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Post by edwin on Oct 1, 2008 19:47:06 GMT
I got off an eastbound Central line train at Holborn the other day and was greeted with this annoying announcement at a station with perfectly straight platforms...
Am I the only one who noticed?
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Post by 21146 on Oct 1, 2008 20:01:21 GMT
This is becoming standard - like the "please mind the gap, between the train and platform" DVA on trains at each stop, even when there isn't one. No wonder people start to disregard these messages and "tune them out".
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Post by Deleted on Oct 1, 2008 20:01:33 GMT
It has been playing on both platforms all week. Even today when the station was closed you could hear it playing as the train moved slowly through.
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Colin
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Post by Colin on Oct 2, 2008 1:27:53 GMT
If I'm not mistaken, Holborn is part the Central lines Bank group - as such, it would fall under Metromess for maintenance purposes. Metromess seem have a policy of fitting the 'mind the gap' at every single station it refurbs whether it's required or not - examples on the District where it's absolutely not required have included Gloucester Road and Elm Park....
Has Holborn recently had a refurb?
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Post by Deleted on Oct 2, 2008 6:09:03 GMT
It is in the process of being sloooowly refurbished. In the past few months they have installed new platofrm indicators and have activiated new speakers on the escalators.
Slightly off topic, why does it take so long to do these reburbs? At Holborn it seems there will be a flurry of work done then nothing for months, then a little bit more. I would have thought they would have had a team in there most nights, so every day you should see just a little more has been done.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 2, 2008 6:43:54 GMT
Actually, there IS a gap, albeit a smaller gap, no?
Anyway, in Singapore, "Please mind the gap" is played at every underground station, despite a mere three-four inch gap.
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North End
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Post by North End on Oct 2, 2008 18:28:25 GMT
It is in the process of being sloooowly refurbished. In the past few months they have installed new platofrm indicators and have activiated new speakers on the escalators. Slightly off topic, why does it take so long to do these reburbs? At Holborn it seems there will be a flurry of work done then nothing for months, then a little bit more. I would have thought they would have had a team in there most nights, so every day you should see just a little more has been done. The "Mind the gap" is a feature of the Metronet Station Management System (SMS), which is a standard feature at their refurbished stations - and as such has recently been commissioned at Holborn and St. Paul's, along with the new station operations rooms. I can assure you that work takes place at both these stations on a nightly basis, but most of it is unseen - installing cables, systems, equipment, et cetera. Holborn and (especially) St. Paul's are victims of the Metronet fiasco, where work was suspended for many months. This in itself has delayed the project as there's a lot of "snagging" to sort out. Work was supposed to have started at Chancery Lane, but this has been deferred - the official line is that station will be started within the next few months, but I wouldn't hold your breath on that. |
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Post by edwin on Oct 2, 2008 20:15:23 GMT
Actually, there IS a gap, albeit a smaller gap, no? Anyway, in Singapore, "Please mind the gap" is played at every underground station, despite a mere three-four inch gap. So? It's silly in Singapore and it's silly in London. |
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Post by superteacher on Oct 2, 2008 23:09:14 GMT
The mind the gap announcement at Bethnal Green, installed during the refurb, was turned off the last few times I was there. Another pointless announcement at a perfectly straight platformed station.
