1980s London Transport - Tube 250224-02 | Footage Farm

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For broadcast quality material of this clip or to know more about our Public Domain collection, contact us at [e-mail] Footage Farm is a historical audio-visual library. The footage in this video constitutes an unedited historical document and has been uploaded for research purposes. Some viewers may find the archive material upsetting. Footage Farm does not condone the views expressed in this video.
For broadcast quality material of this reel or to know more about our Public Domain collection, contact us at [e-mail]
[1980s (?) - Color, London Tube: Commuters; Station & Train Interiors; Escalators]
Crowded platform as Brixton train empties & fills.
20:11:29 Commuters walking past in divided tunnel;
20:11:44 POV straight ahead from train entering & thru tunnel, into station stopping by clock 3:52. Some people on platform. Bell as train enters tunnel & view of side, pivot to front & back to side. View of tracks & into station slowing past people on platform.
20:14:34 MCU people waiting for train as it arrives, people off, the boarding. Victoria Line sign behind, platform announcer heard & car doorway full. Train leaves.
20:15:54 People in station, thru gates; ceiling repairs; girl makes face at camera. Ticket lines. People inserting ticket & thru gates. Agent freeing jammed entrance machine, others waiting. Low Angle / LA people entering. Attendant to jammed gate; people enter w/ magnetic striped cards.
20:19:26 Onto top of down escalator, continued flow of people.
20:19:43 Street w/ crossing.
20:19:47 Graffiti on walls of subway steps; around poster - The End Of The Line For Litter; man standing on ladder in edge of frame. MCU heavy graffiti.
20:20:48 LS along tracks toward station; other views in tunnels, passing opposite trains; stopping showing vaulted brick roof; entering station.
20:23:08 View between escalators w/ center area opened for repairs or replacement. View down into open escalator & tilt up w/ most people going up. Top of escalator & people going down.
20:23:48 Ticket machines & people out of & into gates.
20:24:00 View on down escalator, people walk past, crowd at bottom.
20:24:51 View at bottom of three escalators, one down not working. MS people on down & up escalators.
20:25:36 Cardboard sign: Way Out, taped up.
20:25:46 MS inside moving subway car, people reading newspapers, magazines.
20:26:21 CU Sign: Escalator out of service.
20:26:31 LS LA along platform. POV behind woman starting up circular stairs; descending.
20:27:11 View out of subway doors at Kennington Station, doors close & train moves; stopping & man out at Waterloo, others enter; stopping at Embankment Station & people board; stopping at Charing Cross & doors open then close & train leaves. People down center escalator, others up one on left. MCUs passing faces.
Transportation; Commuting; Subways; 1970s; Daily Life;
NOTE: Partial or entire sold at per reel rate.

[@johnclark7065]

Notice the different types of people and the cultures in London those days look how people were pleasant and civil coming out of the station.

[@alyciamarrison2916]

A bit weird I feel peace when I see old London people look a bit neater & less stressed. I loved London when I worked there (1985-1989) but the Magic is not quite the same with the chain shop's there used to be so many individual interesting shop's creative people at places like Kennsington Market & hypper Hyper on the other side of the road, Kings road used to be amazing but now boring, & Carnaby street was stuffed with people & stuffed with product in all the shop's music blaring out - Could lamost cry when I see "sterilised" Carnaby street today (the shope seem to have way less customers too!)

[@Jay-ru3mu]

Everything Is Shit Now

[@mrkipling2201]

Agreed!!

[@Fortniteclipz2014]

Not a phone in sight. Everyone reading books and papers. These were the days

[@trainrover]

I find the chain-shop custom stronger the smaller the city, whereas the whopper legacy cities appear pluckier at keeping their independent merchants humming along...just saying

[@bunnysingh2889]

All so badly dressed now .scowling faces avoiding eye contact .

[@enjoyurlife4565]

Nobody pushing past each other on the escalators. The times when people had more dignity and respect

[@trainrover]

As soon as I moved back to Montreal in '81 after many years around London, the behaviour you describe was introductorily Québécois...blame culture being commandeered by big business thickly spreading greed all around..!

[@YPO6]

late 80s, feels like it was yesterday.

[@tropicalpalmtree]

The world just seemed like such a nicer place back then.

[@mrkipling2201]

It was in my opinion. I’m a huge nostalgia addict. Even though I have a very good life today!!

[@acceptableandbornind80s32]

Piccadilly line 1973 stock sounding well and ran even faster back then. And you wasnt penalized for speeding like nowadays

[@58andyr]

This looks very modern and recent but then I haven't been a tube commuter since the late 80s as I live in Spain now!

[@paulb9769]

You are not missing anything.

