So where did November go?

So, here we are one month on from the clocks going back, and it's just as dark again at silly o'clock in the morning. It is tipping it down with rain and there is bad weather due for tomorrow. Yum yum.

Actually, I've been feeling a bit guilty of late. What blogging there has been has been mostly off topic, and there has been a definite rationing of mentions of the Central Line.

Today was a bit strange in London- there just didn't seem to be many people about. Our office had less than 1/3 of the usual bums on seats and this seemed to be reflective of how busy it was on the streets and underground.

I caught a Metropolitan Line train from Baker Street towards Aldgate at about eight o'clock this morning. There was hardly anyone on the platform and the train was half full (or half empty).

This evening the Central Line platform at Tottenham Court Road had only a smattering of the usual gormless tourists people in the way and my big Chiltern Line train home had plenty of seats.

I can't fathom it out- where is everyone?

The Bakerloo Line was suspended a few minutes ago between Elephant & Castle and Queens Park. However I was long gone and it seems to have sorted itself out now.

Apart from the aforementioned lines I have, this week, been on the Docklands Light Railway, The Jubilee Line and The Northern Line. All without problem or hassle. Just how it should be.

While I remember, I did have a bit of a 'mare on the DLR last Thursday (22 Nov) when it took half an hour in the evening from Bank to Westferry. Never mind, I was on the way to the pub, hence why I had almost forgotten.

That's me caught up for now- hopefully (?), December will be a bit more interesting.

I always thought I was in the wrong job...

Which Action Hero Would You Be? v. 2.0 created with QuizFarm.com

You scored as Indiana Jones Indiana Jones is an archaeologist/adventurer with an unquenchable love for danger and excitement. He travels the globe in search of historical relics. He loves travel, excitement, and a good archaeological discovery. He hates Nazis and snakes, perhaps to the same degree. He always brings along his trusty whip and fedora. He's tough, cool, and dedicated. He relies on both brains and brawn to get him out of trouble and into it. Indiana Jones 63% The Amazing Spider-Man 63% James Bond, Agent 007 63% Lara Croft 58% Neo, the "One" 54% The Terminator 54% Captain Jack Sparrow 54% Batman, the Dark Knight 50% William Wallace 50% Maximus 46% El Zorro 42%

Apathy is not good - Wear your poppy with pride

Today is Remembrance Sunday, when the nation commemorates the sacrifices made by Britain's war dead.

Over the last few days I have carried out a very simple straw poll of people's attitude towards Remembrance Sunday and also towards The Royal British Legion's Poppy Appeal:

• Number of people I have spoken to who watched Panorama last Monday- a topical programme about what our troops are currently doing in Afghanistan: None
• Number of my work colleagues observed to have been wearing a poppy last week: Less than one in seven
• Number of people that I know personally (outside of my family), who have today participated in any formal act of remembrance: Three

One observation I have would be that the likelihood of participation in any act of remembrance appears, among the general population, to increase with the distance you live from a major city centre.

Remembrance Sunday is not about glorifying war. It is about commemorating those who have made the ultimate sacrifice in the name of our country. You may not agree with war, you may not agree with some of the things our armed services are currently being asked to do, but please do remember all of those who have not come back and who may yet not come back.

Many of those who do come back have (and will) bear terrible scars. Some of those scars are all too obvious to see, while many are not.

All of these people and their families need active support to help them through their difficulties.

Please wear your poppy with pride and do as much as you can to support those who suffer in the name of your country.

Later:

I was pleased to see a one minute silence at Vicarage Road (Saracens -v- Glasgow Warriors). You could have heard a pin drop as the seven thousand strong crowd stood and paid their respects.

A bit over the top

Chiltern Railways appear to have installed a new automated announcement system at Beaconsfield.

Tonight:

"I am sorry to announce that the 18:41 train to London Marylebone is running approximately one minute late. I am sorry for the delay to your journey. Please listen for further announcements."

This was about 90 seconds before the train appeared.