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Colin
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Post by Colin on Oct 3, 2008 0:21:32 GMT
why does it take so long to do these reburbs? At Holborn it seems there will be a flurry of work done then nothing for months, then a little bit more. I would have thought they would have had a team in there most nights, so every day you should see just a little more has been done. Aside from the Metronet troubles already mentioned, there are many reasons why work is not always obvious, or even done on a given night: - Contractors have just 4 hours (ish) to get all their gear in, do the work, then get out again
- Delivery of materials might take all 4 hours to complete
- If there's a possession booked with trains running, work cannot be carried out on the platforms
- The work done on a given night isn't obvious to, or even in a public area
- If work isn't shown on the station works plan, the Station Supervisor may refuse contractors access
- If contractors don't have the right paperwork, the Station Supervisor may refuse access
- There may be no night Station Supervisor to book on or oversee the contractors
- The contractors may not have the appropriate staff (ie, Protection Master, Site Person in Charge, Controller of Site Safety, Lookout, etc)
- If the train service finishes late, contractors may not have enough time to do their planned work
- Track Access Controllers may refuse access
I'm sure I could list more, but that's most of the common problems/occurrences that happen at many stations across the combine every night of the week. |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 3, 2008 6:07:54 GMT
Actually, there IS a gap, albeit a smaller gap, no? Anyway, in Singapore, "Please mind the gap" is played at every underground station, despite a mere three-four inch gap. So? It's silly in Singapore and it's silly in London. Perhaps. Yet, you cannot deny that every platform has a gap, even though most gaps are only three-our inches. |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 3, 2008 10:06:44 GMT
Actually, there IS a gap, albeit a smaller gap, no? Anyway, in Singapore, "Please mind the gap" is played at every underground station, despite a mere three-four inch gap. So? It's silly in Singapore and it's silly in London. It's all part of today's nonsense that people are not expected to be able to watch what they are doing. If some idiot gets its foot into the three-inch gap and gets a bruise, it could sue LU and ask why there was no warning about the gap. A response of "why didn't you look" would, alas, get nowhere in today's blame-someone-else culture. [/rant] |
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Post by edb on Oct 3, 2008 12:15:11 GMT
Surely if "Mind the gap" is announced everwhere, it looses it's impact when actually required.
Boy who cried wolf and all that.
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Post by angelislington on Oct 3, 2008 13:42:41 GMT
My poor German penfriend, when first alighting from a toobtrain, was so startled by the 'mind the gap' booming voice (I gather the speaker was right above her head!) that she fell into the gap.
It's a bit much when the train tells you to mind the gap *and* the station does too.
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Post by Alight on Oct 3, 2008 15:21:14 GMT
Is this the same "Mind the gap" as heard on the Piccadilly Line platforms at Holborn? Its quite a classic tone to hear.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 3, 2008 15:54:17 GMT
Aside from the Metronet troubles already mentioned, there are many reasons why work is not always obvious, or even done on a given night: - Contractors have just 4 hours (ish) to get all their gear in, do the work, then get out again
- Delivery of materials might take all 4 hours to complete
- If there's a possession booked with trains running, work cannot be carried out on the platforms
- The work done on a given night isn't obvious to, or even in a public area
- If work isn't shown on the station works plan, the Station Supervisor may refuse contractors access
- If contractors don't have the right paperwork, the Station Supervisor may refuse access
- There may be no night Station Supervisor to book on or oversee the contractors
- The contractors may not have the appropriate staff (ie, Protection Master, Site Person in Charge, Controller of Site Safety, Lookout, etc)
- If the train service finishes late, contractors may not have enough time to do their planned work
- Track Access Controllers may refuse access
I'm sure I could list more, but that's most of the common problems/occurrences that happen at many stations across the combine every night of the week. Actually I kind of knew the answer to the question, but your response actually highlights the root problem perfectly. That is this country is tied up with way too much red tape which makes things difficult and costly to get done. Sadly the reason for this regulation is behind the mind the gap annoucements, that is the inability of people to use their brain and take care of their own basic safety. With the annoucments I agree with someone elses comment that playing it everywhere will make it loose its real impact. I mean to say you get on a train you expect a gap, such as the one at Holborn. The annoucment should be saved for times where the gap is more than one would normally expect. Curved platforms for example. |
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Post by mcmaddog on Oct 3, 2008 16:33:51 GMT
I've noticed that each Metronet station that gets done usually receives the announcement. After a period of a few weeks it seems to then be permanently turned off at stations where it isn't appropriate.
