLobo Před 5 lety +4

      @hitter kitten and you don't even have to tell your fellow players which mode of transport you used.
      encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTxeXGRtp4xx-dU7lK8hTTe1abae9RdQhLoXlnrg5zIygDzewL_jg

    • @LemoncloudGT
      @LemoncloudGT Před 5 lety +29

      Ur house has like maybe 20 steps somet witch is equilivent to a 15 storey building

  • @John2Ward
    @John2Ward Před 6 lety +2315

    If this video had been just 67 seconds longer, it would have told a 15 minute story!

    • @geofftech2
      @geofftech2  Před 6 lety +440

      i know .. that did actually occur to me only as i was uploading it!!

    • @12many4you
      @12many4you Před 4 lety +78

      You could have filled that time walking up a 15 story building

    • @0tto-Gam1ng
      @0tto-Gam1ng Před 3 lety +5

      Genius!

    • @smallstudiodesign
      @smallstudiodesign Před 3 lety +19

      ... in keeping with the theme we can call it “ *15 minutes* ” ⁉️😂

    • @marwanmtb6921
      @marwanmtb6921 Před 3 lety +1

      I’m you 1k like

  • @mcgherkinstudios
    @mcgherkinstudios Před 3 lety +755

    *This comment section has 1.7K comments*
    equivalent to 15 floors
    *Do not scroll except in an emergency*

  • @alex_evstyugov
    @alex_evstyugov Před 5 lety +1479

    This video makes me really happy that I live on the ground floor.
    If I lived on the second floor, I'd have to climb 20 steps every day. That's equivalent to a 15-storey building!

  • @gr6e
    @gr6e Před 3 lety +717

    This dude looks like Daniel Craig if he worked a normal job

    • @dv2915
      @dv2915 Před 3 lety +14

      More exactly like a slightly-less-good-looking brother of Daniel Craig's.

    • @Laurastar2009
      @Laurastar2009 Před 3 lety +80

      He looks like the love-child of Daniel Craig and Jeremy Renner.

    • @roisinnigcrainn7722
      @roisinnigcrainn7722 Před 3 lety +2

      You're right and I don't like it

    • @LoreleyLz
      @LoreleyLz Před 3 lety +1

      @@Laurastar2009 OMG thanks I'm not the only one, I've been thinking about it the whole video 😅

    • @Hannah-wx7er
      @Hannah-wx7er Před 3 lety +3

      More like Tom hardy imo

  • @dj1NM3
    @dj1NM3 Před 4 lety +336

    Maybe the TFL planners thought "15 stories" sounded intimidating enough that it would encourage people to use the lifts, instead of having the "emergency stairs" full of people going normally to and from the stations?

    • @lucasduboc434
      @lucasduboc434 Před 3 lety +17

      doens't solve the 17 storyes of hampstead

  • @ComradeJX8P
    @ComradeJX8P Před 3 lety +433

    I love how it seems that “15 storeys” is just used as a synonym for “a lot of storeys”, just like you’d say someone is “a hundred” when they are just very old. There’s always a number that takes on an abstract rather than quantitative meaning, and for number of storeys to climb this number is clearly 15.

    • @1blisslife
      @1blisslife Před 3 lety +17

      Well, that's the storey.

    • @pgtv14
      @pgtv14 Před 3 lety +10

      Or when you're building an empire, so you sign a "99 year lease" on someone else's land

    • @LashanR
      @LashanR Před 3 lety +16

      There's a lot of psychology at play with the TfL signage. 15 storeys seems to be the sweet spot for discouraging people from bothering with the stairs while still sounding like a reasonable number. They could have been accurate with Hampstead though.

    • @jannikheidemann3805
      @jannikheidemann3805 Před 3 lety +1

      @@theKobus That's what's used in the Bible mostly, isn't it?

    • @Salsmachev
      @Salsmachev Před 3 lety

      @@theKobus Yup it's from the Hebrew. They have the same expression in Persian, too (or at least early modern Persian, which is what I studied, no idea if they use it in contemporary Persian)

  • @Samcomply
    @Samcomply Před 3 lety +192

    What’s so awesome about this video is: 1) the purity of the joke 2) that you went to each spot, measured, and climbed the staircase 3) you showed math and it seems like you have a love for it, which is awesome. This is just such a wholesome and beautiful video.

  • @Blue2x2x
    @Blue2x2x Před 3 lety +232

    Sign: "This staircase has 198 steps. Do not use except in an emergency!"
    Me (With a box of slinkies): ...hmmm

    • @SuperZeve
      @SuperZeve Před 3 lety +15

      Sounds like it time for AN EMERGENCY TEST OF SLINKIES

    • @CrypticRite
      @CrypticRite Před 3 lety +2

      Me, a troll: You may pass.

    • @alexia3552
      @alexia3552 Před 3 lety

      Now I have an emergency, I need to see that

    • @paulkurilecz4209
      @paulkurilecz4209 Před 2 lety +3

      When I was last in London, I used the Hampstead station quite a bit. I actually tried to find a slinky and let it go down the staircase.
      What amazes me is that many of the Tube stations are over 100 years old and are still in good condition.

    • @TimpBizkit
      @TimpBizkit Před 2 lety

      Try it at Angel on the up escalator.

  • @domramsey
    @domramsey Před 6 lety +1670

    West Finchley has no steps. That's equivalent to 15 storeys!

