Tube Strike

[whole diary]

[Timmer]

Taking place this week so if you are travelling to London these next few days please note:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/8090376.stm

[miniman]

Unbelievable, isn't it? I have to go to London on Thursday, what a chuffing nightmare that will be. They want 5% when the rest of the country is dealing with redundancies, pay cuts, short working and pay freezes. Bob Crow is a disgrace.

[Tim]

Taking place this week so if you are travelling to London these next few days please note:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/8090376.stm

thanks for the warning.  I'm in London on Wednesday.  I'll take my trainers

[Mookiemoo]

Was warned by TM^▸ (Train Manager, or Ticket Machine, or Temple Meads (Bristol), depending on context) this morning that the trains out of London are expected to be heavily loaded from 3pm onwards

[Btline]

Expect overcrowding on Chiltern services, as I think there is a football match on, and they will be one of the only ways to get to Wembley.

[Timmer]

Here's some commonsense from FGW^▸ (First Great Western). A positive gesture:

London Underground Strike
All Tube Lines are suspended from 19:00 on 9th June for 48 hours.

For the duration of strike First Great Western will honour advance purchase tickets for travel from London Paddington two hours either side of the stated time of travel.

All customers are advised to visit www.tfl.gov.uk for advice on travelling to and from London during the strike.

[Btline]

I eat my words! Due to anticipated overcrowding, Chiltern has been forced by H&S^▸ (Health and Safety) to remove ALL Wembley Stadium calls from trains.

Even those for commuters!

[Rogang]

...and even more from FGW^▸ (First Great Western) with extra bike spaces being made available in the Power Cars of the HSTs^▸ (High Speed Train (Inter City class 43 125 units)) on Oxford-Paddington route tomorrow.

[Chris from Nailsea]

An article by willc, in the Oxford Mail, covers this:

Football fans warned of Wembley Stadium station closure

Football fans planning to travel by train from Oxfordshire to Wembley Stadium to watch tomorrow night's England v Andorra World Cup match will have to find an alternative route.

Chiltern Railways announced tonight that due to safety concerns about overcrowding on its trains during a 48-hour strike over pay by staff on the London Underground, that its services will not be calling at Wembley Stadium station from noon tomorrow until the end of the day.

The rail firm said it had been advised by British Transport Police that because of passengers seeking an alternative route to the stadium, due to the closure of the Underground network, crowd numbers at Wembley Stadium station could potentially be unsafe.

A Chiltern spokesman said: "The safety of both our regular passengers, and the additional travellers using our services because of the strike, is paramount, and we therefore have taken the difficult decision to withdraw services to Wembley.  Unfortunately, this will also affect the evening journey of those who commute to and from Wembley Stadium station.
 The Football Association has advised that refunds will be made available to ticketholders who decide not to attend this game, because of the Tube strike."

First Great Western has announced that for the duration of the strike, which is due to continue until 7pm on Thursday, that it will honour advance purchase tickets for travel from London Paddington station for two hours either side of the stated time of travel.  The company is also planning to make extra cycle storage spaces available in the power cars of High Speed Train services operating between Oxford and London Paddington tomorrow, to help commuters who want to cycle to work in the capital.

[IndustryInsider]

I think it is unwise to publicise the extra bike spaces, as trains could end up getting swamped with bikes and people getting turned away. We're only talking about an extra 6 spaces at the very maximum - and that's if both power cars were to be utilised! That means if you have a full HST^▸ (High Speed Train (Inter City class 43 125 units)) into London, less than 2% of people would have to take up the offer and the extra spaces would be filled.

All FGW^▸ (First Great Western) services were a little quieter than normal this morning, except for the LTV^▸ (London [and] Thames Valley) services calling at Ealing Broadway (which had a full platform practically all through the rush hour), and especially the Greenford services, which were full by West Ealing and then faced the prospect of a hundred or so North Acton regulars waiting at Acton Main Line! Chronic over-crowding from Ealing Broadway onwards on nearly all trains.

[super tm]

Actually it is 12 extra spaces as bikes as usualy banned from HST^▸ (High Speed Train (Inter City class 43 125 units)) services arriving in the morning between 0730 and 0930.

[IndustryInsider]

Actually it is 12 extra spaces as bikes as usualy banned from HST^▸ (High Speed Train (Inter City class 43 125 units)) services arriving in the morning between 0730 and 0930.

Hmmm - In terms of HST's, I thought they were mostly 'reservation compulsory' during these times with only one or two trains actually banned?

[moonrakerz]

I was in London today, there were tube trains running but I don't know what sort of service was actually being provided.

Waterloo did seem a bit quieter than normal.

I booked my tickets long before the strike was called, luckily both my planned destinations were walkable from W'loo.

[willc]

But surely better to be prepared in case people turn up toting a bike on the off-chance, given the unusual circumstances. I've never been entirely clear how rigorously the reservation-only ones are policed anyway.

FGW^▸ (First Great Western) website says following:

"Where cycles are not permitted, this is marked with a pink cross in a circle."

Though even on Oxford-Londons I can't see any so marked, just the reservations compulsory blob.

"On peak services to/from London Paddington, cycle reservations are essential for:

All First Great Western high-speed services which:

Arrive at London Paddington between 07.00 and 10:00, Monday to Friday
Depart from London Paddington between 15.00 and 19.00 Monday to Friday
Cycles may not be conveyed on services operated by Class 165 / 166 Turbo trains which:
Arrive at London Paddington between 07.45 and 09.45, Monday to Friday
Depart from London Paddington between 16.30 and 18:30, Monday to Friday"

[IndustryInsider]

But surely better to be prepared in case people turn up toting a bike on the off-chance, given the unusual circumstances.

I agree - advise staff of the arrangements internally, and the small number of off-chance punters could be accommodated. Though if it's given an official press release (I assume that's what happened for it to appear in your article) you may put the idea into many peoples heads and demand will soon outstrip availability.

The sentence in the article "The company is also planning to make extra cycle storage spaces available in the power cars of High Speed Train services operating between Oxford and London Paddington tomorrow, to help commuters who want to cycle to work in the capital" , might be interpreted to mean that several dozen extra bikes could be catered for? I hope I'm wrong.