Christmas Quiz 2024 Answers

Here are the answers. We had an average number of entries but we never know if that is because these are the people that attempted the quiz or that most people who sent in answers did so in the belief that they were in the running for winning.

Most quizzes stated that the editors decision is final. Ultimately, that is true but if you wish to argue your case for an alternative answer that you think is valid please do so either in the comments or by sending an email to [email protected].

Now for the business of thinking for more questions for 2025.

A question about a station on the Underground that has been closed all year.

This should have been really easy – especially as there has been quite a lot of publicity about this since the quiz was published. The answer is Kentish Town station which finally reopened on 23rd December 2024. The station was originally closed for escalator replacement but removing the escalators revealed various structural issues that needed to be address hence the long closure.

Question 2

We asked about a category of forward-looking people given a dumb steer in 2024 and what type of transport was involved.

In contrast to the first question, this was expected to be hard and so it turned out. If you knew the answer it was easy, if not it was next to impossible. The people targeted were children and the transport involved was the DLR.

Time Out, amongst others, reported on this.

Question 3

The card that got the key of the door in 2024 was the Oyster Card which was 21 years old in 2024. For the benefit of younger readers, ‘key of the door’ has long been associated with being 21 years old because of its reference in a 1911 song which can be found on YouTube.

Question 4

a. Initially it was 65. Then it increased by one to 66 and eventually it was finalised at 70. In 2024 it was supplemented by a further ten to make a total of 80.

This refers to the number of Elizabeth line trains (Class 345).

b. We asked, if it increases further, what is it expected to be. Most people obtained the correct answer of 83 by pointing out that the original order allowed for up to 83 trains (including options). Alternatively this article references this TFL paper which mentions that after the order for 80 trains there is an option for up to three more.

Question 5

Work being carried out, continuing throughout 2024, means that at one London Overground station the platforms are being made shorter at one end and longer at the other end which will make the station even closer than it already is (platform end to platform end) to one of the adjacent stations. We asked you to name this station.

The station in question is Surrey Quays and its existing proximity to the next station, Canada Water, was a bit of a clue although the rail distance between Canada Water and Rotherhithe is even less.

You can read why the work is being carried out in a TfL press release or in an article by Murky Depths.

Question 6

1. We asked you to describe the location of a building in a photo. Most people identified the building as at Paddington station. As it is hard to describe the location because the arrivals road on which it was located is now a piazza, any reasonable attempt at a description of the location or identification of the building will give you the point. You weren’t asked to provide its name but it was called the Arrivals Side Offices and is now known as Tournament House.
2. We asked why many people might not have noticed this building until 2024. More people are aware of it since the opening of the Bakerloo line entrance because more people will see it if they use that entrance. Also, the space in front of it is now more open. Either reason is good enough for the point as is anything that eludes to one of these reasons.
3. We asked you to identify the station and the platform. Sometimes the answer really is the obvious one. The platform shown really is at Paddington station and it is platform 14 as mentioned in a 2024 article. The train is an out-of-service Heathrow Express train parked there in the daytime due to broken rail earlier that day restricting all services. Platform 14 was clearly a convenient place to get it out of the way rather than occupy a much-needed train path to berth it at West Ealing EMU sidings – the nearest alternative location available to GWR who are the people that actually operate Heathrow Express. It seems that platform 14 often becomes the daytime home of a Heathrow Express train nowadays.

Question 7

The question shows a building declaring itself as a ‘Metropolitan Railway Station’. Most people got the correct answer and were not fooled by the fact is it no longer a Metropolitan railway station.

1. We asked if the building was still a railway station. The answer is yes.
2. If it is still a railway station we asked you to identify it. It is Gloucester Road station. It was originally a Metropolitan Railway station for historical reasons that would take too long to explain here.

Question 8

This was a question about men sitting in a pub talking about Rexine, Doverite, ears and a monkey pole. We were looking for something to do with Routemasters such as Routemaster owners, Routemaster restorers or even Routemaster enthusiasts – although we doubt if the average enthusiast would be familiar with most of those terms.