    • @johnnyvvlog
      @johnnyvvlog Před 6 lety +4

      By that analogy West Hampstead must be about a 20 stories equivalent 🙄

    • @gorillaau
      @gorillaau Před 6 lety +4

      Many tall tales?

    • @Ironbuket
      @Ironbuket Před 6 lety +4

      It says 'floors' not 'storeys'? Theres a bit of a slope down from the road to the platform and if you are going south you have to use the steps over the bridge. Thats got to be worth at least 4 or 5 floors. Some of the bigger stations probably have a hundred seperate floors? ;)

    • @silasgrizzell5508
      @silasgrizzell5508 Před 6 lety +5

      Not stories. *floors*. Every time there's a pavement break in the floor, it's a new floor. Or perhaps every step could be considered a floor as well.

    • @logan-kf6nl
      @logan-kf6nl Před 6 lety

      and east finchley

  • @YixelGaming
    @YixelGaming Před 6 lety +1340

    I wonder if the reason behind it is psychological. They employ a lot of subtle traffic control systems to keep people moving maybe they have worked out that by saying 15 stories, it put's people off using the stairs even when the station is busy.

    • @poppyEars
      @poppyEars Před 5 lety +192

      Timmity3 maybe law of diminishing returns, don’t want to scare people off during a real emergency?

    • @mattpotter8725
      @mattpotter8725 Před 5 lety +88

      @@timotheatae Yeh, I was just thinking this. Do people think 14 stories, that's nothing, I'll give that a go, but 15 pushes it over the limit. It would be interesting to try to find out when this signage was introduced and who suggested it, and what their reasoning was!!!

    • @B3RyL
      @B3RyL Před 5 lety +230

      The best explanation I could come up with is that 15 storeys sits near the bottom threshold of various definitions of a "high-rise" building. Most high-rise buildings in London are residential tower blocks, so a lot of Londoners have a good idea how tall 15 storeys actually is. It's a lot of climbing, but in an emergency it's definitely doable. Putting that number at 20 or more storeys would be pushing this idea into a commercial skyscraper area, the kind you see in the City, and that's more than most people are comfortable climbing, even in an emergency (obviously not talking about "fiery death" kind of emergency, but rather "please move to the nearest exit for no apparent reason" kind of emergency). So 15 storeys is A) close enough to the actual height of the staircase, B) high enough to deter casual use as people who live in high-rises know it's quite a climb, and C) not so high as to deter people from using the staircase in case there's actual emergency.

    • @mattpotter8725
      @mattpotter8725 Před 5 lety +30

      @@B3RyL I agree with you, however the vast majority of people in London don't live in building with 15 floors, I don't think I've ever lived or worked in a building with 15 floors in London and I've worked in quite a few locations, maybe this is the point. I think it's probably just a generic signage and maybe they bought in bulk and so have the same number of floors on each sign. It is to put people off going by the stairs if they aren't physically capable of doing so. I've worked on the 6th floor and during fire practices had to walk down and back up 6 flights of stairs and that was reasonably challenging. I have walked up some of these stair wells on the underground and they seem to go on forever so shouldn't be taken lightly, especially if you aren't that fit or have a condition.

    • @JK_Clark
      @JK_Clark Před 5 lety +31

      @@mattpotter8725 16 is right out

  • @ARMusicOfficial2004
    @ARMusicOfficial2004 Před 3 lety +1193

    The building with the most stories is a Library

    • @CAG2
      @CAG2 Před 3 lety +7

      Nice

    • @donald12998
      @donald12998 Před 3 lety +43

      The world record for most stories gone through in a single day was set by David Parkerson, who went through 98 stories on september eleventh, 2001.

    • @CAG2
      @CAG2 Před 3 lety +3

      @@donald12998 Nice

    • @vect0r858
      @vect0r858 Před 3 lety +1

      But which one?

    • @pi_
      @pi_ Před 3 lety +14

      I‘m ashamed dislikes aren’t shown on youtube comments

  • @jamesmccann531
    @jamesmccann531 Před 6 lety +1413

    What TFL should do is put a slide down those spiral staircases.

    • @BenTheMiner
      @BenTheMiner Před 6 lety +52

      But it's usually for going up in emergencies

    • @ianmcclavin
      @ianmcclavin Před 6 lety +22

      They tried SOMETHING like that once at Holloway Road if I remember...a spiral escalator I believe.

    • @stanmarsh14
      @stanmarsh14 Před 6 lety +4

      Jamie And The Magic Torch style :D

    • @PoisonousPen
      @PoisonousPen Před 5 lety +26

      for emergency fun.

    • @andymadden8183
      @andymadden8183 Před 5 lety +16

      Yes, they did try a spiral escalator at Holloway Road. It broke down on its first day of operation. Some components have been salvaged and are on display at the London Transport Museum.

  • @uwlodar
    @uwlodar Před 6 lety +1053

    They need to put the “15 floors” sign at an above ground station

    • @biponacci
      @biponacci Před 6 lety +62

      H0ll0aloio
      This station is 15 storeys above ground

    • @ronaldraygoon
      @ronaldraygoon Před 5 lety +52

      The northbound platform at Woodside Park is exactly at street level as you get off the train, fifteen floors above the platform.

    • @denelson83
      @denelson83 Před 5 lety +2

      Or at a street level station.

