On 20 Feb, 11:51, Tom Anderson wrote:
I used to go out with a girl who lived near Clapham South tube; she went
to work (by car!) pretty early by my standards, and so turfed me out in
the mornings in the height of rush hour to catch a Northern line train to
work. Thus, i've experienced this quite a bit, and it's exactly as you say
- quite unbelievable. Splitting up with her was quite a relief!

Could she not give you a lift to somewhere more sensible? ;-)

[seriously though, "is an interchange station" is actually a criterion
on my "choosing a place to live in London"-meter. Getting on the first
train at Finsbury Park or Whitechapel or Mile End or Stratford or
Hammersmith is seldom a problem - Arsenal and Stepney/Bethnal Greens
are a lot more challenging. And I think Angel's the only place I've
ever had to let a train go past...]

--
John Band
john at johnband dot org
www.johnband.org

Hi Paul,
Yes. I'm referring to that. The escalator has been down for a long
time and causing congestion at Bank station. Bank DLR station had to
be shut down for from time to time for this reason.

The other question is, why it takes so long to refurbish an
escalator? I've hardly seen anyone working on those enclosed
escalators.



On Feb 19, 10:56*pm, Paul Corfield wrote:
On Tue, 19 Feb 2008 14:41:35 -0800 (PST), Mizter T
wrote:



wrote:

There was a signal failure at Stradford. *My purpose of bring the
Jubilee line topic up is to basically see if there are others who are
thinking the same thing as I do. *The performance of the Jubilee line
is deteriorating to a point which is not very bearable considering the
DLR at Bank station is a mess as well.

What's up with the DLR at Bank at the mo?

I suspect he may be referring to the escalator problems that are causing
delays and congestion within the station complex.
--
Paul C

Admits to working for London Underground!

wrote:
Hi Paul,
Yes. I'm referring to that. The escalator has been down for a long
time and causing congestion at Bank station. Bank DLR station had
to be shut down for from time to time for this reason.

The other question is, why it takes so long to refurbish an
escalator? I've hardly seen anyone working on those enclosed
escalators.

Which escalator is out of action? Specifically I want to know if it
affects Monument - DLR interchanges in either direction.
--
Richard J.
(to e-mail me, swap uk and yon in address)

On 20 Feb, 12:46, "Richard J." wrote:
wrote:
Hi Paul,
Yes. *I'm referring to that. *The escalator has been down for a long
time and causing congestion at Bank station. *Bank DLR station had
to be shut down for from time to time for this reason.

The other question is, why it takes so long to refurbish an
escalator? *I've hardly seen anyone working on those enclosed
escalators.

Which escalator is out of action? *Specifically I want to know if it
affects Monument - DLR interchanges in either direction.
--
Richard J.
(to e-mail me, swap uk and yon in address)

Certainly the one heading from the Central down to the DLR. When I
was last there it was walk down and escalator up. I don't know about
the Monument end.

wrote:
Hi Paul,
Yes. I'm referring to that. The escalator has been down for a long
time and causing congestion at Bank station. Bank DLR station had to
be shut down for from time to time for this reason.

The other question is, why it takes so long to refurbish an
escalator? I've hardly seen anyone working on those enclosed
escalators.


I think when this has come up before, it has been because the working spaces
under the escalator, and in the machinery rooms, are too cramped to safely
allow work on the escalator under refurb while others in the same shaft are
running alongside. It also may not be safe to turn off one of the longer
escalators and use it as stairs, so work only takes place during the
overnight shut down.

Paul S

On 20 Feb, 12:23, " wrote:
Yes. I'm referring to that. The escalator has been down for a long
time and causing congestion at Bank station. Bank DLR station had to
be shut down for from time to time for this reason.

I thought the problem was that the escalator *hadn't* been down...?

/coat

--
John Band
john at johnband dot org
www.johnband.org

On Wed, 20 Feb 2008, John B wrote:

On 20 Feb, 11:51, Tom Anderson wrote:

I used to go out with a girl who lived near Clapham South tube; she
went to work (by car!) pretty early by my standards, and so turfed me
out in the mornings in the height of rush hour to catch a Northern
line
train to work. Thus, i've experienced this quite a bit, and it's
exactly as you say - quite unbelievable. Splitting up with her was
quite a relief!

