Yesterday there were loads of signal failures on the Underground. Today there were none (at least not on the lines that I use). But I was still 20 minutes late in to work. Apparently engineering works at Finchley Road, scene of yesterday's unpleasantness, overran this morning so there were extended delays on the Metropolitan. Rather than hang about on the platform at Ruislip Manor, waiting for a train that the announcer* thought might be "11 minutes away" (after waiting 7 minutes for my usual train if you please) I took a Piccadilly which, as usual, creaked arthritically down the line to Acton Town with plentiful stops between the stations. Our driver informed us this was because another train was ahead. Excuse me? More than one train on the line? Heavens, what ever next? There was me thinking that the Underground was meant to be a commuter network.
* Having a live announcer made a change. But I'm not sure he really exists. We have these big white pod-like things on the platform with buttons to press for Emergency and Information. I pressed the Information one. I got back a recording saying there was nobody available and I should ask the platform staff. Yeah right. Like we have ever had staff actually on the platforms.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Monday, March 10, 2008
Rain, signals and failures
It’s been fairly quiet on the commuting front in recent weeks but today London Underground roared back in style. I was expecting trouble because there had been high winds and heavy rain overnight (with more to come tonight, oh joy) but naturally none of today’s little awkwardnesses were caused by the weather. Step forward our old friend “Signal failures” and let us read this morning’s roll of honour.
I arrived at my home station Ruislip Manor to find no Piccadilly trains due to signal failure at South Harrow. OK, no problem, I don’t travel on this line anymore. With a large number of wet and uncomfortable fellow travellers I took shelter from the driving rain waiting for the 8:32 Metropolitan. This of course did not appear but the next one arrived around 8:40. We made it to West Harrow and stopped outside Harrow-on-the-Hill for about ten minutes. This, I learned later was due to a signal failure there (our driver maintaining radio silence during this period).
At Harrow we found a crowded platform and an empty train on the adjacent (“fast”) platform. They announced that there was now a major signal failure at Finchley Road and the Met was running only as far as Wembley Park. The empty train reversed back towards Uxbridge (an extremely rare event) and we trundled down the line to Wembley Park with the hope of catching a Jubilee line. En route our driver, now a lot chattier than before, told us the problem was “partially fixed” (what on earth does that mean? - either the trains can run safely or they can’t) and he thought we might run on to Baker Street. Then he told us the problem had “recurred” and we were to terminate at Wembley Park after all. On arrival, my train emptied and another pulled in to the fast platform and also emptied. I had to let two Jubilee trains go before I could even get near to the platform edge. But in the end the waiting paid off with a seat on the third arrival.
As I arrived at my destination, Waterloo, I was delighted to find that the travelator between the Jubilee platform and the South Bank station exit was out of action, and thrilled to hear that the Bakerloo, my normal line into Waterloo, had severe delays. I don’t think I need to tell you what the stated cause for those delays was.
So a magnificent effort by LU to screw up this morning's journeys for travellers from NW London and barely a hint of apology from anyone, apart from the driver on the Met who did say sorry for all the “confusion” this morning. Nice idea, wrong word. Incompetence, mate, that is the hub, nub and crux of the problem.
I arrived at my home station Ruislip Manor to find no Piccadilly trains due to signal failure at South Harrow. OK, no problem, I don’t travel on this line anymore. With a large number of wet and uncomfortable fellow travellers I took shelter from the driving rain waiting for the 8:32 Metropolitan. This of course did not appear but the next one arrived around 8:40. We made it to West Harrow and stopped outside Harrow-on-the-Hill for about ten minutes. This, I learned later was due to a signal failure there (our driver maintaining radio silence during this period).