A similar announcement then came on the opposite platform for a different train, with the delay being three minutes, rapidly increased to four minutes then reduced to one minute.

It might be a new toy, but passengers will rapidly get frustrated by announcements that are too frequent. Chiltern usually operate like clockwork, but are they being a bit OTT?

An interesting couple of days for Chiltern Railways

Last night, just after 18:30, there was a fatality in the Wembley Stadium area.

This brought total chaos to all Chiltern Railways' trains out of Marylebone and many people in Buckinghamshire were hours late in getting home.

This morning's train into London had an air of people just getting on with their commute. Not a bunch of happy campers.

Tonight saw a signal failure in the Neasden area- a few cancellations, delays and no doubt quite a few people again late.

To top that, I have just got off a train, where the driver appears to be trying to do a Lewis Hamilton. If you don't believe me, look at this screen grab from the online train tracker....

I hope no-one missed their train.

Not Living Along the Central Line

There are pros and cons about living in the Buckinghamshire countryside and having to commute into London every day.

I took this picture at seven thirty this morning from my study. Other than changing its size for uploading, the photograph is unaltered. I don't recall a similar view from my flat Along the Central Line.

Definitely one of the pros of living in the country.

One of the cons is that I am almost at the stage of giving up on the idea of getting on the Central Line (eastbound) at Oxford Circus in the morning rush hour. It is a total pain and I usually end up letting at least one train go.

When I lived out at the Western extremities of the line, I had a simple rule- if I couldn't get a seat, I didn't get on. In more years than I care to think about, you could count on your fingers the number of times I let a train go, so as to not break my little rule.

Sliced, diced or squashed?

Last night I managed to catch a fast train out of London Marylebone, first stop High Wycombe.

We were haring along between Beaconsfield and High Wycombe when the train suddenly decelerated rapidly and came to a stop. It was a strange place to stop - regular commuters on any line get a feeling for these things.

After about three minutes the train started to move again.

As we approached High Wycombe, the driver advised us over the intercom that he had felt it necessary to stop the train, because three boys had been stood between the rails on the opposite line throwing stones. Unbelievable!

Trains often travel a 75 miles per hour along that stretch of line. If you get hit by a train, the train will always win.

And to think, the school half-term holiday had only started a couple of hours before.

Abandoned Station

Well, it is now a couple of weeks since all the fun of the royal visit to my local station. All that new paint, fresh posters and general spit & polish.

Would it surprise you to know that every single poster relating to weekend engineering work is now out of date? No, I thought not.

Clearly every bit of budget that Chiltern Railways allocate to this corner of Buckinghamshire was spent in all the excitement of trying to impress.

Well that was a waste of time

This morning the Central Line was suspended between Ealing Broadway and North Acton, first thing.

In my little mind that says that the service oughtn't to be disrupted too much for the rest of the line, as trains can reverse as required at White City, North Acton or Northolt.

I knew about the suspension before I left home out in the sticks.

By the time I got to Marylebone, the earlier problems had been resolved, but the service was now suspended Westbound Only between Leytonstone and Liverpool Street. Now that is (in my view) more serious as not only is that stretch of line used by tens of thousands of people at around 9.00 am, but it is relatively slow to reverse trains at Liverpool Street. Big gaps in the service were therefore therefore likely to occur in the central area, particularly Westbound.

So... why the flipping heck did I even bother to catch a Bakerloo Line train to Oxford Circus with a view to changing onto the Central Line. It was chaos. I ended up emerging into the daylight, mole like, at Oxford Circus and continuing my journey on foot at street level.

My journey from Marylebone to work took me 35 minutes. Any other variation of public transport would have been quicker, as would walking the whole way. I knew there were problems, so why the flipping heck did I even try?

Pillock.

And the Reason for all the Housekeeping...

Most of the commuters who use my local station will have been totally unaware of the reason for all the tidying up....

Well yesterday afternoon there was a visit from The Duke of Gloucester who formally opened the station museum (which is actually the waiting room on the London bound platform).