We will accept anything with Routemaster in the answer but, in reality, not only do we doubt if ‘mere’ Routemaster enthusiasts would recognise most of these terms, even Routemaster drivers and conductors would be probably be unfamiliar with the terms (except possibly ‘ears’). Says this former Routemaster conductor. Reference to heritage buses is also acceptable as Doverite, ears and a monkey pole appeared on earlier buses such as the Routemaster’s predecessor, the RT bus.

Rexine is the burgundy fabric used for seat backing and to cover the interior sides. According to a video from Routemaster4hire, it is unobtainable. Doverite is the white tape used to cover the platform pole (aka the monkey pole) and is also no longer made. Probably the biggest clue was ‘ears’ which is the name given to the traditional Routemaster (RT, RF and others) front indicators. These too are unobtainable except as salvaged parts from other buses and, sadly, many preserved Routemasters lack these distinctive indicators nowadays.

The question could be a hard one unless one happens to have a convenient copy of Haynes Routemaster Bus Enthusiasts’ Manual nearby (doesn’t everyone?). Alternatively, some search engines with the right prompting might provide a helpful page such as this one which mentions the monkey pole and Doverite.

Question 9

A multi-part question about escalators on the DLR.

1. The only original station to have escalators was Tower Gateway. The original DLR was built to an extraordinarily tight budget and, in general, escalators were considered unaffordable – to either install or operate. An exception was made at Tower Gateway due to it being expected to be by far the busiest station on the line (remember this was before the Bank extension) and the height of the platforms above the road.
2. There were various stations retrofitted with escalators. You were asked to give an example. The question was worded so as not to restrict rebuilt stations. The ones we know of are Canary Wharf (the original station never actually opened but it still counts), Heron Quays and South Quay (which was rebuilt at a slightly different location on a straight section of track to allow three-car trains). A couple of people gave East India as an example. It is true East India does have a couple of escalators. A site visit shows that it is quite likely and certainly possible these were added after the stationed opened in 1994, as was, probably, the footbridge over Aspen Way. In the absence of any definitive information despite searching we will have to allow East India as a correct answer.
3. According to this post by Diamond Geezer, Pudding Mill Lane was rebuilt with passive provision for escalators. For a more definitive source, check this article.
4. The DLR station which is expected to be provided with escalators in future is Pontoon Dock. For more details, look to IanVisits who reports on the plans for Pontoon Dock and the latest developments. It would seem likely that escalators will become more common at stations with long flights of steps as the small lifts will become overwhelmed by the number of people unable or unwilling to use the stairs.
5. Cutty Sark hasn’t had fully functioning escalators since 2021. This appears to be a combination of the escalators originally being built by a third party to a lower standard than that required by TfL and escalators being left in poor conditioned by outgoing operator Serco. Regardless of cause, it is a major embarrassment and cause of frustration at this busy station popular with international tourists. The situation is not helped by corridors of the emergency stairs currently used being extremely basic and unwelcoming. Currently (December 31st 2024) all four escalators are out of use and passengers with difficulties using stairs are advised to use Greenwich station instead – a message that is prominently being displayed on the the passenger information screens.

Question 10

1. We asked why Mudchute station was not given the obvious name for that station. This was an easy question with the Wikipedia article for Mudchute station explaining why the station is so called. It was to avoid Millwall fans arriving at the wrong station.
2. We asked what the obvious name for the station would have been. Millwall or Millwall Dock are acceptable answers.
3. We asked for a DLR station where similar concerns were not acted upon leading to the station having many references to Beatles songs. Abbey Road DLR station also gets its fair share of tourists being misled by the station name with some Americans in YouTube videos honest enough to admit and document their mistake. Consequently, there is this rather witty permanent enamel sign at the station.

Question 11

Various Questions about stations north and south of the River Thames

a. The station name shared by an existing Underground station south of the Thames and a former station north of the Thames is North Greenwich. The railway station on the London and Blackwall Railway closed in 1926 but reopened a DLR station called Island Gardens opened on the closed viaduct right next to where the original station was before that too was closed in 1999 and replaced by an underground DLR station of the same as part of the DLR extension to Lewisham.

b. The Underground station north of the Thames that shares its name with a former terminus south of the Thames is Pimlico. Apart from the Wikipedia article, there is a 1958 Railway Magazine article describing the terminus as well as various articles on websites. A popular wrong answer was Blackfriars but this doesn’t quite fit as the terminus south of the river was called Blackfriars Bridge.

