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First thing you do when you get on the London Underground platform - check the board.

Likely you're holding your breath, hoping it's reading 'due', or at least no more than a two minute wait - this is the Tube after all - but on the odd occasion you might see something pretty different.

Rather than a list of all the trains all terminating at the same place, one item is listed is 'special' service.

Can you get on? Is Transport for London playing a prank on you? Does the train take you on a secret route to Hogwarts? Is a VIP about to arrive?

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In reality it's not so exciting.

We got in contact with a TfL spokesperson, showing them an example of a Central line service going westbound, and he explained it likely means the train is going to a depot rather than being a stopping passenger service.

However, we all know that these trains tend to be labelled 'not in service' on the board. Also from experience, I know that when I went on a steam train from Clapham Junction it was listed on the board as a special service.

Perhaps TfL are hiding some secret code from us.

So while the 'special' service may not mean anything all that exciting, it is always fun to see something a little different on the monotonous daily commute.

Plus we'll still hold onto a bit of hope that it's a train to Hogwarts.

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