diamond geezer

 Sunday, January 18, 2015

Something unusual is happening on the Circle line this weekend. It's running from Barking.
CIRCLE LINE: Saturday 17 and Sunday 18 January, no service between Edgware Road and Tower Hill (via King's Cross St Pancras). A revised Circle line service operates between Edgware Road and Barking (via Victoria). This is to allow for track and drainage replacement work at Euston Square and station improvement work at Moorgate and Liverpool Street.
On the grand scale of things, this ranks well below the irrationality of the Circle line no longer being a Circle. And to be fair there are already two Circle line trains a day from Barking, both running before 6am, which I've caught and written about before. But a regular service from Barking that goes around the bottom of the inner Circle and up to Edgware Road, I think that's new.

It's also temporary, running only this weekend and next, which means the travelling public aren't generally expecting it. If they're paying attention they'll know the Circle's doing Barking to Edgware Road and the Hammersmith & City's doing Baker Street to Hammersmith, with nothing running from Baker Street to Liverpool Street at all. But your average Londoner just turns up and hopes, and your average tourist is baffled even when the system's running normally. So how's it going?



I caught this Circle line train from Bow Road. You can't tell from the picture, but I can assure you the destination on the front of the train said Circle line via Victoria. You also couldn't tell from the Next Train Indicator on the platform, because this was displaying Hammersmith (H&C) instead. It had also said Hammersmith (H&C) two trains earlier to announce a District line train to Wimbledon, but that's because Next Train Indicators on this stretch of railway are notoriously unreliable because the signalling hereabouts is ancient.

So on we hopped, those of us waiting, including several people who thought they were boarding a Hammersmith & City line train because that's what it looked like*. The onboard electronic voice confirmed the Circleness of the train in its next announcement, in case anyone realised the significance, and the driver read out a prepared script at Mile End. This startled a few people, who hopped out to change to the Central Line, which was probably the best move for getting where they wanted to go, and on we went.
* When an S Stock train turns up at Bow Road it's always a Hammersmith & City line train - it's how we tell the two possible lines apart. But from Monday we'll have to get used to the gradual replacement of the old D Stock trains on the run out to Upminster, and by the end of next year everything'll look the same.

At Aldgate East the driver read out possibly the longest onboard announcement I've ever heard. He started by confirming that this was a Circle line train via Tower Hill, and ended with the same information over a minute later. Inbetween he told us precisely what lines weren't running where, even the Metropolitan line so don't try that, and if passengers had any questions they should ask a member of station staff. Several passengers got off as a result, though I bet most got back on the next train because there was nowhere else for them to go. Anyway, full marks to the driver, an exemplary announcement.

And that should have been the end of the unusual bit. While Circle line trains are rare as hen's teeth up to Aldgate East, they're six an hour from Tower Hill, so no fresh passenger here blinked. At least not until Monument. As we left the station, the driver chipped in to apologise that the train was about to lie. "Cannon Street station is open this weekend, and every weekend," he said, "so please ignore the train when it tells you it's closed." "Cannon Street Station is closed and all trains are not stopping here" replied the train, right on cue. And then it promptly stopped at Cannon Street, having said it wouldn't, and opened its doors.

"This is Mansion House", said the train, when it patently wasn't. "The next station is Blackfriars", it continued, again incorrectly. And then we set off to Mansion House, with the train now 'one out' from the station it thought it was at. "This station is Blackfriars" it said at Mansion House, but this time only on the electronic display, and only briefly before everything at last switched back to accurate reality. These S Stock trains may be new, but their automated system appears unable to cope with the unexpected and will happily announce untruths because the programming is sub-optimal.

Finally we continued like a normal Circle line train, round the normal Circle line route, to the normal Circle line destination of Edgware Road. And here we pulled into the normal Circle line platform, which is platform 2, which is where my tale ought to end. But no, something extremely odd happened as the train prepared to return the way it came. I was expecting the display on the front and side of the train to show Circle line via Victoria, or something similar, but instead it said District line Barking.



