Taking steps winter 2015 16 by Havering Council

www.havering.gov.uk/taking-steps

Winter 2015/16

Millions of passengers, thousands of staff, one job. Inside the world of

Leon Daniels

IN THIS ISSUE... Leon Daniels interview History of London Transport TFLâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s treasure chest Design your own bus

Taking Steps

Introducing the new Taking Steps editorial team from: Crowlands Primary School Kiera Prime (Aged 11) My hobbies are swimming and trampolining. Lucy Gibbins (11) My hobbies include dancing and shopping. Miruna Iorga (11) My hobbies are writing short suspense stories, detailed drawing and my favourite subject is Maths Nada Daher (10) My hobbies are writing short stories and playing hockey. My favourite subject is Literacy. Allanah Elcock (10) I am named after an Irish princess. When I grow up I want to be a runner that everyone knows.

Branfil Primary Jimi Gower (10) My hobbies include football, tennis, golf and swimming. I also enjoy playing hockey. Leo Sokoni (10) I enjoy playing football and I also play the guitar. Gracie Jackson (10) I love a cup of tea and my favourite colour is pink! Isabel O’Connor (10) I’m a Junior Travel Ambassador for Branfil Primary School and I’m 10 years old I love singing, dancing and acting. I would love to be a dance teacher when I am older.

Broadford Primary Melisa Krasniqi Every year I travel through France, Switzerland and Italy to arrive in my home country, Albania, where I spend the summer holidays with my two siblings. Katherine Elizabeth Barrett (10) I always travel on London transport as my family doesn’t own a car. We have a dog called Poppy who loves ripping up the furniture. Daniel Charles Joy (10) My two favourite lessons at school are Maths and Science. Unlike most people I only have one kidney. Kieran Dash (10) My favourite lesson is PE and I would like to be a PE teacher. My lessons in school are helping me to get there.

DID YOU KNOW?

On the 30th December 1952, an incident described as ‘1 in 150,000’ by The Daily Mail, occurred when Tower Bridge began to open with a No.78 double decker bus on it. The driver Albert Gunter had no choice but to speed up otherwise the vehicle would have fallen into the River Thames. The bus jumped over the river and amazingly no one was hurt. Albert and his bus became quite famous and a painting of the incident can still be seen at Tower Bridge today. Written by Jimi Gower, Leo Sokoni, Gracie Jackson and Isabel O’Connor from Branfil Primary. Produced by the London Borough of Havering Design & print by the London Borough of Havering - ref: 004524 - 02/16

There are only two tube stations names that contain all five vowels – ‘Mansion House’ and ‘South Ealing’.

Winter 2015/16

HISTORY OF PUBLIC TRANSPORT IN LONDON

HOW HAS LONDON’S TRANSPORT CHANGED SINCE THE 1900s?

In 1900 virtually every vehicle on the streets of London was horsedrawn. More than 300,000 horses were needed to keep the city on the move, hauling everything from private carriages and cabs to buses, trams and delivery vans. Early mechanical vehicles were unreliable and short-lived. Electric tramways had been introduced in a number of American and European cities in the 1890s, but London itself did not have a single tram line in operation at the turn of the century. By 1915 everything had changed. Horse buses and horse trams had disappeared in London, and motor taxis heavily outnumbered horse-drawn cabs. Motor cars had replaced carriages, but only for the wealthy.

Motorbuses and electric trams were everywhere, and used by everyone. Londoners more than doubled the number of journeys they made by bus and tram. Horses were still used for most goods deliveries, but the electric motor and petrol engine were now widely used in public transport. London’s public transport has changed massively since the 19th century. It has become far more advanced technologically and has more modern transport designs. We now enjoy a huge underground network and a vast bus network too. London Underground now carries more than four million passengers a day and the numbers are rising. Written by, Miruna Iorga, Crowlands Primary

In Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, the Headmaster at Hogwarts has a scar shaped just like the London Underground map on his knee.

Taking Steps

PENNY FOR

LONDON

Transport for London are proud to partner Penny for London, the world’s first contactless micro-donation scheme.

