London's changing Skyline in 30 years

[@vickielawless]

Realising 1994 was 3 decades ago really makes me feel old! Lots more vegetation now, as well as skyscrapers..

[@DavidKnowles0]

That one thing that really surprise me.

[@laurasmithnature]

I'm too stunned that 1994 was 30 years ago that I can't concentrate on the view😂

[@markantscott]

Surprising that the old Eurostar terminal is still intact

[@axethepenguin]

@@markantscottI think they are going to use it for something else

[@falsemcnuggethope]

Skyscrapers grow faster than vegetation

[@MrRaylove1]

I commuted that line daily from 1976 and 2016. I saw lots of changes over those 40 years and this video was fascinating to see.

[@rayblade6383]

I find your story fascinating... Thanks for commenting. How do you feel about the massive change that has occurred during these years...? Is there any particular era that you prefer?

[@DaniG.German883]

Did you notice the massive demographic change?

[@aldozilli1293]

My mum, still going strong, was commuting from the 50s to late 60s She doesn't recognise anything when we go up there now.

[@daverich3352]

Memory is like a distortion, when you remember 1994 as being the present day, yet it's now 30 years ago, and 2024 in 1994 was not even imaginable.

[@tonytins]

One thing that really stands out to me is how much greener it has become.

[@thatoneguy611]

The skyline has also grown significantly. Just look at the comparison 2 minutes in

[@pachma405]

That's why we need to get rid of co2, it makes the plants grow too quickly.

[@Delibro]

@@thatoneguy611 That's the topic of the video... good that you point that out as reply to this comment in case someone don't know.

[@clubkinetic1]

Yeah now has trees growing on the line surrounded by concrete. My days London is soooo Green lmao

[@Delibro]

@@clubkinetic1 No one besides you compared London with a forest. We compare London now with 30 years ago.

[@thromboid]

I'm still trying to adjust to "30 years ago" being 1994 and not 1974. 😅

[@oxy2986]

1994 feels 30 years old but when we heard it first time because it not usual to hear that it was 30 years ago that's why we in start feel like times fly but no we aren't familiar with adjustment actually.

[@jhibbitt1]

i had that same thing. my mum was telling me about a documentary where the police were following a cold case of an unsolved murder from 20 years ago and i said "so it was in the 80's" and she said "no, you idiot, the early 2000's"

[@gswcooper7162]

I also still think of a generic "30 years ago" as being before I was born. I'm 42. xD "30 years ago", I was 12 and taking the train to London Victoria to go to school every day! xD (so not quite this route, but I did pass through Clapham Junction twice a day)

[@RailwayWorld_2023]

This is really cool to watch. Seeing how London has changed so much over the past 30 years! Also nice to see the evolution of traction and rolling stock out around Waterloo...

[@kristinajendesen7111]

Sad to see the backward evolution. Comfortable trains to ironing board seats on the Disastros 🙄

[@sweetsunnyvibes]

You like trains don't ya ☺️

[@johnnyboy-f6v]

This was facinating. Thankyou for the memories! I used to do this commute for years. It's making me sad for simpler, better times.

[@andyrobinson2653]

The key is not an amazing skyline which maybe true. But the endless glass structures that are costing an arm and a leg to even get into. And then we have building that are more corporate than being a building of character and style. Now overcrowded and one never gets the chance to appreciate.

[@freddysquirenaranjo4859]

1994 to 2016 for me, Surbiton to Waterloo, I see Surbiton was in the news at the weekend for the wrong reasons!

[@robbielawson4828]

Not just the skyline that's changed. Change isn't always for the better.

[@Cannon_Fodder_Russians]

London is much nicer today then in the past. Look at all those lovely buildings. Look at all that prosperity.

[@FactsWithActs]

​@@Cannon_Fodder_Russiansmuch nicer architecturally than 94 sure, but compare to a century ago and it's digressed.

[@robbielawson4828]

@@Cannon_Fodder_Russians I'm assuming that's sarcasm

[@Nick-io9uk]

@@Cannon_Fodder_Russians Prosperity? In 1994 a normal family could buy a normal house in London. Yes, some people, mostly crooks, have got very rich in the last 30 years. But now because of 'prosperity' something so basic as a roof over your head is out of reach. And what lovely buildings? OK London was never a Venice, but I can't imagine the good people of venice wanting to stuff their skyline with ugly, blocky highrises...in the case of London even worse because its a very northerly city & those tower blocks cast an almighty shadow over the already dark streets. London was unique in 1994. Now its a grey pashiche of New York. Just another faceless, rootless global city.