    • @isweariwillmurderevilowlso8985
      @isweariwillmurderevilowlso8985 Před 5 lety +4

      How about build a station in a skyscraper on the 15th floor

    • @djedg10
      @djedg10 Před 5 lety

      czcams.com/video/iCEQoCXJ_so/video.html

  • @davidostrowski679
    @davidostrowski679 Před 5 lety +75

    My appendix burst on a Piccadilly line train on Valentine's Day 2014. I managed to get off at Gloucester Road and go up in the lift to call an ambulance. Later that year the lifts were replaced. It's a good job I didn't have to go up the stairs!

  • @carlin6493
    @carlin6493 Před 3 lety +68

    underground stations: 15 storeys deep
    street level stations: 15 storeys
    lifted stations: -15 storeys deep

  • @SimonLanghof
    @SimonLanghof Před 6 lety +1695

    "Do not use except in an emergency" - The need for an emergency workout does count?

    • @jacobiscool144
      @jacobiscool144 Před 6 lety +27

      Simon Langhof of course, what about if you can't go gym and want to do some tricep dips xd

    • @BBC600
      @BBC600 Před 6 lety +49

      I also found it interesting that it read that! I did think there would be a liability statement so nobody could sue if they got a heart attack or something but they surely shouldn’t restrict people. Why did nobody tell Geoff off?

    • @OntarioTrafficMan
      @OntarioTrafficMan Před 6 lety +67

      Well in the news they say that obesity is an epidemic, and that sounds like an emergency to me.

    • @tvlhd
      @tvlhd Před 6 lety +30

      Tried the steps once at Covent Garden when the lifts were out of service...not gonna try again unless I'm in a hurry

    • @ianmcclavin
      @ianmcclavin Před 6 lety +5

      Hi Geoff, you've got me wanting to make a special trip to Chalk Farm now, just to check out the signage!!
      4 minutes you say to ascend the stairs at Hampstead, I think it might take me a little bit longer!!

  • @gentuxable
    @gentuxable Před 3 lety +213

    TFL sign printing programmer is developing the code:
    He writes: str_format("This stairway has {0} steps.
    Equivalent to
    He stops looks at his co-worker and asks how to convert steps into floors, he says don't know, just put in 15.

    • @leland818
      @leland818 Před 3 lety +6

      That makes much more sense

    • @Circ00mspice
      @Circ00mspice Před 3 lety +3

      I got a laugh out of this comment! Hope it gets more likes.

    • @gentuxable
      @gentuxable Před 3 lety +4

      @@Circ00mspice Thank you for the kind words.

    • @julien-francoiscollin9843
      @julien-francoiscollin9843 Před 2 lety +3

      @gentuxable str_format("This stairway has {0} steps.
      Equivalent to {1}", steps, 15);

  • @ammieshaw2238
    @ammieshaw2238 Před 3 lety +94

    I'm getting weird nostalgia watching this ajdkfhskd
    Why do I miss the tube????
    Lock down has messed me up

  • @marioaddict3
    @marioaddict3 Před 3 lety +48

    This video is 833 seconds long
    That is the equivalent of 15 minutes
    Only watch in case of emergency

  • @raphaelnikolaus0486
    @raphaelnikolaus0486 Před 6 lety +862

    One thing is missing, Geoff. You should actually go to 15-storey-buildings and show (from the outside) how high they are.

    • @michaeldunn9298
      @michaeldunn9298 Před 6 lety

      Rafael Sabbat I Beobachter / Observer i

    • @guitarslim56
      @guitarslim56 Před 5 lety +12

      Good point! I think he needs to time himself climbing a 15-storey building, in order to establish a correct benchmark.

    • @stevenhale2935
      @stevenhale2935 Před 3 lety +9

      That's a storey for another time!

    • @_JohnDoe
      @_JohnDoe Před 9 měsíci

      @@guitarslim56, I don't think that it would be the same experience, and take the same amount of time and effort, as climbing a spiral staircase.

  • @JoshHarris9395
    @JoshHarris9395 Před 5 lety +22

    As somebody who works in architecture - there is no approximation for the height of a storey anyways. A residential building will have a significantly smaller storey height than a commercial building (mainly due to the floor thickness being considerably larger to accommodate services).

  • @connellylawcoprusjuris4408
    @connellylawcoprusjuris4408 Před 4 lety +97

    New announcement on the London Underground - "Mind the 15 story gap"

  • @Idokus
    @Idokus Před 3 lety +68

    Fun fact: most stories have 13 steps...

  • @tlowthion4
    @tlowthion4 Před 6 lety +425

    Is 15 storeys the only number where you think it's too many storeys to take the stairs on a normal day.... but the number where is there's an emergency you think "I'm not waiting for the lift.... I'm getting outta here".... I'm sure this is one of the many lies TFL tells us on a daily basis to keep the system flowing..... Inspector Sands Calling.....

    • @magnusbruce4051
      @magnusbruce4051 Před 6 lety +34

      I suspect that's quite probably the reason why they do it. A sign effectively saying "it's too far, don't bother" is going to cause a lot less obstruction in an actual emergency than a physical barrier stopping people using the staircase.

    • @curlybrace314
      @curlybrace314 Před 6 lety +9

      Besides, 15 is sort of an approximate average between them all. So make one sign for them all and call it "good enough."