SCHOOL PARTY TRAVEL SCHEME Children at schools in London boroughs are entitled to two free school trips per term under the School Party Travel Scheme (SPTS). This is available on the tube, bus, Docklands Light Railway, London Overground, TfL Rail, trams, and on National Rail services within London. Only schools that are located in London Borough’s are eligible and schools must register before they can order tickets for free travel. Once the SPTS team have completed all checks and confirmed that a school is eligible to join the scheme, they will let the school know that it can make applications for tickets for free travel.

Penny for London is collecting pennies through contactless payment and distributing them to city-based charities. The qualifying not-forprofit organisations support London’s children and young people by creating pathways into education, training and employment in the community. People can also donate every time they buy a coffee, or lunch, at participating retailers. The Mayor’s Fund for London launched Penny for London in October 2014 with Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, officially opening the scheme. Customers can use their contactless debit or credit card to donate one pence, or more if they wish, for each day they travel on the Tube, bus, tram, Docklands Light Railway, London Overground and most National Rail services in London. Those with a contactless card can register on the Penny for London website to start donating. All the pennies go to charity. Initially Penny for London funds go to the Mayor’s Fund for London and they are then distributed to other London-based children’s charities, who go through a grant application first. For more information about who receives the money and how the money is spent go to www.pennyforlondon.com

The trips must be for educational, sporting or cultural purposes that support an area of the National Curriculum to qualify for free travel under the scheme. At Broadford Primary School, children travel on public transport each term for their educational visits. Natalie Towner, a year 5 pupil at Broadford Primary said, I love travelling by public transport for school trips, on the way home it is always busy and we have to stand and try and balance while the train is moving. It makes me feel like I am a city worker. Using buses and trains makes sure that we are always moving around and getting lots of exercise.

Travellers can help a young Londoner by donating one pence every day they travel using their contactless debit or credit card.

Schools can apply up to three months before the intended date of travel and no later than two weeks before. If there are too many school groups using the service on a certain date, the application might be refused, so it’s best to get the application in early.

Written by, Melissa Keasniqi and Katherine Barret, Broadford Primary.

In the Play Station game ‘Tomb Raider 3’, one of the levels is set in the disused Aldwych tube station and sees Lara Croft killing rats.

LONDON TRANSPORT The London Transport Museum MUSEUM

is a treasure trove of everything transport related in London, a must see for every visitor to the City. This museum stands for what London is known for: cabs, the underground, and double-deckers, your visit will leave you amazed with the amount of exhibits and related information.

Winter 2015/16

or Embankment tube stations. London’s public transport is so iconic and is interesting to see how it has developed and you can climb on an antique bus in the process. If a lesson in history, interactive activities and story telling sessions for children are not reason enough to visit; maybe access to the museum for a year with an adult ticket and free admission for kids will have you running there every school holiday.

The inside looks like it is housed in an old bus depot and every area has been made use of. The journey starts on the second floor with exhibits of the various forms of public transport and from the beginning timelines show how transport has changed over the years. There are omnibuses of every shape and size, a Written by, Melissa Keasniqi steam engine and various forms of underground vehicles to be seen. and Katherine Barret, Broadford Primary. The museum is right in the middle of Covent Garden so a very convenient location. It is easily accessible by Covent Garden, Temple

TRAINS AROUND THE WORLD

EUROSTAR

INDIA

BULLET TRAIN

The Eurostar uses the Euro Tunnel, which links England with France. Eurostar and Euro Tunnel are separate companies.

Indian Railways is an Indian stateowned enterprise

They go up to 320 km an hour! Dogs and cats are allowed on if they are under 10kg, it travels from Tokyo to Kyoto. Estimated travel time: 2h49. Other high speed trains have a similar appearance to the bullet train.

The Eurostar train carries passengers from London to France and Belgium and is the only high speed train that does this. On 30 July 2003, Eurostar set the speed record at 208mph! (334.7kph)

It is one of the world’s largest railway networks comprising 115,000 km (71,000 mi) of track over a route of 65,808 km (40,891 mi) and 7,112 stations Indian Railways is the world’s seventh largest commercial or utility employer, by number of employees, with over 1.334 million employees!

The network has expanded to currently consist of 2,615.7 km (1,625.3 mi) of lines with maximum speeds of 240–320 km/h (150–200 mph), 283.5 km (176.2 mi).

