On 12 Aug, 09:45, Paul wrote:
On 12 Aug, 09:32, wrote:

On Wed, 11 Aug 2010 23:43:53 -0700 (PDT)

Paul wrote:
adequately stocked with change. *Perhaps Comrade Crow would like to
explain how systems such as the Tyne & Wear Metro can be considered
safe when they have no ticket offices at all.

Having used the T&W metro and struggled to get the damn ticket machine to
accept my money I can state thats its a pain in the bloody arse not to have
a ticket office available. I imagine the same goes for a lot of unmanned
stations on the DLR.

B2003

But on London Underground the station would always be staffed, and the
station staff could help anyone who is having trouble using the ticket
machines, and as I said earlier, make sure that they are in working
order and adequately stocked with change.

Use your credit card if you're out of change. If you're having trouble
using a ticket machine, you probably shouldn't be allowed unattended
on the tube, anyway.

In article ,
Roland Perry wrote:
In message
, at
05:42:45 on Wed, 11 Aug 2010, Paul remarked:
Both unions believe that 800 posts are under threat and more than 140
ticket offices will close, which they say threatens safety.

Getting on a train without a ticket is often quite dangerous.

Working alone in a big, empty, station where the public can
land a punch on your nose (rather than behind an armoured glass
window) might be, though.

I suspect that Mr Crow is more worried about the safty of his members
than the safty of the public.

--
Mike Bristow

On 12 Aug, 10:31, Mike Bristow wrote:

I suspect that Mr Crow is more worried about the safty of his members
than the safty of the public.

I suspect he's more worried about the safety of his big, fat pay
packet to match his big, fat head.

Most people I know prefer travelling on the DLR rather than the tube
on the basis that there are fewer staff, and everything seems to run
smoother. People correlate these things together, because the machines
don't go on strike and stations don't needlessly close because there's
nobody working at them.

Every time I go through Bank station, there are two staff standing at
the top of a closed escalator / lift directing people to take another
route. Never mind the fact that a sign would do, why does it take two
people to do this? Customers of the tube can see overspend and wastage
every day.

On 12 Aug, 12:01, David F wrote:
On 12 Aug, 10:31, Mike Bristow wrote:



I suspect that Mr Crow is more worried about the safty of his members
than the safty of the public.

I suspect he's more worried about the safety of his big, fat pay
packet to match his big, fat head.

Most people I know prefer travelling on the DLR rather than the tube
on the basis that there are fewer staff, and everything seems to run
smoother. People correlate these things together, because the machines
don't go on strike and stations don't needlessly close because there's
nobody working at them.

Every time I go through Bank station, there are two staff standing at
the top of a closed escalator / lift directing people to take another
route. Never mind the fact that a sign would do, why does it take two
people to do this? Customers of the tube can see overspend and wastage
every day.

Indeed. When I used to commute from South Quay to Walthamstow via
Bank and Kings Cross, it used to p**s me off that at peak hours, one
of the passageways leading from the top of the DLR escalator to the
Northern Line was roped off. During the off peak hours this passageway
was open. One would have thought that at peak hours you would have
more passageways open to assist with congestion control. But since
when did LUL care about the invconvenience to passengers.

But the whole point of the exercise about reducing the opening hours
of ticket offices is that staff will be redeployed elsewhere within
the station. This will, if anything, increase station security. Does
Comrade Crow not understand this?

On 12 Aug, 12:16, Paul wrote:
On 12 Aug, 12:01, David F wrote:





On 12 Aug, 10:31, Mike Bristow wrote:

I suspect that Mr Crow is more worried about the safty of his members
than the safty of the public.

I suspect he's more worried about the safety of his big, fat pay
packet to match his big, fat head.

Most people I know prefer travelling on the DLR rather than the tube
on the basis that there are fewer staff, and everything seems to run
smoother. People correlate these things together, because the machines
don't go on strike and stations don't needlessly close because there's
nobody working at them.

Every time I go through Bank station, there are two staff standing at
the top of a closed escalator / lift directing people to take another
route. Never mind the fact that a sign would do, why does it take two
people to do this? Customers of the tube can see overspend and wastage
every day.