[@andyrobinson2653]

@@Cannon_Fodder_Russians Endless glass structures. Lacking character. Actually quite boring and overcrowded.

[@davidhunt6463]

I remember when the Post Office Tower was the tallest building in London at 620 feet high. I even went there with my parents and had a meal in the revolving restaurant.

[@rahulmalviya90]

People shooting POV videos from a train in 1994 is amazing

[@JustMeUpNorth]

We used to pay good money for the VHS cassettes, too! 😅

[@rahulmalviya90]

@JustMeUpNorth 😂

[@johnliang6410]

more amazing is that the video quality of that POV looks like 2011

[@Alloneword-cp2xw]

I have an old HI8 camcorder and on one of the tapes is just a car journey POV that I did when I was a kid from the early 90s. The difference in landscape on the same car journey between the 90s and now is mad!

[@kwikbit]

@@Alloneword-cp2xw ...upload ... ?? 🤓

[@spongebot64]

30 years later (as well as a refurb and re-traction), the 455s are still running

[@ashleyjiscool]

And class 159

[@HAHE-mn4tu]

Unfortunately the 442 is not with us anymore

[@waleedarif6740]

Hell yes.

[@spider23000]

Only for 3 more months 😢

[@ashleyjiscool]

@@spider23000 really?

[@mk9941]

Born and raised in Queenstown Road from 1992 to 2010. Thanks for posting, made me unexpectedly emotional. It wasn't as safe as it is now, and there wasn't a Waitrose round every corner, but man I miss how quiet it was.

[@jcasstudio]

I liked so much how you matched the colours of 2024 to 1994 so the comparision is fair, thanks for this!

[@rayblade6383]

I love the fact that some of those simple structures i.e holding up the lights etc are still present and working just as well as they did 30 years ago...

[@RealSweetTom]

Worth noting that practically all of that new skyline has gone up over the past 10 years. Vauxhall and Battersea in particular being developed whilst I was commuting from 2015. It went up really fast.

[@Eraeraeric]

Over the next decade there's around 600 new tall building developments approved in London so it's about to change even more

[@jmckenzie962]

That's just madness, even when I visited in 2011 I don't recall this part of London being _that_ built-up. Looks like bloody Tokyo now!

[@kirishima638]

It’s changed massive in 10 years!

[@smallstudiodesign]

Only in certain areas that were previously industrial. Lots if London has remained the same.

[@markj.a351]

Except Tokyo's rail system looks like it's from 2024 while London's still looks like it's from 1964

[@johnnyboy-f6v]

Not as ordered or efficient as Tokyo though.

[@MadMarie2005]

OMG, this is brilliant!! I arrived in London in 1994, and sometimes I have trouble remembering how the skyline was then. It changed so much in such little time!

[@t.p.mckenna]

The shocking thing is London has a worse than ever housing crisis, but so few of the new builds we see in the video are any kind of a solution. On the contrary, they exacerbate the problem, providing only a glut of a premium properties that further overheat an already bloated real estate landscape.

[@86pp73]

And just to rub salt in the wound, all of the new builds look like crap. Modernist styles of the tower blocks in the 90s footage weren't much to write home about, but they're clearly easier on the eye and weren't all crowded together in one spot. Now Vauxhall and Waterloo clogged with garish post-modern skyscrapers that block out light and force all the wind into tight spaces, leaving is with dark streets that the wind howls through even on mild days. As someone who grew up in SE London, I would genuinely rather have the dirty, rough council estates than these monstrosities. At least walking through my local estates I could see the sun and people going about their lives. Oh, and these skyscrapers will all be falling apart in the next decade (if not now!). Thanks to a completely deregulated construction industry and corrupt local councils, developers can just throw up any old garbage without oversight. No one's checking to see if there's dangerous materials being used, shoddy work being done or major flaws with the design. And it leads to tragedies like Grenfell.

[@Delibro]

So, you don't need to live in London. Home office is no solution to everything, but you can also live outside of London on that side where your job is located in London and commute, or choose a job not within London.

[@component9008]

They definitely don't. The only way to decrease housing prices is to build new housing. Without them prices would be even higher.