And this was damned confusing. The District line does run from Edgware Road, but always goes to Wimbledon. There are trains from Edgware Road to Barking, but they run on the Hammersmith & City line via an entirely different route. Circle line trains do normally run through the next 17 stations this particular train would visit, so Circle line would have been a good description. But there are no District line trains that go round the curve at Gloucester Road, hence potential passengers stared at the waiting train in some confusion.

One particular young lady stared repeatedly at the electronic display, then made a point of checking the signs on the platform which said platform 2 was for Circle line trains only. She even let the first train depart, and was equally confused ten minutes later when the next terminating train claimed to be another District line train to Barking. I had to reassure her that she really did want to get on this one, it was indeed going to "Kensington" as she wanted, and on she got. But she still hovered by the door in some trepidation, pointing repeatedly at the route diagram in the carriage which showed clearly that District line trains from here don't go to Barking. Only when the onboard announcements started up, declaring this to be a Circle line train in contradiction to the externally advertised information, did she finally smile, wave to me and sit down.

Edgware Road is a confusing mess of a station at the best of times, and this weekend it's more baffling than most. So I was disappointed by the total absence of useful information on the platforms that might have made clearer to waiting passengers what was going on. There were announcements every five minutes explaining what the Hammersmith & City and Circle lines weren't doing ("no service between...") but at no point was there a positive declaration explaining what trains from here were doing. It shouldn't be rocket science to play station-specific announcements - they'd have been exceptionally useful here - but instead it seems we get generic pre-recorded announcements for use at several stations that pinpoint nothing.

And where were the station staff all this time? I didn't see one on the platforms during the lengthy period I spent at Edgware Road, though there were a number of people who'd have found having an expert to talk to very useful. Instead I found two uniformed staff upstairs by the barriers in the ticket hall, having a nice chat, as passengers went about their journeys uninterrupted close by. I gave their indifference the benefit of the doubt until I spotted the engineering works poster in the entrance hall, which explained both what wasn't running and what was, including the Circle line's unusual path. Scribbled in black marker pen beside the map was the message READ BEFORE ENTERING STATION, in a rather patronising way, as if staff were sick of ignorant passengers turning up and asking stupid questions.



It's not ideal that all the useful information at Edgware Road was targeted solely at those entering the station, not at those changing trains, which overlooks a sizeable audience. It's not ideal that staff appeared to be targeted at the ticket barrier, and not terribly efficiently, when there might instead be a greater need on the platforms. It's not ideal that this weekend's service is inconsistently labelled, as the Circle line in one direction and the District line in the other. And it would be ideal if tube passengers came prepared and knew what was going on, but life's not like that. Thank goodness this unusual situation's only for two weekends, which leaves one more to get it right.


