Overcrowding at Canning Town

[whole diary]

[TaplowGreen]

Deeply worrying in the current climate;

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/video-canning-town-tube-crowds-trains-cancelled-b897925.html

[Ralph Ayres]

The montage of what I assume were CCTV^▸ (Closed Circuit Tele-Vision) cameras does I think make things seem particularly congested as it almost makes it look as though there were 2 trains with a narrow island platform between them completely packed when there may have been space further back.  I know it's reported that there had been a long gap between trains and those still expected to travel to work were probably keen not to be later than necessary, but I do wonder if there might have been a virtually empty train just behind that all those pouring on chose not to wait for.  It's also reported that a lot of those pictured were construction workers and perhaps the time has finally come to tell the construction industry that it has to take a few weeks break to avoid contributing to scenes like these.

[TaplowGreen]

The montage of what I assume were CCTV^▸ (Closed Circuit Tele-Vision) cameras does I think make things seem particularly congested as it almost makes it look as though there were 2 trains with a narrow island platform between them completely packed when there may have been space further back.  I know it's reported that there had been a long gap between trains and those still expected to travel to work were probably keen not to be later than necessary, but I do wonder if there might have been a virtually empty train just behind that all those pouring on chose not to wait for.  It's also reported that a lot of those pictured were construction workers and perhaps the time has finally come to tell the construction industry that it has to take a few weeks break to avoid contributing to scenes like these.

Perhaps the time has come for TfL^» (Transport for London - about) to manage access to Tube stations when platforms start to fill up, in much the same way as supermarkets are doing to ensure that safe distancing etc is maintained?

They have plenty of experience in doing so, as anyone who uses the Bakerloo Line from Paddington will testify! 

Probably more sensible than shutting down the construction industry, which seems rather extreme.

[Surrey 455]

Perhaps the time has come for TfL^» (Transport for London - about) to manage access to Tube stations when platforms start to fill up, in much the same way as supermarkets are doing to ensure that safe distancing etc is maintained?

They have plenty of experience in doing so, as anyone who uses the Bakerloo Line from Paddington will testify! 

Agreed. It was a daily occurrence at Victoria Underground and I have also seen them close most barriers at Bank and London Bridge to reduce the flow onto the platforms.

At Canning Town, when those pictures were taken, do we know the proportion of those who entered via the station entrance versus those who changed from the DLR^▸ (Docklands Light Railway)? I imagine it must be tricky managing crowds moving from one platform to another.

[Surrey 455]

I missed this at the time but the Evening Standard reported this:

After startling footage of overcrowding at Canning Town, in the middle of the Covid epidemic, Mr Shapps told  ITV?s Good Morning Britain: ?I saw this yesterday.

?Obviously it?s a Transport for London issue directly.

?But immediately I saw it, I got onto Sir Peter Hendy, who is the chair of Network Rail, and asked him to spend yesterday finding solutions.

?Today, timetables have been changed, some trains won?t be stopping in order to prevent the overcrowding, the c2c trains that run into Canning Town, their timetables are being moved."

Sounds sensible. But Canning Town is not served by c2c or any other National Rail operator. 

[ellendune]

The building press have been told that construction companies have been given until the middle of the week to stagger their working time to solve this problem or sites in London will be shut down. 

[Electric train]

I missed this at the time but the Evening Standard reported this:

After startling footage of overcrowding at Canning Town, in the middle of the Covid epidemic, Mr Shapps told  ITV?s Good Morning Britain: ?I saw this yesterday.

?Obviously it?s a Transport for London issue directly.

?But immediately I saw it, I got onto Sir Peter Hendy, who is the chair of Network Rail, and asked him to spend yesterday finding solutions.

?Today, timetables have been changed, some trains won?t be stopping in order to prevent the overcrowding, the c2c trains that run into Canning Town, their timetables are being moved."

Sounds sensible. But Canning Town is not served by c2c or any other National Rail operator. 

Correct but Sir Peter is the Covid public transport Czar