[@component9008]

@@Delibro No, more housing just needs to be built in London to satiate the massive demand. If you do what you said you will kill the economy and any chance of growth in the future.

[@josjos-x5s]

@@component9008 Or to actually regulate the market. Whiles britain went on a council housing spree after ww2 which basically nearly homed everyone, they also regulated prices so they were actually affordable to most. Another fact is that we just can't keep building houses, its unsustainable and we've already lost lot of green spaces ontop of farms that are vital for food security, even if they aren't being properly managed and supported.

[@BritishRail60062]

What a difference to how things are now. Masses of buildings and vegetation of 2024 compared to an almost clear canvas 30 years ago. I love London but I cannot help but think how the newer trains have gone backwards for passenger comforts when older 1963 stock as well as the 319/455/442 etc were better for comfort. Also nice to see how things are different since Eurostar moved from Waterloo to St Pancras in 2007.

[@updistant705]

The 455 had terrible low backed seats for many years until SWT refurbished them.

[@RailandBusJourneysAroundtheUK]

This is an interesting video. I actually did a similar-ish video to this recently comparing how the trackside scenery between London Waterloo and Queenstown Road Battersea has changed between 2010 and 2024. It's changed beyond recognition. Looking back how it was as recently as 2010, things looked very much unchanged from the 1980's or even the 1970's! Now though in 2024, apart from a small number of remaining buildings, it all looks very 21st century and almost Blade Runner like!

[@z00h]

That's the post 2008 money printing machines going prrrrrrrrrrrt for you. Underwritten by your grandgrandgrandgrandchildren.

[@Dan23_7]

I’m not from London but I go there quite often with my job. Wow in 1994 I was in fourth year high school. I’m 45 now. Crazy it was 30 years ago.

[@JibberJabJones]

same. 14 yo. i played an online shooter with two randoms the other day. danish kids. they said they were 15 and 16. how old are you, they asked? i began with, "i'm old..." i heard the words come out my mouth and they felt unreal.

[@Paul_Allaker8450]

Gotta tell you, I'd give my right eye to be back in 1994, hate this dystopian hell hole that we currently find ourselves in. 😔

[@vibranium-riprich314]

What dystopian hellhole? The one with more immigrants hm? Its easy to tell that’s what you truly mean when you say that. If thats not what it is, i assume you are saying that because you’re old and miss your younger self. Either way, its a stupid way of thinking.

[@mentallydefunct5782]

​@@vibranium-riprich314 you got some sort of weird hard on for immigrants or something? not sure how you plucked them out specifically due to a "dystopian hell hole" remark 💀

[@SilentShadow269]

​@@vibranium-riprich314 There is a lot of pretty bad stuff happening though. Climate change is getting really bad, the NHS is stretched thin, house prices have gone up and Trump got realected.

[@SilentShadow269]

​@@vibranium-riprich314What they don't understand is that immigration isn't that much of a problem. It's just blown out of proportion. They're used as a Scape goat by racists who accept Ukrainian refugees but not anyone else.

[@JamesPetts]

The 2024 version looks more like Tokyo than London in some places.

[@Aureus_]

Seriously it's terrible

[@MaxTheLazyCat]

@@Aureus_ You're a failed pregnancy

[@barhat961]

Why terrible? ​@@Aureus_

[@eatinsomtin9984]

@@Aureus_ C0pe

[@GT-zm8ex]

Only Tokyo is safe.

[@andyhinds542]

The London I see today is so different to the London I lived in 30 years ago. It's unreal.

[@peacevkw]

there is no more London now. London became Londonistan.

[@matthewdoyle3877]

Full of zombies now on phones with hardly any English people left

[@forbiddenmonkey7416]

the fact the tracks have barely changed in 30 years amazes me for some reason

[@tramographyMCR]

Right? It's like the railway is frozen in time while everything else is passing by

[@robtyman4281]

Well, I'm sure they will have been replaced/relaid at least once since 1994 -but yes the track alignment is the same.

[@z00h]

Why would the tracks have to change? It's not an iPhone where you need an annual dopamine release to stay engaged and keep buying.

[@legitibitmaster3264]

They have changed the 3rd rail around on the London bound to the left side tbf

[@lawrencemanning]

When I used to get the train every day I’d wonder how old the iron was we were rolling on. Would be interesting to see what the average age of a length of rail is throughout the whole country, but I’d guess it must be at least 50 years.

