The next Piccadilly line train is leaving from ....

david's picture
Submitted by david on Sat, 11/19/2011 - 16:24

Kings Cross Station now not only has a platform 9$\frac{3}{4}$, but also a platform 0. And for the numerically challenged, there are repeated announcements that 'customers are advised that Platform 0 is situated next to Platform 1'

kings-cross.JPG

I suppose the Underground platforms will now have to be given complex numbers.

[That is an unofficial entry from the Department of Pure Mathematics and Mathematical Statistics, University of Cambridge, for next year's Round Britain Mathematical Joke competition.]

Levels: 
level 1

Comments

Michael Power's picture

Michael Power (not verified)

Sat, 11/19/2011 - 17:59

"And for the numerically challenged, there are repeated announcements that 'customers are advised that Platform 0 is situated next to Platform 1' "

The station at Newcastle upon Tyne do not have a Platform 0, but the platform numbering is designed to challenge assumptions that it reflects the sequence passengers see as they walk from one side to the other. As platform 11 is the first platform, this is rather inconvenient when you don't know the system and have 1 minute to find your train.

mrc7's picture

mrc7

Mon, 11/21/2011 - 16:54

"The station at Newcastle upon Tyne do not have a Platform 0, but the platform numbering is designed to challenge assumptions that it reflects the sequence passengers see as they walk from one side to the other. As platform 11 is the first platform, this is rather inconvenient when you don't know the system and have 1 minute to find your train." Yes and I suppose some might expect to find platform 10 or even 100 as the next one on from platform 11?
Kate Bellingham's picture

Kate Bellingham (not verified)

Sat, 11/19/2011 - 22:57

I really want to get this joke .... but at the moment I can't see why they'd be complex rather than negative. I always tell people 'the further you take maths, the further it will take you' .... and it looks like I didn't take it far enough. :(
david's picture

david

Sat, 12/03/2011 - 18:55

If they started building platforms in York Road, these would be negative as they are the other side of 0. But the underground platforms are below platforms 0,1,2 etc, so they form a new dimension, and is analogous to mathematical idea of the complex plane. But after all this explanation the joke seems a bit weak, to be honest!

Geoff Smith's picture

Geoff Smith (not verified)

Sun, 11/20/2011 - 19:14

This is mysterious. Had the Platform 0 been at the adjacent St Pancras, then one might suspect an unfortunate Bourbakist infection brought over on the wheels of Eurostar.
Ken Rice's picture

Ken Rice (not verified)

Wed, 11/23/2011 - 04:50

  • That is an unofficial entry ... for next year's Round Britain Mathematical Joke competition.
    • Shouldn't underground platforms have negative numbers? ;)
    tk's picture

    tk (not verified)

    Fri, 11/25/2011 - 12:28

    Here in the Netherlands the railways have adopted a flexible approach that allows operators to change train tracks at the last minute. Hence, announcements now say that train such-and-such will leave from platform 1... or 2. (The two platforms being next to each other, fortunately.) It is just a matter of time before they will start announcing expected values, I suppose.