Mind the gap please

When changing ends in a siding, would you like to come face to face (on your own) with a person or group of people who are upset at being overcarried? They might be angry and violent. They might be armed.

Most people aren't, but would you like to take the chance?

At least one member here has been assaulted by a passenger who was angry/upset about not being able to get to his destination. I don't remember the exact details, but I think there were delays and the train was going to be turned short of the passenger's destination (somewhere on the West Ruislip branch of the Central iirc). The member (who was the t/op of the train) was off work for several months recovering from his injuries - this happened at a station where there were lots of other people around.
Some sidings are quite remote from help.

The guy who did it at Bank and Waterloo was the best - "MIND THE GAP!" - no ifs, no buts

Nope, an irritating female voice says something along the lines of "MIN THA GUP"

When we were allowed to Make PA's on the move and before DVA's were put in, I used to announce the station and interchanges and gaps on approach. Once in the platform I would announce where the train was going and via points first with any neccesary "stand either side of the door openings to allow passengers off the train first please", "move down inside", "use all available space/ doors" (as required) and of course stand clear.

I disagree with you, rush hour passengers are better but still require herding. I can knock a third off my dwell time with the effective use of PA's, and trust me, passengers can definitely hear the PA when they are standing by the train As already mentioned, its an authoritative voice

State the interchanges/ gaps and attractions on the approach and unlike the Bakerloo and Vic lines, ensure its loud enough to be heard whilst on the move!!

Here are my thoughts on all this: I prefer the destination and Via points to be said first as generally people need time to work out where the blummin thing is going and that the train is it going to take the people to their destination!!!! The main via points being missing is a step backwards IMHO!! I think once in a platform destination and via's are far more important than tourist spots as these have already been mentioned on approach to the station.

The way we do things now means that people have no time to work out where they are going because by the time she has stated the destination we have to close the doors or we will be holding the road causing queuing into the station. When running late, we end up cutting her off without any destination being stated at all to try and regain some time. The result is obvious.

We might as well say. . .

"This is Westminster, please mind the gap between the train and the platform, change for the Jubilee line, alight for Westminster abbey the Houses of Parliament and Westminster pier. . . . .Oh and by the way this train goes to Wimbledon just in case you wondered"!!!

As you lot can probably tell, professional PA's and our current company standard on DVA's is something close to my heart and I think we are currently a long way from getting it right on sub surface at least!!

Interesting post! Which trains did you drive? And what did passengers do wrong during rush hours?

How about "This is Green Park, change here for the Jubilee and Piccadilly lines" then doors open, about 5 secs and then "This train terminates at Brixton" do you think that the lines are all receiving "This is a Victoria line train to" to remind passengers of which lines they are on? "This train terminates" is quicker and more to the point. After that there should be a longer door closing chime, perhaps "Stand clear of the doors" and then a 2 second ringing sound, if i'm right the current "Stand clear of the doors"s are driver operated? They should be automatic. I also think that the DVAs should have correct English, why does the Northern line's say "Change for Victoria line" you change for the Victoria line, it's a noun!

Another thing that would shave off a few seconds would be to open the doors quicker, many times i've had to wait for the doors to open at rush hour, they should open before the train even stops! Some operators seem to "clock it" and do it at every station though. This is done in Paris and Moscow which both have higher frequencies than us!

These are just my observations as a commuter, i'm not pretending I know how to do the job better then anyone else!

It seems DVAs aren't neccessarily designed the way they should be... Do you think they'll be any better for the 09TS and 'S' Stock?

I don't understand why? Maybe i'm letting my idealism cloud my judgement here, but can't people see the line colour in enamel all along the platform, or the colours of the poles on the train, or simply... Know where to go? It's the fact that people can't take responsibility for themselves that all these stupid announcements have to be made. Anyway, the "This is a xxx line train to" is useless these days as it sounds too late for people to get off if they're on the wrong train.