[@richards200]

Word has it that the passengers waiting at platform 2 at Waterloo in the 1994 clip have just seen the 2024 clip train pull in...

[@singinglift409]

NO BECAUSE THE TRAIN YOU SAY THAT IS ON PLATOFORM 2 IS A CLASS 442, AND THAT TRAIN WAS WITHDROWN IN 2021, AND BECAUSE THE TRAIN AT PLATFORM 1 WAS A CLASS 444, AND THOSE DID NOT EXIST UNTIL 2002

[@jamiewallace9647]

Nerd alert !!!! 😂

[@whitsthecraic]

I did this commute round about 1991 from Balham and so much has changed, even in Balham. The house I rented a flat in is now worth around £2m 😂

[@jackle6707]

Really excellent video, offers a fascinating insight from a unique perspective!

[@saadmahimi7537]

i really felt nice seeing some small huts and building in 1994 still being there in 2024! glad their not demolished!

[@houssemhammami7816]

30 years ago in my mind is the 70's or the 80's but the video is only one year before I was born , scary how fast the years are. Very cool video

[@gibbo9089]

The skyline and shrubbery seems to have grown up. Sadly no longer class 442's plastic pigs. Best comfy seats ever. Now just the uncomfortable seats on the desiro's.

[@kristinajendesen7111]

Pigs weren't bad but the best seats are on the unrefurbished 158/159s. I tried to tell my company at the time, SWR, just to change the moquette but they had to put firmer seating in 🙄 At least the 1st are still the same unlike the Disastro 1st 🥴

[@HAHE-mn4tu]

The 444 isnt bad but the 450 is meh

[@kristinajendesen7111]

@@HAHE-mn4tu First Class in the 444s wasn't bad at all until SWR ripped out the reclining 2+1 cloth seating and put in fixed, bolt upright 2+2 leather. More comfortable to sit in Standard.

[@HAHE-mn4tu]

@@kristinajendesen7111yeah really unfortunate and the now the only reason to get first class is so if the train is really busy you get a seat instead of extra comfort

[@loolfactorie]

The year I was born, wow, it feels so claustrophobic now. Walking through London, Isle of Dogs and Vauxhall it feels dominated by glass and steel, with all the streets acting as window tunnels. You go hold roads without a touch of sun on your skin, and having to rear your head back to see the sky.

[@davidjoyce1021]

1994: Slam doors- Gone 442 "plastic pigs"- Gone 159's- still here 455's- still here Eurostar's- brand new in 94 gone to St Pancras and some scrapped.

[@OlafProt]

Brilliant video. The view coming into Waterloo is changed beyond belief. My dad used to work at GLC offices on the left just past Vauxhall 3:21 and every time I went past on the way into town (from Dorking) I used to hope I'd see him at a window. But the approach is just so different. Trackside is less well kept that's for sure. A lot more overgrown now.

[@johnmacdonald3282]

Imagine living in that tower block having a fantastic view only for years later have blocks built in front of you.

[@bababababababa6124]

This is happening in my country (🇳🇬), specifically in Lagos. I have a friend who had a beachfront property, only for the city government to remove the beach and replace it with an ongoing skyscraper land reclamation project. Sad times

[@garryferrington811]

Well, that's what happens.

[@component9008]

That's just what happens. In order to meet demand more must be built.

[@mikeoglen6848]

@@bababababababa6124 There's just too many people , baba...

[@Cannon_Fodder_Russians]

Then move into the building that's blocking your view. This is not Commie China.

[@Micah_Lal]

What a great way to do a comparison video.

[@ftroop2000]

I see this view almost every morning from 2011 -2020. Changed dramatically in that time alone Brings back memories of a career I hated, too😂😂😂 As someone once told me when I started, the company will spend your whole career looking for reasons to fire you. Was so true!

[@firsteerr]

I used to catch the gospel oak to barking line in the late nineties to barking from black horse road , it was like riding through the country parks either side trees and gardens , rode it a couple of years ago and it's now lined with flats and as you approach barking you go through a tunnel that has flats on it all the way in , terrible terrible concrete jungle

[@krisstopher8259]

I was 13 in 94. I had my first computer that year, a 486, with a scanner and a printer and a modem too. I listened to CDs (and i still do). My brother got the playstation the year after. A couple of years later i got my first cellphone. It's not that long ago really, but it also is. I've lived like 3 different lives already

[@DdotRay86]

2:10 - a lot of these high-rises only came up in the last 10 years, let alone 30

[@FrontSideBus]

It's not just the skyline which has changed massively either.

