Transport in London is shit

ime the northern line is the absolute worst for inexplicable 8-10 min waits, presumably because of the camden bottleneck (just DYNAMITE CAMDEN IN ITS ENTIRETY, so many problems solved)

tho the worst thing about the tube is how they STILL apparently don't expect people to travel around at the weekend - weekend works have been fucking up the network for as long as i've lived in london, are the much-vaunted "improvements" ever going to actually materialise?

I just wonder whether the Victoria line's recent upgrade to get trains running far more frequently has actually made the delays much worse. If a train gets stuck (as happened the other day) you've got that many more trains stuck in the tunnels.

xpost Christ yes, northern line hell, bomb camden, absolutely.

camden bottleneck is a bottleneck only because it looks like a bottleneck on the map.

but lol @ tracer trolling

Used the overground from Stratford the other day, that's a lovely little line

i only use the tube maybe twice a week these days and most times on the vicky line i mean when it is running perfectly it's great but when something happens and you're stuck between finsbury park and seven sisters for 20 minutes when you're already late it's a little ironic don't you think.

and something happens maybe one time in five in my experience.

also weekend service is super fun. it's like an orienteering trip every time

I live on the Northern Line so I'm pretty much used to it. Worst is when you have like three Bank trains in a row and you need to go to Charing X.

I use the Victoria line 5 days a week, 10 journeys total - which means I get stuck at least twice a week.

That's when they haven't closed Oxford St Station due to "overcrowding" which happens at least once a week for me.

i've lived on the northern line all my life and sometimes i feel personally hurt when people bitch about it. it is not really that bad! the inexplicable 8-10 minute waits happen way less often these days!

3 bank trains when you want a charing x and vice versa is the story of my life though.

also weekend service is super fun. it's like an orienteering trip every time

― HOOS' THE BOSS (ken c), Friday, September 17, 2010 2:42 PM (9 minutes ago)

I don't use the tube anymore but I had to the other day, had horrible flashbacks of when I had to change at Holborn for the Central Line every workday morning

Ever tried to get from Dalston to Tufnell Park when the overland is down? You either need a master's degree in City Navigation, or to wait for the possibly fiction rail replacement bus. The other weekend I ended up walking the whole way.

Holborn interchange from Piccadilly to the Central line (or vice versa?) is a killer. there's the bit where you go down steps, then up AGAIN before going back down to the platform. you should never ever ever have to go back up steps at any point. ever.

I used to live in Tufnell Park, so yes I am familiar with that journey. It's not that far to walk, really. (xp)

Anyone who travels across London at the weekend without actually planning their journey properly is a fool. This also applies to people who go into South London without checking overground train times and then moan about having to wait for 20mins.

there's the bit where you go down steps, then up AGAIN before going back down to the platform

the horror! the horror!

A few months ago I made the mistake of changing to the Central line from the District line at Bank/Monument. Crazy.

Anyone who travels across London at the weekend without actually planning their journey properly is a fool.

Sometimes you don't wake up where you were planning to though.

Then you should be happy!

I think that Lex is actually OTM and planning a trip across town at the weekend should not *have* to require the planning structure of launching the D-Day Offensive.

Anyone who travels across London at the weekend without actually planning their journey properly is a fool.

this is true, but a) sometimes this doesn't help anyway, b) i don't really feel as though this is a remotely ideal state of affairs, c) SOMETIMES PEOPLE RUN LATE (and yeah, what chap said re: unexpected wakenings)

This also applies to people who go into South London without checking overground train times and then moan about having to wait for 20mins.

gonna have to do this tonight :/

Getting to Peckham from North London isn't even difficult!

it may not be difficult but it is lonnnnnng. also, london bridge is some kind of exclave of hell.

dalston to tufnell park = i end up walking it about half the time, esp if it's stupid o'clock at night and i'm going to have to walk from the holloway road at the end anyway.

^^ reasons why i am glad that most of my friends have been priced out of living in dalston these days

Dunno, London's a big place, are 1hr journeys across it really that much of an arse? That's music time/reading time really.

Interchange at London Bridge is pretty horrible though. Not as horrible as King's Cross but pretty confusing nonetheless.

Is anyone else pope-locked this weekend?

