Thanks to the ugly imperfections of the London Tube, there are quite a lot of distinctive details of a certain underground station that can sculpt your impression like no other.

1. Architecture and Decorations

London Underground Stations have a wide variety of architectures and constructions, which can give you an image of the stations’ ages and scales.

For example, most Zone-1 stations on Metropolitan Line have a Victorian-feel, and they actually are among the oldest underground stations in the world — which were built around the mid to late nineteenth century.

Decorations are also an important part: they suggest references to related history or pop-culture stories. Baker Street Station is full of Sherlock Holmes silhouettes, while Charing Cross Station is home to David Gentleman’s murals of features at Eleanor Cross, after which the station was named.

Speaking of Art on the Underground, Northwick Park Station, which is a minute walk from University of Westminster’s Harrow Campus, is also decorated by many arts alumni’s works.

2. Modernity and Traffic

Similar to architecture, modernity of a station can tell you how new it is. For instance, Westminster Station is not exactly new, but it was newly refurbished and opened for Jubilee Line in 1999 — and that was why it featured screen doors for safety.

Modernity has a close connection with traffic as well as scale. When a station has a lot of elevators and lifts, it definitely is the heart of a very urban and busy area.

3. Street Entertainers

Street entertainers are everywhere in London as well as other cities. But in London Underground Stations, they are not the same and therefore can also tell you something about the station and the area it is in.

Though not necessarily accurate, if you see a black man playing blues and jazz at a station, there is a high chance that local residents of that area have a thing for African culture. On the other hand, passengers at stations near shopping centres like Oxford Circus are more familiar with pop music.

Additionally, although it is not a nice thing to do, but if you look at the money they are given, you can also partly tell the generosity and richness of people in that neighbourhood. I want to tell you that if you play well at South Kensington, you will probably get some notes rather than only coins.

4. Advertisements

Every station is packed with advertising boards, but if you pay attention enough, you will see that they are not the same.

Advertisements in zone-3 stations are more likely about shopping sites and mobile apps with discounts and attractive prices. Advertisements in Central London stations are about theatre shows. Exclusively, South Kensington Station is full of classical concerts at prosperous Royal Albert Hall!

Certainly, business firms have an eye to distribute their advertisements to the right targets!