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Post by alpinejohn on Feb 16, 2018 16:17:06 GMT
I recently had the misfortune of needing to get from Oakwood to Kensington a couple of weeks back. After a 20 minute delay in platform, my train then crawled into town taking a further 30 minutes to reach Kings Cross. After taking 74 minutes to reach Knightsbridge I abandoned ship and took the bus. I’m old enough to remember when the Northern line got that bad by the early nineties. The new trains were used as a catalyst for a coordinated campaign of tunnel widening, rail replacement and other infrastructure work. Hopefully the same can be done here because the Pic is fast becoming an embarrassment.
Intriguing.. I well remember the Northern line at its worst - but don't recall any tunnel widening proposed as an integral part of the solution? Where did this happen?
I know Angel got a new platform at some stage but that was presumably done in response to ever growing passenger numbers on a very narrow island platform.
I don't think that new platform tunnel work was really linked to resolving reliability on the Northern which at the time seemed mostly due to track and signalling failures and the 38 stock. Sadly the 38s were becoming so problematic that for years most regular Northern commuters quickly realised that it made sense to push shut any doors which were not co-operating rather than do nothing with the inevitable consequence that everyone was turfed off the train and the unit was withdrawn from service by which time delays to following services usually meant it would be impossible for many of the detrained passengers to board for ages. After that happened several times to me I took to automatically travelling back up the line one stop in order to board a following service before it reached a platform totally stacked with commuters.
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towerman
My status is now now widower
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Post by towerman on Feb 16, 2018 16:32:22 GMT
Lots of the problems with the Northern in the 70s & 89s were not just down to train & infrastructure,it also had very bad staff shortages.There used to be teleprinters in depot offices which gave all the network wide delays & cancellations(from HQ Control),the Northern often had 15 to 20 trains cancelled due to no driver or guard.
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Post by Tomcakes on Feb 17, 2018 11:03:46 GMT
And today delays due to staff shortages on the Picc. Sigh.
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Post by PiccNT on Feb 17, 2018 13:05:33 GMT
I'm off this weekend but there seems to be a lot of drivers missing for one reason or another. At my depot, we have about 20% of the drivers missing (out of about 130) without taking into account annual leave. High levels of sick leave along with such things as being on light duties or taking medication that prevents you from fulfilling a safety critical job. We don't have any vacancies at our depot so it isn't about poor manpower planning.
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Post by aslefshrugged on Feb 17, 2018 13:52:48 GMT
Its the same on the Central, we're cancelling trains for lack of drivers but our line manager keeps insisting we're overstaffed. Its almost as if those upstairs don't care whether we run a service or not........
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Post by superteacher on Feb 17, 2018 13:57:11 GMT
Its the same on the Central, we're cancelling trains for lack of drivers but our line manager keeps insisting we're overstaffed. Its almost as if those upstairs don't care whether we run a service or not........ It’s easier to be in denial - that way, there’s no issue!
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Post by John Tuthill on Feb 17, 2018 14:26:10 GMT
Its the same on the Central, we're cancelling trains for lack of drivers but our line manager keeps insisting we're overstaffed. Its almost as if those upstairs don't care whether we run a service or not........ Sounds like the 'inverted pyramid syndrome'from my own personal experience it was always the lower ranks being made redundant, never saw any of the top row getting their P45
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Ben
fotopic... whats that?
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Post by Ben on Feb 17, 2018 17:45:42 GMT
WRT tunnel widening works in prep for 95ts, there was some, presumably modest, widening that took place. Not having luck finding a thread on here about it though...
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londoner
thinking on '73 stock
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Post by londoner on Feb 17, 2018 21:03:26 GMT
I took the Picc in the morning from Green Park to South Ken. First train was packed - another train 2 mins was far less crowded and more comfortable. I've just returned from work going the "normal" way, South Ken to Uxbridge side - very pleasant journey.
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Post by sudburytown on Feb 28, 2018 8:00:28 GMT
Severe delays again today due to a signal failure at Acton Town. This follows 2 days of supposedly “good service” with frequent gaps of around 15 minutes or more on the Uxbridge branch. The line seems to be on the verge of collapse.
