Mind the gap
"Mind the gap" is a phrase popularised by its use on the London Underground. 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 cars are straight, the distance from the platform to the car at certain points is greater than normal, and the phrase "MIND THE GAP" is painted on the edge of such platforms. 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" 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" is played. 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 busier stations such as Bank.
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 in writing on the platform.
The recording equipment was supplied by AEG Telefunken. According to the Independent on Sunday, sound engineer Peter Lodge (who owned a company called Redan Recorders in Bayswater), working with a Scottish Telefunken engineer, initially recorded a professional actor reading "Mind the gap" and "Please stand clear of the doors", but the actor insisted on performance royalties and the phrases had to be re-recorded. In the event, Lodge read the phrases to line up the recording equipment for level and those recordings were chosen for use. [1]
While Lodge's recording is still in use in 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, who portrays David Archer in The Archers.
The phrase worldwide
"Mind the gap" is also used as a warning by other transit systems, notably the Toronto Transit Commission, which has "Mind the gap" signs [2] posted prominently in all stations, even though almost none of the platforms on the system are curved. (There is a slight curve on the north side of the platform at Union Station). The phrase is also used in the automated announcements on board 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 did not include 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.
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.
- The Thompson Twins called their tour of the UK, in 1984, the "Mind The Gap" tour.
- 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 broadcast 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".
- The phrase was sampled on The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu's album 1987 (What the Fuck Is Going On?).
- On the Infected Mushroom album Converting Vegetarians (2003), the title track contains the line "Minding the gap since 1996".
- Bentley Rhythm Ace has a song titled Mind The Gap
- In the video game Halo 2, the phrase is one of many semi-humorous messages randomly broadcast through the loudspeakers on the railway station-based multiplayer level Terminal.
- Mind the Gap is a recurrent theme and the title of a 2004 film written and directed by Eric Schaeffer.
- The primeval man in the 1972 film Death Line can say only "mind the doors" - the original phrase spoken by the drivers before the automated system was put in place.
- "Mind the Gap" is the name of a song created by Osamu Kubota for the video game Beatmania IIDX Happy Sky.
- On The Ricky Gervais Show, Steve Merchant described a t-shirt he saw on a youth that read, "Fuck the Gap".
- "Mind The Gap" is also the name of an album by Scooter
- In the video game Metal Gear Solid 2, the phrase is said by a malfunctioning A.I. saying random things.