On Sep 5, 6:15 pm, Paul Corfield wrote:
On Wed, 5 Sep 2007 11:00:15 +0100, Tom Anderson
wrote:

And another thing! Those little wheelie briefcases - BAN THEM! For
suitcases, fair enough, it's a sensible way to move them, but i see an
sizeable number of people, mostly but not exclusively women, with really
quite small bags on wheels which they drag behind them. We're talking
something the size of a suitcase or a small handbag, smaller than my
rucksack, which could quite easily be carried. They take up enough space
for someone to walk in, just so the dragger can be saved the effort of
actually carrying their possessions. Fine if you're somewhere with space
to spare, but if you're in the underground, that's just selfish. BAN AND
INCINERATE.

*applause*

they can be very dangerous as they are mobile tripping hazards and
people use them quite deliberately to carve a path for themselves. One
day someone will trip over one and end up under a train.



Absolutely. They are ridiculously dangerous, because they are
impossible to see in a crowd. I nearly landed on my face after
tripping over one just the other day.

I've also had my legs taken out from behind when someone does a tight
overtaking manoeuver while dragging something wider the space they've
just squeezed through.

Bikes and skateboards wouldn't be allowed to be used in such
circumstances, but at least they can be seen.

In article , ess (Olof
Lagerkvist) wrote:

That last example is one of the worst I know in London, pretty much
an "I am lucky if I survive"-feeling. Doing it using Oyster PAYG
and having to get to the Oyster readers on the way adds some
further excitement.

It's been suggested elsewhere that the requirement to touch in when using
Oyster PAYG and transferring between LU and the DLR at Bank is no longer
necessary. Does anyone have chapter and verse?

--
Colin Rosenstiel

On Sep 9, 6:19 pm, (Colin Rosenstiel) wrote:
In article , (Olof

Lagerkvist) wrote:
That last example is one of the worst I know in London, pretty much
an "I am lucky if I survive"-feeling. Doing it using Oyster PAYG
and having to get to the Oyster readers on the way adds some
further excitement.

It's been suggested elsewhere that the requirement to touch in when using
Oyster PAYG and transferring between LU and the DLR at Bank is no longer
necessary. Does anyone have chapter and verse?



I don't think it ever was. The speculation is more to do with why
it's there (ie the lift, which avoids the barriers when coming from
the street).

But as I found once, if you forgot to touch in at Euston, you can
touch "in" on the DLR at Bank before continuing your journey or, as I
did, exiting at Monument and being charged for a zone 1 journey rather
than the £4 penalty.

On 5 Sep, 11:00, Tom Anderson wrote:
On Tue, 4 Sep 2007, MIG wrote:
On Sep 4, 12:34 pm, Tom Anderson wrote:
On Sat, 1 Sep 2007, Boltar wrote:

I can't help thinking that the escalators would get more people up and
down them in a given time if people could stand on both sides in the
rush hour since you always get a (sometimes dangerously) large queue
for the right side and far fewer people going on the left (plus theres
always some idiot tourist who can't read who blocks it anyway). I
realise it might inconvenience people in a hurry but I reckon the pros
would outweight the cons.

The point about increasing throughput to avoid crowds forming is a good
one, but as another poster pointed out, it might just lead to moving
the crowd elsewhere. Still, if it's an up escalator, moving the crowd
from the platforms to the ticket hall might be a good thing from a
safety perspective.

I've never been claustrophobic, but getting off the Jubilee in the
morning rush hour does make me feel nervous. A very confined area, very
far below ground, crammed solid most days. Getting the maximum number
of people up the escalator is a Good Thing without doubt.

It was like that at Euston this morning - coming from the northbound
Northern/Victoria platforms, the queue for the escalators ran halfway down
the passageway.

And another thing! Those little wheelie briefcases - BAN THEM! For
suitcases, fair enough, it's a sensible way to move them, but i see an
sizeable number of people, mostly but not exclusively women, with really
quite small bags on wheels which they drag behind them. We're talking
something the size of a suitcase or a small handbag, smaller than my
rucksack, which could quite easily be carried.

I don't like them much, either ... but in my job I end up moving
around London quite a lot on any given day with a rucksack which
contains a laptop and often quite a lot of documentation. I find the
rucksack fine - in fact I use a particularly small rucksack to enforce
myself into only taking essentials and keep the weight down but
sometimes have to take a big one when that's not practical. Some of
the girls in the office find that they get a sore back if they carry
around a rucksack for too long, so they use a wheely - for the more
slight girls, it's a must. A 50kg girl can't be expected to lug around
10-15% of her bodyweight on her back around the City for extended
periods. And in the long run it's better than lots of expensive visits
to the physio.

If you picked up the wheely and strapped it to her back, she'd
probably fall over. That probably means she needs the wheely.

Granted, I am sure there are plenty of fairly empty wheelys
(wheelies?) around; but a lot of them are actually necessary.

D.