    • @lackedpuppet9022
      @lackedpuppet9022 Před 6 lety +3

      Tomas Antony You act like the Inspector Sands code is bad thing. Would you like to get trampled by running morons because someone threw a lit cigarette in a rubbish bin and there was a small fire? You're off your bleeding nut if you think people will remain calm when someone yells "fire" in the tube. Go put your tin foil hat back on, you spaz.

    • @imaginekudryavka9485
      @imaginekudryavka9485 Před 3 lety

      @@curlybrace314 Except all the signs are different; they display the exact step count and differing texts. The graphics are similar but the content is unique to each location. I definitely think it's a psychological thing.

  • @colin5021
    @colin5021 Před 6 lety +244

    Time to start a side-line in fitness videos "Geoff's 15 storey workout".

  • @JasonCoulls
    @JasonCoulls Před 6 lety +29

    I've been out of the UK since 1998, but watching your videos shows something to me, and it's that someone has finally cleaned up all the walls in the stations. I've always been a fan of the antique glazed tiles that are very prevalent in London, and now they all appear sparkling and shiny again. That makes me happy as it's not what I remember of 80s and 90s London.

    • @trojanette8345
      @trojanette8345 Před 5 lety +2

      I was thinking the same thing, too. I was in London, myself in '99 and 2K. I remember when a lot of the walls were filthy. However, if I am not mistaken and if I can remember correctly they still had a lot more city trains still using coal to 'power' their trains. I distinctly remember having to cover my face w/ a scarf while I waited downstairs b/c the smoke was so thick and heavy. My (US) lungs weren't used to all the thick heavy smoke.

    • @gymnasiast90
      @gymnasiast90 Před rokem +3

      @@trojanette8345 The last steam locomotives were withdrawn in the 60s, so it wasn’t coal smoke. Not that the air quality in any big city with lots of motor vehicles is anything to write home about, though.

  • @Conanap
    @Conanap Před 4 lety +27

    when you gotta hit your exercise goals for the week in 1 day

  • @cwwhg
    @cwwhg Před 6 lety +342

    The thing that makes me laugh is the difference in language used on the posters - Covent Garden with its "Do not use except in an emergency" basically says "Oi! Tourist! Naah!" whereas the much more polite "If you have any difficulties walking..." at Hampstead basically translates as "Well, Ok, yaaas, you're a powerful self-determining yoga mum, you can do it!" in perfect BBC received pronunciation 😄

    • @howardchambers9679
      @howardchambers9679 Před 4 lety +13

      This impatient tourist walked the Covent Garden stairs. I'll wait for lift next time.

    • @BoStark
      @BoStark Před 4 lety +4

      @@howardchambers9679 Done it too, with luggage.

    • @a.9100
      @a.9100 Před 4 lety

      Howard Chambers has to

    • @ixlnxs
      @ixlnxs Před 3 lety +2

      Russell Square is "my" tube station when I'm in London, and the reason I stay there is because it's within walking distance from Eurostar so I DON'T have to negotiate tube stations with luggage. I like the Piccadilly line because it takes me straight to Covent Garden), Knightsbridge and South Kensington. But I hate carrying luggage in London tube stations because of all the stairs and elevators.

    • @theMoporter
      @theMoporter Před 3 lety

      As someone with difficulties walking... I'll take the lift. I don't think my carer wants to bump me up 15 storeys of stairs!

  • @waltertomashefsky2682
    @waltertomashefsky2682 Před 6 lety +144

    Geoeff Marshall says “Forget Nutri-System, I lost 50 lbs walking up steps at five tube stations each day.”

  • @sudocheese
    @sudocheese Před 3 lety +19

    I have about five steps leading up to my house. I'm considering getting a "15 storey" sign.

  • @greghill7759
    @greghill7759 Před 4 lety +17

    This man's enthusiasm for, and knowledge of his subject is brilliant! There's something very comforting in watching two or three episodes with a cuppa, and the inevitable Hobnobs.

  • @Gpcas9
    @Gpcas9 Před 6 lety +767

    A running gag? ;-) After all this climbing? :-)

  • @Thoomas2001
    @Thoomas2001 Před 6 lety +196

    **At Mill Hill East**
    "This station is located fifteen floors beneath ground level"

  • @andylinton2798
    @andylinton2798 Před 6 lety +700

    Your maths is OK, but you've gone the long way around (a bit like using the stairs!). If a 'storey' is defined as 10' (3.048m), and a step is 0.17m, then a storey contains 18 steps (3.048/0.17). So Covent Garden - with 193 steps - is equivalent to 11 storeys (193/18), Russell Square with 175 = 10 floors (175/18), and Hampstead with 320 steps is therefore 18 storeys (320/18).
    However! 10 feet (3.04m) is only the void between floors. You need to add in the thickness of the floors themselves, which varies, but let’s use an average of 600mm.
    This means that a ‘storey’ = 21 steps.
    So Covent Garden is 9 storeys, Russel Square is 8 storeys, and Hampstead is 15.
    So Hampstead is the only one that’s correct!

    • @konsultarvode6527
      @konsultarvode6527 Před 5 lety +64

      The average building does absolutely not have en average void of 3 meters.