c. Blackfriars has an entrance on both the north and south side of the Thames as shown in the excellent station plan (PDF).

d. Hampton Court station (south bank) is named after Hampton Court which is sited on the north bank. Arguably, the station was named after the area which is informally also referred to as Hampton Court (but not by Royal Mail) which was named after the palace – but that is splitting hairs.

e. Blackhorse Lane tram stop (south of Thames) has a similar name to Blackhorse Road station. We will have to allow Woodside which has a similar name to Woodside Park (High Barnet branch of the Northern line) – but it isn’t as similar as Blackhorse Lane/Blackhorse Road. Alternatively, Woodside sounds similar to Wood Street on the Chingford branch of the Weaver line.

f. Hayes (north of the Thames and subsequently renamed Hayes & Harlington) has the same name as Hayes (south of the Thames) sometimes referred to as Hayes (Kent) despite being in Greater London. Bromley almost works being the original name of both Bromley-by-Bow and Bromley South but the latter is always currently referred to as Bromley South to distinguish it from Bromley North.

g. Belmont station on the former branch line between Harrow & Wealdstone and Stanmore Village originally had one platform face but was rebuilt as an island platform and so had two platform faces. Subsequently the station was singled making one platform redundant.

Belmont station on the Epsom Downs branch and only just in London was originally double track but is now single track.

h. The station name outside London which refers to two parishes one on the north bank and one on the south bank is Goring & Streatley. The only other station that gets anywhere near to filling this criterion is Windsor & Eton Central but one would hardly think of Windsor as a parish. Furthermore, the question stated that the two parishes were in different counties which isn’t the case with Windsor & Eton Central.

Question 12

The question concerned a ‘ding-ding’ bell code (actually it probably should have been a ‘ding’) being inexplicably received by a driver on both the westbound platform at Earl’s Court and the northbound platform at Bounds Green on the Piccadilly line.

1. The common feature of these two platforms is that they are the last platform before the train comes out of the tunnel and enters daylight
2. The drivers’ habit which caused the issue, compounded by an electrical fault, was that he switched the cab light on to adjust to the imminent change in brightness level

Question 13

We asked: What is the highest designated number platform on the London Underground at which you can catch a train?

The question was a bit of a trick question and some people fell for it. Read the question carefully! A lot of people realised that the Waterloo & City platforms are formally designated platforms 25 and 26 to continue the sequencing in the main line station. These platform numbers are not used to identify the platforms to the general public. Platform 26 only leads to the depot where trains continue out of service in order to reverse for their return journey.

Hence, the highest platform number at which you can catch a train is 25.

Question 14

We were looking for the nearest Underground station to the specified location

1. Euston station is actually the nearest Underground station to Euston Square
2. Bank (right outside) is the nearest station to Mansion House. Mansion House station is located at the other end of Queen Victoria Street.
3. Chiswick Park Underground station is much closer to Turnham Green than Turnham Green station itself.
4. Bank station is the answer we were looking for as the nearest station to Cannon Street as the new entrance is directly accessible from the pavement. Monument or Mansion House are also acceptable answers.
5. Stamford Brook has an entrance directly onto Goldhawk Road. Goldhawk Road is a surprisingly long road in London (over 2km long). Although Goldhawk Road station has an entrance in Wells Road, it also has a smaller entrance in Goldhawk Road itself that was probably once exit only.

It is not part of the question but instructive as to why this happens. In the case of Mansion House the original intended location was outside Mansion House but, when the extension to Mansion House station was cut back to the location where it is now, they rather unfortunately did not rename it.

In the case of Euston Square (originally Gower Street) it was the first station in the vicinity. Euston Square seems to be a bit of a marketing ploy to suggest it is really close to Euston without actually misleadingly calling it Euston.

Turnham Green was the first station in the vicinity and not really that near to Turnham Green. Chiswick Park nowadays generally refers to the business park which is actually closer to Gunnersbury station than Chiswick Park station.

Cannon Street Underground station originally exited to Cannon Street itself. However, when it was rebuilt, the modern practice prevailed of avoiding the entrance being on a main busy street when the alternative of a side street was available. This is to mitigate against crowd problems should the station have to been closed at short notice. In the case of the Bank entrance on Cannon Street, the side roads were extremely narrow and would have led to their own problems so the pavement was widened outside the entrance even though it further restricted the width of the road.

