London Reconnections 2023 Christmas Quiz

On By In Christmas Quiz, Long reads

Our annual quiz continues. 2023 seems to have provided sufficient questions for roughly the same number of questions as is usually asked.

This year, there are no ‘trick’ questions in the sense that in none of them have we deliberately tried to mislead you. However, some of the questions may require a bit of lateral thinking and looking beyond the obvious.

As last year, we are not going to attempt to offer prizes so it is only the satisfaction of taking part that is your reward. We aim to publish the answers at 00.01 on January 1st 2024 so you can determine how you got on.

If you would like to tell us how you got on then please send your answers to [email protected]. We will attempt to summarise how people who sent answers got on.

Each part of the question (in bold) is worth one point unless otherwise stated.

Question 1


The above portion of the Elizabeth line diagram is taken from the May 2023 timetable but it could have equally have been taken from the December 10th 2023 timetable.

What two very similar errors can be seen on this?

Even though it makes no sense, it could be argued that technically these are not errors and are correct. Why is that?

Question 2

Whilst on the subject related to the Elizabeth line, why was the MP for Slough none too happy about the national May 2023 timetable change, despite Slough being served by more Elizabeth line trains?

Question 3

And sticking to the Elizabeth line, this poster appeared in 2023. In a sign of the times, what are the blanked out words? There are three blanked out words. The answer doesn’t have to be exact but needs to be specific as to the reason.

This wasn’t the only time in 2023 that lines were closed for this reason. In other planned closures, also in 2023, five Underground lines were concurrently either closed entirely or had a particularly restricted service for the same reason.

Give either the date of these closures or name the lines involved.

What was the very specific reason this change needed to be made?

Question 4

2023 was notable for the introduction of ULEZ in outer London in order to reduce emissions. But what proposal by TfL which “is likely to go ahead” (and for which some passive provision has already been made) would increase emissions in the expanded ULEZ area?

Question 5

Also in 2023, the DfT proposed closing all National Rail ticket offices (except those under TfL control). The proposal was presented as being initiated by the Train Operating Companies. As such, responses to the proposal could be made to London TravelWatch or Passenger Focus. How many responses (mostly objections) had they received by the time the proposals were abandoned?

A) 750
B) 7,500
C) 75,000
D) 750,000

Question 6

Most train operating companies saw an increase in passenger numbers in 2023. According to official figures comparing one particular month in 2022 with the same month in 2023, two companies experienced a decline. Both these companies operate trains to a London terminus.

One was Lumo Trains who experience a small, almost insignificant, decline of 1%.

Which was the other train company?

Question 7

It is a tube strike day in 2023. You are on the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) and you wish to travel as far west as you can on the DLR. At which station exit (Underground, National Rail, or DLR) will you emerge?

Question 8

What started off as 11, got reduced to 10 then in 2023 was further reduced to 6 and might even end up as zero?

Question 9

If, earlier in 2023, a modern-day Sherlock Holmes noticed something missing from Baker Street and located it on a trip to a museum, what would it have been?

If the same modern-day Sherlock were to locate it today it today and make a journey to it, where would he end up?

Question 10

Identify the location where the pictures in the top left, top right and bottom right were taken (3 points) and the location represented by the model in the bottom right picture (1 point).

What do all four items shown have in common (a common theme)?

Question 11

Very few remnants of any kind remain of the original London Tram Network these days. What apparent relic or remnant of this network disappeared in 2023 in west London?

Why wouldn’t it be strictly accurate to refer to this as either a relic or remnant?

Question 12

Where is this?

Give the road name and the name of the junction to get the point. One point for each.

Question 13

Stratford International Railway Station has in the past been mocked for being the only UK railway station with ‘international’ in its title that neither serves any station outside the UK nor an international airport with ‘international’ in its title. Why is this no longer true?

Question 14

Do Thameslink Trains stop at City Thameslink station on Sundays? (Yes/No)

Explain your answer.

Question 15

The DLR is regarded as a railway whose stations are unstaffed. In fact, three stations are staffed due to railway regulations requiring below ground stations to be staffed at all times they are open. One other DLR station is staffed (at least some of the time). Which station is that?

Question 16

The above is a screenshot from a 1965 film where there is a three second clip of a train in an Underground station. Which Underground line is it that is featured?

Question 17

Why 61016?

To put it another way, why not the much-easier-to-remember 66666 or 61116?

Question 18

What is this a picture of?

Question 19

This is a question about cross-platform interchanges between TfL services and non-TfL services in Zones 1-6. We Believe each part has exactly one valid answer. In the event of there being more than one valid answer then any correct answer will get the point. The intention is that they are genuinely useful intended interchanges not ‘coincidental’ ones. Both services must be in the same direction unless otherwise stated.

A) Cross platform interchange in both directions not below ground and not involving terminating services.

B) Same level (i.e. not strictly cross-platform but a short walk through a cross tunnel [adit] is needed) interchange in both directions below ground and not involving terminating services.

C) Cross platform interchange from a TfL service at a terminating platform to a non-TfL service with the onward journey only possible in one direction (without needing to leave the platform). Update: At least two and possibly three possible answers. The third one involves it being possible to have the equivalent interchange in the opposite direction which was not intended but not explicitly excluded).

D) Cross platform interchange from a non-TfL service at a terminating platform to a TfL service with the onward journey only possible in one direction (without needing to leave the platform).