    • @JivanPal
      @JivanPal Před 5 lety +33

      @@markj2093 He said the void (referring to the height of each floor) is 3.04m, and the thickness of each floor (which you're calling the void between floors) is 0.60m. I'd concur with +Konsultarvode, as my house has floors of about 2.25m. Using these numbers, a storey is 2.85m, and thus is 2.85m / (0.17m / step) ≈ 11 steps. Thus, +Andy Linton's results are off by 1 - (18 steps / 11 steps) ≈ 64%. That is, Covent Garden is 15, Russel Square is 13, and Hampstead is 25.
      There are definitely buildings with 10' storeys, though, so "X number of steps is equivalent to 15 storeys" seems like a reasonable middle ground.

    • @TKTGalahad
      @TKTGalahad Před 5 lety +28

      Nearly all the way there, but you forgot the fact that in a 10 story building, the tenth floor doesn’t have any stairs. So the metric “equivalent to an X story building” is the sum of the stair heights plus 1.

    • @JivanPal
      @JivanPal Před 5 lety +17

      @@TKTGalahad Nice catch! Though I think "equivalent to X storeys" here means "equivalent to climbing from the ground floor to the X'th floor",† so that the number of steps you climb is indeed X × (number of steps per floor), and not (X-1) × (number of steps per floor). This is perhaps seen more clearly in the limiting case, where one says, "I just climbed 1 storey", which surely means that they went up some stairs, and not zero.
      † _Assuming we're enumerating the floors in the British fashion, starting at 0 (i.e. the ground floor is floor 0, the next floor is floor 1, etc.), and not in the American fashion, starting at 1 (i.e ground floor is floor 1, etc.)._

    • @MikeBurke888
      @MikeBurke888 Před 5 lety +12

      @@TKTGalahad I think it differs between the UK and Europe as compared with the US way of counting the ground floor as 1.

  • @undefined6512
    @undefined6512 Před 3 lety +28

    This staircase has 10 steps, equivalent to 15 floors.

  • @iman2341
    @iman2341 Před 6 lety +50

    Went to school next to Hampstead station, can confirm, never walk up those stairs.

  • @LeveLUP.
    @LeveLUP. Před 6 lety +48

    Gotta love the psychology behind the underground to try and stop people using the stairs

    • @TheTibmeister
      @TheTibmeister Před 4 lety +3

      Try using a wheelchair on the Tube. Nightmare. It’s time it was radically over hauled

    • @handsoffmycactus2958
      @handsoffmycactus2958 Před 4 lety +1

      Jane Kirk I’m all for accessibility, but the vast majority of people are capable. For the many, not the few. We don’t pander to minorities. There are plenty of stations you can use. If not, then use a bus, taxi or Uber.

    • @Wario512
      @Wario512 Před 4 lety +1

      @@handsoffmycactus2958 even though the tube is really a nightmare when not fully capable and willing to spend a lot of times in tiny steep crowded passages and stairwells. Here in Vienna there are signs on all stations of a line if one platform is temporarly not accesible by lift but only by escalator and stairs, as we are used to several lifts in every station. There are exceptionally signs on the U-Bahnplan (Tubemap) if a platform is NOT accesible by lift. In London there are signs on the tubemap if a station is accesible by lift. And i think this definitly has to change, giving everyone acces to the major public transport as the tube should be the norm, not the exception.

    • @ixlnxs
      @ixlnxs Před 3 lety

      @@handsoffmycactus2958 So you are not all for accessibility.

  • @adamelsodaney8369
    @adamelsodaney8369 Před 3 lety +31

    I remember one tube station with multiple new lifts installed had a Level Minus 15 button to take you to the deepest level platform. I wanna say Bond Street but I don't think it was that

    • @cat1554
      @cat1554 Před rokem

      Taking the joke to the extreme

  • @anthonytawil5038
    @anthonytawil5038 Před 6 lety +49

    I'm not even a train enthusiast but I love your videos!

  • @borisvallet6033
    @borisvallet6033 Před 6 lety +55

    I really like the form of edit that's been going on for a few videos now. The sped-up sections with music are well-paced and balance very well with the other bits.

  • @FeaturesGaming
    @FeaturesGaming Před 4 lety +34

    It took you 4 minutes to walk up 300 steps? It'll take me 40 minutes!!

  • @catherinekilgour2563
    @catherinekilgour2563 Před 3 lety +2

    I have watched so many videos where there are comments about a 15 storey building so I was happy when the YT algorithm decided to spit this one out for me to see.

  • @briancwatson
    @briancwatson Před 4 lety +7

    I was at Covent Garden on Sunday evening and thought of this video. There was also an announcement about being in proper physical fitness if you were taking the stairs.

  • @nicolasblume1046
    @nicolasblume1046 Před 6 lety +21

    The tube has like the best steps ever, believe me! Very fine steps

    • @MicraHakkinen
      @MicraHakkinen Před 6 lety +6

      Believe it or not but there is actually a good amount of research behind stair design. All of us have probably at some time in our lives encountered stairs that were designed rather than engineered so to speak. While they may look aesthetically pleasing, walking on them feels weird, unnatural, out of rythm. Steps so shallow it feels more like climbing a ladder or just the opposite, steps so deep it feels like you have to take a step and a half forward to reach the next step up.

  • @mikeflaws2226
    @mikeflaws2226 Před 5 lety +2

    Your videos are wonderful, I've greatly enjoyed discovering them today! I've watched all 15 of them and I can't wait for more!

