|
BERMONDSEY TUBE NAMED
"LONDON’S MOST ROMANTIC TUBE STATION"
Four-Year Study Names Jubilee Line "Most Romantic Tube Line"
And Tottenham Court Rd "Least Romantic Station"
Love On The Tube? You’ve Got To Know Where To Look
Website Gives Lovestruck Londoners A Second Chance
"I Saw Your Face In A Crowded Place…" At Bermondsey Station
Bermondsey Station on the Jubilee Line in East London is today named London’s "Most Romantic Tube Station", by a four-year study of the lovelorn postings on a London classified ads website.
The same study, conducted by the website Craigslist (http://london.craigslist.org), names the Jubilee Line as London’s "Most Romantic Tube Line" – defined as the one offering the best odds of a fellow passenger falling for you across a crowded platform or carriage, and then posting an online ad to find you.
Such odds are 25 times greater at Bermondsey than at Tottenham Court Road, London’s "Least Romantic Station".
The findings come from an analysis of the ads posted by Tube-users from 2003-06 in the "Missed Connections" section of Craigslist, a popular classified ads site. The ads concerned were posted by those who had fallen for a fellow traveler, without getting their details, and – unlike in James Blunt’s song, "You’re Beautiful" – used Craigslist to try and find them.
Craigslist.org is an online notice-board and classified ads site, with local sites in 450 cities across the world, including 20 across the UK. Londoners can use it to post free ads for anything from jobs to cars to old sofas to… fellow travelers who’ve caught their fancy.
Bermondsey emerged as the station with the most Missed Connections mentions per passenger using the station – or, as the study’s compilers call it, the highest "TRIST" (Tube Romance Index Score Total) score.
Bermondsey notched a TRIST score of 7.987 – almost 25 times higher than Tottenham Court Road on the Northern Line, London’s "Least Romantic Station", with a score of just 0.325,
Many of the ads, like the following, are almost achingly poignant:
"You were travelling yesterday (Tues 22nd Feb) via Euston to Bermondsey just before noon. You stood by the tube map, looking puzzled. I helped you find a route. You are Irish, tall, long blonde hair and just incredibly beautiful.
"I'm 5'11, dark hair and brown eyes, was wearing a long dark green coat.
I glanced back as you queued to buy a ticket and then you smiled – where did that orchestra come from, and was it only me that felt the earthquake? I fell just a little bit in love with you and I'd like to keep on falling. James"
Earls Court Station got more mentions overall than any other station but notched only the third-highest TRIST score, due to its far larger number of passengers. Euston notched the second largest number of mentions but came only sixth in the sightings-per-passenger table.
The study’s findings come a week after a study at Nottingham Trent University suggested that admiring attractive fellow passengers was a good tactic for coping with the stress of commuting.
Users of the Northern Line posted the most Missed Connections ads overall but fewer-per-passenger than the Jubilee or Victoria Lines.
The Metropolitan Line propped up the Craigslist table, with a TRIST score of just 0.37 – barely half of the 0.654 achieved by the Hammersmith and City Line in second bottom, and less than a fifth of the 1.959 score for the Jubilee Line.
But aren’t the odds of finding anyone through a Missed Connections ad pretty long? Yes, concedes Jim Buckmaster, Craigslist CEO and the man who added the Missed Connections to the site, but the success rate is still higher than you might think. "Perhaps in most cases, it’s the friends and associates of the person sought that see the posting and bring it to their attention."
What Craigslist really offers, says Buckmaster, is hope. "People really do value long shots. The idea of a getting a second chance, however small, is very powerful."
As for the result of the new Craigslist study. "There must be something in the air at Bermondsey Station", suggest Buckmaster.
There is, of course, nothing new about either personal ads or their sub-species, the "chance encounter" ad.
No less than Mark Twain was struck on a visit to New York in 1867 by the tendency of New York men to fall in with women who "smile at them in a street car, and forthwith they pop a personal in the Herald".
In "Strange Red Cow", her recent book on the history of classified ads, Sara Bader cites the following example from the New York Herald of March 21, 1866:
"If the Lady who, from an omnibus, smiled on a gentleman with a bunch of bananas in his hand, as he crossed Wall Street, corner of Broadway, will address X box 6,735 Post Office, she will confer a favor."
