Four days in a row now, that the Metropolitan has operated a poor service. Today's special - severe delays due to overrunning of engineering works, according to the notice in the station entrance. So whilst stood on the platform at Ruislip Manor what do I hear? The announcer tells us a good service is running on the Piccadilly. On the Met, about which me and many of my fellow commuters are keenly concerned, nothing. No word as to the next train, the length of the severe delays, not even a hint of apology. To this faithful steward, this custodian of customer care, the Met and its passengers no longer existed and were not worthy of even a breath of comment. What a total ****.
Amusingly enough (he's got an unusual sense of humour, you know: Ed) my usual train then arrived, a few minutes late, but was only going to Harrow. So this would mean getting out and taking a chance that something might be running further south. Neither the driver nor the announcer bothered to mention this. I decided to wait for the next Piccadilly, not fancying yet another day of hanging about at Wembley Park which seemed to be all that the Met could offer, and got in ok but once again late because that route is both longer and slower than the Met.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
A new week
Monday morning...
...is when the train you normally catch is cancelled, though the one due before and the one due after are running normally
...is being told by the station announcer that a good service is running, even whilst the train that was cancelled was due to arrive
...is having to fight your way down the stupidly narrow stairs from Metropolitan to Bakerloo platforms at Baker Street because of the congestion caused by the train being full because the one that you wanted to get was cancelled even though you were assured that a good service was running
...is finding that the normally dependable Bakerloo is running with gaps, that the platform is crowded and that waiting for the next train is not really an option because by then the platform will have filled up.
At least I had the option to switch to the Jubilee, where the trains were coming in without gaps and I was actually able to get a seat at Baker Street. So at least some sort of happy ending. I was going to write a song in popular beat combo style on the subject of a general dislike of Mondays but I believe a musical ensemble operating in that idiom may have beaten me to it.
...is when the train you normally catch is cancelled, though the one due before and the one due after are running normally
...is being told by the station announcer that a good service is running, even whilst the train that was cancelled was due to arrive
...is having to fight your way down the stupidly narrow stairs from Metropolitan to Bakerloo platforms at Baker Street because of the congestion caused by the train being full because the one that you wanted to get was cancelled even though you were assured that a good service was running
...is finding that the normally dependable Bakerloo is running with gaps, that the platform is crowded and that waiting for the next train is not really an option because by then the platform will have filled up.
At least I had the option to switch to the Jubilee, where the trains were coming in without gaps and I was actually able to get a seat at Baker Street. So at least some sort of happy ending. I was going to write a song in popular beat combo style on the subject of a general dislike of Mondays but I believe a musical ensemble operating in that idiom may have beaten me to it.
Friday, February 06, 2009
The Met screws up
Yesterday signal failures on the Met at Baker Street made me 20 minutes late. Today, another bout of signal failures first on the Met then (after I had been detrained at Wembley Park) the Jubilee. Result, 30 minutes late. Naturally whilst sitting in a Jubbly grinding between Wembley and Finchley Road, the rejuvenated Met began running again.
When LU screw up, they do it in style. But it's alright. Their announcers insisted that there were only "minor delays". Well sod them, I'm putting in my second refund claim for the week.
Oh and the "adverse weather" was also cited as a reason for delays. Wow. Earlier in the week we had a few inches. Today, a miserable centimetre or so (I hope you enjoy the instant transition from imperial to metric) [I find this confusing: Ed] which turned at once to a brown slush on the streets. We are not impressed.
When LU screw up, they do it in style. But it's alright. Their announcers insisted that there were only "minor delays". Well sod them, I'm putting in my second refund claim for the week.
Oh and the "adverse weather" was also cited as a reason for delays. Wow. Earlier in the week we had a few inches. Today, a miserable centimetre or so (I hope you enjoy the instant transition from imperial to metric) [I find this confusing: Ed] which turned at once to a brown slush on the streets. We are not impressed.
Monday, February 02, 2009
A few cold inches
Yes, the snow is back and though the tube website shows that some trains are running, I don't trust that the system will remain running if there is further snow today so will stay at home. Here is the view from blizzard-struck Ruislip.
And driving would be no fun either
And driving would be no fun either
Friday, January 23, 2009
A turn-up for the book
I arrived for my homeward journey at Waterloo and just missed a northbound Bakerloo. The next one arrived about 15 minutes later, following close behind a "not in service". By that time the platform was pretty full, there had been 4 or 5 trains southbound and we had been told by the announcer that there were minor delays on the Piccadilly. Nothing was said about the Bakerloo. Naturally the train was full and I was lucky to get one of the last seats going.
Well, this line has been pretty reliable over the past couple of years so the odd blip can be tolerated. But as we pulled into Baker Street (and by this time we were as jam packed as a very well filled jar of jam) our driver offered an heartfelt and humble apology, explaining that a defective train had caused the delay and on behalf of London Underground he was really quite sorry about it.
Makes a change. LU always sound so damn pleased when they start sounding off about "extensive delays" and "take alternative routes" that to find one of their minions taking some sort of personal responsibility for a problem is somewhat gratifying, and occasioned a fair bit of eye-brow raising and quirky smiles from my fellow passengers. Mind you, the smiles were wiped out as the very large crowd waiting on the platform began pushing on, but your correspondent had detrained by this point and was off in search of fresh adventures on the Metropolitan.
Well, this line has been pretty reliable over the past couple of years so the odd blip can be tolerated. But as we pulled into Baker Street (and by this time we were as jam packed as a very well filled jar of jam) our driver offered an heartfelt and humble apology, explaining that a defective train had caused the delay and on behalf of London Underground he was really quite sorry about it.
Makes a change. LU always sound so damn pleased when they start sounding off about "extensive delays" and "take alternative routes" that to find one of their minions taking some sort of personal responsibility for a problem is somewhat gratifying, and occasioned a fair bit of eye-brow raising and quirky smiles from my fellow passengers. Mind you, the smiles were wiped out as the very large crowd waiting on the platform began pushing on, but your correspondent had detrained by this point and was off in search of fresh adventures on the Metropolitan.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)