Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 17, 2006 10:36:52 GMT
Just wondering if anyone can solve something thats been nagging me for ages... On the EB district platforms at Earls Court (towards the Warwick Rd exit) there is a stairway that is gated off that appears to lead down towards the Picc line circulating area, but when you go to the Picc circulating area the area those stairs lead to is partitioned off. Just wondered what this area is for and if it is ever used? My only guess is that it's for some sort of extra access to the Exhibition Centre but I can't see where it might lead to, except extra space behind the partition. Hope that makes sense??? Thanks
|
|
|
Post by Tubeboy on Sept 17, 2006 10:51:36 GMT
I dont know if I am thinking of the same place, but it is another exit for the station, and leads to the exhibition centre. I did my gateline training there, as it is disused and has a large array of gates. You come off the platforms, down a staircase, then down a declining slope to the barriers. I remember the passageway being filthy [The trainer said it was hardly ever used]. I THINK??? there are about 8-10 gates there [as well as an sa box.]
|
|
|
Post by citysig on Sept 17, 2006 12:20:25 GMT
If it is the same place, I too went down there years ago as an apprentice. Still being relatively new to the job and London itself, it all seemed a bit confusing that there were all these exhibition centres and then this corridor - which felt like it went under the station and was never used. I remember seeing the ticket gates and thinking it was all a bit surreal that everything was there and operational except there were no passengers.
|
|
Colin
Advisor
My preserved fire engine!
Posts: 11,346
|
Post by Colin on Sept 17, 2006 12:25:01 GMT
And a fully working ticket office Yes, it is the Exhibition ticket hall & passageway - it's not disused as such, it just isn't used if that makes sense Everything up there works and is fully maintained - that includes the escalators, ticket office, gateline the whole lot. Even Viacom go down there to update the adverts! It was only recently used once a year for 3 weeks whilst the Ideal Home Show was on, but the cost of extra staff both for LUL and the exhibition centre meant that soon got discontinued (and yet they still pay to maintain it . It's a shame as I used enjoy it up there both on the gateline and in the ticket office - it was very quiet compared to rest of the station and we had all the time in the world to talk to customers, etc..........ah the memories..........
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 19, 2006 11:10:21 GMT
Thanks for that folks. That has always bugged me!
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 19, 2006 11:15:54 GMT
Everything up there works and is fully maintained - that includes the escalators, ticket office, gateline the whole lot. Even Viacom go down there to update the adverts! That isnt the case anymore. When i did my SA training about a year ago, the adverts where most certainly not up to date, and half of the gates did not work as they should, including the SCU. So it was in a way, a bit of a pointless activity!
|
|
Colin
Advisor
My preserved fire engine!
Posts: 11,346
|
Post by Colin on Sept 19, 2006 14:17:53 GMT
Things may have changed from my stations days then
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 19, 2006 14:35:43 GMT
Things may have changed from my stations days then So it seems lol!
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 19, 2006 16:25:38 GMT
I used to work at Earl's Court until a short time ago, so can add a bit to Colin's info.
Some of the adverts at the ticket hall end of the subway were placed there a year or so ago by a film crew, which explains why they are out of date.
The reason for the gates and SCU don't work correctly is that they are linked to the fire panel in the Station Control Room. When the daily test is carried out somebody is supposed to trek down the subway to reset the gates, but it is never done. It was suggested that it would be a good idea for the gates to be switched off until needed eg training, but bizzarly the request was turned down as it would go against the stations gateline availability target.
The escalators are switched on for a few hours each Sunday, and are not reversible. They have big signs in the machine room stating which escalator heads up or down, although they weren't noticed by a DSM a while back who switched them on the wrong way round, who then watched in horror as the handrail neatly removed itself from it's mounting. ;D
|
|
Colin
Advisor
My preserved fire engine!
Posts: 11,346
|
Post by Colin on Sept 19, 2006 22:01:51 GMT
The escalators are switched on for a few hours each Sunday, and are not reversible. They have big signs in the machine room stating which escalator heads up or down, although they weren't noticed by a DSM a while back who switched them on the wrong way round, who then watched in horror as the handrail neatly removed itself from it's mounting. ;D Indeed, I've seen that happen several times - trouble is the Picc escalators are reversible and certain DSM's don't get out of their office's enough to know which is which
|
|