  • @alexia3552
    @alexia3552 Před 3 lety +7

    I don’t know how I got recommended your channel but I loved it and I am subbed. You have the kind of single-minded dedication to something that I absolutely cherish

    • @geofftech2
      @geofftech2  Před 3 lety +2

      hey Beth! Welcome aboard! lots of nerdy railway fun here!!

    • @Bought_by_the_blood
      @Bought_by_the_blood Před rokem

      I’ve been told that nerdy railway fun equals Asperger’s syndrome.

  • @JordanBeagle
    @JordanBeagle Před 3 lety +12

    This reminded me of the video Tom Scott did called "The Lies of the London Underground"

  • @stefle
    @stefle Před 6 lety +3

    Your channel is growing so fast! I've been following it for years and I think you deserve it all.

  • @egg_mittens
    @egg_mittens Před 3 lety

    I absolutely love videos and channels like this of people completely nerding out over topics they're really interested in, cuz you know you're going to learn a lot, and they're going to have a lot f fun and it's just so pure I love it. You bring that tape measure, you bring it.

  • @jasonbrady4894
    @jasonbrady4894 Před 3 lety +4

    So impressed that this could have been a thirty second video about “wow look the tube stations have wrong signs - look they all say 15 floors but they’re different depths haha” but you managed to turn this into a 15 min video

  • @dracodrake2973
    @dracodrake2973 Před 3 lety +5

    R/Madlads for going up all those steps when not in an emergency.

  • @birdbot02
    @birdbot02 Před 6 lety +128

    This video is a fifteen storey building

  • @garethpauljones1
    @garethpauljones1 Před 4 lety +8

    Daniel Craig has gone from James Bond to counting stairway steps.

  • @user-juoig7799
    @user-juoig7799 Před 2 lety +2

    I guess my parents don't know much about the London Underground because they tried to get us to go down the stairs at Covent Garden once.

  • @UltimateShingo
    @UltimateShingo Před 6 lety +19

    Geoff, you forgot one thing: The height of one storey changed over the years. It might be just above 3 meters now, but you can find older buildings (at least here in Germany, but I assume similar happens in all of Europe) with storeys up to half a meter or in more extreme cases even a full meter smaller, although those are centuries old. You might have to find out what storey height was usual by the time Covent Garden was constructed to see if at least that claim could have been right.

    • @rach_laze
      @rach_laze Před 3 lety +3

      Covent garden is barely over 100 years old, I found a construction manual on the .gov archives from 1910 that states a single storey is allowed to be 3.9-4.5 metres tall which would make it have even fewer floors than Geoff calculated if we used the 1907 measurements as a guide

    • @imaginekudryavka9485
      @imaginekudryavka9485 Před 3 lety +4

      In many places floors used to be taller. Makes sense, if you're building a house with a floor or maybe two, might as well make it grand. But there's no real use for floors taller than 3m - hell, even 2,5m is excessive in typical cases. And since it's now easier to build tall buildings and land is more expensive and valuable, of course they're gonna try to cram as many floors there as they possibly can.

    • @_JohnDoe
      @_JohnDoe Před 9 měsíci

      I don't quite see how historical storey heights are of any relevance. Those are signs that have been placed in present times, unlike, for instance, the antique "To The Trains" sign referred to at 2:03.

  • @tomscott2.0communisteditio64

    THE STEPS AT AMMERSHAM ARE EQUIVALENT TO 15 FLOORS!!!!

    • @charliec154
      @charliec154 Před 6 lety +30

      As are the ones at Chesham!

    • @tomscott2.0communisteditio64
      @tomscott2.0communisteditio64 Před 6 lety +13

      DatShortbreadDough Thats what tfl says but I measured them and they are actually 16 floors

    • @roderickjoyce6716
      @roderickjoyce6716 Před 6 lety +3

      Ah, yes, but if you look at it like that, Putney Bridge and East Putney are 15 stories UP.

    • @Sion.Ryan.Green.
      @Sion.Ryan.Green. Před 6 lety +2

      It's Me we were at Ammersham on the 16th Jan 2018 and will be back again (from Manchester) on the 30th.

    • @lucywhite9479
      @lucywhite9479 Před 6 lety

      Ha ha that was my thought too

  • @kimswaden-ward1239
    @kimswaden-ward1239 Před 6 lety +15

    I took the stairs at Covent Garden yesterday, it’s all your fault.

  • @ajs41
    @ajs41 Před 3 lety +4

    What it boils down to is that this is another example of the authorities treating ordinary people like idiots.

    • @madbeagle6565
      @madbeagle6565 Před 2 lety

      Or of the authorities consisting mainly of idiots....

  • @beachhouse13
    @beachhouse13 Před 6 lety +34

    Please hold on, this bus is about to move the equivalent of a 15 story building.

  • @michaelrobinson166
    @michaelrobinson166 Před 6 lety +39

    Did you know that Centrale tram stop is fifteen stories high?

    • @KristerL
      @KristerL Před 6 lety +2

      It's a really high platform that one...

    • @michaelrobinson166
      @michaelrobinson166 Před 6 lety +1

      Krister L Also, Stamford Brook is equivalent to a fifteen story bunker.

  • @firebert123
    @firebert123 Před 9 měsíci

    This is so wonderful! I moved to the UK a few months ago and was trying to find information on the deepest tube stations while learning about the history and construction of London, and somehow came across this. I love how these little kind of observations of anomalies!