Goldhawk Road may seem like an unfortunate name for a station as it could be anywhere along the road. However, some underground railway companies often named stations by reference to roads that crossed over or under the railway line. The presumption clearly was that since the station must be located where their railway line is, it must be obvious where the station is located.

Question 15

A multipart question about Thameslink and, in particular, its stations.

a. The Cambridge – Maidstone East service (intended to be extended to Ashford International in peak hours) was never implemented. This was fairly easy to deduce from the table on the Wikipedia Thameslink Programme page.

It was originally delayed to avoid implementing the full 24tph service until the train operator was confident they could run the current service and could demonstrate the fact. Subsequently, Covid delayed things and then the Department for Transport argued that complexity around busy flat junctions in the south London meant it would be inadvisable to implement it. This is despite the fact that those south London flat junctions now have fewer trains than they did pre-Covid.

b. The Bedford – Littlehampton peak only service was withdrawn during Covid and never reinstated.

c. The newest station to open on Thameslink is Brent Cross West

d. We asked which station lost its direct (one intermediate stop) service to East Croydon as a result of Thameslink. The answer is certainly not intuitive.

The answer is New Cross Gate which was previously served by fast trains from Horsham to London Bridge calling at Norwood Junction and New Cross Gate between East Croydon and London Bridge.

It was claimed that lack of capacity prevented any Thameslink (or other trains on the fast lines) from calling at New Cross Gate though at present it is hard to see that this is a problem.

e. We asked what station, never intended to be part of Thameslink, now has a 2 Thameslink tph service. This is not at all obvious. The answer is South Croydon.

A popular wrong answer was Norwood Junction which has certainly had a Thameslink service since 2018 and not just post-Covid.

One of the surprising casualties of the post-Covid cutbacks was the all-stations London Bridge – Caterham via Norwood Junction service. This broke a number of direct journey opportunities including making all stations from New Cross Gate to Anerley inclusive no longer have a direct service to East Croydon.

Because the all-stations Caterham trains provided 2 of the 4tph service at South Croydon, withdrawal would have meant just 2tph at South Croydon. To compensate for this 2tph Thameslink trains now stop at South Croydon. The situation is a little unsatisfactory as you have 12-car trains serving 8-car platforms. Purley Oaks was not so fortunate and now has just 2tph instead of 4tph pre-Covid,

f. We asked: Which new four-platform station will Thameslink serve if it gets universal approval? Most people seemed to have got the oblique hint that this was something to do with Universal Studios and their plans to locate a theme park in the London & South East area. The answer is Wixams. The station is being built now, south of Bedford, with two platforms. Should the theme park go ahead there will also be two platforms on the fast lines.

Cambridge South was a popular wrong answer but this is already being built and not dependent on any future approval (other than final approval that the station is fit to open).

Question 16

The items between the tracks shown in a photo were

1. An AWS (automatic warning system) magnet as part of the system to alert drivers when passing a signal not showing a green aspect. Metion of AWS is sufficient to get the point.
2. A TPWS grid (TPWS armer or disarmer) to automatically brake a train if travelling higher than the permitted speed. Mention of TPWS is sufficient.
3. Water troughs as used by steam engines many years ago to scoop up water when on the move. Several people correctly identified these as the Ramsbottom water troughs but this is not necessary to get the point.
4. A battery train charger – located at West Ealing.

Question 17

A rather complicated question about identifying the shortest journey in London serving stations with compass points in their name. Surprisingly, many people got this. However, one person pointed out that there were only seven stations in London beginning with ‘North’. This meant a search was relatively easy.

The answer is South Bermondsey, East Dulwich, North Dulwich, West Norwood.

Question 18

This was about a series of pictures with captions. You had to explain why the caption was a valid statement. On two pictures we additionally asked for the location.

a. The sign read:

For Portobello Road Market cross the road at the traffic lights and follow the path under the motorway.

This sign was brought to our attention by Diamond Geezer in a post last year.

There is just so much wrong with this sign that one almost doesn’t know where to start. First of all, the elevated road in question is no longer a motorway, as Diamond Geezer points out. This is however just a technicality. When TfL was created it was realised that it was legally not allowed to be responsible for motorways. The problem was easily fixed and the A40(M) Westway Motorway simply became redesignated as the A40 Westway.

