On Apr 15, 3:06*pm, wrote:

Well that depends if there are 2 seperate railway lines going the same
way which generally isn't the case. If Thameslink breaks down you're not
going to think "I know , i'll walk 10 miles to the nearest ECML station and
get a train there".

No. But you might, either on your own or with a group of other
passengers, take a taxi there.

But in the case of London, there is a dense network of public
transport, both road and rail (and indeed river). If one bit of it
breaks, there are other options.

That only applies to motorways. Most A roads and all minor roads in towns
have frequent junctions with other roads that you can escape down and
these days most people have a satnav that can find an alternative route.

Sometimes. A blocked road often leads to almost-gridlock on others.

You're assuming theres a taxi rank there and not just some scruffy minicab
office hidden down a back street.

True. I imagine if the black cabs waiting at LHR heard of such a
problem there would soon not be a shortage of those, though.

Bombs.

I'm sure I remember reading that on the occasion when there were bombs
on the tube there was not blind panic to evacuate. But as bombs on
the Tube are extremely rare, it doesn't seem to be a reason not to
carry wheelchairs or luggage.

Also some people with even mild claustrophobia start to panic if
confined for too long.

This is true. I doubt, though, it would send them running into
tunnels in a panic, as the tunnels are equally claustrophobic.

It might work on off peak hours - at busy stations in the rush hour? No chance.
Anyway , they seem to be de-manning the tube , your idea would require extra
staff.

It just about works on the mainline, though is easier on trains with
guards, admittedly.

As for de-manning, busy Tube stations still tend to have platform
staff, largely because the DOO monitors aren't good enough for the
driver to see properly if there is an issue before closing doors/
departing. The destaffing is mainly in the area of ticket offices,
which have no bearing at all on accessibility at platform level as
they'd never usually go down onto the platform.

Neil