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Madrid's equivalent Oxford Street, the shopaholic Puerta del Sol stop, has been snapped up by Samsung in a month-long deal and renamed Sol Galaxy Note
You're at Oxford Phones4u Circus but need to be at South Bulgari Kensington in five minutes. What do you do? As any Bailey's London Underground veteran will tell you, just hop on the Central Pepsi Line to We Will Rock You Holborn and get the Heinz Piccadilly Line.
Don't worry, this is a vision of the future but it has come a step closer after Madrid transport authorities agreed to sell off sponsorship rights to metro stations. The equivalent of Oxford Street, the shopaholic Puerta del Sol stop, has been snapped up by Samsung in a month-long deal and renamed Sol Galaxy Note. According to the Times, Coca-Cola and Pepsi are rumoured to be considering similar deals.
Repeating the experiment in London would probably cause outrage, not least among fans of the world-famous tube map, which is cluttered enough as it is. But transportational provocateurs will argue that there is a compelling logic to flogging off naming concessions. First of all, London is renowned for its shopping and entertainment, and anecdotal evidence indicates that plenty of tube-goers flood the central zones with shopping bags and West End theatre programmes every weekend.
Secondly, the tube and bus networks receive a multibillion pound taxpayer subsidy that reached £4.6bn last year (£1bn of which was for building Crossrail). If Ken wins the mayoral election, don't expect the government to shower him with cash when the funding settlement comes up for review in a few years' time. So he might be left with the choice of hiking fares or picking up the phone to Pukka Pies.
A spokesperson for Transport for London, the tube's parent, said the authority has looked at sponsorship for its services, such as the Barclays Cycle Hire scheme, but has no plans for the underground. "There are at present no plans for sponsorship of tube stations."
Do you agree with selling naming concessions for tube stops? If you do, send us some naming ideas. If you don't, send us some anyway. You'll need it for the next tube stop fancy dress party anyway.