please empty your brain below
Truly amazing. Has this been outsourced or something?

Alfie | 21.07.16 - 7:36 a.m. | #

(apologies) And here's another..

"The approach to the station is good, which nothing crowding the pavements. Please be aware stations can get very buys." - Finsbury Park

Alfie | 21.07.16 - 7:39 a.m. | #

The lesson - Don't entrust Arty types to write technical information.

Or, if you do, get somebody with Hawk eyes to check it thoroughly (like DG).

Petras409 | 21.07.16 - 7:41 a.m. | #

Is there equivalent information in other languages?, if so, is it as badly written?

It could be proof that all those businesses who complain about the poor quality of job applicants are telling the truth.

Then again, I haven't written an actual letter for several years, everything is text/e-mail, so I'm as guilty as anyone of text speak, plus plus emoji and emojicons.

| 21.07.16 - 7:54 a.m. | #

That's what happens if you employ people to write copy who are not speakers of English as a first language.

| 21.07.16 - 7:56 a.m. | #

That is appalling. No excuse for failing to get it proofread properly.

Frank Meisler's Kindertransport statue is outside Liverpool Street station, but wasn't part of the previous Kindertransport memorial (the one by Flor Kent, installed in 2003, but later removed) reinstalled inside Liverpool Street station? Is that where the designated meeting point is located, or is the meeting point really outside the station?

Andrew | 21.07.16 - 8:08 a.m. | #

You're right about the Kindertransport sculpture at Liverpool St being outside the station: I've seen it and it's a pretty powerful piece.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/32293736@N04/15665330565

It's remiss if they haven't referred to this one, but it seems - in mitigation - that there actually is a smaller 'companion piece' (which I haven't seen) that *is* inside the station:-
https://www.flickr.com/photos/norfolkodyssey/6032783993

RogerW | 21.07.16 - 8:08 a.m. | #

Perhaps also worth mentioning that Frank Meisler has done a series of Kindertransport memorial statues, with others at the Hook of Holland, Berlin and Gdansk. There are similar memorials by other artists in other places, such as Vienna and Prague.

Andrew | 21.07.16 - 8:13 a.m. | #

I despair at the appalling sloppiness in TfL documentation. They can't even get the photos right in the Commissioner's Report nor spelling and grammar in Board Papers and Consultation responses. I'm not that shocked that you found nigh on 200 errors in a promotional campaign. It seems no one in the organisation, from top to bottom, gives a damn about boring stuff like accuracy and pride in presenting a "good face" to the public.

PC | 21.07.16 - 8:13 a.m. | #

Maybe "Bust stops" are a type of art installation? I'd visit those. ;)

Geofftech | 21.07.16 - 8:18 a.m. | #

Last time you spotted an error in a TfL publication, thousands of Tube maps ended up as pulp. (And that was a mere ambiguity in the zoning of a single station)

Are we going to see another mass pulping?

Timbo | Homepage | 21.07.16 - 8:51 a.m. | #

a) It wasn't me who spotted the tube map error.
b) These errors are on a website, so nothing will be pulped.

diamond geezer | Homepage | 21.07.16 - 9:02 a.m. | #

Obviously the new mayor's fault; Boris was ALWAYS so reliable and error-free!

Brian | 21.07.16 - 9:06 a.m. | #

Obviously Boris' fault, as Sadiq's instruction to "get your collective fingers out" has not yet filtered through the organisation.

I would add the following point to DG's two refutations:

c) Even if the errors had been on paper, the cause of pulping would not have been the person that spotted them, but the person who allowed them to be printed.

Malcolm | 21.07.16 - 9:15 a.m. | #

I too despair at how bad TfL has got. The latest commissioner's report only contained a few obvious errors but one wonders how many more could be found if one went looking for them.

Their website is often woefully out of date. They still haven't updated their tram map despite the re-organised service having been in service for over three months. Yes, I have pointed it out to them - more than once - and I thought the reply (along the lines of we will get around to it eventually) inadequate.

I am starting to find documents in the real world which are not on the website but ought to be such as the Tramlink guide and updates to projects.

Errors don't get corrected when they should be. I had a delightful correspondence when I pointed out that my nearest virtual bus stop was given as Corpse Hill not Copse Hill but it never got corrected.

Pedantic of Purley | 21.07.16 - 9:16 a.m. | #

"Any safety messages will be voiced over the tannoy system"

tannoy [sic] is a trade name and undoubtedly Tannoy is trademarked. The correct term is public address system.

