People who claim the London Undergrouns is slick and reliable obviously don't use it on a daily basis.
It is chronically bogged down with "signal failures" and "defective trains". Even a the slightest delay causes the entire line you use to grind to a shuddering halt and of course causes huge overcrowding when a train finally pulls into the platform because there hasn't been one within the timeframe TFL claim a train should arrive in.
Seriously, I only use the Tube now out of necessity rather than out of choice.
Well, if you voted, then you voted in the governments responsible for this, as both the Conservative and Labour parties have consistently under invested in both the tube and the train network in general.
I'm not saying that any other party would have done differently, but that is the situation and it needs to change.
However, I will say, that bearing in mind that LU is the oldest underground in the world and is still using antiquated equipment, they do a pretty good job overall.
Buses as they have a reputation for violence in some cities. Nothing as bad as that in where I live but the driving was appalling the last time I went on one back in the winter. They are also slow, unreliable, cramped and crowded.
The trains aren't much better but as the commuters on these are generally better behaved.
Agree with that.In fact I dont travel on local buses now after 8pm.as they then become mobile youth clubs,and anyone over 30 gets glared at.There is a definite atmosphere directed at you.
Our trains seem to get shorter and shorter,which means more overcrowding.Even on a Sunday,we now get standing room only.I guess that looks good for the accountants though.
So I'll just continue to use the car and clog the roads up.
Regards
Have you been on a bus in Africa or south America, to do a comparison test.
As far as I was aware, buses in this country for instance aren't hijacked, like in some countries abroad.
Yes,I have (Sao Paulo).Although we wasnt hijacked,The driving was dangerous,the bus dirty and rickety,with some guys on the bus who looked as though they would slit your throat without a seconds thought.A bit like here.
Regards
You mean that these incidents are rare, as in that was one example.
I've yet to see what I would call a violent incident in nearly 30 years of travelling on public transport, whether it be on the national railways (all over England and Wales), the tube, buses in Manchester/Salford/London/Devon/various places in Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire/Swindon/south Wales/the Peak District or anywhere else for that matter.
However, I will say, that bearing in mind that LU is the oldest underground in the world and is still using antiquated equipment, they do a pretty good job overall.
London Underground themselves trot out this excuse all the time.
We're bored of hearing it! They've been "upgrading" the Tube for years now and the more "upgraded" it becomes the worse the service gets.
I live on the Victoria Line and the introduction of new trains has made the service far worse - the new trains become "defective" too easily which causes massive delays across the entire line. Surely they must realise that for a service as heavily used as the Tube is at commuting times the trains need to be robust, not so sensitive they need to be in therapy!?!
London Underground themselves trot out this excuse all the time.
We're bored of hearing it! They've been "upgrading" the Tube for years now and the more "upgraded" it becomes the worse the service gets.
I live on the Victoria Line and the introduction of new trains has made the service far worse - the new trains become "defective" too easily which causes massive delays across the entire line. Surely they must realise that for a service as heavily used as the Tube is at commuting times the trains need to be robust, not so sensitive they need to be in therapy!?!
You're lucky! I live in a shoebox in t' middle of the M1
You mean that these incidents are rare, as in that was one example.
I've yet to see what I would call a violent incident in nearly 30 years of travelling on public transport, whether it be on the national railways (all over England and Wales), the tube, buses in Manchester/Salford/London/Devon/various places in Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire/Swindon/south Wales/the Peak District or anywhere else for that matter.
Ah, you obviously never used the old 'football specials' in the good old days.
I must admit I get a sinking feeling when you get on to a train to Scotland and pass several tables already littered with Tennants cans.
Taking the night buses in London was risky in the 70's so I dread to think what they are like now. Stockwell, Brixton and New Cross tube stations were places to give a miss as well.
And only someone mentally defective would have hung around Stratford bus station at night.
London Underground themselves trot out this excuse all the time.
We're bored of hearing it! They've been "upgrading" the Tube for years now and the more "upgraded" it becomes the worse the service gets.
I live on the Victoria Line and the introduction of new trains has made the service far worse - the new trains become "defective" too easily which causes massive delays across the entire line. Surely they must realise that for a service as heavily used as the Tube is at commuting times the trains need to be robust, not so sensitive they need to be in therapy!?!
Upgrading has been slow on LU in terms of infrastructure and I disagree that it makes the service worse in the long term.
Give the Victoria Line service time to bed in, as they are brand new trains and due to the sheer number of electronic systems needed nowadays, I'm not surprised there are some teething problems.
The new trains IMO are much better than the old, as they have air conditioning for one thing, apart from better acceleration characteristics.
In Ireland, Dublin has the monopoly on relatively decent public transport and everywhere else you need to drive, walk or hitch-hike. So when I went to London I thought the Tube was amazing.
