The industrial area around Wembley and Neasden is punctuated by an enormous rail depot (the largest on the London Underground) and is bisected at its throat by the A406 North Circular Road. Neasden represents how easy it is for manmade infrastructure to completely isolate two neighbouring sections of land. Transport is supposed to mobilise a city, however the school you attend, your council and sometimes even your social standing, can all be defined and influenced by these arbitrary infrastructure boundaries.

Neasden station and Wembley IKEA are a mere 350 yards apart. You can see the store from the station, but you might as well be in Morden. Navigating between these two places involves a 20 minute 0.8 mile walk through dark underpasses, precarious walkways, and a stroll alongside a 6 lane expressway. It’s dirty. It’s smelly. It’s polluted, and it’s hardly any wonder that doing so is so actively discouraged by the sheer amount of time it takes and the awkwardness of the route. Transport should unite a city, but when it’s done badly, it breaks it in half.

All this for some flaming meatballs…

Image copyright A Carter – CallingAllStations.co.uk