London Banter - View Single Post

Colin Rosenstiel · November 5th 05, 08:59 PM posted to uk.transport.london

In article ,
(Roland Perry) wrote:

In message ,
at 17:30:00 on Sat, 5 Nov 2005, Colin Rosenstiel
remarked:
On the other hand, you can't do it standing up on a train, either -
and I found it rather uncomfortable when sitting on the floor.
Sadly, during the latter period of my Royston/KX trips I found it
increasingly common not to get a seat. Perhaps twice a week. And
needing to shove oneself into a seat (literally) made it even more
stressful when boarding the train.

You were obviously less lucky than me, or poorer in your choice of
times. From Royston to London that is understandable because trains
don't start there

I usually tried to get the train which started out as 4 empty coaches
at Royston, with 4 from Cambridge connecting to the rear. But as you
say, if it was an 8 coach train from Cambridge then they were often
full and standing already.

That train starts at Cambridge as 8 coaches now so I think that option
is gone.

but from King's Cross I find it's mainly a matter of not arriving
too close to the train's departure time.

Didn't help much. The two trains I usually ended up catching only
ever arrived at the platform a few minutes before departure time. And
they had people trying to get off, as everyone was already pushing to
get on. By the time the train arrived there would be a four or five
deep scrum by every doorway position, although guessing very
accurately where the door was going to be, and arriving early enough,
did help.

That's changed a bit now too. WAGN elbowed their way into the main
trainshed more and normally get longer in the platforms now.

--
Colin Rosenstiel