Can anyone explain why Liverpool Street tube station was closed this morning
(at least for westbound Central Line trains)?

They said it was because of overcrowding, but when I asked Tube staff where
the overcrowding was, they said it was on the Central Line platforms. If
trains don't stop at the platform, how will this ease overcrowding? Surely
it makes things worse.

"Nicholas F Hodder" wrote the following in:


Can anyone explain why Liverpool Street tube station was closed
this morning (at least for westbound Central Line trains)?

They said it was because of overcrowding, but when I asked Tube
staff where the overcrowding was, they said it was on the Central
Line platforms. If trains don't stop at the platform, how will
this ease overcrowding? Surely it makes things worse.

I caught a Central line train at Liverpool Street this morning. I had
to wait for three to go past before there was one with any space for
extra passengers to get on, and hardly any passengers were getting off.
I'd think that maybe the reason trains weren't stopping there was
because it was a bit of a waste of time.

--
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On Wed, 22 Oct 2003 21:54:33 +0100, "Nicholas F Hodder"
wrote:

Can anyone explain why Liverpool Street tube station was closed this morning
(at least for westbound Central Line trains)?

They said it was because of overcrowding, but when I asked Tube staff where
the overcrowding was, they said it was on the Central Line platforms. If
trains don't stop at the platform, how will this ease overcrowding? Surely
it makes things worse.

I think that a number of routes are under pressure because of the
Northern Line problems and the Vic Line was seriously disrupted at
Oxford Circus yesterday. Liverpool St was closed temporarily to people
entering it. The platforms would be full and believe me when platforms
get completely full the last thing you want is more people trying to
push onto them while others are trying to get off.

The risks are - people may fall off the platform or be pushed / fall
under a train. Also people may just be crushed by the crowd and small
children may get trampled. Finally if the congestion became too severe
you get people blocked back to the escalators thus preventing people
from leaving them thus resulting in a pile up of people on the
escalator.

Therefore the staff would stop people entering the station until trains
had cleared the backlog and then people would be allowed back in in a
controlled fashion. Happens every single day at Victoria because it is
just too small for the huge volumes of people using the station.
--
Paul C


Admits to working for London Underground!

"Paul Corfield" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 22 Oct 2003 21:54:33 +0100, "Nicholas F Hodder"
wrote:

Can anyone explain why Liverpool Street tube station was closed this
morning
(at least for westbound Central Line trains)?

They said it was because of overcrowding, but when I asked Tube staff
where
the overcrowding was, they said it was on the Central Line platforms. If
trains don't stop at the platform, how will this ease overcrowding?
Surely
it makes things worse.

I think that a number of routes are under pressure because of the
Northern Line problems and the Vic Line was seriously disrupted at
Oxford Circus yesterday. Liverpool St was closed temporarily to people
entering it. The platforms would be full and believe me when platforms
get completely full the last thing you want is more people trying to
push onto them while others are trying to get off.

How can others get off if the trains don't stop to let anyone get off?

The risks are - people may fall off the platform or be pushed / fall
under a train. Also people may just be crushed by the crowd and small
children may get trampled. Finally if the congestion became too severe
you get people blocked back to the escalators thus preventing people
from leaving them thus resulting in a pile up of people on the
escalator.

Therefore the staff would stop people entering the station until trains
had cleared the backlog and then people would be allowed back in in a

How can the trains clear the backlog if they are going through the station
without stopping?

controlled fashion. Happens every single day at Victoria because it is
just too small for the huge volumes of people using the station.

Nicholas F Hodder wrote:
"Paul Corfield" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 22 Oct 2003 21:54:33 +0100, "Nicholas F Hodder"
wrote:

Can anyone explain why Liverpool Street tube station was closed
this morning (at least for westbound Central Line trains)?

They said it was because of overcrowding, but when I asked Tube
staff where the overcrowding was, they said it was on the Central
Line platforms. If trains don't stop at the platform, how will
this ease overcrowding? Surely it makes things worse.

I think that a number of routes are under pressure because of the
Northern Line problems and the Vic Line was seriously disrupted at
Oxford Circus yesterday. Liverpool St was closed temporarily to
people entering it. The platforms would be full and believe me when
platforms get completely full the last thing you want is more people
trying to
push onto them while others are trying to get off.

How can others get off if the trains don't stop to let anyone get off?