Written by Lucy Gibbins, Crowlands Primary The shortest escalator on the tube system, with only 50 steps, is at Chancery Lane.

Taking Steps

Leon D

The Taking Steps editorial team visited the London Transport Museum to interview Leon Daniels. Leon is the Managing Director of Surface Transport at Transport for London. What do you love most about your job? I get to do loads of different things, I was really looking forward to joining you this morning because people like me learn huge amounts from people who are interested, who want to make changes, and who want to make things better for the public. Tonight for example I’m going to meet the President of China at a dinner at the Guildhall. So what is fabulous about this job is that every day is different. There aren’t many jobs in the world where you get to do such a variety of things. Sometimes I tell my own children about my diary and they get tired just listening to it! ONE

What are the biggest frustrations in your job? The biggest frustration is that young people like you and the people I work with are full of great ideas and things we’d really like to do really quickly because it would make life better, but in the world in which we live firstly all the money we have comes from the passengers who pay fares, and from the taxes that are paid by your mums and dads in their jobs, so we’ve got public money. Whilst there are loads of things we’d love to do we can only afford to do them at a particular rate because we haven’t got an unlimited amount of money. If we just take at the moment we are building across London lots of dedicated cycle tracks, cycle super highways we call them, that means that cyclists will be in their own lane away from the traffic in order to be able to cycle safely and to encourage more people to cycle. However, there are some people who drive their cars and others who have got deliveries to make and so on, who rather wish we weren’t doing that because its making life harder for them. So we know in our hearts that it’s the right thing to do but in order to get these things done we have to deal with some people and some concerns about whether this is the right thing to do or not.

TWO

How many staff do you have in your work team? I’ve got three and a half thousand people working for me in Surface Transport and TfL plus inside the whole of TfL we have 30,000 people and on top of that we have all the bus drivers of which there are about 25,000 who don’t work for us but they work for the bus companies who work for us. Then we have what I’d call our extended family so they’re not people who work for me exactly but the bus drivers, the engineers, and the cleaners who work for the bus companies, there are people who work in other companies that do things for us. So the guys you see outside now digging the roads work for companies who work for us and I think of those as our extended TfL family because its really important to remember that all those people out there now digging the roads and the people you see driving the buses, the people you see working behind the counters (serving staff), the people checking tickets, all these things, every one of those people, rely on us for their jobs. THREE

Almost 60% of the London Underground is actually above the ground and not underground.

Daniels

What are the main parts of your job? There are loads of things. The first thing I do is meet with the Mayor, Boris Johnson, every week to discuss with him what it is that he would like us to do. We’re talking at the moment about extending the underground, what will happen when Crossrail (our new big railway) is finished, the traffic congestion in London, more cycling, London’s air quality which is not as good as it should be, all sorts of different things. It’s a really interesting time because the Mayor of London is up for election in May and Boris Johnson isn’t going to stand as he’s been Mayor for two terms so eight years and there are a number of people who are standing to be the new Mayor of London. I have to talk to all of them because they want to discuss what they would like to do if they become Mayor. They’ve all got loads of great ideas and I have to balance those ideas with how much money we’ve got, about how easy or difficult it is to do some of these things, so one of the main parts of my job at the moment is not only talking to the FOUR

Winter 2015/16

current Mayor but talking to other people who’d like to be the Mayor. Also, talking to the Government, talking to other parts of the civil service, the administrative part of the Government about things in the future like driverless cars, like electric vehicles that have no exhaust or emissions. Would you have liked to have been a FIVE bus driver? That’s a really great question and I’ll tell you why that’s a great question... in my current job there’s things going on all the time in the evenings, at night, at the weekend, on holidays, there’s always things going on. Now one of the great things about being a bus driver is that you’re just on your own. It sounds odd as you’re driving a bus with lots of people on but actually you are on your own. You take your own bus out, you drive through the course of the day, you pick people up, take people home, that kind of thing and then not only are you outside and in the fresh air on the streets of London meeting lots of very nice people but when you finish you go home and you’ve got nothing else to do until tomorrow so you don’t have to think about work, you don’t have to think about what’s going on. I think that makes it a nice job. Would I have liked to have been one? Well I do it from time to time, and it is a nice thing to do. Would I want to do it every day? Well there’s something about my current job where there’s lots of variety so maybe I like the variety more. Where were you born? SIX I was born in Windsor, in Berkshire, my mum and dad were from the north of England and they came down for work. How often do you go sightseeing on SEVEN buses? Everyday probably. It’s not like I’m travelling around just aimlessly but when you’re out travelling on a bus you could just look at your phone and play games or you could look out the window and see things. I think travelling around every day on the bus is like sightseeing because you always learn something new.You always see something new. What is your favourite EIGHT type of bus? That’s easy. My favourite type of bus is the New Route-Master. It looks beautiful. It’s all curved. It’s got stairs at the front and the back. It’s got glass up