  • @J1mmyMack
    @J1mmyMack Před 3 lety +72

    But why did you stick RODE to your mic filter??

    • @rossamundbrennan7248
      @rossamundbrennan7248 Před 3 lety +20

      Because the pop filter has Rode (the mic brand) printed on it, but it was upside down for the shot, due to the mounting system.

    • @NBSV1
      @NBSV1 Před 3 lety +10

      The mic brand is rhode. I’m guessing this is a joke since so many you tubers have rhode mics and the logo is usually visible.

    • @centinoavrilado1405
      @centinoavrilado1405 Před 3 lety +1

      NBSV1 you cahnt sphell

    • @NBSV1
      @NBSV1 Před 3 lety +4

      @@centinoavrilado1405 Guess there's a reason I'm a mechaneck. Was really thinking it was Rhode as in Rhode Island. Guess not.
      And, your spilling taint match butter.

    • @vect0r858
      @vect0r858 Před 3 lety +5

      @@centinoavrilado1405 People who point out spelling mistakes online are fun in real life

  • @EuanBCFC
    @EuanBCFC Před 6 lety +202

    8:33 Geoff is Big Shaq

  • @hayleyjs4162
    @hayleyjs4162 Před 6 lety +31

    This is brilliant, best *15* minutes of my day

  • @AWWx2
    @AWWx2 Před 6 lety +4

    Your maths are fine, I think. So I subscribed. Very entertaining, and I love learning little facts about London and the UK. Greetings from the USA!

  • @GamleStodder
    @GamleStodder Před 5 lety

    Thanks for these videos Geoff, really enjoyed them!

  • @Scott757300
    @Scott757300 Před 6 lety +26

    This is the sort of video that I’d only expect to see on your channel, Geoff, and they’re always very interesting! Is your standup routine a regular thing or do you have a video or anything? Would like to see it!

  • @albertbatfinder5240
    @albertbatfinder5240 Před 6 lety +34

    There are eight million stories in the naked city; this has been fifteen of them.

  • @Leewise1
    @Leewise1 Před 4 lety

    I've only just discovered your videos and I've seen a few so far. I've been learning so much, thanks for doing them, really interesting stuff!

  • @hypahowlrrz-wwfccoops
    @hypahowlrrz-wwfccoops Před 4 lety

    I saw your video on the fanatics randomly and now I’m invested in your channel, for no apparent reason

    • @ixlnxs
      @ixlnxs Před 3 lety

      That's the equivalent of fifteen floors.

  • @OneEyedMonkey9000
    @OneEyedMonkey9000 Před 6 lety +3

    You have made me want to go back to London again. Thanks Geoff!

  • @JonGilb
    @JonGilb Před 6 lety +7

    I walked up Covent Garden steps on my way to the all the stations talk. It nearly killed me

  • @joshsnaj1282
    @joshsnaj1282 Před 5 lety +2

    This video quality is genuinely engaging and top quality imo

  • @nigelhu
    @nigelhu Před 5 lety

    I salute your dedication! Your videos are superb, keep up the good work!

  • @thecreator224
    @thecreator224 Před 6 lety +17

    Just as a thing, those 15 storeys at Chalk Farm would be 61cm high. That's almost half a metre! Imagine that!

    • @TheSniper9752
      @TheSniper9752 Před 6 lety

      Sky Works Racing, Gosh i definitely need a lift for that. Bloody hell.

    • @thomascarroll9556
      @thomascarroll9556 Před 6 lety +2

      61cm almost half a metre? According to conventional maths is 11cm more than half a metre.

  • @djcarbines
    @djcarbines Před 6 lety +14

    This station has 5 steps equivalent to a 15 storey building 😉

  • @TheHistoricalHiker
    @TheHistoricalHiker Před 4 lety +2

    All the best jokes require a 14 minute video to explain them XD

  • @fluffymitten
    @fluffymitten Před 3 lety +1

    Having an afternoo'rn of binge-watching Geoff and this made me chuckle. Having made the mistake of walking up the stairs at Russell Square I am impressed at the ability to talk once at the top. I suspect there wasn't the 10 minute recovery period like I had...

  • @DrToonhattan
    @DrToonhattan Před 6 lety +167

    It might just be me, but I hate it when the colour of the grab poles on the trains don't match the colour of the line.

    • @caitthenerd7470
      @caitthenerd7470 Před 6 lety +5

      DrToonhattan it isn't just you. I too find it highly irritating.

    • @sujaypatel2298
      @sujaypatel2298 Před 6 lety +20

      DrToonhattan I suppose this is so trains can run multiple lines

    • @iwilownyouall
      @iwilownyouall Před 6 lety +11

      DrToonhattan
      I thought i read once that the poles on the blue line we deliberately not blue because blue was the hardest color to distinguish while drunk.
      So pissed pub goers would take the metro late at night, try to grab a pole, miss, fall over and hurt themselves.
      Could be bullshit though.
      But still an entertaining thought.

    • @chakornshipp4155
      @chakornshipp4155 Před 6 lety +2

      Maurits van den Berg unlikely, as most of the poles on the Piccadilly line are blue ;)

    • @benjeffery1415
      @benjeffery1415 Před 5 lety

      DrToonhattan same

  • @theregalproletariat
    @theregalproletariat Před 3 lety +33

    3:56
    That woman in the background just Disapparated...

