Londoners: Is it just me...

[Queso]

I went to Lakeside once. We got out the car to hear the gold-encrusted guy parked next to us say to his blond wife/girlfriend "Don't ya speak ta me like that, or I'll give ya a slap".

Not exactly something that dispels the stereotypical image.

 

[Peterkro]

I can understand people wanting to top themselves but jumping in front of a tube,no way, too much risk of surviving,mind you if you decide to jump in front of a train I guess your not thinking too clearly.

 

[Case-sensitive]

ok sure but what's the matter with giving up in a way that doesn't cause so many problems for a bunch of innocent travelers with their own problems? but then, i'm also a bit selfish, i don't like blowing £50 on taxi rides home when someone does this late at night and no one can get home on the tube. call me crazy but i think it's an all around bad way to go.

edit: this was supposed to sound much more lighthearted than it does but that's a tough topic to pull off "lighthearted" with. apologies.

Not having a dig. Twenty years ago I would have had the same reaction. These days - and minus several friends through suicide - it saddens more than angers me.

 

[skunk]

ok sure but what's the matter with giving up in a way that doesn't cause so many problems for a bunch of innocent travelers with their own problems? but then, i'm also a bit selfish, i don't like blowing £50 on taxi rides home when someone does this late at night and no one can get home on the tube. call me crazy but i think it's an all around bad way to go.

Unfortunately, it's of proven effectiveness. Not much room for a driver to swerve to avoid you, and if the train don't get you, the live rail will.

Edit: Peterkro is obviously working from a different set of statistics...

 

[iBlue]

Not having a dig. Twenty years ago I would have had the same reaction. These days - and minus several friends through suicide - it saddens more than angers me.

Yeah, I imagine you do have to be pretty disoriented and fed up to go for an out like that. It is sad but damn if I can find it in my heart to think that way when I'm stuck for a train when it happens.

 

[EGT]

Empty London, peaceful and quiet and you're complaining?

Must be something wrong with me, I like being able to walk in a straight line to wherever I'm going without being slammed about by masses of inconsiderate d**k heads.

 

[robbieduncan]

Empty London, peaceful and quiet and you're complaining?

Must be something wrong with me, I like being able to walk in a straight line to wherever I'm going without being slammed about by masses of inconsiderate d**k heads.

Seems that everyone hates this. Perhaps this is time for a little personal plan that I tell everyone when I get a chance: pavement lanes. At least two in each direction with arrows on them, one fast, one slow. Everyone gets where they are going with less struggle. Those who like walking fast or in a hurry don't get held up, grannies and slow walkers/ditherers/etc don't get pushed out of the way and everyone wins. The only people I can see who would loose are those inconsiderate groups of people who like to take up the whole width of the pavement moving at approx 0.000001mph.

 

[Peterkro]

Edit: Peterkro is obviously working from a different set of statistics...

Actually I just pulled them out of the air,mind you trains aren't going very fast when pulling into the platform and the third rail is 500v DC,AC at that voltage will just stop your heart DC on the other hand will burn you from the inside out and in many cases you can survive (if being a crispy critter can be called survival).You can catch up with me over on the Exit forums using the nick Socrates .

 

[robbieduncan]

Actually I just pulled them out of the air,mind you trains aren't going very fast when pulling into the platform...

Depends on the end of the platform you're at. If stand near the end of the platform which will have the rear of train stop at it you'd be amazed at the speed that the Central Line enters some stations at.

I don't understand (beyond the cost and temporary disturbance) why they don't build glass barriers on the rest of the major stations like they have on the Jubilee Line extension. Some stations are closing for refurbishment for weeks or months and opening back up without them which just seems like a lost chance. The only downside is that the overpaid drivers actually have to have some skill to get the doors to line up which they would undoubtedly strike over.

 

[Peterkro]

The "overpaid" drivers have the slightly stressful possibility of a body in the process of disintegrating suddenly appearing in front of their eyes plus being responsible for a similar number of people as your slightly more "overpaid" jumbo jet drivers.