[@JP_TaVeryMuch]

Another rare example of the YT Algorillas getting it right for once as a suggestion and thank you to you for this/these videos. I am still smiling as a result even though I didn't see my favourite like it or lump it lump of a building ~ the riverside Nine Elms Cold Store in all its unapologetic lump of concrete-ness. Ditto you decided to turn your attention away from the still extant sidings for the long gone Necropolis Railway 4:30. And if only we had a Smellovision option as we came past the Coffee Company building up from Vauxhall station! It used to be a powerful awakening of the imminent arrival in Waterloo but smells no more. All those towers of rabbit hutches and all those people who thought moving in there and having a balcony would be good! The alternative of the unopenable windows on neighbouring towers is no better though. Each to their own. Thank you once again.

[@kristinajendesen7111]

Used to love the smell from that coffee company roasting the beans. I used to lean out as a guard from a Pig or a slammer hoping it would waft my way.

[@JP_TaVeryMuch]

@@kristinajendesen7111 Ha ha brilliant!

[@robtyman4281]

​@@kristinajendesen7111 don't know if you ever noticed that it always smelt of 'burnt toast' around the Queenstown Road area. It still does!!

[@kristinajendesen7111]

@@robtyman4281 Never noticed that but Clapham used to smell of dog food (I started in 1987), Hook smelt of chocolate 😋 before the factory was knocked down & became Tesco, Brsnksome smelt of chips from the chippy above 😋 and Poole smelt like dog or cat food - Millers Pies 😄 Oh and the stop blocks at Waterloo smelt like 💩 sometimes but I don't know if that was something to do with the slammers?

[@Jimyjames73]

Interesting to see what has changed - been & gone & what is new - Network South-East in 1994 but gone in 2024 - During the video - for a few seconds each video seemed to be a few seconds faster than the other but both caught up at the end!!! Thanks for showing!!! 🙂🚂🚂🚂

[@Iskandar64]

I sometimes get a train into Waterloo. The change has accelerated in the past ten years. Skyscrapers are popping up now all over the place. Not just the City and Docklands. The South Bank, Nine Elms, Paddington Basin. Even North Acton. And just take a look at Croydon today, It looks like slightly smaller Docklands.

[@MATTY110981]

Most of the buildings didn’t exist a decade ago. Nine Elms and Battersea has changed so much.

[@Cannon_Fodder_Russians]

Thank goodness. They used to be real sh!tholes.

[@kerimbozkurt3301]

Kudos to video quality in 1994

[@Problembeing]

Shows you how long I haven’t been on that line to Waterloo in quite a while, and I used to travel that route quite frequently, when I only recognise the left hand side!

[@bertspeggly4428]

Fantastic! Well done. What would you think about chopping out some footage, to keep the two movies in sync as the trains pass the same building.

[@thelibrarian46]

I think it is quite ironic the fact that on the one hand, there seems to be an explosion in things like tap rooms and craft beer venues in areas adjacent to these locations shown. Yet at the same time, there are people begging on the street, and people having to go to a food bank or unable to afford to live in London anymore, including in these hideous high-rise apartments. In the sixties and into the seventies, and up until the mid-seventies, this scene would have comprised of vast vistas of spaces made up of working-class areas. It would have consisted of bomb-damaged sites, wasteland/ factories/ terraced housing/ and newer laid-out council housing and flats. Although I come from the outer suburbs of London, I think I would hate to live in Greater London now. The scenery depicted in this skyline represents areas which encountered bomb damage. then slum clearance particularly from the late Nineteen Fifties through to the early nineteen seventies, and the shift of people out to the suburbs and beyond. It would have looked quite grimy and polluted. Think of the film '' Up the junction, '' made in the mid nineteen sixties. This would be a good depiction of this area at the time. There would have been a clear aim by The Greater London Council, to make these areas less crowded and more green, with more green space and lower population density. Looking at the 2024 skyline, it would seem that the unfettered hand of neo-liberalism/ free market forces, fuelled by global capitalism have been allowed to do the reverse. But it is not working-class people, if there is still such a term, moving into these areas. Who in their right mind would be prepared to live in a shoe box for a million pounds, with no garden and hardly any space, and who would have the money to? Or more to the point who can afford to own these properties, and who are they being rented out to? It is certainly not the original or former inhabitants of these areas, because they would not be able to afford to live here anymore. Neither would people on modest to average incomes, whatever this is, in order to be able to live comfortably in London, and thrive, rather than just survive.

