The Logic...

...is as always crystal clear when it comes to TFL.

Just as I got to Holborn station last night they shut the gates and started screaming. I had no idea what he or she was talking about so inquisitively minded as I am I ask the rude man with a walkie-talkie much to his delight.

Iit was overcrowding – I’m sure I have written a post about this overcrowding phenomena before so will leave it alone for now, it deserve a whole post on its own.

The reasons for the station closure the suddenly changed - it wasn’t overcrowding at all, in fact it was a faulty train in the tunnel between marble arch and oxford circus on the eastbound central line.

This conversation then followed:

TFL Lady: since there are no trains running on the eastbound central line we have closed the station for safety reasons because if you tell people they can’t go down
the eastbound platform that’s the platform they will go down to so for safety reasons we have to close the station.
Me (and a few others): So what’s wrong with the Piccadilly Line?
TFL Lady: There is nothing wrong with the Piccadilly Line.
Me (and a few others): So why can’t we use it?
TFL Lady: Because there is a broken down train between Marble Arch and Oxford Circus eastbound on the Central Line.
Puzzled looks being exchanged.
Me (alone): So if there is nothing wrong with the line I would like to get on it and go home, I pay a lot of money to get on it and go home.
TFL Lady: Yes but you pay a lot of money to get home safely.
Me (alone): I rather get home ON TIME.

A few things about this conversation struck me as odd apart from the obviously strange behaviour of TFL’s safety procedures, the lady actually said “if you tell people not to go down to the eastbound platform you sure as hell get everyone going down to the eastbound platform”. This statement makes me think TFL might have grossly misunderstood the reasons why people use their lovely service – we don’t use it for some kind of recreational purposes, we use it to get from A to B. Only people who need to go east from Holborn on the central line would in fact head that way. If they then realise there are no trains stopping there they will leave to find another way to get to B. As simple as that. All they would have to do is place that one rude person with a walkie-talkie in the entrance of the platform and voila: Problem Solved!

But oh no that would actually make sense…