Transport in London is shit

I'm lucky enough to be able to separate commuter trains into London from TfL-run transport - though when I do have to use them they are reliably beset by cancellations, delays and outright lies (boards telling you your train is on time even though it's already five minutes overdue). I looked at the stats last year for one of them, I can't remember which one, and three things jumped out:

1) A very high percentage (something between 5% and in some months 15%) of trains fell into the categories of 'delayed' (ie severely delayed) or 'cancelled'. That's a staggering number. At best one in twenty trains not running properly.
2) The worst delays - and these are 'unplanned' delays - were during summer. That suggests to me understaffing, or poor organisation.
3) The rail companies were clearly treating this as risk management - it made financial sense to run insufficient rolling stock, to understaff and to rely on regular cancellation.

That said, a particularly bad run last week on the tubes. Wasn't cycling, and got caught for 40 minutes between stations on the Bakerloo Line, and the next day for an hour on the Central Line.

Excellent London Reconnections blog here by the way. Might explain some of the Bakerloo Line woes, which were caused by a broken-down train.

A year and change later and it's the same shit. This time the rail union is complaining that the night tube threatens the "work-life balance" of drivers. Are they striking to "keep Sunday special" too?

TFL has managed to unite all four unions against them on this one — last time that happened was 1926. Impressive, that.

Their offers on night tube have been so derisory you'd almost think they didn't want it to happen after all.

Not sure of the point of night tube, nothing is open anyway. I guess tube workers can use it to get home after working on the night tube.

Their offers on night tube have been so derisory you'd almost think they didn't want it to happen after all.

this. they're being expected to work Friday and Saturday nights for a 2% raise.

personally I am outraged at being slightly inconvenienced

TFL took over the train I get to work so it's part of the Overground now. An exercise in be careful what you wish for, service has actually got worse than when Abellio Greater Anglia ran it.

The Chingford line? Yeah I use that too. It has been a disappointment thus far, though the stations are at least being better managed.

One person's luxurious 'slightly inconvenienced' is another person's 'threatens my livelihood and in some cases, health regimen.' But I'm happy for you that you personally can just be chill about it.

How is this sort of thing not moderated by an independent agency?

is your health regimen that of tube users or tube workers I cannot tell

^^^ me too!

dreading the rush hour surge as everyone tries to get as much tube in as possible

But I'm happy for you that you personally can just be chill about it.

cheers bro means a lot

There was someone way upthread iirc who had a medical condition that required them to make a tube journey every day (eg to get to hospital)

Kinda feel the NHS should have alternative arrangements for situations like that, though.

maybe try tipping the tube drivers to see if you better service

How is this sort of thing not moderated by an independent agency?

Do you mean the negotiations between the unions and the govt?

Given the plans this government have for union activity in this country, I doubt you'll have to worry about strike disruptions for much longer

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/seb-michnowicz/tube-strike-is-entirely-justified_b_7751262.html

If you're single, as Amy Roberts - the Northern Line's youngest driver - explains, it's difficult enough trying to date around working the tube's normal hours. In the WiFi-less depths of the network, you can't even check Tinder.

Ready for the robots now.

maybe it's the marxist extremist in me speaking but i'm generally p cool with people fighting to have acceptable working conditions that allow for acceptable living conditions

https://twitter.com/petefrasermusic/status/618710130088087552

maybe it's the marxist extremist in me speaking but i'm generally p cool with people fighting to have acceptable working conditions that allow for acceptable living conditions

This.

Walked two hours from Tottenham to Marylebone High St, through Finsbury Park and Camden and Regent's Park, listening to great music and taking in how beautiful London can be. P knacked now, but part of me wishes I could walk in every day.

myself and my coworkers all went to the pub - like a sudden decision prompted by nobody wanting to face westminster tube at 1730. it was a great impromptu night out.

[I meant I walked in this morning, above. Last night I walked 90 mins to Shoreditch to play a particularly knackering game of 5-a-side - luckily my route home was on the overground.]

ah i am working from home today

possibly my most banal post ever

actually i doubt it

i've made some worse than these for sure

hahahaha

working from home today too, the drilling of my road has just begun.

Also working from home but the VPN isn't working of course.

My road has been a construction site for about 18 months now but they're pretty quiet today, no drilling yet.

http://cl.ly/image/2O0k2x36193h/Screen%20Shot%202015-07-09%20at%2009.32.41.png

just as a disclaimer i only used these dudes once, to get back from a wedding reception in vauxhall, with two tired kids at 11pm

this sort of email just confirms what utter dickheads they are

I can categorically state right now that I have not and will never be troubled with an Uber rating.

Only one Thatcherbaby whinger on my FB feed, phew. A well-paid hairdresser who I've always suspected of being some kind of Tory.

Tube workers all the way, fuck Boris and the TFL... A.

