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9th March 2012
Posted: 09 Mar 2012, 07:57
by MylesHSG
I'm sure Andi, Steve, Iain and Glen will fill you in later after their fry up at Finchley Central.
Attempt aborted early in the day at an undisclosed zone 1 location after missing a loop train with no option to fall back on.
Re: 9th March 2012
Posted: 09 Mar 2012, 19:29
by Steeevooo
Indeed, we did abort early - it wasn't so much that we didn't have an option to fall back on, more a case that the trains on our back-up plans weren't where they were supposed to be! It also doesn't help if your second train of the day runs 8 minutes late...! But never mind, the tube service is better than ever isn't it Hopeless Traveller...?!
Worthwhile day though of doing alternative challenges

Re: 9th March 2012
Posted: 09 Mar 2012, 20:08
by Steeevooo
The more I travel on the tubes (mostly for general everyday working purposes as opposed to challenges), the more I am convinced that the term "Good Service" is banded around in much the same fashion as "Best ever GCSE/A-Level results" - i.e. they are only improving because the definition of good/excellence is being weakened...
Re: 9th March 2012
Posted: 09 Mar 2012, 21:07
by Iain
Good points:
- the company and constant banter
- food - several visits to pubs and a cafe for a fry up about half past seven when we aborted
- the woman in the figleaves advert
- The new DLR record and joint fifth fastest time for the all lines - I hadn't expected to enjoy the alternative challenges but I really did in the end
Bad points:
- the repetitive farting from the two tube challengers
- the first train down to T123 left Hatton X five minutes late - held on a red signal. No idea why as it was first train and the T4 train had no issues
- after being held a further two minutes just short of T123, the driver arrived late at T5, but rather than going straight back from the same platform fannied about walking down the train and then drove into the loop and stayed there for ages, to appear as Steve has mentioned, eight mins late
- On appearing, Andi tapped his watch to indicate his displeasure, the driver then made several sarky comments along the lines of "for the gentleman with the dodgy watch, the time is now..."
- My oyster card kept on charging me all day, rather than capping at the daily limit. I will claim it back but Boris needs to sort this out
Re: 9th March 2012
Posted: 09 Mar 2012, 21:25
by hopeful traveller
Even Diamond Geezer says tube delays have been cut by 40% since '08!
I actually conducted an unbiased survey:
"How many minutes should all of a line's trains be late before it is classified as "minor delays?"
5 minutes was the message I got back from most people.
Re: 9th March 2012
Posted: 09 Mar 2012, 21:45
by tubeguru
hopeful traveller wrote:Even Diamond Geezer says tube delays have been cut by 40% since '08!
I actually conducted an unbiased survey:
"How many minutes should all of a line's trains be late before it is classified as "minor delays?"
5 minutes was the message I got back from most people.
Can you prove it was unbiased? Who did you ask? How many people did you ask? How did you word the question?
Re: 9th March 2012
Posted: 09 Mar 2012, 21:49
by Starkey7
On the other hand, that includes ten trains being thirty seconds late - I wouldn't call that a bad service.
Re: 9th March 2012
Posted: 10 Mar 2012, 00:41
by Root
^ Is that really how the question should be interpreted? I thought it was "how many minutes should each of a line's trains be late by...", not "what should the sum of delays on all a line's trains be...". Assuming that:
It still depends on a number of variables. In the centre of London, a five minute delay on all trains wouldn't really make a difference, as people seldom aim to get specific trains - they just turn up and wait for the first train. If
all the trains were five minutes late, which was the modal answer to HT's questionnaire (allegedly), the gap between the trains would still be the same, and very few people would even notice. On a train from Chesham, however, five minutes is quite a noticeable wait, as the trains are so infrequent, and people tend to arrive at the station in much higher concentrations just before a train is due to leave.
Neil already asked for more information on the survey. I'd like to see that too, but I think the question itself could do with some clarification.
Iain wrote:- On appearing, Andi tapped his watch to indicate his displeasure, the driver then made several sarky comments along the lines of "for the gentleman with the dodgy watch, the time is now..."
That's brilliant. I'm glad the driver had a sense of humour. It's pretty unlikely the delay was his fault, after all.
Re: 9th March 2012
Posted: 10 Mar 2012, 05:46
by tubeguru
Root wrote:Iain wrote:- On appearing, Andi tapped his watch to indicate his displeasure, the driver then made several sarky comments along the lines of "for the gentleman with the dodgy watch, the time is now..."
That's brilliant. I'm glad the driver had a sense of humour. It's pretty unlikely the delay was his fault, after all.
People doing that to me either get a very hard stare or some kind of subtle rhythmic wrist movement which indicates my displeasure at their twattishness.
Re: 9th March 2012
Posted: 10 Mar 2012, 08:21
by The Raven
tubeguru wrote:Root wrote:Iain wrote:- On appearing, Andi tapped his watch to indicate his displeasure, the driver then made several sarky comments along the lines of "for the gentleman with the dodgy watch, the time is now..."
That's brilliant. I'm glad the driver had a sense of humour. It's pretty unlikely the delay was his fault, after all.
People doing that to me either get a very hard stare or some kind of subtle rhythmic wrist movement which indicates my displeasure at their twattishness.
Mind you I've given train drivers a nice, friendly wave and you still get a cold stare!
Re: 9th March 2012
Posted: 10 Mar 2012, 10:47
by Sam
Train drivers tend to be pretty damn grumpy it has to be said!
There are some who do not fit this bill and I'm more than happy to wave back at anyone who waves at me!!!

Re: 9th March 2012
Posted: 11 Mar 2012, 17:15
by tractakid
On school trips, one of the more popular pastimes (particularly in queues) was counting the number of HGV drivers that waved back.

Usually, the answer was surprisingly many.
Re: 9th March 2012
Posted: 11 Mar 2012, 19:31
by tubeguru
People I wave at:
Other drivers (on trains and platforms)
Kids waving from bridges, but only when they are clearly to young to be troublemakers.
People I sound the horn at (excluding when I am required to by the rules):
The kids mentioned above,
People standing too close to the platform edge,
People on busy platforms as I pass through stations at speed.
People I do NOT wave/sound the horn at:
Spotters (except in exceptional circumstances),
People who randomly wave at me on platforms, such as drunk youths late at night,
Police (why they seem to think we're obliged to acknowledge them is beyond me).
That just about covers my strict rules regarding who you wave/sound the horn at. Hope that helps.
Re: 9th March 2012
Posted: 11 Mar 2012, 19:32
by tubeguru
***** wrote:hopeful traveller wrote:Even Diamond Geezer says tube delays have been cut by 40% since '08!.
No he hasn't.
Could someone explain to me how Diamond Geezer is an authority on tube delays?
Re: 9th March 2012
Posted: 11 Mar 2012, 21:08
by Starkey7
Would you wave at me at Maidenhead?