Out of the 287 stations, only 29 are south of the River Thames.

Taking Steps

the staircase. It’s got three doors. It’s got a tiny little engine that’s just a generator because the bus is driven by an electric motor, it’s designed by Thomas Hetherwick who designed the Olympic cauldron. Will Havering be getting a New NINE Route-Master bus? Maybe, is the answer. The Mayor likes them in the centre of London because that’s where they get most exposure, where most people see them, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see them in Havering soon as well.

What do you like about London? Oh its fabulous isn’t it? Isn’t it just fabulous? What a place, I go to lots of places but I’m always really pleased to come back here. Fancy living in a place where it’s by a river, it’s got parks, it’s got museums, it’s got historic palaces, it’s where the Queen lives, the Tower of London. Where we’ve got the latest technology. Where we’ve got super fast broadband. Where we’ve got a lovely mix of people from all sorts of places around the world who live here. It’s safe. Its open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, never closes. What a great place to live. TEN

Read the full interview online and Leon’s views on transport during the 2012 London Olympics at: www.havering.gov.uk/taking-steps

Transport for London’s Lost Property Treasure Chest… Transport for London's Baker Street lost property office marked its 80th anniversary in 2014. The amount and type of items found on underground trains is both remarkable and surprising! Some of the more bizarre items found include false teeth, prosthetic limbs, a wedding dress, a mannequin, a judges wig, a giant reindeer, and of course thousands of mobile phones. Ever wondered what happened to that brolly you left on the District Line, the one you really needed when you got to the other end and found it was raining? It is probably in among the other 10,908 umbrellas lost in the past year on London's public transport. When items arrive at the office, the details are entered into a computer system aptly called Sherlock, after the Lost Property Office's fictional Baker Street neighbour. Each piece of lost property is tagged with a description and date, receiving a red label if it was found in a taxi, a white one if it was left on a bus or a yellow one if it ended up on a train or at a station. Within the three-storey building, sits a stuffed puffer

fish, a gas mask, a full size stuffed Superman and hundreds of lost teddy bears. And how did a school crossing patrol person forget to take their lollipop with them when they got off the Tube? You can probably have a fair guess at the top five (by number) of items left on the underground network in 2014, they are: 1. Mobile phones - 20,309 2. Travelcard wallets - 18,433 3. Wallets - 11,580 4. Umbrellas - 10,908 5. Keys - 10,790 Nearly a quarter of items that pass through the office are reunited with their owners. Higher value items, such as mobile phones have a better success rate, with up to half being returned. The muffled mobile phone ringtones indicates the site of the unclaimed phones, which are stored in padded brown envelopes. It is a sign of the times that they have overtaken gloves and umbrellas as the items most likely to end up in the lost property office.

The fare for George Shillibeer’s omnibus was one shilling from Paddington to Bank and sixpence for a halfway journey. This is equal to 5p and 2.5p respectively in today’s currency.

There has also been a big increase in tablets and e-readers handed in. After three months, unclaimed items are dispatched down a spiral slide to the office's lowest floor. Most of the items are donated to charities including the Salvation Army and British Red Cross, with others being recycled, disposed of, or auctioned. The Salvation Army delivered more than 200 teddies, dolls and toy cars to those who may otherwise have

VIEWS FROM

gone without at Christmas. In fact, 2014 saw more lost items handed in than any of the previous 40 years. Perhaps it shows people are becoming a more honest bunch, or simply getting more careless at leaving their stuff lying about! Based on the ‘London Tube’s lost property treasure trove’ from the BBC’s website.