<< click for Newer posts

click for Older Posts >>


click to return to the main page


...or read more in my monthly archives
Jan24  Feb24  Mar24
Jan23  Feb23  Mar23  Apr23  May23  Jun23  Jul23  Aug23  Sep23  Oct23  Nov23  Dec23
Jan22  Feb22  Mar22  Apr22  May22  Jun22  Jul22  Aug22  Sep22  Oct22  Nov22  Dec22
Jan21  Feb21  Mar21  Apr21  May21  Jun21  Jul21  Aug21  Sep21  Oct21  Nov21  Dec21
Jan20  Feb20  Mar20  Apr20  May20  Jun20  Jul20  Aug20  Sep20  Oct20  Nov20  Dec20
Jan19  Feb19  Mar19  Apr19  May19  Jun19  Jul19  Aug19  Sep19  Oct19  Nov19  Dec19
Jan18  Feb18  Mar18  Apr18  May18  Jun18  Jul18  Aug18  Sep18  Oct18  Nov18  Dec18
Jan17  Feb17  Mar17  Apr17  May17  Jun17  Jul17  Aug17  Sep17  Oct17  Nov17  Dec17
Jan16  Feb16  Mar16  Apr16  May16  Jun16  Jul16  Aug16  Sep16  Oct16  Nov16  Dec16
Jan15  Feb15  Mar15  Apr15  May15  Jun15  Jul15  Aug15  Sep15  Oct15  Nov15  Dec15
Jan14  Feb14  Mar14  Apr14  May14  Jun14  Jul14  Aug14  Sep14  Oct14  Nov14  Dec14
Jan13  Feb13  Mar13  Apr13  May13  Jun13  Jul13  Aug13  Sep13  Oct13  Nov13  Dec13
Jan12  Feb12  Mar12  Apr12  May12  Jun12  Jul12  Aug12  Sep12  Oct12  Nov12  Dec12
Jan11  Feb11  Mar11  Apr11  May11  Jun11  Jul11  Aug11  Sep11  Oct11  Nov11  Dec11
Jan10  Feb10  Mar10  Apr10  May10  Jun10  Jul10  Aug10  Sep10  Oct10  Nov10  Dec10 
Jan09  Feb09  Mar09  Apr09  May09  Jun09  Jul09  Aug09  Sep09  Oct09  Nov09  Dec09
Jan08  Feb08  Mar08  Apr08  May08  Jun08  Jul08  Aug08  Sep08  Oct08  Nov08  Dec08
Jan07  Feb07  Mar07  Apr07  May07  Jun07  Jul07  Aug07  Sep07  Oct07  Nov07  Dec07
Jan06  Feb06  Mar06  Apr06  May06  Jun06  Jul06  Aug06  Sep06  Oct06  Nov06  Dec06
Jan05  Feb05  Mar05  Apr05  May05  Jun05  Jul05  Aug05  Sep05  Oct05  Nov05  Dec05
Jan04  Feb04  Mar04  Apr04  May04  Jun04  Jul04  Aug04  Sep04  Oct04  Nov04  Dec04
Jan03  Feb03  Mar03  Apr03  May03  Jun03  Jul03  Aug03  Sep03  Oct03  Nov03  Dec03
 Jan02  Feb02  Mar02  Apr02  May02  Jun02  Jul02 Aug02  Sep02  Oct02  Nov02  Dec02 

jack of diamonds
Life viewed from London E3

» email me
» follow me on twitter
» follow the blog on Twitter
» follow the blog on RSS

» my flickr photostream

twenty blogs
our bow
arseblog
ian visits
londonist
broken tv
blue witch
on london
the great wen
edith's streets
spitalfields life
linkmachinego
round the island
wanstead meteo
christopher fowler
the greenwich wire
bus and train user
ruth's coastal walk
round the rails we go
london reconnections
from the murky depths

quick reference features
Things to do in Outer London
Things to do outside London
Inner London toilet map
20 years of blog series
The DG Tour of Britain
London's most...