At Harrow we found a crowded platform and an empty train on the adjacent (“fast”) platform. They announced that there was now a major signal failure at Finchley Road and the Met was running only as far as Wembley Park. The empty train reversed back towards Uxbridge (an extremely rare event) and we trundled down the line to Wembley Park with the hope of catching a Jubilee line. En route our driver, now a lot chattier than before, told us the problem was “partially fixed” (what on earth does that mean? - either the trains can run safely or they can’t) and he thought we might run on to Baker Street. Then he told us the problem had “recurred” and we were to terminate at Wembley Park after all. On arrival, my train emptied and another pulled in to the fast platform and also emptied. I had to let two Jubilee trains go before I could even get near to the platform edge. But in the end the waiting paid off with a seat on the third arrival.
As I arrived at my destination, Waterloo, I was delighted to find that the travelator between the Jubilee platform and the South Bank station exit was out of action, and thrilled to hear that the Bakerloo, my normal line into Waterloo, had severe delays. I don’t think I need to tell you what the stated cause for those delays was.
So a magnificent effort by LU to screw up this morning's journeys for travellers from NW London and barely a hint of apology from anyone, apart from the driver on the Met who did say sorry for all the “confusion” this morning. Nice idea, wrong word. Incompetence, mate, that is the hub, nub and crux of the problem.
Thursday, February 07, 2008
A Detour - part 2
Well folks it got worse. Assuming you've seen the previous post ("A detour") you will have learned that the Jubilee was screwed up yesterday morning. And on my homeward journey it was still screwed up (though they had a different reason for it now). I was unable to take my usual Bakerloo train north from Waterloo because the platform was so overcrowded that they were spilling back to the foot of the escalators. So I retraced my journey of the morning and used the Northern to get to Euston Square, where I hoped to find a friendly Uxbridge bound Met.
Alas, I had forgot me the date (as Julius Caesar might have said in another context). For it was the night of a friendly football match at Wembley. And the crowds that might have used the Jubilee to get to Wembley were obliged to use the Met, and though an Uxbridge did indeed arrive quickly, it was too full to be boarded, as was the following Amersham but by then I had gritted my teeth, girded my loins (mentally, you understand, I don't go in for much loin-girding in public these days) and I forced my way on and had a really uncomfortable journey most of the way home. But at least we caught up with the Uxbridge at Harrow so I didn't have to waste a further 10 minutes waiting for the next one.
And as I surmised yesterday, they charged me for making the short break between Euston Square and Warren Street and the bill for the day's delayed and stressed journey came to £10.
To cap it all, this morning the normally reliable Bakerloo was suspended.
Hum. I still maintain holding the Olympics in London is going to be a mistake. What on earth will they do when the Jubilee has some signal failures/ power failures / defective trains (insert your favourite excuse here) in that torrid summer of 2012?
Alas, I had forgot me the date (as Julius Caesar might have said in another context). For it was the night of a friendly football match at Wembley. And the crowds that might have used the Jubilee to get to Wembley were obliged to use the Met, and though an Uxbridge did indeed arrive quickly, it was too full to be boarded, as was the following Amersham but by then I had gritted my teeth, girded my loins (mentally, you understand, I don't go in for much loin-girding in public these days) and I forced my way on and had a really uncomfortable journey most of the way home. But at least we caught up with the Uxbridge at Harrow so I didn't have to waste a further 10 minutes waiting for the next one.
And as I surmised yesterday, they charged me for making the short break between Euston Square and Warren Street and the bill for the day's delayed and stressed journey came to £10.
To cap it all, this morning the normally reliable Bakerloo was suspended.
Hum. I still maintain holding the Olympics in London is going to be a mistake. What on earth will they do when the Jubilee has some signal failures/ power failures / defective trains (insert your favourite excuse here) in that torrid summer of 2012?
Wednesday, February 06, 2008
A Detour
I knew something was up when the wrong Metropolitan came in. You see, unlike the other lines on the Underground, Metropolitan trains run to a timetable and you know whether they are on time if you can recognise the header code displayed on the front of the train. Today, at Ruislip Manor in the morning, instead of my normal 433, the train was 466. And when they announced that the Jubilee was closed and trains on the Met were blocking back due to overcrowding, my fears were confirmed.
