By: Mat Jackson
The first thing I did after touching down and leaving the airport, was use London’s Underground. This was my first time riding a train or using public transport of any kind besides the CABS (Campus Area Bus System) on Ohio State’s campus. I was shocked by the scale of London’s Underground in comparison to the CABS and was felt lost and confused when I looked at the map and to figure out where I needed to go. Luckily, I ran into some of my fellow students, and we were able to figure it out together. After getting to the hotel, I was further shocked by the scale of the Underground that seemed to go everywhere. We took it everywhere in London including the Imperial War Museum, the Churchill War Rooms, and even different restaurants that would’ve been an hour or more walk.
Picture of me inside of Westminster Station after visiting the Churchill War Rooms
In this way everything seemed within a walking distance because I only had to walk three minutes to the nearest station from the hotel, then just sat down on the train for around ten minutes while I had unforgettable conversations with my classmates. I was also shocked by how often the trains ran since I have regularly waited upwards of 20 minutes on OSU’s campus for a COTA bus before but waited no more than ten minutes on the Underground.
Picture of Elephant & Castle Station
Even Bletchley Park felt so close to London thanks to the use of a regional train which made my ride smooth, quick, and efficient. I searched how far away Bletchley park was from our hotel on Apple Maps so I could compare to it routine drives I take in Ohio, and it said by train it was only an hour and 20 minutes, but by car it was an hour and 30 minutes. This is about the same amount of time it takes me to get to Ohio State from my hometown and makes me feel extremely jealous of the English transportation system. I feel jealous because I always had to find a ride to school because I lived in a dorm last year and could not park my car on campus. So, the thought of being able to use public transportation like the London Underground to maneuver around Ohio State’s campus area or to even get to campus makes me extremely envious of the English transportation system.