read the archive
Mar24  Feb24  Jan24
Dec23  Nov23  Oct23  Sep23
Aug23  Jul23  Jun23  May23
Apr23  Mar23  Feb23  Jan23
Dec22  Nov22  Oct22  Sep22
Aug22  Jul22  Jun22  May22
Apr22  Mar22  Feb22  Jan22
Dec21  Nov21  Oct21  Sep21
Aug21  Jul21  Jun21  May21
Apr21  Mar21  Feb21  Jan21
Dec20  Nov20  Oct20  Sep20
Aug20  Jul20  Jun20  May20
Apr20  Mar20  Feb20  Jan20
Dec19  Nov19  Oct19  Sep19
Aug19  Jul19  Jun19  May19
Apr19  Mar19  Feb19  Jan19
Dec18  Nov18  Oct18  Sep18
Aug18  Jul18  Jun18  May18
Apr18  Mar18  Feb18  Jan18
Dec17  Nov17  Oct17  Sep17
Aug17  Jul17  Jun17  May17
Apr17  Mar17  Feb17  Jan17
Dec16  Nov16  Oct16  Sep16
Aug16  Jul16  Jun16  May16
Apr16  Mar16  Feb16  Jan16
Dec15  Nov15  Oct15  Sep15
Aug15  Jul15  Jun15  May15
Apr15  Mar15  Feb15  Jan15
Dec14  Nov14  Oct14  Sep14
Aug14  Jul14  Jun14  May14
Apr14  Mar14  Feb14  Jan14
Dec13  Nov13  Oct13  Sep13
Aug13  Jul13  Jun13  May13
Apr13  Mar13  Feb13  Jan13
Dec12  Nov12  Oct12  Sep12
Aug12  Jul12  Jun12  May12
Apr12  Mar12  Feb12  Jan12
Dec11  Nov11  Oct11  Sep11
Aug11  Jul11  Jun11  May11
Apr11  Mar11  Feb11  Jan11
Dec10  Nov10  Oct10  Sep10
Aug10  Jul10  Jun10  May10
Apr10  Mar10  Feb10  Jan10
Dec09  Nov09  Oct09  Sep09
Aug09  Jul09  Jun09  May09
Apr09  Mar09  Feb09  Jan09
Dec08  Nov08  Oct08  Sep08
Aug08  Jul08  Jun08  May08
Apr08  Mar08  Feb08  Jan08
Dec07  Nov07  Oct07  Sep07
Aug07  Jul07  Jun07  May07
Apr07  Mar07  Feb07  Jan07
Dec06  Nov06  Oct06  Sep06
Aug06  Jul06  Jun06  May06
Apr06  Mar06  Feb06  Jan06
Dec05  Nov05  Oct05  Sep05
Aug05  Jul05  Jun05  May05
Apr05  Mar05  Feb05  Jan05
Dec04  Nov04  Oct04  Sep04
Aug04  Jul04  Jun04  May04
Apr04  Mar04  Feb04  Jan04
Dec03  Nov03  Oct03  Sep03
Aug03  Jul03  Jun03  May03
Apr03  Mar03  Feb03  Jan03
Dec02  Nov02  Oct02  Sep02
back to main page

the diamond geezer index
2023 2022
2021 2020 2019 2018 2017
2016 2015 2014 2013 2012
2011 2010 2009 2008 2007
2006 2005 2004 2003 2002

my special London features
a-z of london museums
E3 - local history month
greenwich meridian (N)
greenwich meridian (S)
the real eastenders
london's lost rivers
olympic park 2007
great british roads
oranges & lemons
random boroughs
bow road station
high street 2012
river westbourne
trafalgar square
capital numbers
east london line
lea valley walk
olympics 2005
regent's canal
square routes
silver jubilee
unlost rivers
cube routes
Herbert Dip
metro-land
capital ring
river fleet
piccadilly
bakerloo

ten of my favourite posts
the seven ages of blog
my new Z470xi mobile
five equations of blog
the dome of doom
chemical attraction
quality & risk
london 2102
single life
boredom
april fool

ten sets of lovely photos
my "most interesting" photos
london 2012 olympic zone
harris and the hebrides
betjeman's metro-land
marking the meridian
tracing the river fleet
london's lost rivers
inside the gherkin
seven sisters
iceland

just surfed in?
here's where to find...
diamond geezers
flash mob #1  #2  #3  #4
ben schott's miscellany
london underground
watch with mother
cigarette warnings
digital time delay
wheelie suitcases
war of the worlds
transit of venus
top of the pops
old buckenham
ladybird books
acorn antiques
digital watches
outer hebrides
olympics 2012
school dinners
pet shop boys
west wycombe
bletchley park
george orwell
big breakfast
clapton pond
san francisco
thunderbirds
routemaster
children's tv
east enders
trunk roads
amsterdam
little britain
credit cards
jury service
big brother
jubilee line
number 1s
titan arum
typewriters
doctor who
coronation
comments
blue peter
matchgirls
hurricanes
buzzwords
brookside
monopoly
peter pan
starbucks
feng shui
leap year
manbags
bbc three
vision on
piccadilly
meridian
concorde
wembley
islington
ID cards
bedtime
freeview
beckton
blogads
eclipses
letraset
arsenal
sitcoms
gherkin
calories
everest
muffins
sudoku
camilla
london
ceefax
robbie
becks
dome
BBC2
paris
lotto
118
itv