Indeed. When I used to commute *from South Quay to Walthamstow via
Bank and Kings Cross, it used to p**s me off that at peak hours, one
of the passageways leading from the top of the DLR escalator to the
Northern Line was roped off. During the off peak hours this passageway
was open. One would have thought that at peak hours you would have
more passageways open to assist with congestion control. But since
when did LUL care about the invconvenience to passengers.

Tell me about it... I fly into London City on Sunday evenings on a
regular basis. DLR into Bank is nice and quick - they're even nice
enough to put a DLR departure board just inside the door of the
airport when you get off the plane. All nice and smooth until I get
off the DLR. I have to exit the DLR (with a case) climb a number of
steps, past the Northern Line exit (which is closed), over more steps
- up and down - then all the way down the Central line platforms, then
up an escalator, then walk a bit more before I finally get out of the
bloody station. Takes an age and no, I don't pass any staff making it
'safer' for me on the way.

Don't get me started on why I can't turn left out of the steps down to
the DLR on to the platform... why must I walk the length of the
platform, and then back up again if I want to get to the quieter end
of it? And why haven't they fixed the bloody escalator. It used to be
fairly easy to get to the DLR, now I have to walk through the Northern
Line platform when it's 'dangerously' busy. I'm sure as hell not
diverted there for safety.

On Thu, 12 Aug 2010 04:16:10 -0700 (PDT), Paul
wrote:
Indeed. When I used to commute from South Quay to Walthamstow via
Bank and Kings Cross, it used to p**s me off that at peak hours, one
of the passageways leading from the top of the DLR escalator to the
Northern Line was roped off. During the off peak hours this passageway
was open. One would have thought that at peak hours you would have
more passageways open to assist with congestion control. But since
when did LUL care about the invconvenience to passengers.

But the whole point of the exercise about reducing the opening hours
of ticket offices is that staff will be redeployed elsewhere within
the station. This will, if anything, increase station security. Does
Comrade Crow not understand this?


What Comrade Crow *does* appear to understand is that every change
that is either proposed or introduced by management, no matter how
small, presents a golden opportunity to maximise both (a) the number
of his members who are employed and (b) their remuneration. The
message is clear; if management changes anything at all, it's going to
cost them dear, one way or another.

Having dealt with similarly militant trade unions in the construction
industry, I have to say that Crow's tactics, while both obvious and
crude, are surprisingly effective. He has obviously watched how
similar tactics deployed by ASLEF over recent years have made London
Underground drivers' jobs both secure and extremely highly paid.

The issue of security is not so important, except that it provides an
excuse to demand more money and/or maximise staff numbers.

On Aug 12, 12:01*pm, David F wrote:

On 12 Aug, 10:31, Mike Bristow wrote:

I suspect that Mr Crow is more worried about the safty of his members
than the safty of the public.

I suspect he's more worried about the safety of his big, fat pay
packet to match his big, fat head.

Most people I know prefer travelling on the DLR rather than the tube
on the basis that there are fewer staff, and everything seems to run
smoother. People correlate these things together, because the machines
don't go on strike and stations don't needlessly close because there's
nobody working at them.

Are you not perhaps jumping to something of a conclusion there in the
reason why people you know prefer travelling on the DLR? Is it not
just because it works (or is more likely to)?

I know people who like the DLR, but the reason given isn't that it has
fewer staff. Yes, the lack of need for drivers does make it less
susceptible to one type of industrial action, but the Train Captains/
PSAs can (and occasionally do) still threaten to strike.


Every time I go through Bank station, there are two staff standing at
the top of a closed escalator / lift directing people to take another
route. Never mind the fact that a sign would do, why does it take two
people to do this? Customers of the tube can see overspend and wastage
every day.

Subterranean stations are very different from a safety point-of-view
though - there's a whole host of safety requirements and associated
staffing requirements (and things are fairly strict these days post
the '87 KXSP fire).

I don't know of the specific logic in play at Bank station, but
perhaps these bods have some sort of crowd-control / in-case-of-fire(-
at-busy-times) function that's not immediately apparent.