Transport in London is shit

good luck with that, my memory of the central line at rush hour was of unmitigated hell, I used to get on a liverpool street and they would often close the platforms it was so crowded.

will be at 9 o clock so maybe not absolute worst. on way home is fine, always seats at white city.

Haha if there's one thing that consoles me about overground trains it's no longer having to go through the abject hell of getting on the Tube at rush hour. 9am will probably be alright though.

This may change when my comfortable always-get-a-seat train evaporates next month.

Central Line at Holborn is major hellmouth at rush hour - unless I'm disembarking, there's no way on Earth that I'll go there between 5 and 7 pm. The corner where the station sits - and there's only one way in -absolutely heaves with people. The only saving grace of having to use the station at that time is that I can usually insinuate myself into a seat because of the people changing trains.

The worst thing is there are two or three stalls plonked right outside the station making the bottleneck worse. The corner of Kingsway and Holborn could *really* do with an Oxford Circus style Japanese X-crossing.

no more tube/bus commute to work as of next week :) five minute walk bliss. (actually might still take the 29 up two stops)

^^^ Holy grail

many xposts, Those new 38s look like yachts on wheels. I saw about 4 drive by in a row at Angel the other day and marveled at their bright, clean insides. Hope all the bendies turn into swanky new buses like that..

i saw 5 38s in a row on friday night. clearly they sail in schools.

The new regime of the 38 double-decker doesn't seem like a total disaster and they are absurdly frequent now. Even though the bus station at Victoria now has the same endlessly-snaking queues you see at Waterloo opposite the Imax (due to the single point-of-entry thing), they're always moving and there's usually two or three buses stacked up ready to go. Spacious inside too - loads of legroom.

Sorry for barfing on you, new 38.

I don't think there was ever any question of the changeover being a total disaster, contrary to the predictions of some of the more pessimistic observers. True, they (38s) were Routemasters before, but there are large numbers of other routes in the areas the 38 passes through that use modern double-deckers (eg 19, 14, 341, 243 etc. etc.).

I've travelled twice on the new 38s now and was struck on both occasions by an unpleasant smell. The first time, I was convinced it was an unwashed passenger causing it, because the smell is very similar to that of chronically dirty clothes plus body odour, but it seems it's the upholstery of the seats that's to blame, because I noticed the smell again during my second journey.

Do you still smell it now, where you're sitting?

maybe dubmill was in the seat mike barfed on

I guess when he got on the second bus, he still had vomit on his butt.

Do you still smell it now, where you're sitting?

No, I'd considered the possibility you are implying, but on both oocasions I had showered and was wearing clean clothes. I also noted that the smell was absent when I transferred onto other buses after getting off the 38.

Heaven and Hell experience today - perhaps typical of London.

This morning - Hell - Roads snarled up and Vauxhall bus garage eventually completely shut and r because of an accident on the Albert Embankment. 70 minutes to travel by bus from Vauxhall to Westminster Abbey (approx 15 minutes walk/10 minute bus journey usuall). Do the police really need to delay hundreds of people over one accident?

This evening - Heaven - home in half an hour or less from stepping out of the Anoushka Shankar concert at Sadlers Wells via the Northern and Victoria lines.

Maybe there's a very smelly man who just rides the 38 all day every day.

i was riding the 38 the other day, and then a man came in and he said he wanted hackney. he was a smelly man. driver did not like him. driver said 'we didn't go to any hackney' .. and then the man just went!

omg omg I finally got to ride on a new Victoria Line train. it was clean! it was spacious! the Train Lady Voice told me which side of the train the doors were going to open at the next stop!

wait what

hang on wtf is going down out there

There's a file under the railway arches at Rotherhithe according to the TFL site, and it appears to have completely wrecked all the London Bridge services.

Wait hold on there aren't any railway arches in Rotherhithe. I suppose they must mean somewhere in Bermondsey. But I'm looking at the area right now and I can't see a fire. Maybe it's small, or extinguished. Or maybe something else is going on.

South Bermondsey, arch by Debnams Road.

apparently SE London has been cut off, which will really facilitate the journey in I was planning on taking now

I got in fine from Forest Hill this morning but I think I was lucky to get on the one non-cancelled train in the space of half an hour.

The DLR also appears to be closed at Lewisham now. Very strange.

Perhaps they should just give us an official South East London-only bank holiday every time there is a big fire in Bermondsey (ie about once every six months).

IT'S LOCKDOWN

commence bio-seeding procedure

http://blackheathbugle.wordpress.com/2010/03/03/no-trains-no-dlr-every-bus-is-full/

I got in fine from Forest Hill this morning

Matt has a GURLFRIEND ew

No obvious smoke rising around Debnam Road right now, which I suppose is good news.

No obvious trains running either. On the jubilee Line thhis morning they were saying that Southern are only running Victoria services, maybe you can find your way to a station which serves Victoria Louis?

Oh and around Canary Wharf the DLR is fine.

Victoria doesn't do me a great deal of good OH LOL I just looked out of the window and it's TRAFFIC CARNAGE hahahahaha

(At least, I can see the DLR trains moving.)

Anyone got a helicopter?

My fucking course director has told me I have to come in because 'the tubes are fine'. Really appreciate your assumption that the Tube is ubiquitous within Greater London

DLR is running South of Canary Wharf; Jubilee is fine; boats seem to be mooching quite happily up and down the river.

I dunno where you are, LJ.

Am in Lee Green so basically fucked over x10 by this shambles

<3 the mental bus drivers cramming every last person on this morning. wing mirrors? fuck 'em!

http://img202.imageshack.us/img202/7557/71124849.jpg

In the hour you've spent on your computer you could have walked to North Greenwich, heh.

^^^be quiet

Or Lewisham, if you prefer.

I've heard the DLR is pretty much in lockdown as well for some reason or other, but I'm about to give it a shot.

Trains are on the move between Canary Wharf and the City, that much I can tell you.

(DLR robotrains obv)

Gipsy Hill-London Bridge wasn't too bad but no onward connections to Char X whatsoever. Took Jubilee Line (let one train go; very squashy but kinda standard for a.m. rush-hour) to Waterloo, walked over bridge (didn't pay for Tube trip - just flashed my rail ticket at the barrier guard). Could've gone on to Green Park for a quicker walk to the office but that might've been stretching the definition of "acceptable alternative route" and I didn't want an argument.

But, yeah, about 45min late.