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I don’t live in London. But when I can’t get away with staying at home in my pyjamas, I have to journey to the outskirts of the city by train, wake up in time to get off, go down the stairs, along the tunnel, back up the stairs to catch the Tube, then change somewhere deep underground for another one, before finally emerging, just about breathing, but in desperate need of a coffee, sometimes two. It’s just as well my house is a 34-second dash from the train station and the office is a minute or so (it depends how late I am) from the Tube. I also use the capital’s transport to visit family, friends, shop and, every so often, to do something I don’t really have to do, like visit a museum or a park. My main point is that while the city’s transport system can demand rather a lot of its users, its users demand a fair bit in return. Sometimes we think we can’t live with it, but we would find it very hard to live without it. My other point is that London transport is not an issue for Londoners alone. A great many of us have to use it often enough, if not that often, or rely on other people being able to navigate it to reach us. And the country as a whole depends on workers, shoppers, tourists and others being able to get around the capital without swearing they’ll never do it again. This supplement not only testifies to our love/hate relationship with London’s transport, but points to how its health should matter to us all.
Emily Mann, supplement editor

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