[@pjsagnia]

Seems more like 90s to me

[@ryan2020091]

Looks like the late 80s to me, maybe just touching 1990. The days before oyster or just tapping your card on the reader.

[@srtuco2154]

The footage appears to be from 1989. At 15:58 there are two film posters - The Fly II and Jacknife - both from 1989.

[@lbukem4259]

Without even seeing anything I was going to say late 80s. everything is just a bit more 'modern' than earlier in the decade.

[@danwoodhouse9290]

and also the D stock train at 10:00 had the all red LT bar and circle logo on them

[@ajs41]

Also the dot matrix screens are already there, which started in 1983.

[@casibefa]

Yes and there is also a poster of "The Bear" Jean-Jacques Annaud's movie at 16:17 wich was released in September 1989 in the U.K

[@batlin]

Well spotted... I was thinking it looked more like the early 1990s than the 80s.

[@ljc6535]

Watching incase I might see myself or someone I know...is it the same on the tube nowdays...do they read their papers. Books...? Takes me right back.

[@spidyman8853]

Ahhh the good ole innocent days of jumping on the tube as a kid and going for rides. I loved the old stock trains. They seemed much faster back then. Oh, not forgetting the smell of train as it was coming from the tunnel and that mad rush of air as well as the sound. Then, the bump and ride as the train jugged from left to right. Today's trains are modern and spacious with H&S in mind. They don't have that same feel as the old ones obviously. Glad to see graffiti is no longer an issue in tube stations or on the actual trains like it was back in the 1980s. Germany still to this day suffers from graffiti issue on their Tube lines (me thinks).

[@craiglammasreach1242]

The northern line probably rattles more now than it did back then

[@spidyman8853]

@@craiglammasreach1242 ohhh Okay. Not been on a tube for years............. so you might be the expert and so will take your word for it.

[@trainrover]

Graffiti's welcome if it not appear scrawled

[@TheMercury-13]

Pics of the trains & stations in New York covered in graffiti looked so naff & cringey! Didn't want it to catch on here, like obesity, BBQs & saggy-rse trousers have. I prefer look of Moscow underground station! Or lovely 19thC British ones, with that smell but no territorial pishing toddler scribble.

[@richiehoyt8487]

​@@TheMercury-13 I realise that transit operators can't tolerate graffiti, but I kind of like the atmosphere it creates, and I do like those rare occasions when someone (or a group of people, probably) accomplish one of those really intricate, big ones that takes up most of the side of the car. I realise some people find the graffiti intimidating - I would say, if you're looking to be intimidated, be intimidated by the general demeanour of your fellow riders. Besides, the safest place in a city you can be nowadays is probably on a subway/metro, they're so heavily surveilled. Start worrying once you get through the barriers! I've heard people say, 'Graffiti, advertising - it's all defacement, anyway!' Notwithstanding that the _outside_ of the trains were once upon a time thought of as 'off~limits' for ads, I guess, at the end of the day, they're the transit operators trains, they can 'adorn' them as they please. I don't have to like it, though, and as I say, I'd rather have the graffiti. What really irks me though, are these outfits that paint their trains with abstract 'pixelations' or swirls that masquerade as decoration (for the sort of person that regards 'magnolia' as a bold and edgy home decor choice) which, somewhat ironically, resemble a train festooned with graffiti when seen at a distance and whose only purpose, I suspect, is to act as a sort of background of camouflage against which graffiti will just disappear into!

[@Squimple]

Watching this I remember the distinctive smell the tube used to have

[@andynixon2820]

Yep , that and the rush of warm air when a train appeared through the tunnel . I love the tube .

[@paulanderson79]

Asbestos and ozone.

[@spidyman8853]

Yea, that Underground smell as a kid. That smell no longer the case any more. Now a days as the train approaches the station all you get is air rushing through.

[@36OZ]

? What was it like?

[@paulb9769]

@@paulanderson79 😂

[@mrkipling2201]

Such a better time back then everything was simpler

[@ok2760]

You mean you were young?

[@mrkipling2201]

@@ok2760 no it was simpler. For example if you had a problem with your boiler or with your phone you could actually call someone and speak to them. Not go through 500 pages of the internet just to go round in circles.

[@ok2760]

@@mrkipling2201 you can still call someone and speak to them if you have a problem with your boiler or phone. And there's never a need to go to the 2nd page of Google.

[@mrkipling2201]

@@ok2760 I think we’ll have to agree to disagree!! 👍👍

[@mafoomatty7494]

it was even though back then I was young

[@mistofoles]

Did you notice how the transport control called the driver as soon as he stopped in the tunnel ? At the transport control hq, every train is represented by a moving dot of light on a huge screen, so the operators know immediately if a train stops unexpectedly, and they can contact the driver of the train behind to prevent an accident.

