My bedtime reading of late has been that seminal tome, "Handling
London's Underground Traffic", by J.P. Thomas, M.I.E.E., M. Inst. T. It
was published in 1928, by London Underground Railways. Thomas was their
Operating Manager, reporting to the legendary Frank Pick, who was
Managing Director.

The book was intended for a wide readership, ranging from staff to
transport students, railway enthusiasts and the general public, and also
for foreign cities considering the building of rapid transit systems. It
is a fascinating read, not least because it seems simultaneously both
ancient and modern. The bits that appear dated are those that refer to
social conditions, while the technical aspects, and particularly the
challenges of handling big crowds with a fast and frequent train service
seem thoroughly up to date. Considering the relatively short time that
electric trains had been running underneath London (they started with
the City and South London Railway in 1890), I find it astonishing that
so much was learned so quickly.

Some snippets:

There was a minimum height requirement for staff - 5 feet 7 inches (I
think that's 1.7 metres) - "as men of shorter stature are at a
disadvantage in dealing with crowds".

They employed about 4,700 staff on the London Underground Group of
Companies - these were the fore-runners of today's Northern, Central,
District and Piccadilly lines, with the Metropolitan still an
independent concern. Of these, only 804 were motormen (drivers). They
earned just over 5 pounds a week They worked 8 hours a day, 6 days a
week, in accordance with the Railway National Agreement of 1919, but
their duties included split shifts as well as straight turns. Relief
breaks of 30 minutes were included.

1,107 staff were guards, and 563 were gatemen (who made sure that
carriage doors were shut).

259 were liftmen - only 30 stations had escalators. The first escalator
was installed at Earl's Court in 1911. "Shunt" escalators "which
necessitated a side-stepping movement in getting off" were being rapidly
replaced by "comb" escalators - "the passenger being, as it were,
'combed off' the escalator in a forward movement".

They carried 2 million passengers a day over 91 miles of railway and 49
miles of tramway. They also operated over some 50 miles of lines owned
by other companies, notably the LMS and GWR.

The busiest station in 1927 was Charing Cross with over 33 million
passengers (including interchange traffic between different lines). Next
busiest (in declining order) were Oxford Circus, Piccadilly Circus,
Hammersmith, Bank, Victoria, Tottenham Court Road, Leicester Square,
Elephant and Castle, Liverpool Street and Waterloo (just short of 15
million).

Busy stations had busy booking offices, with a single clerk serving as
many as a thousand passengers in an hour. This was only possible with
flat fares (two old pence on the Central London Railway) and cleverly
designed "change plates" at the booking office window (allowing
passengers to scoop up their change quickly). Automatic ticket machines
("combined ticket-printing and change-giving machines") were seen as the
way forward.

Trains ran as frequently as every 90 seconds on the District Railway,
but did not necessarily call at all stations. "Non-stop" trains were
seen to have certan advantages in handling large crowds and easing the
impact of delays, though they did not save much time on a journey - they
had to be slotted in between the all stations stoppers.

On the Central London Railway, the off-peak headway was one and
seven-eighths of a minute. I don't think they actually showed that level
of detail in the working timetable - it was more a case of there being
32 trains an hour which, evenly spaced, turned up at intervals of
fifteen eighths of a minute. 30 trains an hour just couldn't handle the
traffic!

Most people worked 6 days a week in 1928 - 5 full days, Monday to
Friday, and half a day on Saturdays. Timetables and rolling stock were
geared to these. "In London there is a generally heavy workmen's traffic
from the opening of the lines, at about 5 o'clock, till the closing of
the period of availability of the cheap workmen's tickets at 7.30 a.m.
Traffic then slackens down for nearly an hour before the City rush
begins at about 8.20. By 10.30 the trains are again running with light
loads until 4.50 p.m. The homeward rush then starts and, while it lasts,
is more concentrated than the morning peak traffic, because all the
traffic starts from the small confines of the City to disperse over
Greater London. Traffic is again quiet by 6.45, but at 7.30 the dinner
and theatre traffic becomes evident in the West End. Between 8.30 p.m.
and 10.45 p.m. occurs the slackest period of the day. The home-going
traffic then begins and continues until the closing of the lines beween
12.30 and 1.0 a.m."

Trains were reduced in length in the off-peak periods, mainly to
economise on electricity. The book ponders on the pros and cons of
reducing train /length/ and reducing train /frequency/. "As a result of
experience, the tendency in the slack hours on the Underground is to run
short trains at short (and sometimes shorter than rush-hour) intervals
in the central areas, and short trains at longer intervals in the outer
districts".

Interchange between the different lines was considered very important,
and the times of first and last trains were carefully co-ordinated to
ensure connections at interchange stations.

Was there a service on Christmas Day? But of course. "Chirstmas Day is
provided with a Sunday morning service, though much slacker between 3.0
p.m. and 9.0 p.m., after which the traffic increases again as people go
home from their parties."

"On Good Friday a Sunday service is worked throughout the day, but
trains are started an hour earlier to make provision for the appreciably
heavier workmen's traffic caused by the redecoration of stores, hotels
and apartment houses, which generally commences in London on Good
Fridays."

Next time on "Underground Memories of 1928" - Terminal Capacity, and the
relative merits of the Loop and the Three-Bay Lay-Out.
--
Joyce Whitchurch, Stalybridge, UK
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