The chance encounter ad has not only survived the years, it is now enjoying a new golden era, thanks to sites like Craigslist, which allow the love-struck to advertise for free, without delay and to hope for near-instant response.
Reflects Bader: "We know them by a variety of headings – "Missed Connections", "I Saw You", "Caught My Eye" – but the theme is the same: these ads offer, at the very least, the hope of a second chance."
•
MORE EXAMPLES OF MISSED CONNECTIONS POSTINGS ON CRAIGSLIST
• Beautiful A Double Bass At South Ken Tube
beautiful, with a double bass sth kensington tube - m4w that was you today. You got the tube at south kensington today @1. We passed a half smile, but that was all. u was cursing as i had to run off cos i was late. give me a chance to say hi.
• Jubilation On The Jubilee
Rollerblades on the Jubilee/Central Line. Nancy, we had a wonderful chat yesterday morning about rollerblading in the city, and Citiskate. You had an enchanting smile - maybe I could see it again some time? I hope you see this, or I see you again, either on the tube or skating.
• Desperately Seeking Daniela
Daniela from Chile - m4w We chatted on the hammersmith line tonight, and I helped you transfer to the circle line at baker st. You were from Chile. I hope you made it to Bayswater. Enjoy your stay in the UK. I wish I had asked for your number.
• I Smelt Your Fart… In A Crowded Place.
"On the Central Line heading east last Saturday, about 6pm, somewhere between Bank and Liverpool St: you farted in a crowded carriage. Everyone was too polite to say something but we all smelt it. (Oh, why did I look down at the ground instead of saying something! Another missed opportunity! Oh floor, what secrets did you hold that kept my gaze!) Was this you?... I wish you'd get in touch!"
• The Man At Knightsbridge Station Escalator
Businessman on escalator at Knightsbridge station This was a while ago since I just found out about Missed Connections. It was about July 26 or 27 around 10 am. I was on the escalator with my mom and her friend going to Harrods and we were talking about the theatre. You were behind us and were wearing a nice business suit with a purple tie I think. When we got out of the station you walked ahead of us and then a few minutes later walked passed us again. I don't know why you have stuck in my mind I just thought I would try to see if you're out there.
• Beggars Can Be Posters
These days even beggars post on Craigslist, as in the following post:
"Definite moment": You: dark skirt, high heels; me: ripped jeans, wooly hat. I asked you for some change outside King's Cross station, Sunday afternoon. There was definitely a spark! Do you want to get a cup of coffee?"
• "I Spilled Grandma On You…"
While the majority of Missed Connections ads are posted by men who have spotted women, the following posting appeared last month on Craigslist in Toronto.
"I spilled grandma on you around Spadina station - w4m
You: unsuspecting lonely, sad-looking boy on subway
Me: Girl with blue Urn
I spilled my grandmother on you, I’m sure you remember. If you see this we should do lunch...this time without grandma."
10 MOST ROMANTIC TUBE STATIONS
Tube Station
"Tube Romance Index"
Bermondsey - 7.987
Kennington - 6.258
Earls Court - 6.215
Chalk Farm - 5.926
Embankment - 4.650
Euston - 4.554
Putney Bridge - 4.255
East Putney - 3.905
Hounslow Central - 3.798
Westbourne Park - 3.698
FIVE LEAST ROMANTIC TUBE STATIONS
Station Tube Romance Index
Piccadilly Circus - 0.592
Brixton - 0.538
Stratford - 0.530
Leicester Sq - 0.338
Tottenham Ct Rd - 0.325
ie. Tottenham Court Road station is the least romantic and Leicester Square the second least.
MOST AND LEAST ROMANTIC TUBE LINES
Tube Line
"Tube Romance Index"
Jubilee - 1.959
Victoria - 1.922
Northern Line - 1.886
Piccadilly - 1.873
Central - 1.580
Waterloo - 1.040
Bakerloo - 0.834
District - 0.752
Circle - 0.730
Hammersmith & City - 0.654
Metropolitan - 0.372
NOTE: Method For Calculating The "TRIST" Score/ "Tube Romance Index"
The TRIST (Tube Romance Index Score Total) score is calculated by dividing the number of Missed Connections mentions for a particular station or line by the number of passengers per annum using that station or line (in millions), times 10 to give a whole number, and rounding it to three decimals.
|