THE BUS

The London Eye is a giant Ferris wheel on the South Bank of the River Thames in London. Also known as the Millennium Wheel, its official name was originally published as the British Airways London Eye.You can see this from a bus. Tower of London St Paul’s Cathedral, London, is an Anglican cathedral, the seat of the Bishop of London and the mother church of the Diocese of London. It sits on Ludgate Hill at the highest point of the City of London.You can see this from a bus.

Winter 2015/16

Stratford Westfield Stratford City is a shopping centre in Stratford, London.The centre opened on 13 September 2011. With a total retail floor area of 1,883,700 square feet, it is one of the largest urban shopping centres in Europe. You can see this from a bus and train.You can get to Stratford by the train from Romford and Harold Wood Stations. It is also on the Central and Jubilee line.

Havering Town Hall

Havering Town Hall is in Romford town centre. At the address of Main Road, Romford , RM1 3BB.You can see this from a bus. Written by Allanah Elcock and Nada Daher, Crowlands Primary. For all London bus routes go to www.tfl.gov.uk/maps/bus

The best places to spot the legendary underground mice running around the tracks are Waterloo Station and any platform at Oxford Circus.

Taking Steps

INTERVIEW WITH THE SAFER TRANSPORT TEAM The Editorial Team went to Hornchurch Police Station to interview Jackie and Rachel who are Community Police Officers (CPOs) on the Havering Safer Transport Team. The interview took place on the top deck of a bus! We also got to ask Jim, the bus driver, some questions.

Q: What’s your biggest phobia? A: Rachel – Cotton wool! Jackie – Spiders! Q: When you are not wearing uniform and travelling on the buses, do you correct anti-social behaviour? A:Yes – especially if we hear bad language. Q: Did you want to be a community police officer when you were younger? A: Jackie – Yes! Rachel – No, I wanted to work with animals or animation. Q: Do you enjoy your job? A:Yes – every day is different and we are always on the go! Q: What’s the hardest thing about your job? A: The studying, paperwork and exams. Q: Do you deal with many incidents on public transport? A: We deal with all bus crime which includes people who are ill or asleep on buses, plus traffic problems (cars blocking buses) and anti-social behaviour (mainly school children). Q: How do you feel about being relied on? A: It’s our job! We know that when we are wearing our uniform, our job begins. Q: How many hours do you work each day? A: We work a standard 8-10 hours per day. However, we work shifts and our work hours depend on what happens during each day. If we are wearing uniform and an

incident happens at the end of our shift, we must continue with our duties. Q: What’s the best part of your job? A: Rachel – Meeting different people and helping people. Jackie – Job satisfaction for me is teaching and educating. It is also really good fun. I once took a lost dog on patrol with me! Q: What’s the most difficult situation you’ve had on a bus? A: Stopping a fight on the top deck, it was difficult to separate them. Q: What’s the biggest crime you’ve had to deal with? A: Jackie - Stopping a stabbing. Rachel – Trying to stop a man drinking in a non-alcoholic area, it resulted in a roll about as the man wanted to fight me. Q: What have you used for punishments in the past? A: We always get the person causing problems off the bus and talk to them (warning), if they persist we call the police unit to assist. If it is anti-social behaviour from a school child (Year 7 plus) we can take away their free travel and visit their parents. Q: How long have you been part of the Safer Transport Team? A: Both for seven years, but we have only been partners for a couple of years.

The largest bus in the world holds 300 passengers. It is in China and is 24 meters long. The bus is designed in three separate sections so that it can turn corners.