[@blakemcnamara9105]

I like how gritty it looked.

[@Rafael-Matheus96]

Yeah; old school!👌

[@ericadodd4735]

Is that the disused York Road station on the Piccadilly line at 00:53 ? The following station is Kings Cross and then I think Russell Square. Fascinating video!

[@AppleOranges12]

Yes it's York Road

[@PeteS_1994]

14:55 We stare at our smartphone screens way too much nowadays

[@Rafael-Matheus96]

True.. but underground there's so signal so you still find people reading magazines & stuff.

[@deletebilderberg]

@@Rafael-Matheus96 There IS now!

[@TheMercury-13]

I maybe only adult left in UK without a smrt-phone? Sometimes I'm sat in a Pub or wherever, & everyone else is staring at individual screens, inc my kids; it's like they're there, but yet they they arn't? I use to read music papers - Sounds - in the Pub if I was alone, to try avoid nutters /scary men talking to me, thinking I looked 'lonely'; a 'phone would've been useful but I really wouldn't want to be absorbed in 1.

[@West.Ham1964]

Interesting footage and I'm sure they're playing the music from the shining on 18:07 for the commuters at oxford circus, midnight, the stars and you. Also remember those lethals barriers at victoria, you didn't want to get caught in those!

[@batlin]

Can't hear that without being creeped out now!

[@Peter-mj6lz]

You get a feel for the era with these clips. I was born in 1994, some of the vibes remind me of the late 90's, early 00's in some places in London but not everywhere. It feels more free and random than today.

[@videonut1988]

The semi-current Turnstiles/barriers (made by CUBIC) were fairly brand new at the time before getting retrofitted with Oyster readers… Luckily the TfL ambassadors were still at the gates to help the riders as they are today…

[@oludotunjohnshowemimo434]

1972 mk1 on the Northern, cousin to ex Victoria line 1967 and Bakerloo line mk2 1972 stock.

[@robtyman4281]

This 'hold up' at the ticket barriers (all because someone's ticket was abit too scrunched up to be accepted by the machines) was a regular daily occurrence on the LU; before the introduction of the Oyster card in 2003. Thank heavens for it, I say. It propelled LU into the 21st century, as it meant ALL the ticket barriers on the network at the time, had to be replaced at the same time, in order for the cards to be read. Of course some grumbled because they liked having a paper ticket (there's always a few!), and also it meant there didn't need to be as many staff in the ticket halls. Just one person - instead of several. Because after 2003, most people moved across to the Oyster card....so the only time the barriers didn't let you through was (and still is ) when you didn't have enough money on your card. Now of course you can alternatively use the Oystercard App, or a credit card. To think we put up with paper tickets for so long!

[@lmusima3275]

I started travelling on my own to school on the tube in 1989 when I was 11 years old. The northbound northern line was always jam packed since then. My mum was nervous how I got to school if I travelled safely. I told her I’m fine. I do remember the old fashioned paper 📄 ticket 🎟 machines long before oyster readers

[@oludotunjohnshowemimo434]

1972 MK1 on its public service days on the Northern Line.

[@leonardssenkindu8445]

I wished we the 1972 stock on the central line, we had the 1967 only for the Hainault loop

[@Springamatul]

I used to go for rides on the tubes and buses around London it was fun but tiring. It was good exercise climbing the esculators during the non rush hour just like in the gym.

[@luisvega666]

all people 30 years older Young girls in 20 now in 50 Times is flying Look moderate

[@michael1882yt]

Weird Nobody is walking with their head buried in their mobile 😟

[@danwoodhouse9290]

ive always said that if women got off the mobiles i might then get a girlfriend

[@BirbarianHomeGuard]

Still had head buried in newspapers, magazines, and books!

[@craptacular8282]

Wow, 40 years and the London underground stations still look the same.

[@matinhewing1]

Looks better than now....

[@kiralkirbac5007]

Aesthetic Athlete those days people use to connect with people now people dint char their satir at their phone 2012 fucked up 2003 2005 1980 was the best good days now is shit 2018 every year is going worst so if we come 2019 more deadly people to much change from 2012 a lot

[@gilesscanlon2586]

Serdar Kirbac hopefully it will change in the 2020s ahaha 😂

[@stevie6621]

Most of those wearing suits are in their 60s-70s and retired.

[@franzs]

It's fun playing spot the difference

[@davidbull7210]

The tube was still a dirty and smelly old place back then. I miss it. It's sterile now and so are the people who use it.

[@paulb9769]

Zombies

[@PSYCHIC_PSYCHO]

It wasn't smelly just dirty.