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Post by Tomcakes on Feb 28, 2018 8:03:20 GMT
They're saying minor delays on the rest of the line - looks like 10-15 minute headways north of KX, which should really be described as "suspended" (nobody will be able to board such a train even when it arrives - on that section during the peaks, any more than double the headway and the trains will have physically no space remaining after Finsbury Park).
Wrong kind of snow?
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Post by sudburytown on Feb 28, 2018 8:52:39 GMT
Apparently there are now signal failures at Hammersmith, Kings Cross and Arnos Grove. Can’t all be snow related, surely.
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Post by PiccNT on Feb 28, 2018 10:02:48 GMT
I will find out the actual problems when I get to work this afternoon. Maybe we need to take all of the points out at Acton and extend the T4 loop to Uxbridge :-)
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Post by superteacher on Feb 28, 2018 11:49:37 GMT
I will find out the actual problems when I get to work this afternoon. Maybe we need to take all of the points out at Acton and extend the T4 loop to Uxbridge :-) I can see the crayonistas frothing at the mouth . . .
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Post by sudburytown on Feb 28, 2018 14:06:17 GMT
I will find out the actual problems when I get to work this afternoon. Maybe we need to take all of the points out at Acton and extend the T4 loop to Uxbridge :-) Or take the points out, send the District down to Heathrow (OK, so the tunnel might be a bit tight) and the whole Piccadilly line service to Uxbridge. Loads of room on those Big Trains for luggage and loads of happy passengers on the Cinderella branch.
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Post by superteacher on Feb 28, 2018 15:43:39 GMT
OK, I’m sure PiccNT’s suggestion was tongue in cheek. Let’s get back on topic as this is not a RIPAS thread.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 28, 2018 18:51:15 GMT
Apparently there are now signal failures at Hammersmith, Kings Cross and Arnos Grove. Can’t all be snow related, surely. Hammersmith was snow related
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 28, 2018 18:55:54 GMT
I will find out the actual problems when I get to work this afternoon. Maybe we need to take all of the points out at Acton and extend the T4 loop to Uxbridge :-) Taking the points out of Hammersmith and Acton will get my vote unfortunately I think people above might disagree though
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londoner
thinking on '73 stock
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Post by londoner on Feb 28, 2018 23:47:30 GMT
I will find out the actual problems when I get to work this afternoon. Maybe we need to take all of the points out at Acton and extend the T4 loop to Uxbridge :-) Taking the points out of Hammersmith and Acton will get my vote unfortunately I think people above might disagree though According to a user on another forum, some points at Hammersmith will be removed:
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Ben
fotopic... whats that?
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Post by Ben on Mar 1, 2018 0:14:55 GMT
Not surprising. Look what happened to the loop at Finchley Road - and then subsequently the rest of the points.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Mar 1, 2018 1:03:54 GMT
Taking the points out of Hammersmith and Acton will get my vote unfortunately I think people above might disagree though According to a user on another forum, some points at Hammersmith will be removed: They are still remaining after the 4LM upgrade
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Mar 1, 2018 1:05:47 GMT
Apparently there are now signal failures at Hammersmith, Kings Cross and Arnos Grove. Can’t all be snow related, surely. Arnos Grove snow related with a point failure Kings Cross a defective trainstop so not snow related Hammersmith already been mentioned
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Post by PiccNT on Mar 1, 2018 9:07:43 GMT
Apparently there are now signal failures at Hammersmith, Kings Cross and Arnos Grove. Can’t all be snow related, surely. Arnos Grove snow related with a point failure Kings Cross a defective trainstop so not snow related Hammersmith already been mentioned And Acton Town it seems there was a problem clearing routes in and out of the East and West sidings. Moving onto today, appears there was a gapped train coming out of Platform 1 at Cockfosters causing the service to be suspended Oakwood to Cockfosters and the remainder of the trains coming out of the West end of the depot. Looking forward to going in later. Last night my first train was cancelled and my second train diverted from T4 to Rayners. Bit chilly walking out of the depot at 1am this morning!
