London Banter - View Single Post - Crossrail

E27002

On Jun 16, 11:17*am, Paul Corfield wrote:
On Wed, 16 Jun 2010 09:29:06 -0700 (PDT), E27002
wrote:

On Jun 16, 12:14*am, Martin Petrov
wrote:
Crossrail is already needed to relieve the eastern end of the Central
line, recession or not.

I did not know that was the case. *In previous recessions the crush on
the TfL Central Line has eased.

Is there evidence of much of a drop? Anecdotally, I haven't found the
journey any more pleasant....!

My boots are not on that particular piece of ground. *According to
others posting here there is no noticeable reduction. *So my
assumption was wrong.

Back in the early nineties the UK had a severe economic slowdown.
Apparently, according my Essex based contacts; it was not hard to find
a seat on the Central Line, at Liverpool St, during the peak!

I personally doubt that observation - even from the 1990s. The tube's
ridership has grown considerably since the 1990s and despite a dip over
the last year or so it is higher than it was back in the 1990s. *The AM
peak had, before the recent recession, spread to start prior to 0700 in
the suburbs and was getting earlier by the week. I know that simply from
travelling at that time and seeing the increased ridership / reduced
likelihood of a seat with my own eyes.

I do not travel in the height of the peak very often but it is
horrendous. There are many reports of it taking between 5 - 7 trains
before people can board at Bethnal Green with similar waits at Liverpool
Street on the Central Line.

Here is a link to a photo taken this morning in the AM peak - not by me
- of people waiting for a sub surface train at Liverpool Street LUL.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/teflon/4705957181/

You will note it is about 8 people deep on the platform. This is not
unusual and I'd venture to suggest that the Central Line is worse than
this. *I also don't recall there being any sort of service disruption
this morning which would have caused such a massive crowd.

Then, you have proved to me that the need for Crossrail is now. :-)