[@mafoomatty7494]

its still a sweatbox now

[@orsoncart9441]

More like the very early 90's not 80's. No smoking, and the graffiti tagging had not took hold until well into the 80's. Some of th eposters look like 90's

[@PSYCHIC_PSYCHO]

Smoking was banned from 1987, I recon it was filmed at various dates from 1987

[@mafoomatty7494]

look at the wires everywhere

[@eightiesmusic1984]

Five Star predicted the future. Wired to a machine and boxes that go beep.

[@DaKoolDude]

AMAZING

[@danbus180]

Life is more civilised but then look at it today everyone Stuck on their phones

[@gilesscanlon2586]

Yea the 2010s suck hopefully the next era in the 2020s onwards it will change . Ahaha

[@handsoffmycactus2958]

They aren’t because you don’t get signal on the underground. Most people are looking up and around.

[@evilredflame]

How would looking at a phone make it less civilized? I know just posting “phones bad” is the norm for these comment sections but come on lol

[@louwezeeman2646]

17:05 to 17:10 `Minde the gap! Stand clear of the doors please!´ His voice omnipresent on all tube stations in the eighties, I suppose?

[@ajs41]

@Castlegrad I thought I heard his voice the other day in London. Must have been Embankment.

[@ajs41]

@Castlegrad Thanks for the reply. I don't like in London either, I live near Burton-on-Trent, but I was there for a few days to visit some Tube stations I haven't been to before. I never get tired of using the system, although I probably would do if I had to use it every day to commute in the rush hour!

[@handsoffmycactus2958]

It’s mind not ‘minde’ why would you put an E there

[@spidyman8853]

It was only in Bank Station. Not all stations.

[@louwezeeman2646]

@@handsoffmycactus2958 because he says: mind-e

[@borassictime918]

At 12:30 there is a poster for the film ‘Chicago Joe and the Showgirl’ which was released on 16th March 1990.

[@derkhead87]

NOT A SINGLE FUCKING PHONE ON SITE

[@trainrover]

oh right! I'd totally forgot about the grab bar strung above the broader tube doors

[@fromtheend4253]

Keith chegwin at 0:27 seconds?? just mayby its Him!!

[@Househead1200]

And Richard E Grant at the end?

[@yoya4766]

The trains were diabolical in those days, slow, infrequent and run down. But the people were as Jammy joe eloquently put ''wholesome...'' as well as well mannered and decent. Well dressed with individuality and style. They've mostly disappeared from London. Now its filled with non descript, white crud of Europe, and the world. Their faces are blank and miserable, they all look the same, dress the same and have no manners. Meanwhile they do have the benefit of a tube system that is better than its ever been. It's sad that people from the past put up with so much to pay for a service others would one day benefit from yet abuse.

[@yoya4766]

@Christian Tyler Wasn't called the misery line for nowt. Not much character. Agreed its all very sterile now. No charm or aesthetics.

[@martinwatson9615]

12:32 poster for film Chicago Joe And The Showgirl released July 1990.

[@Gunnercv]

My London era

[@Househead1200]

Holly crap that section of the tube was narrow!

[@TheParlay33]

Back when technology was to a minimum

[@tonelemoan]

Is this by Footage Farm?

[@kirbsmeister2]

Looks much the same as 2019 to me!

[@yoya4766]

Lol.. Have you been on tube?

[@dannygray4179]

Where's all the foreign people? 😮

[@shoyamauchi702]

Busy busy busy

[@Anticommunism99]

Londonstan was actually British lol

[@paulb9769]

Before London was ruined.

[@srtuco2154]

Anyone like to guess the year? I'd say it's around 1987, possibly 1988.

[@gilesscanlon2586]

1989 for me

[@mrkipling2201]

Yeah 1989 for me as well.

[@paulb9769]

1989 There is a poster for The Fly 2 on a wall.

[@Househead1200]

89 on fashion grounds alone 😊😊😊

[@mafoomatty7494]

Christ its topper headon,,no joke it is,poor topper wasn't in a good place then

[@valentinawilliams4488]

Topper Headon from the Clash busking at 0.30

[@sharoncommon4743]

Wow! During his broke and disenfranchised years ...well spotted.

[@ok2760]

I mean, that ACTUALLY is Topper Headon from The Clash, no joking.

[@mafoomatty7494]

wow,its really him ,poor topper

[@philipmaguire9209]

Good old day footy matches Morden to Seven sister Tottenham fc .. 1970.s .. from St heliers Estate ...

[@londongirl1733]

Much less stabbier

[@psycoticbastard]

6:54 Cam pose

[@filthiestfish]

This is from 1990 not the 1980's. Look a the Chicago Joe poster at 12:25. It was released in July 1990, so it's impossible that this footage is from the 1980's.