Londoners, how do you cope with the tube system?

[lynx]

I travel to London fairly frequently and i can cope reasonably well getting from A to B providing there are no problems. On Wednesday, my meeting finished early so i thought great, I'll get home sharpish - oh really. I had just bought a tube ticket to travel from kings cross to paddington only to hear the announcer inform travellers a train was immovable, no further trains would be available on the hammersmith and city line and would all travellers make alternative arrangements. Everyone else appeared to take this in their stride and appeared to know where they were going - everyone but me. A look at the tube map and i decided i needed to get a train on the Piccadilly line to Piccadilly circus and change to the Bakerloo line to Paddington. Easier said than done, remember I'm a visitor, not a local and i didn't know if i needed to be on an east, west, north or south platform.
Asking the tube customer service staff for assistance was an exercise in futility.

My stress levels were through the roof. Do locals get used to this or do you simply resign yourself to holdups and breakdowns.

BTW, they knew there was a hold up when they sold me the tube ticket, the sods could have told me beforehand and i could have got a taxi to Paddington.

I'm always glad to be on my way home and this time was no different.

[mjn]

Originally Posted by lynx

Do locals get used to this or do you simply resign yourself to holdups and breakdowns.

We take it in our stride....still it could have been worse, it could have been the Northern Line!

[Casshern89]

I think its something you get used to quite quickly, ive been in London since late sept and find the underground very easy now. With all the line upgrades at the moment there are quite a few changes, supprised what you say about the staff as i find them really good especially on changes theres normally dedicated staff directing people maybe you where unlucky . My worst one personally was coming back to london after going home for the weekend arriving at waterloo 10.30pm getting to canning town to find the DLR had been down for the weekend after a few moment of panic i was directed onto a bus going straght to where i needed to go.

I think its something you pick up very quickly on a daily basis you get used to jumping on lines, you just need to get it into your head that you dont always go direct theres normally a few changed involved and multiple routes to the same place.

[NewMan]

Originally Posted by lynx

Easier said than done, remember I'm a visitor, not a local and i didn't know if i needed to be on an east, west, north or south platform.

Lol. I do feel sorry for people coming to London, I tend to hear the same stories all the time. I'm quite lucky in that respect, I grew up in London and the tube is like second nature to me.

One thing to remember is that the tube map is laid out in a convenient North/South/East/West format. If you need to go from left to right, you need an Eastbound train. If you need to go from down to up, you need a Northbound train... For stations on a diagonal line, it'll be either one or the other (Northbound or Westbound, not northwest bound, or Southbound or Eastbound, not southeast bound!)...

I just read that back and you're probably more confused than before...

Best of luck!

[jamesvtidohc]

I heard about this on the radio todayand thought, people are going to be mighty ****** today.

Tubes suck though, rush hour or not, it feels really scummy, hot, its not nice at all and unfortunately, I work for a company who will be re-locating to an area where tube is the only mode of transport to get to the area (at least from my direction).

Its a deal breaker for me and I will be looking for another job before the re-location next year.

[Ed Selley]

Originally Posted by lynx

I travel to London fairly frequently and i can cope reasonably well getting from A to B providing there are no problems. On Wednesday, my meeting finished early so i thought great, I'll get home sharpish - oh really. I had just bought a tube ticket to travel from kings cross to paddington only to hear the announcer inform travellers a train was immovable, no further trains would be available on the hammersmith and city line and would all travellers make alternative arrangements. Everyone else appeared to take this in their stride and appeared to know where they were going - everyone but me. A look at the tube map and i decided i needed to get a train on the Piccadilly line to Piccadilly circus and change to the Bakerloo line to Paddington. Easier said than done, remember I'm a visitor, not a local and i didn't know if i needed to be on an east, west, north or south platform.
Asking the tube customer service staff for assistance was an exercise in futility.

My stress levels were through the roof. Do locals get used to this or do you simply resign yourself to holdups and breakdowns.