Could she not give you a lift to somewhere more sensible? ;-)

She worked near Fulham (hence the car - there's no good public transport
route between south Clapham and Fulham, although if the station at
Imperial Wharf ever happens, there will be), i work near Euston, so she
didn't go anywhere near any stations that would have been more useful.

[seriously though, "is an interchange station" is actually a criterion
on my "choosing a place to live in London"-meter. Getting on the first
train at Finsbury Park or Whitechapel or Mile End or Stratford or
Hammersmith is seldom a problem - Arsenal and Stepney/Bethnal Greens are
a lot more challenging. And I think Angel's the only place I've ever had
to let a train go past...]

Good point. Being an interchange station also implies having more than one
line, which gives you flexibility when things go tits-up. I live near
Finsbury Park, and have two tube lines and two railway lines heading
south. If only they'd reroute all the buses that go up Holloway Road via
Finsbury Park as well ...

tom

--
At Forkmeeter in 12478, the Wracket Dispersal had reached the first
limit of its bounding eastward rush.

On Wed, 20 Feb 2008, Mizter T wrote:

Tom Anderson wrote:

On Mon, 18 Feb 2008, brixtonite wrote:

[...] I used to think 'I'm sure I'd've pushed my way on' when people
told me about waiting for a few trains go past, but having experienced
it (on the Northern line at Clapham/Stockwell/Kennington,) there's a
degree of crowding where you can push quite impolitely into the people
already on board and travel with your head in someone's armpit, and
then a degree of crowding where it is simply *not possible* to get on.

I used to go out with a girl who lived near Clapham South tube; she
went to work (by car!) pretty early by my standards, and so turfed me
out in the mornings in the height of rush hour to catch a Northern line
train to work. Thus, i've experienced this quite a bit, and it's
exactly as you say - quite unbelievable. Splitting up with her was
quite a relief!

It's like Dante's Inferno at the peak of the rush hour.

Worse - no Virgil!

Obviously the Northern line is a major factor in making Clapham a
popular district to live in, problem being that it's a victim of its own
success. For journeys from Clapham to the City the Northern line really
is the glaringly obvious route by public transport. One alternative is
the South London Line from Clapham High Street to London Bridge, but
that's a half-hourly two car train that also gets pretty busy.

On the southern side, ther are also trains from Balham, and i think
they're better than two cars twice an hour, but they go to Victoria, so
they don't compete with either branch of the Northern line. You can change
onto the Victoria line there, of course, which in principle could tempt
away some of the millions of people who take the Northern line to
Stockwell and then change, but the change at Victoria is much more of a
pain.

Otherwise it's the bus, and one has to change at Elephant & Castle as
well - perhaps there's a need for a through bus to the City (like there
used to be?), to take some of the strain off the Northern line.

Possibly. How long would it take, in rush hour?

All of which explains why there's an awful lot of people cycling up to
town from those parts these days. The Northern line is also pretty busy
during the 'shoulder peak' periods, when many of those who can sensibly
opt to travel in a more civilised manner (albeit quite possibly at a
less civilised hour!).

Depends which shoulder. I often manage to travel in an entirely civilised
manner on the tube, and arrive at work just in time for an appropriately
civilised luncheon!

tom

--
At Forkmeeter in 12478, the Wracket Dispersal had reached the first
limit of its bounding eastward rush.

On 20 Feb, 16:40, Tom Anderson wrote:
On Wed, 20 Feb 2008, Mizter T wrote:
Tom Anderson wrote:

On Mon, 18 Feb 2008, brixtonite wrote:

[...] I used to think 'I'm sure I'd've pushed my way on' when people
told me about waiting for a few trains go past, but having experienced
it (on the Northern line at Clapham/Stockwell/Kennington,) there's a
degree of crowding where you can push quite impolitely into the people
already on board and travel with your head in someone's armpit, and
then a degree of crowding where it is simply *not possible* to get on.

I used to go out with a girl who lived near Clapham South tube; she
went to work (by car!) pretty early by my standards, and so turfed me
out in the mornings in the height of rush hour to catch a Northern line
train to work. Thus, i've experienced this quite a bit, and it's
exactly as you say - quite unbelievable. Splitting up with her was
quite a relief!

It's like Dante's Inferno at the peak of the rush hour.

Worse - no Virgil!

Obviously the Northern line is a major factor in making Clapham a
popular district to live in, problem being that it's a victim of its own
success. For journeys from Clapham to the City the Northern line really
is the glaringly obvious route by public transport. One alternative is
the South London Line from Clapham High Street to London Bridge, but
that's a half-hourly two car train that also gets pretty busy.