 

[Applespider]

Hey, check if the Lakeside M&S has them, if so I could pick them up for you. I'll probably be going down there tomorrow and if not then definitely on Saturday. (a thought)

Don't think I can check if they have them... but if I can't find them tonight, then I will mail you a picture and you can see if you can find them. Hmm... that means we'd have to go for lunch again so you could hand them over

Am leaving the office early with a relatively futile hope that I'll avoid some of the crowds. My plan currently is to get the bus to Marble Arch, fight my way to M&S, escape with the PJs and head to Soho for cocktails and food... <fingers crossed!>

 

[EGT]

Seems that everyone hates this. Perhaps this is time for a little personal plan that I tell everyone when I get a chance: pavement lanes. At least two in each direction with arrows on them, one fast, one slow. Everyone gets where they are going with less struggle. Those who like walking fast or in a hurry don't get held up, grannies and slow walkers/ditherers/etc don't get pushed out of the way and everyone wins. The only people I can see who would loose are those inconsiderate groups of people who like to take up the whole width of the pavement moving at approx 0.000001mph.

You've reminded me of this!

Now, campaigners are pressing for the sort of traffic management techniques you'd expect to find on a motorway.

They are demanding a pavement fastlane to run along both sides of Oxford Street in London, one of Britain's busiest shopping streets.

It sounds like a joke, admits campaign spokesman Andy Kourpas, but he insists stress levels are rising among shoppers and workers in the area as they struggle against the tide of people.

Lanes would run on both pavements, one going east to west and the other west to east. They would be marked by a different coloured paving stone and monitored by marshals whose job would be to see no one fell below the 3mph speed limit.

 

[dcv]

I don't understand (beyond the cost and temporary disturbance) why they don't build glass barriers on the rest of the major stations like they have on the Jubilee Line extension. Some stations are closing for refurbishment for weeks or months and opening back up without them which just seems like a lost chance. The only downside is that the overpaid drivers actually have to have some skill to get the doors to line up which they would undoubtedly strike over.

I too would like to see this happen but I suspect this is waaaaay down the list of priorities when it comes to repairing the tube system. One immediate problem that springs to mind (besides cost) is the fact that different lines operate different rolling stock; the doors wouldn't line up at stations where multiple tube lines share the same track, e.g. the Circle/H&C and Metropolitan from Baker Street to Liverpool Street, or the stations on the District line along the bottom half of the Circle... It could be done on other lines though.

 

[iBlue]

Don't think I can check if they have them... but if I can't find them tonight, then I will mail you a picture and you can see if you can find them. Hmm... that means we'd have to go for lunch again so you could hand them over

Am leaving the office early with a relatively futile hope that I'll avoid some of the crowds. My plan currently is to get the bus to Marble Arch, fight my way to M&S, escape with the PJs and head to Soho for cocktails and food... <fingers crossed!>

Brave woman, good luck with that. You know how to get a hold of me if your luck peters out.

 

[FleurDuMal]

London's empty because I'm having a party at my place. I just forgot to invite you. Sorry.

 

[robbieduncan]

The "overpaid" drivers have the slightly stressful possibility of a body in the process of disintegrating suddenly appearing in front of their eyes plus being responsible for a similar number of people as your slightly more "overpaid" jumbo jet drivers.

The responsibility is largely handled by the trains. If a driver forgets to brake for a station because he's watching a DVD (yes I know he was only supervising a trainee) the train will do it for him. In fact most of the lines are fully equipped for fully automatic running. I've a lot more respect for bus drivers in London who have a lot more stress with all the other traffic but get paid a lot less. Any job that you can train to do in 2 weeks in not all that difficult and should be paid accordingly.

It's cases like these where the drivers are drinking in the staff room, playing squash whilst off work injured, speeding through red lights into stations and then striking when those responsible are disciplined that makes more and more of us who live in London loose respect for them and not support them in any way when they choose to strike.

 

[Peterkro]

robbie all those things your saying about tube drivers apply to airline pilots (except the two weeks training bit) and other much higher paid jobs.What have tube drivers done to upset you they do a productive job something fairly unusual in London where paper shuffling is the major pastime.Moving 3 million people around daily is not an easy thing to do and the drivers,along with engineers,cleaners etc etc are a big part of that.I love that Londoners complain endlessly about the tube staff and nary a word about the overpaid tossers who do nothing productive (MP's, most of the City,Media etc).

 

[dcv]

London's empty because I'm having a party at my place. I just forgot to invite you. Sorry.