There is an account of the visit in one of the local papers and, by all accounts, His Royal Highness seemed to be genuinely interested in the community work in and around the station. I have previously met the Duke (and separately the Duchess) so, whatever your views on the Royal Family, my personal view is that they work incredibly hard to support local communities around the UK.

The Station Museum waiting room at Saunderton does tend to be locked outside of the morning peak hours. If anyone wants to have a look at the information boards etc I should be able to make contact with someone to arrange to open up for you, obviously with advance notice. I hope I don't live to regret this offer! I may be contacted at centraluseratgooglemail[changetheobvious]dotcom.

Perhaps our rural stations could be improved across the network by somehow arranging regular royal visits.

Be warned, there is only one train (Chiltern Railways) an hour in each direction at the weekend and no public facilities. There are however loads of walks in the area and a reasonable pub just down the road.

Well, that's my life of incognito blogging well and truly blown!

Circle Line & Hammersmith & City Line both Suspended

This morning the Circle and Hammersmith & City Lines are each totally suspended. In addition there is no service on the District Line between High Street Kensington and Edgware Road.

This blog is not constantly updated, so please visit the tfl website for up to date information.

The Real Time Map shows the huge impact of these suspensions.

It is apparantly all down to 'Health & Safety'. The BBC website states the issue as being around the "Traction Brake Controller". I don't work on the railway, so may be wrong, but I think this is (or is connected to) the "Deadman's Handle".

It looks as though I may be on the Central Line today!

What's to be done about the Jubilee Line?

When I first moved to London, I used to commute in every day from Stanmore which is at the Northern end of the Jubilee Line. My Father would go all the way to the other end (Charing Cross) while I would get off at the penultimate stop, Green Park. The service was good.

Please note: The Jubilee Line does not go to Charing Cross anymore (unless you are Jason Bourne). The line has now been extended on from Green Park to Stratford via Canary Wharf (and lots of other interesting places).

I should point out that I am talking ancient history here. The Docklands Light Railway had not yet opened, London City Airport had not opened and not a brick or girder had been laid at Canary Wharf.

Now, I quite regularly have to go to Canary Wharf. If I am going from home, I will pick up the Jubilee Line from Baker Street. Quite frankly traveling from the West End to Canary Wharf sucks.

This morning I was at Baker Street by 7.25am and the Jubilee Line was packed. I've done the same journey loads of times this year and it is always heaving. Yuck.

The problem is, there are just too many people using the Jubilee Line at peak hours. It isn't going to get any better, because they keep on putting new buildings up in Docklands. More buildings = more commuters.

I don't know what the answer is, but it must get worse before it gets better.

Unexpected Station Refurbishment

Although I still use the London Underground most days, my local train station is now most definitely in a rural location. Leafy Buckinghamshire to be precise.

Two weeks ago the footbridge at the station started getting repainted. Last weekend the footway and stairs on the bridge were re-covered and the steps got bright new yellow lines. Over the last few days all of the posters have been renewed. The grass banks adjacent to the car park have also been strimmed. Oh and a few strategically place plants and flowers have appeared. There was even a member of Chiltern Railways' staff at the station at 6.30am this morning.

If I didn't know better, I would think this all rather peculiar...

A Really Bad Evening for Chiltern Railways

This evening there was a 'Track Circuit Failure' in the Willesden Green area, affecting all Chiltern Railways' trains out of London Marylebone. It affected services from 18:00.

I travel to Buckinghamshire, to a little country station in the middle of nowhere. The various combinations of subsequent cancellations and early terminations conspired together to mean that my destination temporarily disappeared out of the psyche of Chiltern Railways. That and an alleged ban on the use of Special Stop Orders meant that I got home 75 minutes later than I should have done.

One Customer Charter Refund request on the way.

The problem is now fixed.

Tube Strikes Suspended

The good news is that the RMT suspended it's strike action very late last night, so in theory that's that.