On the southern side, ther are also trains from Balham, and i think
they're better than two cars twice an hour, but they go to Victoria, so
they don't compete with either branch of the Northern line. You can change
onto the Victoria line there, of course, which in principle could tempt
away some of the millions of people who take the Northern line to
Stockwell and then change, but the change at Victoria is much more of a
pain.


It's also frequently closed, although you can sneak round via the
District Line gates.

Tom Anderson wrote:

On Wed, 20 Feb 2008, Mizter T wrote:

Tom Anderson wrote:

On Mon, 18 Feb 2008, brixtonite wrote:

[...] I used to think 'I'm sure I'd've pushed my way on' when people
told me about waiting for a few trains go past, but having experienced
it (on the Northern line at Clapham/Stockwell/Kennington,) there's a
degree of crowding where you can push quite impolitely into the people
already on board and travel with your head in someone's armpit, and
then a degree of crowding where it is simply *not possible* to get on.

I used to go out with a girl who lived near Clapham South tube; she
went to work (by car!) pretty early by my standards, and so turfed me
out in the mornings in the height of rush hour to catch a Northern line
train to work. Thus, i've experienced this quite a bit, and it's
exactly as you say - quite unbelievable. Splitting up with her was
quite a relief!

It's like Dante's Inferno at the peak of the rush hour.

Worse - no Virgil!

Obviously the Northern line is a major factor in making Clapham a
popular district to live in, problem being that it's a victim of its own
success. For journeys from Clapham to the City the Northern line really
is the glaringly obvious route by public transport. One alternative is
the South London Line from Clapham High Street to London Bridge, but
that's a half-hourly two car train that also gets pretty busy.

On the southern side, there are also trains from Balham, and i think
they're better than two cars twice an hour, but they go to Victoria, so
they don't compete with either branch of the Northern line. You can change
onto the Victoria line there, of course, which in principle could tempt
away some of the millions of people who take the Northern line to
Stockwell and then change, but the change at Victoria is much more of a
pain.


Oh, plenty of trains from Balham to Victoria, every five minutes or so
in the morning peak at least. Though they're pretty busy I understand.
I'm not quite sure how many people jump off at Balham for the Northern
line though. There are only a few through trains from Selhurst up to
Streatham Common through to London Bridge, in fact from a quick glance
less during the peak than the off-peak (when it's half-hourly), so
there might be a number of people transferring to the Northern line
for the City off of these Victoria-bound trains leaving a little bit
more space for those getting on them.

Problem with this is that they go to Victoria, not the City. A trudge
along the southern chunk of the Circle line towards the square mile
doesn't make this seem that attractive.

If Claphamites do want the Victoria line yet wish to avoid the
Northern line, then they could just take the bus up to Stockwell -
indeed, depending upon where they are it could even be a better option
to get onto Wandsworth Road and take a bus up to Vauxhall from there -
though this wouldn't be suited to those starting from south of the
Common.


Otherwise it's the bus, and one has to change at Elephant & Castle as
well - perhaps there's a need for a through bus to the City (like there
used to be?), to take some of the strain off the Northern line.

Possibly. How long would it take, in rush hour?

Significantly longer, of course (and is particularly pronounced as the
Northern line runs directly under the road the bus would take all the
way up to London Bridge). The off-peak estimate for Clapham South to
E&C by 155 bus alone is 23 minutes (three minutes less from Clapham
Common). Though perhaps for those who work in the Borough near London
Bridge this could be a goer, dare I suggest they could even walk up
from E&C!

A direct bus service might attract those who couldn't handle the
crammed Northern line, plus those who are more price sensitive. I
don't really embrace the idea of a 'two class' transport system, with
the less well off taking the bus, but of course buses can (and do)
relieve overburdened rail routes and the price of the fares can
contribute towards attracting people onto the bus.


All of which explains why there's an awful lot of people cycling up to
town from those parts these days. The Northern line is also pretty busy
during the 'shoulder peak' periods, when many of those who can sensibly
opt to travel in a more civilised manner (albeit quite possibly at a
less civilised hour!).

Depends which shoulder. I often manage to travel in an entirely civilised
manner on the tube, and arrive at work just in time for an appropriately
civilised luncheon!

tom


Nice, very nice! We need to assert our innate British ways, turn away
from notions of American power breakfasts and get back to those golden
days...