When we reached Baker Street, some 15 minutes late, both the southbound and northbound platforms were crowded, something I have never seen before in the morning. The Jubilee was still out (power failure) and they had closed access to the Bakerloo to prevent overcrowding on the platforms, so the Met platforms were jammed instead. Normally I take the Bakerloo but I did not try to join the mob but stayed on until Euston Square, got out and walked over to Warren St and continued my journey by the Northern (often derided but I have no complaints about it today).
It is always a little disorientating when you take a different route but end up at the same destination as usual. And it can hit you in the pocket - having gone out of the system and then gone back in, I may perhaps be charged for two separate journeys - how intelligent the ticketing process is will only be known when I look at the total charge for today.
When we reached Baker Street, some 15 minutes late, both the southbound and northbound platforms were crowded, something I have never seen before in the morning. The Jubilee was still out (power failure) and they had closed access to the Bakerloo to prevent overcrowding on the platforms, so the Met platforms were jammed instead. Normally I take the Bakerloo but I did not try to join the mob but stayed on until Euston Square, got out and walked over to Warren St and continued my journey by the Northern (often derided but I have no complaints about it today).
It is always a little disorientating when you take a different route but end up at the same destination as usual. And it can hit you in the pocket - having gone out of the system and then gone back in, I may perhaps be charged for two separate journeys - how intelligent the ticketing process is will only be known when I look at the total charge for today.
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Tube English 3 - Ill on a train
The excuse "Somebody ill on a train" is becoming more popular on the Underground. This morning they halted London-bound Met line trains at Harrow due to "late running" caused by the mystery affliction smiting a passenger at Baker Street. Then they cancelled one and routed the other to Wembley Park, so we all had to get out there and cram on to the Jubilee line. And 'twas whilst dallying at this benighted spot that the station announcer told us he could not explain when the next Met was due because of "technical difficulties".
Laugh? I nearly bit through the cables on my headphones. They have radios. They have telephones. Possibly our man even has a mobile. But no, it was not possible, at one of the key stations on the Met, for the staff to ascertain when the next train to London might be running because of "technical difficulties". But my contempt for this inability to function was nothing compared to the disdain for the original excuse.
Look, if someone is ill on a train whilst it is running it proceeds to the next station. So the train in question must have been at Baker Street, not stuck in the tunnel. And then they get off. Or the staff help them off. Now maybe someone vomited so they had to get a cleaner. Or maybe "ill" is a euphonism and they mean they spontaneously combusted, or were abducted by aliens, or perhaps the police had to be called so that the train had to be held there. But the point is, there are three, yes three, available platforms at Baker Street (four in a real emergency). You can run trains into any of them and turn them round quick as you like. There is no excuse whatsoever, however poorly my fellow commuter may have been, to simply stop running trains and then blather on about late running and technical problems.
So what did they really mean?
Laugh? I nearly bit through the cables on my headphones. They have radios. They have telephones. Possibly our man even has a mobile. But no, it was not possible, at one of the key stations on the Met, for the staff to ascertain when the next train to London might be running because of "technical difficulties". But my contempt for this inability to function was nothing compared to the disdain for the original excuse.
Look, if someone is ill on a train whilst it is running it proceeds to the next station. So the train in question must have been at Baker Street, not stuck in the tunnel. And then they get off. Or the staff help them off. Now maybe someone vomited so they had to get a cleaner. Or maybe "ill" is a euphonism and they mean they spontaneously combusted, or were abducted by aliens, or perhaps the police had to be called so that the train had to be held there. But the point is, there are three, yes three, available platforms at Baker Street (four in a real emergency). You can run trains into any of them and turn them round quick as you like. There is no excuse whatsoever, however poorly my fellow commuter may have been, to simply stop running trains and then blather on about late running and technical problems.
So what did they really mean?
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