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Post by malcolmffc on May 6, 2011 18:59:10 GMT
Took my first ride on an S stock this pm. An absolute delight - cool, comfortable and a smooth ride. Definitely the future of LU. My only gripe was the bars being yellow instead of maroon! Certainly a different class from the hot, dirty, noisy old A stock I had to take back...
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Post by malcolmffc on May 4, 2011 5:50:31 GMT
Let's just be grateful this hasn't spread to the tube. Instead of the Met line, we could have the "Aldgate/Baker Street to Watford/Uxbridge/Chesham/Amersham" line, and the District would be renamed to the snappy "Wimbledon/Ealing Broadway/Richmond to Upminster" line
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Post by malcolmffc on May 1, 2011 9:01:32 GMT
Did the 67s actually need replacing? Over the past few years (before they've been left uncleaned etc. due to their impending scrapping) they've always seemed in good nick and had a relatively low rate of train failure. Was it just due to their age? Or with 2012 approaching was it felt this was the right time to replace them? I'll miss the old transverse seating, at least the Bakerloo trains will be around for a bit longer. Yes, they absolutely do. They're noisy, life expired, not wheelchair friendly and above all cannot cope with the more modern signalling system needed to give the Vic the capacity boost it desperately needs. And the maintenance costs if they were kept would soon outweigh the cost of replacing them. As for the transverse seating, I presume you've never travelled on the Vic in rush hour and tried to use them. An enormous waste of space compared to longitudinal searting, plus the tranverse seats are so close together that you'll spend the entire journey with someone else's knee in your crotch. I'm delighted to see this mistake hasn't been repeated with the '09s. The '67s deserve the good send-off they are getting with the tour, but their time has been and gone, and a replacement is frankly long overdue.
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Post by malcolmffc on Apr 27, 2011 12:52:20 GMT
The idea of windows is to see what station your at! No longer necessary given the dot matrix displays inside the cars
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Post by malcolmffc on Apr 4, 2011 5:52:20 GMT
The grey theme on the Victoria line has been replaced almost everywhere - looks like they're just leaving Pimlico alone as an "original" Victoria line station. Understandable as the grey looks horrid!
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Post by malcolmffc on Mar 25, 2011 9:04:42 GMT
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Post by malcolmffc on Mar 25, 2011 6:51:15 GMT
When is the next S Stock likely to be introduced? It's been a long time since the last one!
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Post by malcolmffc on Mar 17, 2011 7:12:15 GMT
Good to see some work there, even if it's not the most exciting choice of colour. The 1970s Picc extension platforms look extremely dated, and the T123 station design is terrible for those with luggage.
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Post by malcolmffc on Mar 11, 2011 7:29:07 GMT
Unfortunately the wheelchair blobs are a legal requirement.
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Post by malcolmffc on Mar 7, 2011 7:07:07 GMT
It's a shame those awful disabled splodges can't be got rid of, too. Agreed. It would be far better for TfL to just print a special "access impaired" (or whatever the politically correct term is) version of the map, and keep the blobs off the main map. Especially since the map in its current form doesn't even contain full step free information. There are many stations (Stockwell, Finsbury Park to name a few) where access to the platforms is not step free, but the interchange between the lines is.
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Post by malcolmffc on Feb 28, 2011 22:59:22 GMT
It's not like there's anything to see out the windows on the Victoria Line! If it makes for a quicker ride then it's definitely worth it.
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Post by malcolmffc on Feb 28, 2011 10:21:31 GMT
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Post by malcolmffc on Feb 22, 2011 7:33:00 GMT
Nothing can beat the skilled input of a human, simple as! I'd say part of the reason the 67 ATO is so smooth is the crudeness of the traction systems taking so long to respond. You do make a fair point about rail gaps, as they are of varying length for say pointwork, or some for isolation gaps. Nothing other than a busline would solve the jerkiness from that, and two problems there; a) not permitted b) unsafe. But the whole point of ATO is that it can consider the whole line at once, rather than from individual drivers' perspectives, and adjust speeds accordingly
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Post by malcolmffc on Feb 17, 2011 6:52:21 GMT
Jubilee is a different matter, as the Waterloo entrance is right in front of the platforms where trains from Wimbledon usually arrive.
