In message
, at
05:21:02 on Fri, 6 Feb 2009, Mr Thant
remarked:
In which case perhaps it's a bit optimistic to go round saying it'll
open in December?

Yeah, bloody optimists. String 'em up, I say.

Let's see what the horse has to say:
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloa...-programme.pdf

"The Northern Ticket Hall is forecast to be opened three months ahead
of schedule in December 2009."

We seem to be going round in circles here. If it's "that official" then
surely they can spill the beans in their newsletters?
--
Roland Perry

In message
, at
05:29:39 on Fri, 6 Feb 2009, Mizter T remarked:
The alternative would have been to keep completely and totally schtum
about any attempt to open it early in time for the arrival of the
'Kent domestics at St P - would that have been preferable, Mr Perry?

They should have planned the opening to co-incide, in any event.

After all, there's one set of escalators down from the Kent platforms,
then another adjacent set down to the Northern Ticket Hall; so why not
open them both at the same time.
--
Roland Perry

In message , at 13:28:08 on
Fri, 6 Feb 2009, Paul Corfield remarked:
Sheeesh!

Just for you then - it will open sometime in the next 24 months or so.
Happy? I'll call the KX Comms Team on Monday and have a special
brochure produced just for you.

Tsk. Keep your hair on
--
Roland Perry

On 6 Feb, 14:13, Roland Perry wrote:

In message
, at
05:29:39 on Fri, 6 Feb 2009, Mizter T remarked:

The alternative would have been to keep completely and totally schtum
about any attempt to open it early in time for the arrival of the
'Kent domestics at St P - would that have been preferable, Mr Perry?

They should have planned the opening to co-incide, in any event.

After all, there's one set of escalators down from the Kent platforms,
then another adjacent set down to the Northern Ticket Hall; so why not
open them both at the same time.

But under the original plan the northern ticket hall (NTH) would
already be open now, however the DfT withdrew and then reinstated
funding for it - unfortunately not that surprising when one considers
the saga of the fit-out of the Thameslink box at SPILL.

If the NTH opens in time for the arrival of the Kent domestics, then
for most people it'll look as though this was all part of the
masterplan all along and no-one will ever know about the DfT's earlier
dithering - a result for the DfT, plus TfL might well hope it would
earn them some brownie points with the DfT too.

On 6 Feb, 14:11, Roland Perry wrote:

In message
, at
05:21:02 on Fri, 6 Feb 2009, Mr Thant
remarked:

In which case perhaps it's a bit optimistic to go round saying it'll
open in December?

Yeah, bloody optimists. String 'em up, I say.

Let's see what the horse has to say:
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloa...and-finance-an...

"The Northern Ticket Hall is forecast to be opened three months ahead
of schedule in December 2009."

We seem to be going round in circles here. If it's "that official" then
surely they can spill the beans in their newsletters?

You can be so ridiculous at times Roland, and this is one of those
times. One could say it's not official per-se, it's more of an
aspiration. Anyway what does "official" even actually mean?

The rationale being employed here is simple - why get people's hopes
up for something that might not actually happen?

In message
, at
06:35:56 on Fri, 6 Feb 2009, Mizter T remarked:
If the NTH opens in time for the arrival of the Kent domestics, then
for most people it'll look as though this was all part of the
masterplan all along and no-one will ever know about the DfT's earlier
dithering - a result for the DfT, plus TfL might well hope it would
earn them some brownie points with the DfT too.

But there's a risk that people will already be getting worked up about
the bad planning, if the newsletters (etc) continue to state that the
ticket hall opens in 2010, when everyone knows the Kent platforms open
in early December.
--
Roland Perry

In message
, at
06:41:53 on Fri, 6 Feb 2009, Mizter T remarked:
We seem to be going round in circles here. If it's "that official" then
surely they can spill the beans in their newsletters?

You can be so ridiculous at times Roland, and this is one of those
times. One could say it's not official per-se, it's more of an
aspiration. Anyway what does "official" even actually mean?

The rationale being employed here is simple - why get people's hopes
up for something that might not actually happen?

See my posting about dithering/brownie-points.
--
Roland Perry

On 6 Feb, 14:56, Roland Perry wrote:

In message
, at
06:35:56 on Fri, 6 Feb 2009, Mizter T remarked:

If the NTH opens in time for the arrival of the Kent domestics, then
for most people it'll look as though this was all part of the
masterplan all along and no-one will ever know about the DfT's earlier
dithering - a result for the DfT, plus TfL might well hope it would
earn them some brownie points with the DfT too.

But there's a risk that people will already be getting worked up about
the bad planning, if the newsletters (etc) continue to state that the
ticket hall opens in 2010, when everyone knows the Kent platforms open
in early December.


If a few people really want to get worked up about this then let them
get worked up about it - it's not as though there isn't an Underground
station at Kings Cross/ St. Pancras, it's just that the entrance off
the Kent platforms might not be ready in time - big deal, if it isn't
ready it will be shortly thereafter.

The first users of the Kent domestic service are likely to be the more
intrepid adventurous type anyway. If the NTH isn't ready I suppose
it's possible a few might get put off going via St. Pancras
altogether, but that could be abated through the use of hoardings and
other publicity indicating the imminent opening of the NTH.

I hardly think the lack of the NTH being open on day one would prove a
killer blow to the Kent high-speed service - it might attract a few
comments, but of course the potential bad publicity would be far worse
if a promise was made that the NTH would be open and that promise was
then broken. By avoiding any such concrete promise, they avoid these
adverse repercussions if it doesn't in fact open in December - instead
it can simply be stated that a new entrance to the Tube station 'will
be opening shortly', which is a far more positive message for
potential users of the Kent high-speed service. It's a simple case of
managing expectations.

I wonder what you're going to come up with to argue with this...

In message
, at
07:28:13 on Fri, 6 Feb 2009, Mizter T remarked:
I hardly think the lack of the NTH being open on day one would prove a
killer blow to the Kent high-speed service - it might attract a few
comments,

It's just another drip-drip-drip bit of un-joined-up planning.

but of course the potential bad publicity would be far worse
if a promise was made that the NTH would be open and that promise was
then broken.

Which is why I query it, when I read postings here saying "it will open
in December".
--
Roland Perry

On 6 Feb, 15:32, Roland Perry wrote:
Which is why I query it, when I read postings here saying "it will open
in December".

With transport projects there's an inherent "(or whenever they
actually finish it)" inherent to any date prediction. If the thread
was specifically about the precise opening date, obviously I'd have
put in the qualifications about the different possible dates. But
otherwise, no, "December" is good enough as the approximate opening
date at this point.

U