    • @demago3265
      @demago3265 Před 3 lety +3

      Person in grey walking left to right becomes someone else in pink 👀

  • @MrEricSir
    @MrEricSir Před 4 lety +2

    This is like that Mr. Show sketch where a mafia boss (played by Bob Odenkirk) decides 24 is the highest number there is.

  • @jonnnewman5893
    @jonnnewman5893 Před 5 lety

    Crazy, but I love these videos :) Thank you for brightening up my Sunday.

  • @alicebailey6345
    @alicebailey6345 Před 6 lety +115

    You fixed your microphone! Yes! I now no longer need to turn my computer screen upside down to find out which brand of microphone you use every time I watch one of your videos.

    • @JonnyD3ath
      @JonnyD3ath Před 6 lety +3

      Alice Bailey does he change the mic every video?? Lol

    • @RoboCoonie
      @RoboCoonie Před 5 lety

      Can't just read upside-down? It's RODE. And that's the pop-filter, not the microphone.

    • @lostname605
      @lostname605 Před 5 lety +4

      r/wooosh

    • @GreenJetsam
      @GreenJetsam Před 5 lety

      LostName haha I agree r/whoosh

    • @birkner510
      @birkner510 Před 5 lety

      But isn't it Røde? So he forgot the / through the o.

  • @RuneBroberg
    @RuneBroberg Před 6 lety +29

    As you've encouraged dissent in the comments, I'll just mention that a single storey building has 0 steps, and 15 storey building has only 14 flights of stairs. So you need to add 1 to the calculated number of storeys at the end to match TFLs claim of a "15 story building" (at Hampstead for example). ;-)

    • @TKTGalahad
      @TKTGalahad Před 5 lety +2

      Rune Broberg I was really hoping someone else was pointing this out!

    • @WhiteTiger333
      @WhiteTiger333 Před 5 lety +1

      And is the 13th floor being counted? :D

    • @jonl8509
      @jonl8509 Před 4 lety +1

      What about a single storey building with a roof terrace?

  • @Jablicek
    @Jablicek Před 6 lety +1

    Outstanding pedantry! I live for finding gems like this on t'internet.

  • @alec_jimmi5
    @alec_jimmi5 Před 3 lety

    Another great funny video Geoff. I think I'm getting addicted. The Rode mic text reversal 🤣

  • @jacksonskyline
    @jacksonskyline Před 5 lety +36

    It is NOT the depth of the step it is properly called, “THE RISE”

  • @mollysmith9606
    @mollysmith9606 Před 4 lety +8

    me: *takes the stairs every time because i’m deathly afraid of lifts*

    • @TAttiusMaximvs
      @TAttiusMaximvs Před 4 lety

      It would be a horrible irony if one day (hopefully a long while in the future!) you died from a heart attack due to overdoing the stair climbing!

    • @lthecatt9667
      @lthecatt9667 Před 3 lety

      Same

  • @DionneWard
    @DionneWard Před 5 lety +2

    Great video and loved the steps/ floor count at the end 🎉 I worked at Covent Garden for years and after doing ballet too I only ever went up those stairs once! NEVER AGAIN! 😂

  • @ZGryphon
    @ZGryphon Před 2 lety +2

    Frankly, Geoff, I'm exhausted.

  • @scrofulaeggula
    @scrofulaeggula Před 6 lety +3

    I learned something very interesting today; that Geoff does stand-up comedy.

  • @smallstudiodesign
    @smallstudiodesign Před 3 lety +3

    When I lived /worked in UK for a number of architectural firms ... I had to do loads of stair sections and details ... I found the rise & runs quite variable depending upon whether they were escape stairs or ceremonial stairs or everyday use stairs.

  • @ryanhepburn2583
    @ryanhepburn2583 Před 3 lety

    This chap would make the most fabulous teacher. Kids would love him for his enthusiasm, knowledge and charming madness.

  • @MichaelGGarry
    @MichaelGGarry Před 5 lety +4

    The last time I got off at Covent Garden, many many years ago, the damn lift was broken. So yes, I know those stairs....

    • @LovelyLawla
      @LovelyLawla Před 3 lety

      I did similar a few years back. I'm only in London once every few years so I don't know details and when they announced that the lift at Covent Garden was down, we decided to get off anyway - sure what's the worry, we can just use the stairs (picturing the straight stairs up the middle of the escalators in Bank, etc). Lord, I nearly died! After about 30 steps I should have stopped, went back down and went on to Leicester Square, but I was too stubborn to stop and walk past all the people from the train so I kept pushing. I could barely breathe when I got to the top.

  • @emanonmax
    @emanonmax Před 6 lety +14

    DO NOT USE EXCEPT IN AN EMERGENCY

    • @peabody1976
      @peabody1976 Před 6 lety +7

      Explaining the joke **is** an emergency! :)

  • @footynutguy
    @footynutguy Před 6 lety +4

    My brain needs to expand to 15 storey’s to take this in.

  • @philipbrailey
    @philipbrailey Před 4 lety

    I watched all your videos before I went to London. Being my first overseas trip from Sydney, they were a great help. Thank you.
    I think people should walk anyway for fitness.

  • @matthewsmeets
    @matthewsmeets Před 6 lety

    Nice to see you use filming methods that have been well established. love to see people making great quality videos with bshot