On Apr 3, 11:57*am, MIG wrote:
It seems that services from Woolwich will be terminating at Shadwell
in the peaks next week, while services from Lewisham will run to Bank
as usual.

This is due to "unplanned escalator works".

I am mystified as to how the escalator situation will be eased if the
same number of people arrive in larger groups on fewer trains.

What am I missing as usual?


A bit late as this is now history, but it's all down to maintenance
being done on an escalator - this TfL press release explains all:
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/medi...tre/11467.aspx

For the record, I'll copy it below verbatim:

---quote---
Rush-hour DLR services to Bank reduced next week

02 April 2009

Essential engineering work to escalators is required at Bank.

Docklands Light Railway (DLR) services from Woolwich Arsenal into Bank
Station will terminate at Shadwell station between 7:30 and 9:30, and
17:00 and 19:00 from Monday 6 April untill Thursday 9 April.

Other DLR services will continue to Bank as usual.

This change is due to escalator works by London Underground at Bank
which will require one of the escalators connecting the DLR platforms
with the rest of the station to be shut down.

The number of DLR trains arriving at the station is therefore being
reduced to minimise the risk of overcrowding on the platforms.

Alternative routes

The work will take nine days to complete but by doing it over the
Easter break, the inconvenience of the service reduction will be
limited to just four normal working days before Easter.

The escalator work is due to be completed by Tuesday 14 April, when
full DLR services will be restored to Bank.

During the work, services from Lewisham to Bank will operate as normal
and passengers should try and use the Jubilee line at Canning Town or
Canary Wharf stations for journeys into central London.

A Transport for London (TfL) spokesperson said: 'We're reducing the
number of DLR services into Bank while we carry out these essential
escalator repairs.

'We apologise for any inconvenience.'

_____
Notes to editors:

* The escalator will undergo routine maintenance work which was due to
be carried out at a much later date. However, it was considered that
there would be less disruption to passengers if the work was brought
forward and done during other Bank station works
* For further information call DLR Customer Services on 020 7363 9700
or visit www.dlr.co.uk/improvements. For alternative routes call 020
7222 1234 or use Journey Planner at tfl.gov.uk/journeyplanner
---/quote---


I've lost track of exactly what's happening and when at Bank/Monument
- not sure I'd ever entirely got my head around all the multitude of
happenings there in the first place! However if things have been
finished on time then I'd expect the seemingly rather blunt tinkering
with the Journey Planner to be reset and for normal service to be
resumed (see elsewhere on this thread for the context of those
comments).

In article
,
(Mizter T) wrote:

On Apr 13, 10:09*pm, wrote:

In article
,
(MIG) wrote:

I don't know if it's related to this, but I can't force the TfL
journey planner to give me a change from Northern to DLR at Bank
(eg Kings Cross to southern end of DLR).

Ticking via Bank it still sends me to London Bridge and Jubilee, and
if I try to trick it with via Shadwell, it sends me to Tower
Gateway.

Given that that particular interchange involves walking down a
staircase, there really does seem to be a concerted effort to deny
the existence of Bank, no matter what inconvenience is caused.
*Like I've said before, if all stations were treated like Bank,
the whole of central London LU would be permanently closed.

I discovered when going away on Friday that it's not just the
changing-at-Bank aversion that's a problem here.

I was planning a route from Cambridge to London City Airport on Good
Friday. So I tried the TfL Journey Planner for King's Cross St Pancras
to London City Airport and got a load of weird and wonderful routes
all including the uses of buses, even when I ticked Tube, DLR and NR
only.

Then I noticed that King's Cross St Pancras Northern Line and the
Jubilee Line were out all weekend and some of the buses were
Jubilee rail replacements from West Ham to Canning Town. So, aware
of the changing-at-Bank aversion, I tried Bank-London City Airport
which came out simply as expected and King's Cross St Pancras to Bank.

Because of the KXSP Northern Line closure I was offered either
Victoria Line to Euston, then Northern line to Bank [...]

That's the best route - at Euston there's cross-platform interchange
(or at least the deep-level tube equivalent thereof) between the
southbound Victoria line and the southbound Northern line Bank branch,
and the same in the northbound direction. It means one can travel on
one line from Euston to KXSP and then cross the platform and travel
back whilst notionally still going the same direction i.e. northbound
or southbound. Hours of fun. Maybe.

It still involves doubling back so the travel time must be longer, surely?

[...] or Metropolitan or Hammersmith and City (no Circle either
this weekend) to Liverpool St and Central to Bank. It absolutely
refused to offer what seemed the best all round option to me, Met
or H&C to Moorgate and Northern from there. I even rang 020 7222 1234
who confirmed this was a perfectly sensible way to go where I wanted
but the web site was absolutely adamant. I had no problems actually
going that way either.

Why?

Coz there are have been escalator works going on this past week
including the weekend. See this TfL press release:
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/medi...tre/11467.aspx

In particular these bits:

---quote---
[...]
This change is due to escalator works by London Underground at Bank
which will require one of the escalators connecting the DLR platforms
with the rest of the station to be shut down.
[...]
The work will take nine days to complete but by doing it over the
Easter break, the inconvenience of the service reduction will be
limited to just four normal working days before Easter.

The escalator work is due to be completed by Tuesday 14 April, when
full DLR services will be restored to Bank.
[...]
---/quote---

But we had no problem transferring from Northern to DLR platforms on
Friday! As TfL had told us!

Anyway, my "Why?" referred to my King's Cross to Bank journey, ignoring
any interchange issues at the latter. Why was the Met and Northern route
via Moorgate ignored? There were no works affecting that route.

I also passed Barbican in daylight and could see that there is a
perfectly good ex-Thameslink down platform there. So why did their
trains not call there?

Whose trains? Do you mean why did northbound (ex-Moorgate) Thameslink
trains not call at Barbican? Easy - the platform wasn't long enough
for 8-car trains. I believe that in earlier eras ('BedPan' and indeed
pre-'BedPan') the trains in service may not have been as long as this.

Pre-BedPan maybe. The 317s were also 8 car surely? I suppose the platform
is shorter than the Met platforms but then so is the Up platform.

--
Colin Rosenstiel