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Post by malcolmffc on Feb 17, 2011 6:49:00 GMT
Why on earth would an open train be an increased fire risk? Look up Channel Tunnel fire(s). I need some help - can you point out the section of the Met on the tube map that involves a 25 mile tunnel for me?
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Post by malcolmffc on Feb 16, 2011 17:20:00 GMT
Why on earth would an open train be an increased fire risk?
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Post by malcolmffc on Feb 16, 2011 7:15:57 GMT
www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/projectsandschemes/15360.aspx states that: "Trains every five minutes (increasing to every four minutes in 2012) will call at all stations between Highbury & Islington and Surrey Quays."Is this true? I thought some of the current 5 min service was still planned to terminate at Dalston Jct. It doesn't say all trains will go to H&I. It says that of the trains that do, there will be one every 5 mins. IIRC the Clapham Jn trains will only run as far as Dalston.
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Post by malcolmffc on Feb 16, 2011 7:14:02 GMT
Suspended again on Tuesday due to axle-counter failure at St. John's Wood (Plus trains "not communicating" at the east end.) All this when the "Brit Awards" were going on at the O2. Will this ever work, and wouldn't conventional driving with old-fashioned multi-home auto signals, plus the semis operated by signal boxes, have provided a more intensive and reliable service? No.
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Post by malcolmffc on Feb 15, 2011 6:59:25 GMT
I'd pick going via Vauxhall in a heartbeat (speaking as someone who does a similar journey every day.) Much easier interchange, especially if you're going from rail to tube. If you come in on platforms 1-4 at Waterloo then it's an absolute trek to the Bakerloo.
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Post by malcolmffc on Feb 7, 2011 6:48:39 GMT
Would it really take that long to repaint the bars yellow if it was decided to move an S8 to another line?
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Post by malcolmffc on Jan 31, 2011 19:21:57 GMT
Wasn't there supposed to be a "Euston Interchange Plan" to link Euston and Euston Square? Presumably that canned when Metronet went under?
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Post by malcolmffc on Jan 31, 2011 13:10:33 GMT
Yes - unfortunately TfL doesn't trust the public to remember lines by names anymore, it seems. We should be greatful they haven't renamed the Met line to the "Chesham/Amersham/Watford to Baker Street/Aldgate" line, I suppose.
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Post by malcolmffc on Jan 30, 2011 10:13:03 GMT
The platforms themselves are in dire need of refurbishment. Euston Sq has got to be the most scuzzy station in Zone 1 now that Kings' X and Tower Hill have been done up.
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Post by malcolmffc on Jan 30, 2011 10:11:51 GMT
I believe the top speed of the D78s if quicker than the 73ts. Given that, wouldn't it make more sense to have the District be the fast line between Acton and Hammersmith, and the Picc be the slow one?
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Post by malcolmffc on Jan 15, 2011 20:00:01 GMT
Actually, Boris never said he wanted driverless trains. He was just pointing out that the skill level to drive a train on a line that has ATO is much lower than a line that leaves manual driving. Therefore, in future it will be easier to draft in extra train drivers from other lines etc. in the event of strike action.
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Post by malcolmffc on Jan 12, 2011 14:02:56 GMT
Are any farewell events for the 67s planned?
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Post by malcolmffc on Jan 5, 2011 6:54:50 GMT
I think the CLJ trains will only go as far as Dalston Junction, on the basis that if you want to go from Clapham Jn to H&I it'll be quicker to go via Willesden Junction.
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Post by malcolmffc on Jan 4, 2011 9:37:32 GMT
Sorry if this is old news, but it looks like the ELL extension to H&I will be opening in late February, well ahead of the official May date. There are direct H&I - West Croydon trains in the National Rail journey planner for Sun 28th Feb onwards
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Post by malcolmffc on Dec 16, 2010 6:53:04 GMT
Here's hoping for modern signage and removal of the hideous red/green colour scheme with its delightful inch-thick grouting. Hope the Paolozzis stay, though.
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Post by malcolmffc on Dec 9, 2010 1:09:40 GMT
It looks like refurbishment work is finally starting on the remaining third of platforms, after a delay of 2 years. It also looks like the 1970s station signs that run across the platform (sorry, don't know the techincal name for them!) are being replaced. I always wondered why they didn't replace them at Bond Street when that station was refurbed and made all bathroom-esque.
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