They *were* stopping, probably. Did someone tell you they weren't, or did
you infer that (incorrectly) from the fact that the station was closed to
people entering it?
--
Richard J.
(to e-mail me, swap uk and yon in address)

"Richard J." wrote in message
...
Nicholas F Hodder wrote:
"Paul Corfield" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 22 Oct 2003 21:54:33 +0100, "Nicholas F Hodder"
wrote:

Can anyone explain why Liverpool Street tube station was closed
this morning (at least for westbound Central Line trains)?

They said it was because of overcrowding, but when I asked Tube
staff where the overcrowding was, they said it was on the Central
Line platforms. If trains don't stop at the platform, how will
this ease overcrowding? Surely it makes things worse.

I think that a number of routes are under pressure because of the
Northern Line problems and the Vic Line was seriously disrupted at
Oxford Circus yesterday. Liverpool St was closed temporarily to
people entering it. The platforms would be full and believe me when
platforms get completely full the last thing you want is more people
trying to
push onto them while others are trying to get off.

How can others get off if the trains don't stop to let anyone get off?

They *were* stopping, probably. Did someone tell you they weren't, or did
you infer that (incorrectly) from the fact that the station was closed to
people entering it?

Announcements at Bethnal Green, both by station staff and several train
drivers, stated clearly that trains were not stopping at Liverpool Street
because of "overcrowding". I had to wait until the 4th or 5th train before
there was space for me to get on, and just before my train got to Liverpool
Street, the driver announced that the train would be stopping at Liverpool
Street after all, as the station had reopened. When I got out at Liverpool
Street, I asked some Tube staff at surface level where the overcrowding had
been that had necessitated the station's "closure", and he replied that it
was on the Central Line platforms. I do not understand how not letting
trains stop will ease existing overcrowding on the platforms, hence the
reason for my original question.

On Thu, 23 Oct 2003 21:43:47 +0100, "Nicholas F Hodder"
wrote:

[big snip]
How can the trains clear the backlog if they are going through the station
without stopping?

of course the trains were stopping. They just weren't letting anyone
*into* the station. That way the queue on the platform is progressively
cleared. The station was only closed for 6 minutes according to the
report that I read.

HTH
--
Paul C


Admits to working for London Underground!

"Paul Corfield" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 23 Oct 2003 21:43:47 +0100, "Nicholas F Hodder"
wrote:

[big snip]
How can the trains clear the backlog if they are going through the
station
without stopping?

of course the trains were stopping. They just weren't letting anyone
*into* the station. That way the queue on the platform is progressively
cleared. The station was only closed for 6 minutes according to the
report that I read.

Why were station staff at Bethnal Green and train drivers announcing
specifically that westbound trains were not be stopping at Liverpool Street
then?

In message , Nicholas F
Hodder writes
Why were station staff at Bethnal Green and train drivers announcing
specifically that westbound trains were not be stopping at Liverpool Street
then?

For the same reason staff at Waterloo deny that virtually every train
that departs will stop at Clapham Common. To stop people getting on!!
--
Roland Perry

Paul Corfield wrote in
:

On Thu, 23 Oct 2003 21:43:47 +0100, "Nicholas F Hodder"
wrote:

[big snip]
How can the trains clear the backlog if they are going through the
station without stopping?

of course the trains were stopping. They just weren't letting anyone
*into* the station. That way the queue on the platform is
progressively cleared. The station was only closed for 6 minutes
according to the report that I read.


Having just come across this thread after being away from usenet for a
couple of weeks, I can say with 100% certainty that westbound Central
Line trains were *not* stopping at Liverpool Street that morning. I know
this, because I was on one of those trains.

At Bethnal Green the driver came on the PA to say that he apologised for
the short notice but he'd only just been informed that he wasn't to stop
at Liverpool Street due to overcrowding. When we got into Liverpool
Street station the train did come to a halt for about 30-45 seconds, but
the doors weren't opened. The platform was rather full, although not
ridiculously so, and passengers already on the train could quite clearly
hear the station's recorded announcement being repeated, telling
passengers to vacate the station immediately due to an emergency.

Despite this, most people were still standing on the platform, waiting
(in vain) for the doors of the train I was on to open. Dunno what would
have happened if there had been a real emergency.

Iain
--
"I go online sometimes but everyone's spelling is really bad. It's
depressing." --Tara, Buffy 5x15 "I Was Made To Love You"