Worst delays

Ten years ago on the Whitechapel train. Stuck between Baker and GPS for 30mins! Reason for delay, probably a signal failure at Farringdon! Nothing changes there!

The worst delay I've had on the H&C was recently at Baker Street. A passenger had been ill at Farringdon and the Circle, H&C and Met were being shown as having 'minor' delays. There was a gap in the eastbound H&C/Circle service, and the next Met running through to Aldgate wasn't being shown on the screens. After about 10 - 15 minutes, a Barking train came, but was very crowded and only a few people managed to get on it, so I had to wait for the next one (a Whitechapel service that arrived about two minutes later).

Shall we expand on what usually holds things up on the approach to Edgware Road westbound? Maybe this is not the place...

Overall, I couldn't possibly put my finger on one single incident during my time on the H&C (21 years and counting.)

Normally it is the passenger who will remember the delay more than us in the control room. That's not because we don't care or anything like that, but when you're actually on the ground waiting for a train, any lack of information on where that train is can make each minute seem like 2.

From the control room at Baker Street, I certainly know that when things go wrong we all do our utmost to keep the pain to a minimum. We work alongside a dedicated information team, who always pass the relevant information out to stations. In years past the information was broadcast direct from Baker Street, but unfortunately, as some here will recall if they remember the announcements, the equipment became very worn out and unreliable. It has since been removed and no replacement made. As such, we rely on the stations to act on the information they are passed.

Our key aim when things go wrong is to try and make sure nobody is stuck in a tunnel. With the amount of trains we run, particularly in the city area, this is not always immediately possible.

Due to the nature and geography of our lines, particularly the Circle, events occuring some distance from your journey can sometimes impact on it.

But rest assured, when it all goes wrong, that's when we begin to really earn our money, and trust me those "upstairs" are always watching what we do. The majority of decisions that we make which affect your journey are not taken lightly. The wealth of experience within our room means that we know what we're doing, and whilst it may not suit you personally what we've done, hundreds of other passengers may benefit considerably.

I am sure the Control Room do get stuck into handling disruptions to the service, let alone handling directly the original incident, but it is disappointing to hear that the Long Line PA, which here and elsewhere has had much investment made in it over the years to provide information, was allowed to decay and then was not replaced. Meanwhile the DLR have had funds found for a new system of the same type. How extraordinary.

I regularly board at Notting Hill Gate on the Inner Rail, and the indicator there seems unable to give any meaningful information until a couple of minutes before a train arrives, and spends much of its time blank, which rather defeats its purpose. A number of people seeing this seem to give up and head for the Central Line.