Since I moved to London in the year 2001, I have lived in South London
(Norwood) and rather liked it. Ten years and a failed relationship
later I find myself in Cockfosters, at the far end of the Piccadilly
Line.

The shock at moving to North London (and not doing things by halves,
about as far "North London" as you can get, is that the M25 I can
hear?) and the cost of a Zone 1-5 Travelcard was tempered by a much
easier commute to work - Cockfosters to Green Park, on the Piccadilly
Line with the choice, yes choice! of changing at Finsbury Park to the
Victoria Line should I so desire.

But my god, three months on and I am cursing the Piccadilly line
almost daily.

It appears to me that a "Good Service" will invariably involve an
interminably slow journey between Cockfosters and Arnos Grove, an
extended pause at either Oakwood and/or Arnos Grove, or trains at
Arnos Grove that arrived after my one, departing first. Sometimes the
driver will tell you that the train that has just arrived will leave
first, but sometimes they don't. Minor Delays have seen me 15 minutes
or more late, and I dread to think what a severe delay is.

At Cockfosters, if you miss the announcement as to when the next train
is, you can stand around for about a minute or more waiting as the
electronic displays will only ever show the very next departure,
nothing more, or simply the text "Piccadilly Line". So you can arrive,
there's a train at each platform, with no information as to which one
is actually due to leave. And sometimes after a minute a train will
depart, with no announcement. It feels like London Underground's own
version of "Train Doors will be closed 30 seconds before departure",
but until 30 seconds before you should still know which platform to
aim for!

Then there's the actual announcements at Cockfosters, which really
grate on me.
"Piccadilly Line, the next train to Heathrow T123 and 5 will depart
from Platform 1". Hmmm. I am being a pedant, but I would have thought
that "Piccadilly Line, the next train from Platform 1 is to Heathrow
T123 and 5". God that is pedantic. But indulge me.

Some of the staff are lovely : notably at Cockfosters, Oakwood,
Southgate and Arnos Grove - but I have never really encountered a
"bad" member of staff. Although last week, someone asked a man in a
London Underground uniform if the train he was walking towards was the
next one to leave and he shrugged his shoulders. He walked up to the
drivers cab, got in, waited and indeed his train was the next to
leave. So I can either take from that that the drivers don't even know
when they are about to depart and only go by the signals, or he was
just unhelpful.

When the Piccadilly Line does work well, commuting is a joy, compared
to my old journey of BUS - TRAIN - BUS - WALK. I now have TUBE - WALK.
Which is great. But whenever I see "GOOD SERVICE", I honestly don't
know what to expect when I get to the station. That can't be right.