Article: Commuters 'psyche up' for tube

[ozbob]

From the Courier Mail click here!

Commuters 'psyche up' for tube

Commuters 'psyche up' for tube
Article from: Reuters

December 01, 2009 08:36pm

LONDON'S underground train system suffers from so much overcrowding that passengers have to "psyche" themselves up to cope with the stress of using it.

A survey by the London Assembly's Transport Committee found that 80 per cent of travellers endured overcrowding which caused discomfort, while more than half were unable to board the first train at a station because it was packed.

The situation was so bad that "Tube" commuters had to prepare mentally themselves for the their journey in order to cope, researchers found.

Their methods included "psyching oneself up for the 'struggle to clamber on board'", a "dog-eat dog or survival of the fittest attitude" or suspending usual behaviour such as going for a seat even if a pregnant woman or someone with a baby wanted it.

"The overwhelming majority perceived the experience of overcrowding as a highly unpleasant and abnormal situation," said the Too close for comfort report.

"That said, it was apparent that regular commuters and hardened travellers had become resigned to overcrowding on the Tube and accepted it as an uncomfortable aspect of their regular journey."

The survey found that in morning peak hours, some trains carried more than four people per square metre.

The busiest section was between Bethnal Green in east London and Liverpool Street on the Central Line between 7am and 10am with an average of almost 60,000 passengers.

Overcrowding around King's Cross station and between Clapham and Kennington in southwest London was almost as bad.

The report said London Underground had to address the issue and also perform better when it carried out upgrade or maintenance works, saying cities such as Madrid suffered far less disruption.

"London Underground cannot be complacent about finding ways to make the situation more bearable," the committee's chairman Caroline Pidgeon said.

"There is an assumption that seemingly endless line closures are inevitable but, as our report and the evidence from Madrid shows, this is simply not the case."

Transport for London (TfL) said it was spending billions of pounds to improve capacity on the network by 30 per cent.

"This will mean more trains, able to carry more passengers, with faster journeys and larger stations," a TfL spokesman said.

"Even today, the improvement in reliability means that more people are carried on the Tube compared with three years ago with no additional crowding caused."

[stephenk]

Having used the London Underground for 9 years, I see this article as a major over-exaggeration.

"More than half were unable to board the first train at a station because it was packed". There are only a few parts of the network where trains are so full that it is difficult to board. I used one of these - Victoria Line Northbound at Victoria during am peak - for a year or two, and even then I reckon I boarded at least 3/5 trains on first attempt. When travelling on other parts of the network it was very rare that I was unable to board the first train. If a train is full, the next train usually arrives approx 60-75secs later!

"Some trains carried more than 4 persons per square meter". Try travelling in Shanghai. After 3 failed attempts at boarding, and 150sec dwell times, I was squeezed and shoved onto a train that had around 8 people/m2!

Upgrade work closure comparisons with Madrid are a poor comparison. Madrid is a newer system, and far less crowded.

This negative article seems to forget that London Underground has excellent customer service and information, has much improved reliability, good peak frequencies (2-2.5mins), and some of the world's best off-peak frequencies (3-3.5mins).