[@Three-Chord-Trick]

Yes. I first used the Twickenham to Waterloo line in 1988 - when I was 28. I stopped using it in the mid '90s. I recently took advantage of my 60+ Oyster card, and had a fresh look. I was 😮 at the forest of high rises that have sprung up at the side the track.

[@Foebane72]

We all know London is the wealthiest place in the UK by a massive margin, we don't need to see them FLAUNT it!

[@sandraferreira428]

Cleaned lines, no litter, airy open spaces, I much prefer 1994. For me, 2024 looks like the scientists experiment on driving rats insane by piling them into too small a space. Just my opinion

[@DrBallSac]

Love riding into a new city the last 10 minutes before the main station is the same globally. Labyrinth of tracks. Weeds and vegetation everywhere and mess. Nice slow ride walled in by the new and old structures. 😊

[@goodlookinouthomie1757]

My God, London now looks like a South American favella.

[@Nick-io9uk]

The worst is in the suburbs. Central areas may have got their shiny high rises, but now what were decent family homes in 1994 have been cut up into HMOs, their gardens hosting 'beds in sheds' Like an american city, the core is clean (ish) and heavily policed, whereas the surrounding areas are left to the slumlords and other parasites.

[@ftumptch86]

What's most interesting is how much stuff has been demolished

[@Someonesaidthis]

It’s just my opinion but I think skyscrapers make a city look ugly..

[@juliee.7072]

The sky was so much bigger in those days

[@kristinajendesen7111]

I worked trains into Waterloo for 31 years from Bournemouth and Salisbury. I could have been on one of those Pigs as the guard. Went driving at Sals in 1999. Wish I had shares in the crane hire companies for those construction sites when they were going up ££££££££££

[@ICE3Lokfuhrer]

Почему за эти 30 лет у вас ум не добавился?!

[@CT-pv9gu]

Amazing video. Scary how time flies

[@Aureus_]

I'm sick of this, bloody skyscrapers and soulless sterile buildings blocking out the beautiful sky and homogenising our ancient cities to all look the same... just why?

[@Nick-io9uk]

Ponzi scheme economics. From 1979 to the 2000s they grew the economy by simply adding more debt, and from the 2000s just by adding more people. London doesnt actually produce anything much. It steals from the rest of the country (and world, to a degree) through financialization (and happily accepting a lot of criminal foreign money) Why? I guess making a self sustaining economy, one that is prosperous even with worsening age demographics is hard work. Politicians in 1979 took the easy way out, the ponzi scheme way. But like all ponzi schemes, it has a shelf life.

[@breakfreak3181]

The era of my teenage years....damn I feel old! I was travelling all over London (and various parts of England) raving hard in those days!

[@barryjatkinson]

When I was a youngster the many disadvantages of tower blocks were becoming clear and everyone agreed that high rise living was not the future ?

[@Nick-io9uk]

All about the people & social conditions really. Detroit was once the richest city on earth, per capita, I believe. In 1960 probably had the best housing stock on the planet. Having nice housing didnt save it. In HK they all live in tower blocks & its relatively crime free. I mean, the barbican centre is as ugly as any 60s/70s architecture you'll find anywhere, still very sought after. And as much as I find it intrusive, having CCTV everywhere probably helps.

[@SteveSmith-zo4ml]

I started daily commuting into Waterloo in 1979. I still use it occasionally and I always look out of the window to see what remains of the early days - and it’s not that much. Or at least it seems that way because of the tall buildings there now which obscure a lot of what used to be visible from the train. The further out you go, once past Wimbledon, the changes are relatively fewer and it’s more recognisable.

[@SpoonyMcSpoonface]

High rise hell. Glad I’m still in the West of England!

[@gainsbourg66]

Coming to you soon.

[@gainsbourg66]

The uglification of London is matched only by the uglification of the rail network generally. Vauxhall is now one of the most dystopian looking places in London. As if we needed another Elephant and Castle!

[@ac9110]

I can't believe Oasis and Blur were 30 years ago!

[@Dr.W.Krueger]

Many "newer" parts of London already looked really ugly in the 70s when I first visited. Postmodernism and the architectural crimes that come with it have surely left their mark on the place.

[@dannycolverson6944]

All those developments, all that money and yet Londons councils have much smaller budgets than they did then. Its sickening

[@component9008]

Because there is still not enough development to meet demand.

[@amoonrabbit]

Do miss the old "slam-doors" and the toothpaste livery

[@Cannon_Fodder_Russians]

As a prolific 90's fare dodger I miss them too. Jump on in first class , when the conductor gets close hop off at the next station and run to the back of the train and get back on. Wash rinse repeat.

[@KatA-p7v]

How fascinating! Thank you, great video.

[@ashleyjiscool]

Waterloo looked better 30 years they didn’t have to get rid of the lswr canopies

[@FunkeeDrewster]

London will probably look like Cyberpunk's Night City in the next video. The 1994 video quality was surprisingly good compared to the 2024 video.

[@johnhogan6563]

Not just the skyline that has changed.. so have the people lol

[@Alloneword-cp2xw]

As has been the case since the anglo-saxon invasion.

[@johnhogan6563]

@ not since 1994 numpty

[@Alloneword-cp2xw]

@@johnhogan6563 lol I know. I was merely pointing out that change happens decade after decade, since the dawn of time.

[@thedarkdefender7780]

@@Alloneword-cp2xw Since importing illegal invaders....

[@singularityraptor4022]

Cool video. Appreciate these kind of stuffs.

[@greg-warsaw4708]

The label pic: left: possibly London; right: definitely China.

[@andydixon2980]

This video reminds me that we're not here for long. 20 years old in 1994, Oh the women I was yet to discover.

[@Saanjh-Kumari]

I am two years younger to you. All will be taken of. The future doesn't look too bright to me.

[@matthewdoyle3877]

@@Saanjh-Kumarino one cares

[@Saanjh-Kumari]

@@matthewdoyle3877 people do. It's quite possible you do too when it comes to your timeline. If not, that's perfectly alright.

[@andrewmurray5542]

2:16 made me feel very claustrophobic!

[@HenrysAdventures]

Good to see the 159s and 455s in both!

[@00Zy99]

The common global perception of London is of beautiful old buildings occupied by older men doing Things. Many people don't realize just how much the city is still growing. I know most Americans would be SHOCKED by this kind of thing.

[@77R_]

Even in the most niche things, Brits cannot stop foaming at the mouth for an opportunity to dunk on Americans. Rent free

[@WilliamAkins-rw2hv]

Yes, I'm surprised. I think of London as not changing that much, new people in old buildings, at least in the city center. This is very interesting.

[@jools77]

I travelled into London on that line regularly in 1992 while attending RNEC Greenwich, and being struck a mere two years later travelling in for a Docklands exhibition how much had changed. Twenty years later - same route: don't ask 🤦🏻- commuting in for work, I barely recognised anything, but was instead struck at how much greener London-from-the-train looked. Another 10 years on - still work 😬 - the last few miles, same route, feels like like moving through a mini Tokyo, but lacking much of the charm and security Tokyo affords us. I'm not really a spoony for the old days and nostalgia, but it really does feel like as a society we've lost our way so badly there's an overbearing sense of dread that the sparkle has gone forever.

[@jhibbitt1]

this reminds me of those movie adaptations of HG wells time machine. he watches as skyscrapers just start appearing everywhere around him

[@BraziLoko]

I was 2 years old in 1994! Great to see what London was like when i was a infant

[@williampeters9014]

Incredibile footage

[@megatronskneecap]

The Skyline looks better now. It just used to be a ton of weird old claggy flat blocks but now it's nice modern sky scrapers.

[@joex2004uk]

The big difference being that in 1994 the Eurostar was running from Waterloo. Shame we couldn’t see any Eurostar trains in that clip.

[@oddities-whatnot]

It may be the film difference but the sky looks hazy in the old video. Back in the 90s diesels were really polluting, think of all the buses and taxis in London, this was before DPFs were fitted.

