Great Western Coffee Shop

Some speculation...

Reading yesterday about how much lower the return to the office rate in London is compared to other cities globally triggered a thought.

The deep small bore tube lines (Bakerloo, Northern, Central, Victoria and Jubilee) are hardly the most comfortable experience at peak commuting times at normal traffic levels. Social distancing is absolutely impossible, and even the much closer face mask safety zone is not easy (or possible) to achieve. They take a high proportion of commuter traffic, both within and from outside London. Without spending time on-line researching the point, my recollection from using underground systems elsewhere in the world is that they are considerably more confined than most overseas systems. I am not sure I am comfortable either with the idea of using them myself at present or of asking anyone else to do so. If Covid 19 remains present, albeit with some degree of control, it must be a high risk area likely to have to be taken out of use if there are any "spikes" in future.

Will we look upon them as the equivalent in our day of the old early Victorian sewer system that was found to be to blame for the cholera epidemic of 1848? Bearing in mind the cost and delay to Crossrail, heaven help us if we have to replace them with something like the sub-surface lines.

   

Masses of room compared with the Glasgow Subway.  ;)

Yes but Glaswegians are small. When I walk trough Glasgow in the rain (its always raining when I go) I get my eyes poked out by all the umbrellas. ;D

London sub-surface underground and tube compared:

(http://www.wellho.net/pix/tubesizes.jpg)

Creative Commons license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/) - Chris McKenna (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Thryduulf)

London Tube diameter is 3.56 metres, Clockwork Orange diameter 3.35 metres - surface area then just over 10% smaller in Glasgow.   Glasgow gauge is 4 foot.

I particularly like this image from Wikipedia of the West Street station on the Glasgow Subway, taken in 1966.  It just doesn't look real!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Street_subway_station#/media/File:West_Street_subway_station_in_1966_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1479601.jpg

Nice to see the Piccadilly line driver managing to get some sleep! :o

You've got the wrong end of the stick train, TG.  Tail lights are up and not headlights, so it's either going the other way, or not going anywhere just yet. 

Anyway, he's clearly reading the Morning Star.

That picture was probably taken at Rayners Lane. Piccadilly Line trains used to terminate there with a peak service continuing to Uxbridge. Once the last passengers get off, the train goes into the siding between the two other tracks. The driver then walks the length of the train to sit in the other cab and waits for the allotted time to start the return journey.

Oh, there's two branches of the Piccadilly line. One going to Rayners Lane / Uxbridge, the other going to Heathrow. You probably know about the latter.

The Description of the image (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loading_gauge#/media/File:London_Underground_subsurface_and_tube_trains.jpg) (copyright links up with the posting of the picture) confirms.

Fair enough I stand corrected - but the poor chap is clearly exhausted and fully demonstrates the justification for the RMT demanding that Tube Drivers work a 4 day 32 hour week.

Quite right too.  As soon as management concede to that perfectly reasonable demand, the quicker the campaign for a 3-day, 27 hour week can start.   :P

Absolutely - with a pay rise too, of course, an additional week's holiday, and perhaps retirement at 45?

He looks like he is reading to me.  Could he actually be working?

I expect he’s reading one of the thousands of Metro papers he found strewn throughout the train when he changed ends (contrary to my previous post, I’ve never seen any crew member reading a copy of the Morning Star), and is whiling away the time before his return trip.

C'mmon guys.  He's reading the daily staff notice bulletin/temporary track alterations, etc  ;) ;)

............or the weekly call for a strike ballot from the RMT?