The trains turned up mostly on time, every few minutes! They went everywhere! Even hopping from one train to another was kind of fun. Unfortunately, I didn't know about how they shut down certain lines for repairs on weekends. On the day I was due to fly back home, they shut down the two lines I needed to get to St Pancras and Luton.
I ended up getting on and off six different trains and two buses. I was lucky I started out so early because I just got through the boarding gate five minutes before it closed. Also, both drivers shouted at me when I tried to pay wish cash on the bus. I couldn't have looked like a more obvious tourist if I'd been wearing a big 'I heart London' t-shirt.
Upgrading has been slow on LU in terms of infrastructure and I disagree that it makes the service worse in the long term.
Give the Victoria Line service time to bed in, as they are brand new trains and due to the sheer number of electronic systems needed nowadays, I'm not surprised there are some teething problems.
The new trains IMO are much better than the old, as they have air conditioning for one thing, apart from better acceleration characteristics.[/QU
No a/c on the new Victoria line trains, just new trains that are useless. Should have stuck with the old ones, It's gone from being the most reliable service to the worst
No a/c on the new Victoria line trains, just new trains that are useless. Should have stuck with the old ones, It's gone from being the most reliable service to the worst
Sounded like air conditioning when I travelled on them. Maybe better described as better air ventilation.
Depends on your type of chair. Smaller wheels can get caught in the gap between platform and train, (this happened to me on the Alton Towers skytrain), plus I don't know if there are wheelchair spaces on the underground trains? Powerchairs are ok for staying steady when in motion, but a manual chair would want to be either secured in or with the back against something like they are on buses.
Buses. I think of how many people's fingers have been on the buzzer button, how many of them have touched the poles, how many of them have vomited, been sweaty, not washed in days, maybe have the flu or some other illness. It makes me feel sick. It's germ heaven.
Upgrading has been slow on LU in terms of infrastructure and I disagree that it makes the service worse in the long term.
Give the Victoria Line service time to bed in, as they are brand new trains and due to the sheer number of electronic systems needed nowadays, I'm not surprised there are some teething problems.
The new trains IMO are much better than the old, as they have air conditioning for one thing, apart from better acceleration characteristics.[/QU
No a/c on the new Victoria line trains, just new trains that are useless. Should have stuck with the old ones, It's gone from being the most reliable service to the worst
The new trains have been on the Victoria Line for about a year now (alongside old ones) - how long do we give them to bed in? Surely they should have been tested more thoroughly before being put into general use? They must have realised the extremely heavy use they were going to get in general service. The new trains are not fit for purpose basically.
And they don't have air conditioning, they have forced-air ventilation - air is powered through the vents etc but not cooled so if you're standing up you end up with a vent at head level blowing hot air into your face - akin to standing next to a switched on hairdryer.
The new sub-surface stock - Circle, H&S, Metropolitan, District Line trains will have proper A/C but the deep level lines do not have enough space to accommodate A/C equipment and even if they did where would they send the expelled hot air to? Into the tunnels or into the stations? Either way would not be satisfactory.
Pre the upgrade the Victoria Line was one of the, if not the most reliable Tube Lines, but now it has to be one of the least reliable. According to latest figures the Victoria Line ios now the most complained about line on the Underground and subject to some of the worst delays and breakdowns. Upgrades are supposed to improve things, not make them worse.
Not in a million years would you find me catching a peasant wagon. Anyone who has to catch a bus beyond the age of 25 can officially consider themself a failure.
Anyone who can garner more than four negative replies with their fourth post might be able to consider their DS career a failure, unless they're trolling for such a reaction. "Peasant"... really?
The tubes and buses near me all work fine. It's the trains which are overcrowded and underendowed.
Just been on THE worst bus journey in a long time. It was raining hard and everyone just wanted to get on. When I got on there was nowhere to sit at all so I stood. Then as the driver stopped he piled more on till there was literally people at the door! he also braked very hard and one elderly gent went flying into someone else :mad: he kept saying to everyone who was standing "can you move back people want to get on" no more people could possibly get on! he kept raising his voice until I piped up and said "LOOK just drive the f*****g bus no one else can get on its too packed, everyone just wants to get home, its raining hard we are all dripping so just get in that f*****g cab and DRIVE" thought I would get chucked off for saying that but he seemed to hurry himself when I said that and drove even more erratically past other stops till we got to the town centre ready to change to the next bus. PAIN IN THE ARSE! :mad::mad::mad:
Hannah;48843874']Buses. I think of how many people's fingers have been on the buzzer button, how many of them have touched the poles, how many of them have vomited, been sweaty, not washed in days, maybe have the flu or some other illness. It makes me feel sick. It's germ heaven.