The bad news is that they left it so bloody late that, this morning, the same three lines are running (Jubilee, Northern and Piccadilly) on London Underground. Currently (07:00 am) there is no service running on any other line. Live travel updates are, as usual, available.

The whole way this industrial action has happened has really pissed me off. I expect tomorrow that I will wake up to find dinosaurs wandering around Hyde Park. I do not know anything about what was discussed at yesterday's negotiations between the parties concerned. However (and I am genuinely sorry if this annoys any of my regular readers), I think the RMT lives in the dark ages and their whole approach to industrial relations sucks.

Also, I note that the industrial action is 'suspended'. It's like a sword of Damocles hanging over London.

I shall now get back in my kennel, take a deep breath and then go to work. Grrrr.

Good morning!

There are No Cities in Scotland

The statement that "There are No Cities in Scotland" is not presented as a fact. It was however presented as such by two teenage girls overheard in conversation on a train last Friday.

I should point out that the two individiuals had just boarded a train at Liskeard ("the main urban centre in south east Cornwall"), population approx 8,700. As locals they were clearly very worldly-wise and I was prepared to defer to their knowledge of Scotland.
View Larger Map

Having traveled directly from Edinburgh (Scotland) to Cornwall just a few days before, I had a reasonable idea that there are some cities in Scotland. Nevertheless I realised that I needed to check and double-check the position. Obviously anything heard in conversation must be considered accurate unless proven otherwise by the power of the internet thingy.

A new Label has been allocated to this post.

For the record there are a number of cities in Scotland, the most obvious of which are Edinburgh and Glasgow. More may be found detailed here.

Industrial Action on the London Underground

In case you have missed it, major industrial action is taking place on the London Underground at present.

Only three London Underground Lines are working: Jubilee, Northern and Piccadilly (though the Piccadilly is a bit dodgy in West/ North West London).

All other London Underground Lines (including the Central Line) are suspended. The industrial Action is due to finish at 18:00 on Thursday 6th September, though a normal service is not expected to resume until Friday morning.

The Docklands Light Railway is unaffected and all National Rail Services are similarly NOT affected by the industrial action.

Real time information is available here, via the tfl website.

A Fun Morning on the Underground

Large chunks of the underground were thrown into chaos this morning due to "Emergency Engineering Work" somewhere in the Whitechapel area.

The District Line had a chunk missing, the Hammersmith & City Line was suspended East of Moorgate, The Metropolitan Line was suspended East of Baker Street and the Circle Line was suspended.

I understand that there was a minor tunnel collapse before the trains started running (I mean MINOR) and the services were up and running by about Noon.

I diverted to the Bakerloo & Central Lines for the first time this week, only to find the both lines exceptionally busy (passengers have to go somewhere), not helped by a Bakerloo Line train being taken out of service at Regents Park.

The Ultimate Blog?

What to blog about today?

Well...

1. I traveled on the Central Line and it was like clockwork.
2. I have just been to see The Bourne Ultimatum. It was brilliant and I thoroughly recommend it. It is a bit of a Boys Own adventure, the pace is almost none stop, there is some incredible cinematography and the storyline goes right on till the end. Also I am a convert to digital cinema- my previous experience of a digital projector left me saying 'never again', but clearly the technology has moved on and I now eat my words.

The wonders of the English language

Chiltern Railways have invested a lot of time, trouble (and money) into car parking facilities for their passengers. Warwick Parkway has masses of car parking spaces (564), Bicester has a multi-storey car park (well, double-decker) and the management of most is outsourced.

A very small number of stations have free parking, though don't all rush to use the facilities at Little Kimble as I think it has a whole four spaces.

Anyhow, with all this investment and management, it amused me to see a small notice taped over a sign at one car park entrance today. I have replicated the notice here for your convenience. While the meaning is clear, it nevertheless amused me to think how many different nuances and meanings the sign might have.

I really must get out more.

I have recently inherited a small second-hand digital camera (my Digital SLR is fantastic, but a bit big for carrying around everyday). Maybe I should start to carry the new one around with me... Just in case.