As a boy, Andrew Martin’s father worked for British Rail, and he soon developed a passion for railways. He’s written a number of books on the subject and has now turned his attention to moquettes, the thick fabrics seen on London transport and created by leading designers and artists of their era, such as Paul Nash.
“Londoners are spoiled really,” says Martin. “They have this soft material that’s often beautifully coloured and carefully designed. They spend half their lives on public transport; I think they should know more about what they’re sitting on.”
Main image: Whose design are you sitting on? Andrew Martin’s book celebrates the seat fabric patterns of London transport.
Sat 12 Oct 2019 12.00 EDT Last modified on Mon 3 Feb 2020 07.45 EST
The design for the Crossrail Aero trains by Jonathan Sothcott. It incorporated a very 80s broken-up design that had the feel of graffiti Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
This moquette was used to retrim the 1938-stock tube trains when they were given an EHO (extra heavy overhaul) in 1977 Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
The classic tartan design for the Routemaster bus which hit the streets in 1959. The ‘Sung yellow’ anticipated the colour that years of top-deck smoking would bring about anyway Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
A lozenge moquette seat design commissioned for the Underground Electric Railways Company circa 1913. Being similar to the colour of dried mud, it would not easily show dirt and had a small repeat, meaning it could be patched easily Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
This fossil or trilobite design can be seen at the London Transport Museum in one of the compartments of the 1900 Metropolitan bogie stock carriage Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
This colourful design was employed on the trains of the Jubilee line extension, to contrast against the greyness of the concrete and steel Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
The 2010 design for S7 and S8 trains of the District, Circle, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan lines. The colours echo those of liquorice allsorts Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
The diamonds of the Metropolitan line are laid out on a background magenta, the colour of the line on a tube map Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
The seat design for a QI class trolleybus, 1960. A wild, abstract moquette in pink and at least two shades of green
Photograph: All images courtesy the London Transport Museum / Safe Haven Books