I'm guessing that the contractors have to fully commission the system and then the station staff configure it appropriately
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Post by edb on Oct 3, 2008 22:05:29 GMT
No it's not. It's a particually wet "mind the gap please" not "MIND THE GAP!"
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Post by Alight on Oct 4, 2008 13:04:29 GMT
I was at Holborn last night after a gig; the "mind the gap please" on the Picc platforms still remains in addition to the man saying it as well - so you have this mish mash of "mind the gap please". Moreover, there are new speakers on the platforms (the white oblong type) which explain when the next train to arrive will be - this was very poor quality and far more "information overload" than the one tubelines use.
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Post by slant40 on Oct 7, 2008 20:16:54 GMT
Is this the same "Mind the gap" as heard on the Piccadilly Line platforms at Holborn? Its quite a classic tone to hear. Re: Holborn station The Piccadilly line, especially the south end of the station in the direction of Cockfosters - has quite a nasty gap, which I nearly unwittingly stepped into back in '01 - the solemn gentleman was the voice intoning "MIND the GAP" at that particular station. Very serious curvature there. |
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Post by Alight on Oct 21, 2008 15:57:50 GMT
I can confirm the Mind The Gap Lady has been fully replaced by the standard man (as heard at most 'metronet' stations e.g. Shepards Bush)
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Post by edwin on Oct 21, 2008 22:01:03 GMT
And it's no better...
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Post by singaporesam on Oct 23, 2008 14:33:52 GMT
The gap in Singapore might be small but this can still happen :
Girls leg caught in MRT platform gap 28/12/2007
SINGAPORE: With one leg wedged tightly in the gap between an MRT train and the station platform, it wasnt the most comfortable 15 minutes for a 15—year—old girl.
The girl found herself caught this way on Thursday, when she was alighting at Bugis station shortly before 5pm, in the second such incident this year.
As a result, west—bound train services between Aljunied and Outram Park stations were delayed for about 20 minutes, said an SMRT spokesperson.
The girl apparently stepped into the gap between the platform and the train by accident, resulting in her leg getting stuck up to the knee.
According to the girl’s friends who were with her, a fellow commuter called the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) while they tried to comfort her and get her out.
"It was very crowded and we kept getting pushed back. People were crowding around and trying to look and take photos of her," said a friend, one of her schoolmates at Northview Secondary School.
The friend said that because of the jostling crowds, she might have been unable to see where she was stepping. She remained "quite calm" throughout and did not appear to be too badly hurt, he added.
Using hydraulic spreaders to widen the space between the train and the platform, the paramedics took about 10 minutes to get the girl out, who was not bleeding or visibly hurt, said the SCDF.
She was sent to the Singapore General Hospital for treatment, and train services resumed at about 5.15pm.
In January, in a similar incident, a woman had her leg trapped between a train and the platform at Clementi station, causing train services to be disrupted for more than 20 minutes.
This, along with other accidents involving commuters, caused concern among some TODAY readers, who wrote in urging SMRT to take more action to monitor passenger safety at the stations. — TODAY/so
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Post by edwin on Oct 23, 2008 23:00:37 GMT
That wouldn't happen here, simply because people are used to gaps and always pay attention when getting off; just watch most people look down before they got off a train. Singapore has barely a gap at most stations, therefore people walk off the train as if they're walking along a street and incidents are more likely to happen.
Anyway, just because of one incident because a 15 year old girl wasn't paying attention does not mean that everyone else should be inconvenienced with frankly annoying repetitive and patronising announcements.
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Post by cityaet on Oct 24, 2008 17:06:27 GMT
Its a Part of the Station Management System, it is automatically Programmed into it to Announce when trains are in the Platform, its whoever do the SMS system not directly Metromess...!! The Computer has things on the Platforms that detect the Train at a Certain point (as im told) and that then sets off different sequences on the System - like the Mind the Gap Announcements.
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