[@robtyman4281]

It may also be the fact that the 1994 film would not have been shot in HD, so that might the reason it doesn't look as sharp; and is abit 'grainy' and ever so slightly blurry at the edges. Bearing in mind, smartphones and DSLR cameras didn't exist 30 years ago. So the 1994 film would have been shot using an old-style large video camera (probably mounted on a tripod in the cab). And would have had analogue video cassettes containing film reel. Whereas the present day film will have been shot on a (digital HD) smartphone mounted on a gimbal. HD was not available either, back then. It only started appearing in the late 90's - and even then, it didn't become the 'norm' for another decade. Interestingly to coincide with the advent of social media, and arrival of smartphones.

[@oddities-whatnot]

@@robtyman4281 thanks for the reply. Much appreciated.

[@thromboid]

I think you can infer something about the air quality by the way the haze affects the appearance of buildings with increasing distance. I think it is more pronounced in the 1994 footage.

[@robtyman4281]

@@thromboid I think it has more to do with the actual film quality. Don't forget - the 1994 film will be analogue....using actual physical film reel; whereas the 2024 film will be digital HD shot on a smartphone. The difference in overall film quality between the two, will be significant and instantly noticeable because of this fact. Another thing, the time of year also plays a part. If the 1994 film was shot in the summer months, then there'll be some 'haze' because warmer air has this effect on making buildings in the distance seem more blurry.

[@joebrown7817]

The air is in my opinion far cleaner in London now than it was 30 years ago. Congestion charge, ULEZ, electric buses and cabs, encouragement of cycling have all helped... in 1994 we were still merrily breathing in leaded petrol fumes.

[@PERCYxyz]

Great comparison, I prefer the first one.

[@Kisskissheat]

左はヨーロッパの秩序だった国の都市風景に見えるが、右は東南アジアや中国あたりのアジアの新興国みたいに感じる。 「新しい高いビル」ばかり建てることってそんなに立派なことなのか？

[@DaniG.German883]

Globalist have ruined European architecture. Please, Japanese friend, don’t let these people ruin your country

[@kbtred51]

London in 1994 was 6.8 million, 8.8 million in 2022 (+30%). Building height is dramatic, until 1980s London grew out not up. Railway is fascinating too as noted would be better synced, trains are travelling at different speeds so awkward. Ideally have the right 1 sec behind to allow comparison. Run the speeds at same time intervals between markers like posts structures points.

[@JS-xr5vw]

Amazing. Thanks for sharing

[@triptechable]

1994 was a great year! The fact it was now 30nyears ago makes me feel very very old. I definitely prefer the '94 skyline. I dont like change 😂

[@Nick-io9uk]

I used to be fanatical about 'skyscrapers' and Im still in awe of them (dont actually like being around them, feel like an ant, like their scale is 'inhuman' ) For me the disaster of high rise planning in the UK has always been the lack of american style zoning. IMHO they should have been confined to the isle of dogs & the two peninsulas either side. Its downright shameful they are allowing massive high rises in places like Battersea or even suburban boroughs. Ironically from what I hear the tower blocks in the isle of dogs are now half empty.

[@vinniechudam1835]

No Eurostar trains yet until November 14th 1994 but the brand new Waterloo Int'l terminal is already in place and looking magnificent. A sad sight today.

[@methanedirigible]

5:55 I wonder what the people on the platform are up to now? The kids likely have kids of their own now!

[@DuncanSelvester]

Thanks for posting. I travelled this way many times from the 1970s until I moved to Yorkshire in 1991. This is interesting…and depressing!

[@alexandersometsby5284]

Love the sound

[@DdotRay86]

Ive been getting SW Trains for the entire span of this video and to this day i sometimes gawk at just how much its developed.

[@adrianparker-e9f]

I haven't been to London since 2012. It appears to me that, from watching telly, many office blocks and other buildings built in the 1950's/60's/70's/80's have been demolished and replaced with new ones.

[@TheEurostyler]

I see only new concrete and glass-clad buildings coming up. So many of past mistakes (brutalist style) that I am surprised how there is minimal green area thought in these new regenerations

[@joshslater2426]

It’s quite terrifying that the rail line and its infrastructure has remained more or less unchanged but the skyline is barely recognisable.

[@Nick-io9uk]

Same for roads, airports, increasingly even the sewage systems. Our infrastructure was designed for a population of around 55 million & the politicians, in their wisdom, have decided to stress it with a population nearer 75 million. Good news for the rent seekers, less so for those who want decent living standards.