TOURISTS have been left baffled by an unusual symbol, which is present in hundreds of UK train stations.
The geometric patterns are on the walls of 272 stations, but you’ve probably walked past them many times and never noticed them.
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Posting to Reddit, a visitor to London shared a picture of an unusual piece of artwork, at Piccadilly Circus station.
The picture features black and white lines, in a circular, maze like pattern, with a red x at the bottom of the picture.
“What is this?” the tourist asked, before explaining in the comments section, “at first I thought it was an ad, so I dismissed it.
“Then I noticed similar ones and started examining them out of aesthetic curiosity.
“That’s when I realised they were part of a series. But the seemingly random red cross at the bottom threw me off.
“If it’s a puzzle, it feels too simple for the effort and resources it must have taken to install; if it’s art, then what’s the message?”
The post was flooded with hundreds of comments from Reddit users, many of whom were also perplexed by the imagery.
“A map of Bank tube station”, one person joked, referencing how tricky it is to find your way out of the popular commuter station.
“It’s a QR code from 1896”, another person joked.
“Doesn’t look like anything to me”, a third person commented.
“It’s the fire escape route”, another person suggested.
However, some Londoners were able to shed light on the situation, explaining that the pictures are part of a 2013 artwork called Labyrinth.
The artwork, by British artist Mark Wallinger, marks the 150th anniversary of the London Underground, and features 270 artworks, one for every tube station at the time of the installation.
In 2023, Battersea Power Station and Nine Elms, which both opened in 2021, got their own Labyrinth artworks, bringing the total to 272.
The new additions marked 160 years of the London Underground, and 10 years of the Labyrinth installation.
Each Labyrinth artwork is completely unique, and is numbered according to its order in the route taken by contestants in the 2009 Guinness World Records Tube challenge.
This challenge has been attempted a number of times since 1960, and see passengers aim to ride the length of every tube line, passing every station, in the shortest amount of time.
The Labyrinths are located near ticket halls, platforms or in areas such as waiting rooms.
