I was not particularly surprised to find Monument station closed last night at quarter past six in the evening with people pouring out like hungry rats looking for food, I mean what other time could be more convenient.
I was of course intrigued and in the interest of research I felt compelled to brave the emergency message being shouted out over the PA system and ask the poor soul guarding the gate of danger what the hell was going on. I no longer have great hope of extracting any useful information from any TFL member of staff, I ask more out of principle and to see what creative excuse they have come up with this time.
As you might have guessed from the title of this post the answer was “some suspect package or something”. As much as I appreciate TFL’s consideration for our safety I found the situation itslef a bit suspect to say the least. If there was a real danger to our lives and a package of some sort had been found, which content I have a feeling I might get censored for writing in the same sentence as the tube, would they not at least inform all members of staff so they as well could make sure they stay safe, in the end information saves lives! Secondly the evacuation was so extremely disorganised one would hope TFL knew better if they were actually trying to save my life. Now it could be possible, and not the least surprising, if this is how TFL deals with a real threat to our safety but I am for a moment going to give them the benefit of the doubt (I just had a piece of chocolate so I blame the rush of endorphins running through my body).
I' guessing they found something somewhere and instead of evaluating the situation and making a proper risk analysis they decided that even if it’s just a tesco bag with the remains of the plastic once containing someone’s lunch it is worth letting thousands of passengers try to cram into another station and cause massive disruption to the circle and district line in the middle of rush hour. AND we’re going to do it in the most incompetent way possible.
Surely if you wanted to bl*w a station into pieces you would chose the significantly larger Bank station a 100 meters down the road especially since due to escalator refurbishment work there is no interchange between Bank and Monument station.
Tuesday 27 January 2009
Tuesday 13 January 2009
How many TFL staff does it take to change a light bulb…
None, it’s not their job clearly.
So Highbury and Islington station has been closed for two days due to a “lighting problem”. I find this exceptionally fascinating. Describing it as a “problem” would indicate that it is an unexpected fault leading to the lighting issues as opposed to a foreseen issue being dealt with say re-wiring. So I’m left guessing what the problem might be (I can confirm there is indeed a “problem” somewhere as the platform is pitch black), these are my speculations:
1. They put up all the light bulbs at the same time and now they have all gone out and it clearly takes quite a few TFL staff to get some new ones up.
2. There is a bigger general problem with the lighting such as the wiring and they need to re wire the whole place.
3. They are trying to cover something up and turning the lights out provides the cover they need. Now this obviously begs the question what could they possibly be covering up.
Now I’m convinced it is actually option one or possibly two. As stupid as it might seem I think they actually are struggling to change the light bulbs. Here’s why – if they were trying to cover something up surely they would come up with some better option that would get the people’s sympathy rather than using an excuse so dumb it will just piss people off even more. An excuse such as station closure due to rat infestation isn’t going to piss that many people off, most people will be quite glad they don’t stop at a rat infested station. It is more likely it’s something completely stupid and a problem easily foreseeable by someone with half a brain cell.
I wonder if they run the announcements through the PR and Legal teams before using them..
So Highbury and Islington station has been closed for two days due to a “lighting problem”. I find this exceptionally fascinating. Describing it as a “problem” would indicate that it is an unexpected fault leading to the lighting issues as opposed to a foreseen issue being dealt with say re-wiring. So I’m left guessing what the problem might be (I can confirm there is indeed a “problem” somewhere as the platform is pitch black), these are my speculations:
1. They put up all the light bulbs at the same time and now they have all gone out and it clearly takes quite a few TFL staff to get some new ones up.
2. There is a bigger general problem with the lighting such as the wiring and they need to re wire the whole place.
3. They are trying to cover something up and turning the lights out provides the cover they need. Now this obviously begs the question what could they possibly be covering up.
Now I’m convinced it is actually option one or possibly two. As stupid as it might seem I think they actually are struggling to change the light bulbs. Here’s why – if they were trying to cover something up surely they would come up with some better option that would get the people’s sympathy rather than using an excuse so dumb it will just piss people off even more. An excuse such as station closure due to rat infestation isn’t going to piss that many people off, most people will be quite glad they don’t stop at a rat infested station. It is more likely it’s something completely stupid and a problem easily foreseeable by someone with half a brain cell.