Pedantic of Purley | 21.07.16 - 9:20 a.m. | #

The Toilets are located on the basement, near the exit 6" - presumably should be "in the basement", not that there is a basement (Westminster)

What they mean is that the nearest toilets are located in the adjoining public subway just before you reach exit 6.

Pedantic of Purley | 21.07.16 - 9:25 a.m. | #

I recall that 'M' was a Bust Stop for quite a while...

Gerry | 21.07.16 - 12:16 p.m. | #

The Visiting Information link is now broken, so perhaps TfL are furiously working on it now that DG has flagged it up all the howlers. In the meantime, here's a cached version from a week ago.

While they're about it, let's hope that TfL update their 0845 number for London Underground – Customer Service Centre. They've omitted the mandatory price warning (it costs a whopping 48p/min from most mobile phones) and it's illegal because it costs far more than Basic Rate.

Gerry | 21.07.16 - 1:19 p.m. | #

All this just made me pay more attention when looking at the Tfl journey planner homepage

https://tfl.gov.uk/plan-a-journey/

They've invented a word. If you have searched a journey before, you can chose between "my journeys" and "recents"

I've also had the pleasure of receiving a Tfl leaflet about Ride London on Sunday July 31st. The list of buses affected by that day's road closures includes ones that don't run on Sundays including school day only routes. Who writes all this rubbish?

ap | 21.07.16 - 1:39 p.m. | #

@ ap

They've nouned an adjective !

Gerry | 21.07.16 - 1:49 p.m. | #

@Gerry @ap

They have also committed the same faux pas in the very title of the project.

"Everyday" (adj.) should be "Every Day".

Tim Frost | 21.07.16 - 2:21 p.m. | #

@9.02am

So these errors don't appear in either the 24- or 28-page booklets?

Although, as you say, they have their own errors - the Art Map includes two artworks which are no longer there, and you report that the other one has invented tube stations in boroughs that have none. (On the other hand, it is safe to say that there is no tube station in Sutton lacking an artwork)

By the way, the online version of the Art map appears to have 28 pages, not 24.

timbo | 21.07.16 - 3:33 p.m. | #

"Who writes all this rubbish?"

I reckon that's the wrong question. It is who allows it to appear on the public version. Blame management, not the poor individuals working at the coalface.

Having said which, it could be noted that at least one entirely self-written website, with a team of proof-readers numbering zero, manages to produce very few mistakes, despite publishing daily.

Malcolm | 21.07.16 - 3:45 p.m. | #

@ Malcolm - sorry but I disagree about it only being management. Everyone has a responsibility to properly research their work, ask for help if they need it and to take pride in their output. Yes oversight and checking / proof reading is important. However if the "coalface" know that the boss will always spot their errors and they suffer no direct fallout then they keep making mistakes. People have to take responsibility for their work and bosses should not have to check every single bit of output. BTDTGTTS.

Clearly documents going into the public domain are different but with FOI in place anything might end up being released if people target a request carefully enough. Furthermore poorly spelt or erroneous documentation can cause problems in the event of claims and disputes. People should simply do their jobs properly and professionally. Can you tell I've got a bit of strop on about this?

PC | 21.07.16 - 9:55 p.m. | #

This is all way too pedantic for me, but the art info I really enjoyed. I've got to say I've never seen anyone run their finger along the 'labyrinths', the maze in Warren Street looks more interesting though.

I know this is off message, but whatever happened to the 'Bus Tops' digital art installations? I thought you were pulling our collective legs on that one.

SJM | 21.07.16 - 10:14 p.m. | #

Actually, reading the errors you listed, that is awful.

SJM | 21.07.16 - 10:18 p.m. | #

I have just been reading tfl 's briefing pack for the London TravelWatch Board meeting this week - there are numerous grammatical mistakes there too and some of the sentences don't make sense. I think this is your new job opportunity DG

Dave B | 21.07.16 - 11:11 p.m. | #

hi diamond, I think I saw two Kindertransport statues at Liverpool street, one by the ticket office one outside. I havent checked and may be wrong.
keep up you excellent blog. i visit every day

carl | 22.07.16 - 5:04 a.m. | #

There is a Kinder statue inside Liverpool Street. I know this because once I arranged to meet my sister by the statue and wondered where she had got to - she was standing by the statue inside while I was waiting by the bigger one outside.

ganching | Homepage | 22.07.16 - 7:20 a.m. | #











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