BTW, they knew there was a hold up when they sold me the tube ticket, the sods could have told me beforehand and i could have got a taxi to Paddington.

I'm always glad to be on my way home and this time was no different.

You have my sympathy. I no longer use the tube daily but if I lose a line, there are few stations in zone 1 and 2 I don't know a backup for- I have been using the damn thing for a decade though.

All I would say is if you find yourself watching everybody else move like a shoal of fish- ask one what the best course of action is. Most people on the tube will supply info if asked- when the chips are down there is an "us and them" mentality you may find useful.

[Ian J]

When I first started work ( no jokes about dinosaurs roaming the land please) I lived in the Surrrey commuter belt and had a three quarters of a mile walk to the station to catch a very crowded train to Victoria then had to fight my way onto a tube for the remainder of the journey. After a while you get used to the unpleasantness of it all but it's the sort of thing that once you manage to escape it's never that easy to return to and I now dread the once or twice a year that I have to cross London by tube

[eric pisch]

This is where TFLs clever master plan comes in, they make all other forms of travel in London such a nightmare that the tubes seam OK.

Of course Mayor Kens crusade against the car was let down by the fact that public transport is running at beyond capacity already and there was no where to put the drivers.

Been a huge increase in cyclists over the last few years.

[eviljohn2]

I just put my earphones in and go with the flow. It can be quite unpleasant but I always make an effort to look more cheerful than everyone else in the carriage (sometimes a challenge as I live at the south end of the Northern line ).

I find the tube fairly easy as I don't mind a short walk and know the areas above ground well too so will often pick a station that's a bit further from my final destination than the tube map might say but is much easier to get to.

[stevefish69]

I've travelled the tube alone since i was aged about 8 so have the underground map and NSEW thing imprinted in my head.

I'd recommend having a pocket A to Z as when thing go wrong, instead of just following the rest of the sheep along those crowded tunnels to another misery line, just pop up top and walk to the nearest alternative. This only really applies in the Center of town, but you'll be amazed how near things really are.

Everyone complains about the tube but think how cheap this thing is now if using the Oyster card PAYG. I travel on British rail from Zone 6 to 1 and then hop on two tubes for about 10 stops daily and my journey costs me an amazing £2.00 in the morning and £3.50 back in the evening.

This means that it costs me a total of £27.50 using PAYG for the week. The weekly travelcard for the same zones is £44.60 giving a saving of £17.10 a week.

Now thats something you'll stuggle to find avdertised on the TFL website - I wonder why ????

[shahedz]

The few joys of startin at 7:15 is that you miss all the rush hour and are guaranteed a seat ( i get the Picadilly line at 6:40ish)

Even the changeover at Kings Cross for the Northern Line which is usally awful isn't that bad in the morning. I finish 7:30-8pm most days and the days i finish early i go to the gym anyway so miss the rush hour back.

If i had to travel within the rush hour would be a completely different story.

[andykn]

The benefits are generally:

1/ At least we have an alternative - once your main route in the car is blocked, even if there is an alternative it'll be stuffed too
2/ Tube users don't have to queue like rush hour traffic every single day

[andykn]

Originally Posted by eric pisch

This is where TFLs clever master plan comes in, they make all other forms of travel in London such a nightmare that the tubes seam OK.

Of course Mayor Kens crusade against the car was let down by the fact that public transport is running at beyond capacity already and there was no where to put the drivers.

Been a huge increase in cyclists over the last few years.

They're big, red and called buses. TFL's plan has always been based on the fact that both road and tube capacity are pretty much full, so the best way to allow for the increase in travellers has been to increase bus and bike capacity.

Quite easy to use with "spider maps" at most bus stops showing all the buses in the immediate area and where they all go - I can't understand why other authorities don't do it.

[eviljohn2]

The best benefit is being able to go to the pub after work without having to worry about getting home afterwards.

[lynx]

It's good to get a locals perspective on issues such as this however i recon it will be a long, long time before i'll be in a position to use the system like you guys.