"TheOneKEA" wrote in message
om...
"Richard J." wrote in message
...
Steve Dulieu wrote:
"TheOneKEA" wrote in message
So I suppose changing the destination boards to say "Heathrow T4" and
"Heathrow T5" with lots of posters all over the Piccadilly (even the
rolling stock) stating that all Heathrow trains pass Terminals 1, 2
and 3 wouldn't help?

Welllll, they might, but you have to account for the punters
(sometimes) awe inspiring ability to ignore information. A case in
point, Arnos westbound this morning, train from Cockfosters pulls
into P4. A reverser was standing in P3 waiting to depart westbound,
for the 2 or 3 minutes it took me to walk along the platform from
the rear car to the footbridge over to the depot, the SA was making
constant, perfectly clear PA anouncments that the train in P3 would
be the first to depart westbound. To a man and woman, the passengers
on the train in P4 ignored them - until the door chimes on the P3
train started - which was a signal for about 2 dozen eager commuters
to cast their Metros aside and hurl themselves blindly across the
platform in attempt to beat the doors and save themselves that vital
90 seconds getting to their destination. The driver on the P3 train
had to re-open to prevent the punters getting caught in the doors but
at least one managed to beat him to it and actually ran into a closed
door. Of course, once the advance party had made the cross platform
trip it gave shed loads of others the same idea, so the train had to
wait for a gap in the herd to get the doors closed again, causing yet
more delay. It all could have been avoided if those who wanted to
catch the first train had heeded the SA's PA announcments whilst the
regulator was getting his signals sorted out.

The SA's announcements might have been perfectly clear to you on the
platform, but that doesn't mean they were clearly audible on the train
in P4. Did the driver on P4 make an announcement that the P3 train
would depart first?

That's a valid point. Just because the SA's PA was audible in the
station doesn't mean it was audible in the train. Having never been to
Arnos Grove, I can't vouch for the volume and clarity of the PA system
there anyway.

I could here them perfectly clearly before I alighted from the rear car, and
yes, the P4 driver made an announcment as did the P3 driver before pressing
the door close button. For those of you unfamiliar with the '73 refurbs,
pressing the door close button starts the door chimes, the doors actually
start to close 1.5 seconds after the driver releases the button.
--
Cheers, Steve.
If The Good Lord had meant for us to be fiscally prudent, He would not have
given us the platinum credit card...
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