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Mar 1, 2018 9:41:08 GMT
Acton Town was the fact the point heaters wasn't working to the east sidings I can not comment on the 47's which take a train into the west sidings
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Post by rheostar on Mar 2, 2018 8:51:27 GMT
Acton Town was the fact the point heaters wasn't working to the east sidings I can not comment on the 47's which take a train into the west sidings Despite SSL saying that the point heaters were working.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Mar 2, 2018 9:14:29 GMT
I couldn’t possibly comment on the condition of any of the point heaters
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Post by PiccNT on Mar 2, 2018 13:03:02 GMT
Well I'm hoping for a less eventful evening tonight. Last night was another challenging shift. Slow all the way West although it seems a lot of people didn't risk going to work yesterday. Was supposed to go to T4 but got reversed at Hounslow Central (customers delighted to be tipped out on a freezing cold platform) and slow all of the way back to Arnos Grove. The Hammersmith problem reared its head as I was going through there on the East. Issue with WD32C so trains were being routed through Barons Court sidings and then that stopped and then started again. Then there was another problem at Acton Town and I think we could only use one platform.
Was supposed to do Arnos-Cockfosters-T4-Cockfosters-Depot for my second half. Train massively late so it was reversed at Arnos and set off about 20 minutes down. Then it dawned on me that my arrival at Gillespie Road station would coincide with some extremely unhappy Gooners flooding out of the stadium. Sure enough, stacks of glum faces and I also got held there for a few minutes as there was a bit of a headway behind. Seeing so many miserable looking Gooners was of course the highlight of the evening. So off I went again and picked up a load more of them at Cale Road. Some got off at Kings X but train still very busy.
Got to Covent Garden, closed doors. No pilot light. Sorry, doors closed visual. Great, car 5, something had snapped between two sets of double doors and I now had two doors that slid open and closed by themselves. EVERYONE OFF! Relieved Covent Garden of one of their members of staff to ride in the car. Next stop Northfields but took an age to get there due to the problems at Acton.
Ah, I thought. I can relax on the cushions going back to Cockfosters. Called the Controller and he kindly asked me to grab another train out of Northfields Depot. So me and the CSA (he loved all of this) got our train and headed back East. In the end, got back and stabled about 30 minutes down.
It's been a challenging week. Tonight, there will be no problems!
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Mar 2, 2018 18:44:30 GMT
Acton Town was at the decision of the management not to use 40’s points taking a train from the WBF to the WBL
Hammersmith was a problem with a lever motor on the frame
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Post by rheostar on Mar 2, 2018 19:13:46 GMT
Well I'm hoping for a less eventful evening tonight. Last night was another challenging shift. Slow all the way West although it seems a lot of people didn't risk going to work yesterday. Was supposed to go to T4 but got reversed at Hounslow Central (customers delighted to be tipped out on a freezing cold platform) and slow all of the way back to Arnos Grove. The Hammersmith problem reared its head as I was going through there on the East. Issue with WD32C so trains were being routed through Barons Court sidings and then that stopped and then started again. Then there was another problem at Acton Town and I think we could only use one platform. ! At Acton Town, 40 points kept failing in reverse due to ice in the point blades. These points take trains from the fast to the local and the Northfields depot trains use this route to they don’t block the westbound fast at Northfields when tipping out. Due to this failure all of the service was using the fast. At Barons Court, WD32c kept failing intermittently. One train was held up in section, then the signal cleared on its own accord. A second train had the same problem, so the service was diverted via Barons Court sidings. That worked for about five trains, but then the route for the sidings WD35r2 failed. In the end, 17 and 18 points were secured up normal to allow trains to be worked through on the fast. As it happens, once the points had been secured up WD32c didn’t fail again. It was a horrible night on the Piccadilly line.
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Post by goldenarrow on Mar 2, 2018 19:22:29 GMT
Is WD32(C) the WB Hammersmith Multiple Home with harbour lights to left?
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