Name: _________________________________________________

Winter 2015/16 Word Search

Name: _________________________________________________

Q: What’s your favourite public transport? A: Jackie – I’m a walker, I walk everywhere, but I’d choose a bus for public transport. Rachel – Train as I work on buses all day and trains are quicker! Q: Why did you want to be a CPO? A: We like helping people. We even visit lonely people and make them a nice cup of tea! Q: Do you go on courses to learn how to defend yourself? A:Yes we attend safety courses every year to learn how to get out of a situation and defend yourself. Q: What’s the worst part of your job? A: There’s not a worst part! I guess the hours can sometimes ruin plans made and the public are always watching you when you wear a uniform. Q: How would you describe a Community Police Office? A: They are the eyes and ears of the community, we report information back. Our role is non-confrontational and we can’t make an arrest. We are part of the Safer Transport Team which involves visiting schools, old people’s homes, parks and cycling events. We focus on bus routes during secondary school travel times and also look out for pick pockets on buses. Written by Jimi Gower, Leo Sokoni, Gracie Jackson and Isabel O’Connor from Branfil Primary.

WORDSEARCH Word Search D

O Q

X J D D N O Q A P X Y Z O N E H E P Q K T O U C E E E N J T U E M E E X U J A K

Y E

J Q T U P E A U I E U A E N B Q G

H K

E C C N T E I X C K K R E W T

R A A I S U I E F B N G R O G X I

E C S T R I A C I K L E W T A S Y U Q

A R T E N I S A S A X G I I T T D Z F L H S O W N W S T A P R A D H O Z G Y E S A G I Q H D Q K B P G E J W M Z D H W E

D Z S O O W T Z A P A I O Z T L A G I D Q K O F J W N W W E S D F X F E Y Q C D

A P T J I P O U N R S A F E C F N F Z D

M N R O S B P G F X N G Find the following words in the puzzle. U Q W are X hidden U M Z D and Y Q Z. T Words

P B N L U U Y D R J U F A Z J W E Y P D F R E E F S N D D V N G H G W T U M C

R R V S C V E G C M B V O M I

M C

M D

FARE RAILWAY Find the following words in the puzzle. JOURNEY STATION Words are hidden and . QUEUE STOP FARE JOURNEY QUEUE

V I

U R F J R M J V Y O X F P C D U F J E E I R Y O N C T N D U N B E E I R W O X Y T N C I D Y E E X Q P T X Y C R M D D Y T

TICKETS

CARTOON RAILWAY STATION STOP

TICKETS

Created using Word Search Generator on Super Teacher Worksheets (www.superteacherworksheets.com)

Miruna Iorga, Crowlands Primary

Isobel O’Connor, Branfil Primary

Taking Steps

COMPETITION TIME Do you think you could design a bus for the future? Use the template here to enter the competition for the most original futuristic bus, or create your own. What will the windows look like? What kind of wheels will your bus have? How will the doors open?

Please use the box below to explain the features on your bus.

Send your design to: Jay Amin, Smarter Travel Team, Havering Council, Town Hall, Main Road, Romford, RM1 3BB. Alternatively email your design to: jay.amin@havering.gov.uk. There will be a prize for the best entry from a secondary school, junior/primary school and best infant school, each winning a £25 Liberty shopping mall gift card. The closing date for entries is Friday 1 April 2016. WINNERS FROM OUR POETRY COMPETITION IN THE LAST TAKING STEPS ISSUE, ‘WALKING’. Jack Simson,Year 3 Harold Wood Primary School

Jack Wakeman, Aged 9, Langtons Junior Academy

Charlie Hannaford, Age 7, Hilldene Primary School

My walk to school On the walk to school I see, A busy buzzy bumble bee, A squirrel running up the tree, These are things I like to see.

Fresh air on my face Fast walking like a race Kick a stone, jump over a puddle Look out for buggies or I'll be in a muddle Look both ways when I cross the road Hold mums hand don't let go Heavy school bag on my shoulder It won't feel so big when I'm older See my friends Give them a wave Here we go again, it's another school day.

On the way to school Left, right, left, right Walking to school what do I see Left, right, left, right I see the traffic Passing by me Left, right, left, right I see the trees Swaying in the breeze Left, right, left, right I see the children Waving to me Left, right, left, right Let's hurry up Cause I might freeze Left, right, left, right Walking to school is really cool Next time will you walk with me.

Children walking fast and slow, Lollipop person says stop and go, Arriving safe with a healthy glow, These are things Mum likes to know. It's good for me, It's good for you, It's good for our environment too. Walking to school is way cool, Give it a try you'll have a ball!

Three babies have been born on the underground. In 1924 a girl, another girl in December 2008. The third, a boy in May 2009.