London Banter - View Single Post - Proposal - every Tube ticket office to close by 2015

Roland Perry

In message , at 16:16:07 on Fri, 6 Dec
2013, d remarked:
Some drivers on LU seem to be rather slow to close the doors even when
there's no one left on the platform. They waste a good 5 - 10 seconds at
each stop which probably buggers up the timetable nicely by the time they've
got to the other end of the line.

If it's the Piccadilly line, that sort of thing will ensure they don't
run early against the leisurely timetable. I guess they think it's
better to waste a few seconds here and there instead of being held at a
station further down the line for a couple of minutes "to regulate the
service".

They do that anyway even if there hasn't been a train througn for 10 minutes.
I don't think I've ever been on another metro system that has to "regulate"
itself. The trains just run. If you have trains every 2 minutes why do you
need a timetable anyway?

They are trying to avoid the "three buses come at once" scenario. It's
in the nature of public transport that the first to arrive picks up most
of the passengers, which slows it down. The one behind has fewer
passengers to pick up and gradually gains on the one in front.
Eventually they end up running in convoy.
--
Roland Perry