Mind the gap

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Image:Mind the gap.jpg Image:London Train Arriving.JPG

"Mind the gap" is a phrase popularized by its use on the London Underground railway. It was introduced in 1969 to warn passengers of a significant gap between the train door and the platform at some stations.

Some station platforms on the London Underground are curved. Since the carriages are straight, the distance from the platform to the carriage is at certain points greater than normal, and at such stations the words "MIND THE GAP" are painted on the edge of the platform. A recorded announcement is also played whenever a train arrives at a station, consisting of "Mind the gap" repeated several times, followed by "Stand clear of the doors, please" as the train is about to depart.

The recording is also used where platforms are of a nonstandard height. Deep-level tube trains have a floor height around 20 cm less than cut-and-cover line trains. Where these trains share platforms, for example some Piccadilly Line (deep level) and District Line (cut-and-cover) stations, the platform is built as a compromise between the two. The "mind the gap" warning is used in this situation as well.

The Central Line platforms at Bank and the Bakerloo Line platforms at Piccadilly Circus are two of the more notable examples of platforms where "Mind the gap" can be heard. The "mind the gap" markings on the platform edge usually line up with the doors on the cars when the train comes to a stop. This can be useful to know for catching trains from some of the busier stations such as Bank.

1 Origin of the phrase
2 The phrase worldwide
3 Cultural impact
4 External links

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Origin of the phrase

The phrase "Mind the gap" was coined in around 1968 for a planned automated announcement, after it had become impractical for drivers and station attendants to frequently warn passengers about the gap between train and platform. The Underground management chose what was then a new technology, digital recording, in order to be able to save the announcement using solid state equipment that would have no moving parts. As storage capacity was highly expensive, the phrase had to be relatively short. A short warning would also be easier to fit on the platform.

The recording equipment was supplied by AEG Telefunken. According to the Independent on Sunday, sound engineer Peter Lodge, working with a Scottish Telefunken engineer, initially recorded a professional actor reading "Mind the gap" and "Stand clear of the doors, please", but the actor insisted on performance royalties and the phrases had to be re-recorded. In the event, Lodge read the phrases. [1]

While Lodge's recording is still in use (as of 2006), some Underground lines use other recordings. One was recorded by Emma Clarke, who runs a London-based voiceover agency. Other announcements, used on the Piccadilly line, are voiced by the actor Tim Bentinck, known to radio listeners as David Archer in The Archers.

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The phrase worldwide

"Mind the gap" is also used as a warning by other transit systems, notably the Toronto Transit Commission, who have "Mind the Gap" signs [2] posted prominently in all stations, even though none of their platforms are curved. The phrase is also used in the automated announcements onboard trains running on the North East Line of the Singapore Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) service, operated by SBS Transit. Onboard automated announcements on the trains running on the other two lines operated by SMRT do not have the phrase until 2006. In Hong Kong, the phrase is used by the MTR and the KCR in announcements and on signs.

However, most new rapid transit systems avoid building stations on curves for the reasons described above.

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Cultural impact

The phrase is well known enough for London Underground to print it on t-shirts and other souvenirs sold to the public.

The phrase also inspired songs of the same name by Judge Dread, The Soundtrack of Our Lives, Osamu Kubota, and Matrix.

On the Infected Mushroom album Converting Vegetarians (2003), the title track contains the line "Minding the gap since 1996."

In Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere, Richard Mayhew (the protagonist) ignores the warning and encounters a beast known as "The Gap".

In the videogame X2: The Threat, the phrase can be heard being broadcasted in the space stations.

The phrase is the title of an interactive 'Tube map' showing the process of creativity and innovation with reference to Harry Beck, the tube map originator.

Composer Robert Steadman wrote an experimental composition entitiled Mind the Gap for cello orchestra which depicts a journey around the Circle Line of the London Underground beginning and ending with the performers shouting Mind the Gap.

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