What the fuck is up with cunts who, in spite of the fact that 5000 people are trying to get on an already overcrowded bus, won't use all the space at the back of the bus? And what the fuck is the problem with someone, anyone, having the gumption to say, "Listen, do you mind moving to the back of the bus there's 5000 people trying to get on here?" Anyway there was one such cunt on the bus I eventually managed to get on today, a couple of stops after theatrically barging my way past him to stand at the very back of the bus an empty seat became available, I sat down on it then got up and said to the guy, "I think you should have this seat as you don't seem prepared to move further up the bus to let more people on". He preferred to stand.

https://twitter.com/RMTLondon/status/618889268434317312

boom

Zingin' it

As a cyclist, lot of amateur cyclists out there today. A lot of amateur pedestrians too, no visible evidence that they've ever operated a physical body near roads.

Oh yeah fuckin hell the first time cyclists at elephant and Castle were just like glitched GTA AI this morning, amazed I didn't see two kill each other in the five minutes I spent going through it

I audibly growled when I got that uber email but maybe I should of growled at ~myself~

What the fuck is up with cunts who, in spite of the fact that 5000 people are trying to get on an already overcrowded bus, won't use all the space at the back of the bus? And what the fuck is the problem with someone, anyone, having the gumption to say, "Listen, do you mind moving to the back of the bus there's 5000 people trying to get on here?" Anyway there was one such cunt on the bus I eventually managed to get on today, a couple of stops after theatrically barging my way past him to stand at the very back of the bus an empty seat became available, I sat down on it then got up and said to the guy, "I think you should have this seat as you don't seem prepared to move further up the bus to let more people on". He preferred to stand.

You regard other bus users as 'cunts' through righteous indignation, you theatrically barge past people physically taking out your own frustrations on them and you create a confrontational drama....

I really hope I don't get on a bus with you.

anyway stay strong tubestrike whingers, it'll all be over tomorrow and u can go back to moaning about how unaffordable london is and how its just a playground for the super-rich these days

Oh give it a rest, Mother Fucking Theresa (xp)

I wonder what kinds of jobs the people who are saying "I was a tourist in my own city! Spent several hours walking to work in the sunshine and loved every second!" have? Do you just have very laid back bosses?

I see a lot of sarcastic uses of 'slightly inconvenienced,' too, and I imagine it's a similar kind of thing: People fortunate enough to be able to afford to not think about any other scenarios, where issues of childcare, elder care, medical care mean a hell of a lot more than a 'slight inconvenience.'

The fucked laborer with a sick kid at home? You whinger; you Thatcherbaby - walk it off! Enjoy a podcast in the Sunshine on the Southbank, you Tory!

(xxp) *jabbing index finger and barging theatrically back into thread* And another thing...

I theatrically barged past a CUNT who, despite standing two feet away from a seething mass of people struggling to breathe squashed into about 10 cubic feet, was lolling about blocking a space that could easily have been filled by 3 or 4 of the 30 or 40 people who'd been waiting God knows how long to get on a bus to go to their work to pay their bills etc etc. So, yes, a cunt with no clue how to comport themselves in a public space and no consideration for anyone other than themselves and who deserved to have these facts pointed out to them so that maybe next time, maybe when you get on a bus to go to your work to pay your bills etc etc, he might act less like a cunt. Then again, maybe you use a jetpack to get to work in the morning, I don't know.

if you don't support people's right to strike then you're a Tory, sorry to break it to you

I wonder what kinds of jobs the people who are saying "I was a tourist in my own city! Spent several hours walking to work in the sunshine and loved every second!" have? Do you just have very laid back bosses?

Hey dipshit, the magazine I'm working on goes to press tonight, so I left work 90 minutes earlier than usual to get here on time because I can't be late. Apologies if I enjoyed my walk in, instead of stomping around ruminating on how my need to get into work trumps the safety and salary of the people who work hard running the tube. I probably won't be home until 9pm tonight after another 2 hour walk home and I will see my baby daughter for exactly 45 minutes today thanks to the inconvenience.

But you know what? That still doesn't justify removing the collective bargaining rights of the people who work on the tubes, who I'm sure have similar needs and pressures as me. Good on them for fighting for their rights, and don't kid yourself that this isn't another step in the working lives of people who work in public services harder and less rewarding in any way.

If people call you Thatcherbaby it's probably because you come off as entirely self-centred and entitled in this thread.

if you don't support people's right to strike then you're a Tory, sorry to break it to you

^^^^

tbf if you don't support people's right to strike you might be a member of the PLP too. but you're still a Tory.

thread delivers

"hmm, you're not all screaming for the striking tube-workers' heads to be put on spikes outside buckingham palace, you must all have cushy jobs" is the most stupid whiny thoughtless bullshit i've read on ilx since lex called me a tory because i like buying records