Urgh the thought now of someone scratching their itchy sh*tty ringpiece then pressing the bell with the same finger makes me want to vomit. I think it's about time I got some of those plastic gloves from work for bus use.
I used to have to catch two different buses to work everyday. Now the first main town to town one, had lovey drivers on and could get busy half way (luckly I caught the bus before the college one). Now the local buses in the town where I worked where misrable as sin, you had have the right money or wait til you got back to the main bus station to the change. Even then they information point where you got the change was miserable *ahem*
Comments
Well, if you voted, then you voted in the governments responsible for this, as both the Conservative and Labour parties have consistently under invested in both the tube and the train network in general.
I'm not saying that any other party would have done differently, but that is the situation and it needs to change.
However, I will say, that bearing in mind that LU is the oldest underground in the world and is still using antiquated equipment, they do a pretty good job overall.
Have you been on a bus in Africa or south America, to do a comparison test.
As far as I was aware, buses in this country for instance aren't hijacked, like in some countries abroad.
Agree with that.In fact I dont travel on local buses now after 8pm.as they then become mobile youth clubs,and anyone over 30 gets glared at.There is a definite atmosphere directed at you.
Our trains seem to get shorter and shorter,which means more overcrowding.Even on a Sunday,we now get standing room only.I guess that looks good for the accountants though.
So I'll just continue to use the car and clog the roads up.
Regards
Yes,I have (Sao Paulo).Although we wasnt hijacked,The driving was dangerous,the bus dirty and rickety,with some guys on the bus who looked as though they would slit your throat without a seconds thought.A bit like here.
Regards
Ok then, 3rd world by western standards.
I take it you have been to the Africas and South Americas based on your comment?
No I haven't, but I am aware that these type of things happen, as in well documented on the net and on TV programmes shown in the UK.
Planned months in advance, but public only given 3 days' notice, or they wouldn;t buy any tickets ...............
Violent incidents are not that rare in the UK either. http://www.messengernewspapers.co.uk/news/8301624.Wythenshawe_man_sentenced_for_bus_kidnap_ordeal/
You mean that these incidents are rare, as in that was one example.
I've yet to see what I would call a violent incident in nearly 30 years of travelling on public transport, whether it be on the national railways (all over England and Wales), the tube, buses in Manchester/Salford/London/Devon/various places in Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire/Swindon/south Wales/the Peak District or anywhere else for that matter.
London Underground themselves trot out this excuse all the time.
We're bored of hearing it! They've been "upgrading" the Tube for years now and the more "upgraded" it becomes the worse the service gets.
I live on the Victoria Line and the introduction of new trains has made the service far worse - the new trains become "defective" too easily which causes massive delays across the entire line. Surely they must realise that for a service as heavily used as the Tube is at commuting times the trains need to be robust, not so sensitive they need to be in therapy!?!
You're lucky! I live in a shoebox in t' middle of the M1
Then arn't you the lucky one.
Ha ha :rolleyes:
Ok, I live in an area that is served by the Victoria Line. I say served, I should probably say massively inconvenienced.
Ah, you obviously never used the old 'football specials' in the good old days.
I must admit I get a sinking feeling when you get on to a train to Scotland and pass several tables already littered with Tennants cans.
Taking the night buses in London was risky in the 70's so I dread to think what they are like now. Stockwell, Brixton and New Cross tube stations were places to give a miss as well.
And only someone mentally defective would have hung around Stratford bus station at night.
Upgrading has been slow on LU in terms of infrastructure and I disagree that it makes the service worse in the long term.
Give the Victoria Line service time to bed in, as they are brand new trains and due to the sheer number of electronic systems needed nowadays, I'm not surprised there are some teething problems.
The new trains IMO are much better than the old, as they have air conditioning for one thing, apart from better acceleration characteristics.
The trains turned up mostly on time, every few minutes! They went everywhere! Even hopping from one train to another was kind of fun. Unfortunately, I didn't know about how they shut down certain lines for repairs on weekends. On the day I was due to fly back home, they shut down the two lines I needed to get to St Pancras and Luton.
I ended up getting on and off six different trains and two buses. I was lucky I started out so early because I just got through the boarding gate five minutes before it closed. Also, both drivers shouted at me when I tried to pay wish cash on the bus. I couldn't have looked like a more obvious tourist if I'd been wearing a big 'I heart London' t-shirt.
Sounded like air conditioning when I travelled on them. Maybe better described as better air ventilation.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Underground_2009_Stock
And please try not to screw up the quotes next time.
This is the latest.
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/projectsandschemes/5792.aspx
The tubes and buses near me all work fine. It's the trains which are overcrowded and underendowed.
Urgh the thought now of someone scratching their itchy sh*tty ringpiece then pressing the bell with the same finger makes me want to vomit. I think it's about time I got some of those plastic gloves from work for bus use.