I wonder if they run the announcements through the PR and Legal teams before using them..
Wednesday 7 January 2009
09 with TFL
Some new Great Incentives!
Bus lanes
What a great incentive to let motorcycles use bus lanes. Fantastic. How about bicycles? Maybe a scheme for some cycle lanes would be a better idea you fat idiot.
Prices
Will they actually stop increasing the fares when it’s cheaper to take your car? £100for a monthly travel card zone 1-2 is shocking.
Here’s what it costs in the rest of the world (where they also have AC AND you can use your mobile phone to let people know you will be late because a snow flake fell in Alaska so the whole Northern Line is shut down)
Stockholm £60
Paris £50
Barcelona £65
Rome £60
New York £55
Feel ripped off? You should!
Bus lanes
What a great incentive to let motorcycles use bus lanes. Fantastic. How about bicycles? Maybe a scheme for some cycle lanes would be a better idea you fat idiot.
Prices
Will they actually stop increasing the fares when it’s cheaper to take your car? £100for a monthly travel card zone 1-2 is shocking.
Here’s what it costs in the rest of the world (where they also have AC AND you can use your mobile phone to let people know you will be late because a snow flake fell in Alaska so the whole Northern Line is shut down)
Stockholm £60
Paris £50
Barcelona £65
Rome £60
New York £55
Feel ripped off? You should!
Abuse? Who? Me?
Abuse? Who? Me?
Have you seen the new posters on the tube advocating that the TFL staff do not tolerate abuse? There are so many things that upset me with these ads I barely know where to start…
1. The actual AD
It’s a picture of a blazer with a silver TFL pin on it saying “not made for thick skin” or some shit like that. When have you ever seen a member of TFL wearing a blazer with a silver pin? If I were an employed by TFL I would be quite upset that they are not representing the people actually getting the abuse on the station but some overpaid prick who don’t even use the tube to get to work. Completely out of touch and irrelevant, great way to get a message across.
2. The message
TFL does not tolerate abuse. Neither do we my dear friend! When you transport people in conditions you are not even allowed to transport pigs in anger and frustration will follow. You combine this with utterly incompetent representatives from the company exposing you to this hell hole of a transport system IT’S ABUSE!
3. Conclusion
Perhaps TFL staff wouldn’t get abuse if they weren’t so shit! Perhaps everyone would be a bit happier if the system wasn’t so shit. Perhaps no one would through a tantrum if you were given some kind of information! STOP ABUSING US AND WE WILL STOP ABUSING YOU!!
Perhaps a better idea would be to have a picture of an ordinary incompetent illiterate TFL worker with a message saying “Don’t take it out on me - blame Tim and Boris!” with some contact details on where to make complaints.
Have you seen the new posters on the tube advocating that the TFL staff do not tolerate abuse? There are so many things that upset me with these ads I barely know where to start…
1. The actual AD
It’s a picture of a blazer with a silver TFL pin on it saying “not made for thick skin” or some shit like that. When have you ever seen a member of TFL wearing a blazer with a silver pin? If I were an employed by TFL I would be quite upset that they are not representing the people actually getting the abuse on the station but some overpaid prick who don’t even use the tube to get to work. Completely out of touch and irrelevant, great way to get a message across.
2. The message
TFL does not tolerate abuse. Neither do we my dear friend! When you transport people in conditions you are not even allowed to transport pigs in anger and frustration will follow. You combine this with utterly incompetent representatives from the company exposing you to this hell hole of a transport system IT’S ABUSE!
3. Conclusion
Perhaps TFL staff wouldn’t get abuse if they weren’t so shit! Perhaps everyone would be a bit happier if the system wasn’t so shit. Perhaps no one would through a tantrum if you were given some kind of information! STOP ABUSING US AND WE WILL STOP ABUSING YOU!!
Perhaps a better idea would be to have a picture of an ordinary incompetent illiterate TFL worker with a message saying “Don’t take it out on me - blame Tim and Boris!” with some contact details on where to make complaints.
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