Really, East to North London is appalling served, considering how many people need to do it, and how comparatively close they are! This is my major gripe about London transport. To visit my friends in Stoke Newington I have a choice of two relatively infrequent busses, one of which has a ten min walk my end, and the other a ten min walk their end. Walking the whole way only takes me about fifteen minutes longer.

Dunno, where is he? (xpost)

Not as horrible as King's Cross but pretty confusing nonetheless.

― Matt DC, Friday, September 17, 2010 4:12 PM (3 minutes ago) Bookmark

don't even know what the FUCK they have done there, but it takes three minutes extra to exit, right? that isn't just me?

i've also had lots of experience with the Tufnell Park to Dalston route. isn't there a single-decker bus that does the best part of the route? doesn't run late though, iirc. similarly, anything at the Luminaire was always a multi-stage epic, but the new overground really is brilliant. North London lines are radial, but it cuts right through 'em all. smashing looking trains too. and very spacious. i can imagine they'd be a good hang out for a gang w boombox (i.e. a mobile phone)

Victoria iirc

I never seem to be able to get out of King's Cross at the point I intend to. Last time I ended up somewhere round the back and weaving through a load of building site hoardings.

The Pope's around the Catholic cathedral in Victoria area I believe. Which is an area I usually avoid at the best of times but might be a problem for Gravel given that he lives near there.

Does the orange line go as far as Highbury yet?

Ever tried to get from Dalston to Tufnell Park when the overland is down? You either need a master's degree in City Navigation, or to wait for the possibly fiction rail replacement bus. The other weekend I ended up walking the whole way.

― rhythm fixated member (chap), Friday, 17 September 2010 14:58 (15 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

two short bus rides! (236 to finsbury park and then number 4)

don't even know what the FUCK they have done there, but it takes three minutes extra to exit, right? that isn't just me?

they seem to have made an extra special effort to locate the mainline entrance to the underground, and the underground ticket office, and the platforms, as mutually far from one another as possible.

first time i walked through the new King's Cross, i thought it was awesome. i was stoned though. hate it now.

To visit my friends in Stoke Newington I have a choice of two relatively infrequent busses, one of which has a ten min walk my end, and the other a ten min walk their end. Walking the whole way only takes me about fifteen minutes longer.

I often go over to Stokey and, having timed it, it's quicker to walk my particular journey (wouldn't be if it wasn't for the Emirates, so thank you Gooners)

isn't there a single-decker bus that does the best part of the route?

not entirely sure the 393 actually exists tbh. i mean, i must have taken it at some point, but still.

the kings x rebuild makes me so angry! it is just so BORING inside, why can't it be like the jubilee extension.

going to the Victoria line is highest not-recommendation

I <3 393

Oh shit, I was thinking of going to the protest the pope thing at Hyde Park Corner but I didn't even think what a mess transport would be on account of his popiness. Right, in that case, I'm going no further than the Elephant this weekend. (Thank god Rephlex understand the utility of doing things around the Elephant.)

I have no idea how to negotiate Kings Cross since they moved the Thameslink, to be honest. I never know where I am any more.

Oh I get the 393 all the time. Irritating bus, the closest it gets to Dalston is Church St. Also stops at midnight.

Really, East to North London is appalling served, considering how many people need to do it

Yeah it's very strange. Hackney to King's Cross = 25 minutes on a bike but approx 1hr 15mins by public transport (the no. 30 -- eeuurgggh, or, what, a bus to Mile End or Bethnal Green, Central Line to Holborn, Picadilly Line to King's X? Madness).

I like the 393, it has a weird route

At least the King's Cross rebuild is making the station concourse bigger, it's always been way way too small for all the people who want to use it, given it's the gateway to most of the North of England.

they seem to have made an extra special effort to locate the mainline entrance to the underground, and the underground ticket office, and the platforms, as mutually far from one another as possible.

― ledge, Friday, September 17, 2010 4:18 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark

with the new n. line exit, you have an existential choice, LEFT to platforms 9-11, RIGHT (for aaaaages) for 0-8.

do they have a board saying which one to take? do they fuck.

The 4, now there is an irritating bus

The 4, now there is an irritating bus

― Tom A. (Tom B.) (Tom C.) (Tom D.), Friday, September 17, 2010 3:22 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark