Booze on the Tube - The end of an Era

On Saturday May 31 we decided to 'make a statement' with 10,000 other revellers and enjoy one last evening of drinking on the tube. A number of parties (called Last Orders of the Underground, Circle Line Party, Booze Tube Party and the like) were organized through facebook and other social networking sites to get people pumped up to oppose a new June 1 ban implemented by the new mayor, Boris Johnson, to ban alcohol drinking on the tube. It was predominantly organised to take place on the back carriages of the Circle Line, starting at 9 pm at Liverpool Street.
There was a fancy-dress element to the event, so Syd sported a 'stache' while I sported a sash, and we grabbed the circle line going 'clockwise' or eastbound around 9 pm from Baker Street. The back carriage was already well on its way to a good party. Everyone was drinking their own form of poison, and the mood was generally convivial and respectful. Groups were singing Hey Jude - which I got a video of in the bottom of this post - and others were just drinking and dancing along to their portable ipods/speakers. The group did start to get rowdier around 9:30 and were hitting the roof of the train with excitement and singing.

We decided to get off the tube to try and find our friends, but when we tried to go back to Liverpool street to meet them we learned that Liverpool street station had been closed due to overcrowding...duh! We happened to meet up with our friends Alan and Suzy at monument tube and got back on the circle line, this time going anti-clockwise (or westbound) since the clockwise direction had been suspended due to damaged trains.

This train ride was now taking place at 10:30, and the tube riders had consumed much alcohol by this time. Surprisingly, it still didn't feel as crowded as it does on normal commuter mornings! They were chanting rants like "Boris is a Wanker, Boris is a Wanker" and ripping all of the maps off of the tube walls/ceilings.
I managed to get a map 'given' to me, but I still can't believe how they defaced the train to bare walls. When we barely went 3 stops, our train stopped and they made everyone get out as they were terminating the service. The crowd mostly just stuck around and partied on the platform though.
We thought this may be the end, but then a poor unsuspecting Hammersmith and City Line train came through and everyone (including us) piled into that one. Well, the violent group really did it this time. We made it past one more stop, and then the train was suspended between two stations, in the middle of a tunnel, with the last 2 cars being in complete darkness. Nobody was alarmed though, they just continued to party until the train finally started moving again. We got annoyed with people deciding to smoke in the train, and eventually moved out of that carriage and awaited the train to get moving again. Needless to say, when the train pulled into the next station, there were angry transit workers getting everyone out of the train, and there were police at the top of the stairs ushering everyone out the station.
Thankfully, we decided to take the overground home from there to West Hampstead as many underground lines had been suspended due to the stress of the circle line party. It was a truly London experience, and I'm glad I went, but I'm also glad we never made it to Liverpool station because crowds of hundreds of people partying in the station concourse didn't seem appealing!

You can watch a fun music video of the event on this link and those of other budding wanna be directors on YouTube.