Kentish Town flash mob, anyone?

 

[Case-sensitive]

Any job that you can train to do in 2 weeks in not all that difficult and should be paid accordingly.

I'd need more cash than they get to spend my working day in a dark tunnel.

 

[bartelby]

They're certainly not in Rickmansworth, which is where I've been stuck for the last 2 weeks.

Have you been in to a small cafe at all?

 

[robbieduncan]

robbie all those things your saying about tube drivers apply to airline pilots (except the two weeks training bit) and other much higher paid jobs.What have tube drivers done to upset you they do a productive job something fairly unusual in London where paper shuffling is the major pastime.Moving 3 million people around daily is not an easy thing to do and the drivers,along with engineers,cleaners etc etc are a big part of that.I love that Londoners complain endlessly about the tube staff and nary a word about the overpaid tossers who do nothing productive (MP's, most of the City,Media etc).

It's mostly the strikes which appear to be at least once a year, more frequent than that if management discipline any driver for actually doing something wrong, the endless unrealistic pay demands like this for example: striking after being offered a 3.5% pay rise and a 2.5 hour reduction in the working week, despite already being paid over 32k per year. They also have a suspicious ability to plan their strikes for days that they'd prefer not to work anyway, like say when England are playing football. Their quibble is not with the public, it's with management so why make the public's like misery? If they strike and put us out they should not be surprised that we don't support them

As an overpaid tosser who works in Canary Wharf (which is probably counted as the City for you) I would point out I could easily train to do a tube drivers job, I bet they could not train to do mine.

 

[Applespider]

Have you been in to a small cafe at all?

Giggle

It's mostly the strikes which appear to be at least once a year, more frequent than that if management discipline any driver for actually doing something wrong, the endless unrealistic pay demands like this for example: striking after being offered a 3.5% pay rise and a 2.5 hour reduction in the working week, despite already being paid over 32k per year.

That's my problem with Tube-drivers. I'm not saying that they're massively overpaid and I do appreciate that I wouldn't fancy being stuck underground for hours on end with a probability that at least one person will try jumping in front of me in my career. But the points that Robbie raises as to the strikes are what have lost Londoners goodwill. Strikes over valid safety points - fine. Strikes over disciplined drivers and pay deals which were reasonable when agreed less than a year beforehand (without anyone else in public services getting any bigger increases or better conditions) bug me though.

I too have more respect for busdrivers who have to act as driver, 'station assistant', ticket checker and have to be able to both control speed and direction while dealing with passengers running in front of them to get on, crowding the bus so that they can't see their mirrors and refusing to get off, asking to get off the bus early, idiots in the bus lanes and so on.

 

[Peterkro]

What's suspicious about planning a strike to have maximum impact,your surely not suggesting that tube drivers be preventing from organising to maintain their wages in the same way that ALL other professions do.Since when has 32k been a high wage for a responsible job, many are paid less and many are paid a great deal more (as a worker at Canary Wharf you no doubt know this).I'm sure most tube drivers feel they could do your job very easily with as much conviction as you feel you could do theirs.

 

[Applespider]

What's suspicious about planning a strike to have maximum impact.

Because it doesn't hurt those who have the control to change what they're striking about. It hurts everyone else who they have over a barrel. Get the station assistants on side and get them to leave the gates open to screw LT out of money - but closing down the network just hurts many of those who are paid less than they are

And given that the training for a Tube driver is a matter of months and the training for good business analysts takes several years, it's not surprising they get paid more. Incidentally, I'm not condoning the salaries with 4 or 5 zeros behind the digits or those with a similar level of bonus which are ridiculous.

 

[robbieduncan]

What's suspicious about planning a strike to have maximum impact

Not the maximum impact, but the maximum "fortunate" convenience to them. I'm sure that there are large numbers of people who throw sickies, take the day off or "work from home" on days when England play in the World Cup so the tube is actually quieter on these days, not more busy.

in the same way that ALL other professions do

My profession don't strike. We don't have unions (at least in this company). We have found reasoned discourse is better than threats and pouting.

But you are right, I'm not suggesting that they are prevented from their legally protected rights. I am suggesting that they should expect the public to get pissed off with them and they should expect management to do all they can to continue to run a service.

My personal wish: the Tube should run like the DLR: without drivers.