E) Cross platform interchange from a TfL service at a terminating platform to a non-TfL service with the onward journey possible in both directions.

F) Interchange from a non-TfL service at a terminating platform to a TfL service with the onward journey possible in both directions without needing to leave the platform although this might involve some non-straight-line walking and possibly doubling back on oneself.

Question 20

The sketch above shows a journey made a long time ago for, what we would call nowadays, a publicity stunt. What form of transport was it promoting?

Question 21

And finally, thanks to a regular quiz participant for sending us this challenging curious question. The Johnston Font is famous for its association with London’s public transport. But where is the location of this memorable place that also, for some inexplicable reason, also uses the Johnston Font? As it is quite difficult and we are not expecting many correct answers (if any) we will only require you to name the town.

15 comments

  1. typo in question 10 – bottom right mentioned twice

    No typo. The first mention is asking where the photo was taken i.e. where is the model located. The second mention is asking where is the location portrayed by the model. PoP

  2. And I 100% thought one of the questions this year would be “which line’s in-car diagrams show the Elizabeth Line as it were, alphabetically, still TfL Rail?”

  4. Question 21: the font famous for its association with London’s public transport is Johnston, with a “t”, not Johnson! Or is this part of the difficult question?

    Belatedly corrected. I got sidetracked on the issue of the ‘t’ within the font and forgot to correct the font name. PoP

  5. Sam,

    This was the comment I was dreading. Before posting the question I spend ages convincing myself that this really was a Johnston font and not just something something similar. Even so, I still had a slight doubt that a genuine Johnston font could really appear in this location knowing how protective TfL was of it. And my concerns when reading your comment were increased when I suspected I hadn’t checked the ‘t’ as it stood out less due to the damp stone at that point.

    However, on further checking, I am now more convinced than ever it is a Johnston font and, in fact, the unusual ‘t’ with its extended ‘cross’ on the right hand side being an unusual feature of the Johnston font has re-enforced my conviction.

    One possibility is that this is different to the Johnston font you are referencing. After all, there were variants with ‘new Johnston’ being current.

    You might wish to reference this London Reconnections article on the Johnston font or the TfL new Johnston book typeface shown within the article.

    Until someone shows me evidence to the contrary, I am sticking to the belief that this is a Johnston font.

  6. @pop @Sam

    The fonts on the TfL website are Johnston100-Light, Johnston100-Regular, Johnston100-Medium and njfontsigning-medium (“nj signing”) (also referenced but not loaded NJFont-BookBold, NJFont-Book, Johnston100-Hairline)

  7. @Sam you clearly understand the mind of the LR question setter!

    But as the submitter of the photo, I am 100% certain it’s Johnston. In particular the ‘a’ here, and the use of that distinctive ‘1’ elsewhere, along with the diamond ‘i’ confirm it.

    When walking here just after Christmas last year, I spotted the engraving and thought ‘odd’. I did as much digging as I could (and dug even further this evening to try and verify, as close to the source as possible) and there was no reference anywhere online to the use of the typeface. My first thought was, of course, it’s a good a quiz question.

    There is no secret hint in the missing ‘t’, that was my error. I think it’s pretty much unsolvable unless you already know the answer.

  8. Well, I’ve had a good look through this and reckon I’ve answered about half. It’s a great mix of the knowable, findable and ‘you either know or don’t-able’, which is how the quiz should be.

    Thanks to PoP for another good year.

  9. 19 (C) There are quite a few places where a TfL service terminates adjacent to a through NR platform that has non-TfL services. Is there something more specific you’re looking for?

  11. Mr Thant,

    I could only think of one that satisfies all the conditions of the question. If you find one then let us know when the answers are published and give yourself a point. I actually think 19(C) is quite difficult.

    Greg T,

    And what non-TfL services serve Ealing Broadway? Apart from around four GWR trains that operate at odd hours – mostly when no TfL services are running. The questions in the quiz are meant to refer to meaningful interchanges so answers like Battersea Park for example don’t count. And Ealing Broadway doesn’t either.

    But Cheshunt isn’t in zones 1-6.

  12. Question 19(C)

    This is clearly the question that is giving the most problems as to wording of the conditions applied. The intention was that only this interchange in this direction was possible. However maybe the wording wasn’t explicit enough to exclude being able to do the same interchange in the reverse direction. This makes at least one more station a possible valid answer.

    I also overlooked an ‘obvious’ answer. Well, it is obvious to me as I used to frequently use it many years ago. So I think there are two valid intended answers (you only need to give one) and one acceptable answer which, arguably, conforms to the conditions applied.

  14. Question 21

    For Question 21 I was originally intending one mark for the entire question (name both the junction and the road). However, a surprising number of submissions have correctly identified the junction but not the road. In order to give them some credit for getting some of the question correct I have decided to revise the marking scheme to to give a point for each part of the question answered correctly,

  15. I’m struggling even more than usual this year, so look forward to reading the answers soon.

    Re PoP 3 December 2023 10:19 – Thanks for the explanation and the link to the article about the Johnston font, which I read a few years ago. Unfortunately some of the pictures no longer download automatically. Clicking on some will show the picture; on others, it gives an error: 404 “We’re sorry, but the page you were looking for doesn’t exist. ”

    Re PoP 30 December 2023 18:46 – I think this should be question 12, not 21.

    Thanks for all your hard work with this quiz and on the website generally, throughout the year.

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