There are no traffic lights in the strict sense of the phrase. You need to cross the road at the signalled pedestrian crossing. ‘Traffic lights’ is more concise but a bit inaccurate as it implies a road junction.

‘The path under the motorway’ is also misleading. It suggests that you are going under the motorway from one side to reach the other which is not the case. Furthermore, the path is not entirely under the “motorway”. ‘The ground level path along the side of the elevated road’ might be better. In fact, it doesn’t matter too much what the instructions are at this point because there is a footpath sign pointing to Portobello Road by the time you have passed under the road viaduct.

So, maybe

For Portobello Road Market cross the road at the signalled pedestrian crossing and follow the path at street level alongside the viaduct.

for the sake of an extra four words would be better.

The really interesting thing about this is, despite the sign being almost entirely wrong, it is actually very helpful since on leaving Ladbroke Grove it is far from obvious how you get to Portobello Road market and the quickest way is probably not the most intuitive.

Any of the deficiencies pointed out above is acceptable as an answer.

b. The sign in Ilford is correct in that it points to the station but it doesn’t point to the nearest entrance – it points to the main entrance which is considerably further away – at least 200 metres instead of less than 100 metres.

c. The location of this is on Ilford Hill almost outside the new Ilford Hill entrance to Ilford station.

To make things worse, the Ilford Hill entrance is down a fairly narrow passage and is easily missed. Instead of having a helpful sign pointing to it, there is actually a sign directing you away from it.

On this question we are going to be quite strict and b. and c. will give you a single point if you identify the issue but incorrectly state which entrances are involved. Only identifying the fact that the sign points to the main entrance and not the nearest entrance will get you the full two points.

d. The answer we were looking for, and only a few people provided, was that something along the lines of:

Trains do depart from this platform. Not only that, trains depart from this platform in passenger service. There are three early morning trains that come out of Northumberland Park depot, arrive at this platform and then depart, in service, for Walthamstow Central.

Most people pointed out that the staff train departs from this platform which is correct so we will have to give you a point for that. However, for any answer that points out that trains leave this platform in public service a bonus point will be given.

The details of trains that depart from this platform are:

1. Departures at 0526, 0540, 0557 to Walthamstow Central in public service
2. A slightly erratic off-peak staff train service of 3-4 tph to the depot
3. A few late night departures that arrive in service (so passengers can alight from the train) and then depart empty to depot.

e. This is platform 4 at Seven Sisters which most people correctly identified.

f. Heathrow Terminal 1 no longer exists (for passenger departures) but since no-one is flying from there, no-one should get confused

g. The Waterloo & City line no longer operates on a Saturday and hasn’t done since Covid Why these signs haven’t been changed is difficult to understand. There seems no likelihood of the situation changing and, in any case, they can store the signs ready for any reinstatement – however unlikely that is. The cost of replacement of enamel signs is not cheap but even a vinyl sticker overlaying it would be better and the cost would be trivial compared with the cost of new signs for individual London Overground lines.

h. Platforms 12 to 14 suggest that this includes platform 13 which no longer exists at Paddington. Obviously, as no-one is expecting their train to depart from platform 13 this isn’t really an issue. An alternative answer given was that this was also a valid route to platforms 15 and 16 but these platforms are not part of Paddington National Rail station and, in any case, this won’t mislead anyone since the full sign also points to the appropriate Underground station.

i. ‘Platforms 9 to 10’ at King’s Cross might suggest to an overimaginative child that this is the way to platform 9¾.

‘Platforms 9 to 11’ has been replaced at King’s Cross with ‘Platforms 9 to 10’ after the removal of platform 10 and the renumbering of platform 11 to platform 10. Strangely they used vinyl for the complete message so this wasn’t just an expedient case of changing 11 to 10. Why they can’t describe it as ‘Platforms 9 and 10’ as is normal at National Rail managed stations is a mystery.

We aim to provide a coded list of winners as soon as possible and certainly much quicker than we have in recent years. Thank you for all that took part and we enjoyed reading your answers. We always learn something from them.

We hope that 2025 will be a good year for you and that transport in London will continue to shake off its unwanted post-Covid legacy and that we will have plenty to report on.