End of service... service.

[Ben]

The met was suspended south of Harrow last night, and buses were running south of there. I gotta ask about the serice at the end though. Because the buses wre taking longer, naturally the service was extended to compensate. However this led to the bizzare situation where southbound trains were running out of service from Uxbridge to then do a northbound run in service after.

Surely dead milage is a waste? I mean if the stations havent shut then it seems odd to run out of service? Consdiering that probably only a dozen people travel per hour at that time of night I feel sorry for the staff who might have had to explain to a couple irrate passengers that yes, the station was open and the trains running through, but not in service.

And also where on earth did the last bus from the city go? Last northbound was running quite a bit late to make the non-existant connection with the phantom bus; it probably didn't get to UXB until about 2:05am. The Motorman certainly seemed in a hurry And of course there was no-one on it anyway...

Just seems like bad communication and logic in parts.

Any thoughts?

[superteacher]

In theory, there would be no passengers wanting to travel towards Harrow at that time, since it was past the advertised close of service time. Also, they would save a bit of time by running empty.

[Deleted]

Aug 24, 2009 16:59:15 GMT Ben said:

The met was suspended south of Harrow last night, and buses were running south of there. I gotta ask about the serice at the end though. Because the buses wre taking longer, naturally the service was extended to compensate. However this led to the bizzare situation where southbound trains were running out of service from Uxbridge to then do a northbound run in service after.

Surely dead milage is a waste? I mean if the stations havent shut then it seems odd to run out of service? Consdiering that probably only a dozen people travel per hour at that time of night I feel sorry for the staff who might have had to explain to a couple irrate passengers that yes, the station was open and the trains running through, but not in service.

And also where on earth did the last bus from the city go? Last northbound was running quite a bit late to make the non-existant connection with the phantom bus; it probably didn't get to UXB until about 2:05am. The Motorman certainly seemed in a hurry And of course there was no-one on it anyway...

Just seems like bad communication and logic in parts.

Any thoughts?

Your talking about the weekend engineering work? The last trains ran empty to get stabled quickly. There were more than enough platform announcements during the day to assist the public.

[Tomcakes]

Aug 24, 2009 20:45:09 GMT @funk said:

Your talking about the weekend engineering work? The last trains ran empty to get stabled quickly. There were more than enough platform announcements during the day to assist the public.

Those platform announcements which many people have stopped listening to because 99% of them are pointless rubbish?

[Ben]

Not all of them ran empty to stable. My point is that some ran empty south because the southbound service finished before the northbound by about an hour or something, and northbound trains were needed at the south. And thats the waste I'm talking about.

I don't think the demand arguement works really. People will always want to travel everywhere despite whether the trains are running or not. And a station that looks open will attract customers.

In fact just to make a point and contradict myself at the same time; I saw more people want to travel south after the last southbound then I did between then and the last northbound want to travel north. The figures standing at 6 and 1 respectively

[Ben]

I wasn't commenting on platform announcements. The plenthora of them was, I'm sure, a constant hum during the day!

However, my journey home from Prince Regent was lengthy to say the least...

[Colin]

As already stated, the empty trains running south were doing so after the published time of the last train on any other Sunday during the year.

Also, the Sunday service finishes earlier than the rest of the week (and starts later in the mornings too as it happens) - this is the same across all lines yet the public still don't get it. Week in week out it's the same old story at almost every single station across the combine.

Although I'm LU staff and won't be popular for saying it, I think it's about time trains on Sundays started & finished at the same times as any other day. Have 'em running at lower frequencies by all means, but it would save all the hassle the later start/earlier finish causes. I suppose the bigger issue is the engineering hours side of things, but I wonder what the real benefit is of having a little bit of extra time sat night/sun morning & sun night/mon morning 52 times a year?

[Ben]

True enough it was after the published time, but people will always come if they think there might be a service. I haven't a clue what time the last trains run on that section for each night of the week, yet I still wander past the station to see if its open or not. In fact I once managed to sit on Uxbridges platforms for half an hour before a contractor, who was giving me dirty looks, told me the last train had gone an hour previously! By pure coincidence the enterance was open for the contractors yet the wheelie signs had been put aside.

In this instance just gone, the last train northbound was running way later than advertised to make a connection with the last bus which it was assumed was running about half hour late; however it hadn't been seen at any of the stations, so it was decided to dispatch the train from what I can tell regardless. Therefore anyone catching it would have only caught it by chance anyway, not by plan or connection. Which is why it baffles me when compared to some of the Southbound.

Tbh Colin I do agree with you on the later running times. All night services can run, albeit not every night, without affecting maximum time between maintenence checks. Why not just run the tube all night on Friday or Saturday? I'm aware of potential answers, but it could be done...

Never had to travel early on a Sunday Morning, but if I did for work or something I'd be very annoyed that the tube didnt run. It seems theres very much a no-change atmosphere when it comes to times and periods the tube should or shouldnt run. For Londoners the tube should have as much squeezed out of it as possible. I wonder if Tubeprune could comment what the loadings were like in NY for the late nights?

[Phil]

Aug 25, 2009 0:28:45 GMT Colin said:

but I wonder what the real benefit is of having a little bit of extra time sat night/sun morning & sun night/mon morning 52 times a year?

Huge TBH, which is why NR contractors do most of their replacement work Sat night - Sun morn. Setting out/clearing up time is constant, so each extra hour gives a genuine hour of extra work. The gangs like it too: pay rates are not too far off t/op! (statement true as of 4 years ago before anyone tries to correct).

[Deleted]

Aug 24, 2009 21:01:35 GMT Tomcakes said:

Those platform announcements which many people have stopped listening to because 99% of them are pointless rubbish?

Most stations give very good information about weekend engineering work which is happening at the time.