In message , Richard J.
writes
At Montparnasse-Bienvenuë Métro station actually. It runs at 9 km/h
instead of the usual 3 km/h. Stepping on and off a travelator going at
that speed would be hazardous, so they have a transition area at each
end where there are small rollers turning at a slower speed. It could
be tricky to use the same technique for an escalator. There's a photo
I took earlier this year at
http://images.fotopic.net/?id=40778626&noresize=1
I've been there several times but never found it working. Have I been
unlucky, or has it been taken out of use permanently?

--
Clive Page

On Mon, 10 Sep 2007, David F wrote:

On 5 Sep, 11:00, Tom Anderson wrote:

And another thing! Those little wheelie briefcases - BAN THEM! For
suitcases, fair enough, it's a sensible way to move them, but i see an
sizeable number of people, mostly but not exclusively women, with
really quite small bags on wheels which they drag behind them. We're
talking something the size of a suitcase or a small handbag, smaller
than my rucksack, which could quite easily be carried.

I don't like them much, either ... but in my job I end up moving around
London quite a lot on any given day with a rucksack which contains a
laptop and often quite a lot of documentation. I find the rucksack fine
- in fact I use a particularly small rucksack to enforce myself into
only taking essentials and keep the weight down but sometimes have to
take a big one when that's not practical. Some of the girls in the
office find that they get a sore back if they carry around a rucksack
for too long, so they use a wheely - for the more slight girls, it's a
must. A 50kg girl can't be expected to lug around 10-15% of her
bodyweight on her back around the City for extended periods.

Cobblers, if i may say so. I have small female friends - a few quite a bit
smaller than 50 kg, i suspect - and none of them need wheelies. I suspect
a combination of laziness and status symbology is at work.

And in the long run it's better than lots of expensive visits to the
physio.

We're talking about a backpack, not a hod!

If you picked up the wheely and strapped it to her back, she'd probably
fall over. That probably means she needs the wheely.

No, it means the wheely weighs as much as the things in it, and isn't
shaped for carrying on the back. Although i suspect we weren't really
talking literally here!

But anyway, i'm not saying ban wheelies (okay, i did say exactly that, but
YKWIM) - i'm saying ban the wheeling of wheelies in crowded places, like
tube stations. They have little handles on, right? So when you're
somwewhere packed, do the decent thing and carry it.

tom

--
Also, a 'dark future where there is only war!' ... have you seen the
news lately? -- applez

Clive Page wrote:
In message ,
Richard J. writes
At Montparnasse-Bienvenuë Métro station actually. It runs at 9
km/h instead of the usual 3 km/h. Stepping on and off a
travelator going at that speed would be hazardous, so they have a
transition area at each end where there are small rollers turning
at a slower speed. It could be tricky to use the same technique
for an escalator. There's a photo I took earlier this year at
http://images.fotopic.net/?id=40778626&noresize=1
I've been there several times but never found it working. Have I
been unlucky, or has it been taken out of use permanently?

You've been unlucky. It was working when I took the photo in April, and
I used it again in August.

--
Richard J.
(to e-mail me, swap uk and yon in address)

On Sep 13, 12:24 am, Tom Anderson wrote:
On Mon, 10 Sep 2007, David F wrote:
On 5 Sep, 11:00, Tom Anderson wrote:

And another thing! Those little wheelie briefcases - BAN THEM! For
suitcases, fair enough, it's a sensible way to move them, but i see an
sizeable number of people, mostly but not exclusively women, with
really quite small bags on wheels which they drag behind them. We're
talking something the size of a suitcase or a small handbag, smaller
than my rucksack, which could quite easily be carried.

I don't like them much, either ... but in my job I end up moving around
London quite a lot on any given day with a rucksack which contains a
laptop and often quite a lot of documentation. I find the rucksack fine
- in fact I use a particularly small rucksack to enforce myself into
only taking essentials and keep the weight down but sometimes have to
take a big one when that's not practical. Some of the girls in the
office find that they get a sore back if they carry around a rucksack
for too long, so they use a wheely - for the more slight girls, it's a
must. A 50kg girl can't be expected to lug around 10-15% of her
bodyweight on her back around the City for extended periods.

Cobblers, if i may say so. I have small female friends - a few quite a bit
smaller than 50 kg, i suspect - and none of them need wheelies. I suspect
a combination of laziness and status symbology is at work.

And in the long run it's better than lots of expensive visits to the
physio.

We're talking about a backpack, not a hod!

If you picked up the wheely and strapped it to her back, she'd probably
fall over. That probably means she needs the wheely.

No, it means the wheely weighs as much as the things in it, and isn't
shaped for carrying on the back. Although i suspect we weren't really
talking literally here!

But anyway, i'm not saying ban wheelies (okay, i did say exactly that, but
YKWIM) - i'm saying ban the wheeling of wheelies in crowded places, like
tube stations. They have little handles on, right? So when you're
somwewhere packed, do the decent thing and carry it.



I see nothing at all with banning things that are clearly dangerous.
The argument about how useful they may be is irrelevant. If one drove
a truck across the concourse, one could carry even more, but it would
clearly be dangerous, so it isn't allowed.

Maybe someone senior will have to land on his/her face before anything
is done about it.