Is the new Circle line timetable a success?

[malcolmffc]

18 months on from the change to the Circle line and the "extension" to Hammersmith, is it viewed as a success by LU employees?

[Deleted]

Jul 4, 2011 15:10:15 GMT malcolmffc said:

18 months on from the change to the Circle line and the "extension" to Hammersmith, is it viewed as a success by LU employees?

If it results in passengers giving the general thumbs up I'd say it yes, it would have to be, seeing as it's passengers paying to use it and they'll moan less to LU employees in turn making their working lives easier. If not, no it isn't.

[citysig]

Jul 4, 2011 15:10:15 GMT malcolmffc said:

18 months on from the change to the Circle line and the "extension" to Hammersmith, is it viewed as a success by LU employees?

The simple answer is yes - but like everything new, it will always have its steadfast critics.

From the customer point of view, they now have a service which is much more reliable than the old one. The Hammersmith branch now has a much more regular service than it ever had. We had complaints a few days ago because there was a 10-minute interval on the branch. How quickly people forget that at one time that was the old service frequency.

From a staff point of view, the service is much more reliable, and once you get used to it, the service is slightly easier to manage. Statistically speaking (yes I know they are just statistics) the service is operating more on-time and regular than it ever did in the entire history of the Circle Line.

[Phil]

Thinking of statistics, did anyone bother to find out how many (%?) of passengers had their no-change journeys removed completely? I'm thinking of things like Kings Cross to Bayswater or High Street Ken to Baker Street.
I guess it must have been pretty small, but those individuals were presumably sacrificed for the reliability of the service as a whole. How few were they, or does nobody know?

[edwardfox]

There must be thousands arriving on Paddington Circle/District eastbound and realizing that the only trains serving that platform terminate at the next station and feeling very disgruntled as a result.

[citysig]

Jul 6, 2011 7:56:37 GMT Phil said:

Thinking of statistics, did anyone bother to find out how many (%?) of passengers had their no-change journeys removed completely? I'm thinking of things like Kings Cross to Bayswater or High Street Ken to Baker Street.
I guess it must have been pretty small, but those individuals were presumably sacrificed for the reliability of the service as a whole. How few were they, or does nobody know?

Somebody somewhere probably does have the statistic. But it has to be kept in mind that the old direct service only ran every 10 minutes - provided the service was running right time of course. So changing at Edgware Road may not be that new to long-term customers trying to make the quickest journey. Now of course they have a frequent 5-minute service to Edgware Road, changing into a 5-minute frequent service onward towards High Street Ken.

[citysig]

Jul 6, 2011 15:27:00 GMT @edwardfox said:

There must be thousands arriving on Paddington Circle/District eastbound and realizing that the only trains serving that platform terminate at the next station and feeling very disgruntled as a result.

No, certainly nowhere near thousands. The large majority of people head for Paddington Suburban platforms. There have been a few crowd issues at the suburban platforms due to its new popularity. In fact, if I were to name something that hasn't worked out as well, it would be the lack of space at these platforms.

[metman]

Yes it is rather a tight island!

[edwin]

But considering the large amount of tourists at Paddington (from the Heathrow Express) there is still quite a few people changing at Edgware Road in my experience.

However IMO, this idea of no-change journeys being superior is ridiculous and should end on the SSL. I think more drastic changes should be made to the SSLs in order to make them simpler and have fewer flat junctions.

[Deleted]

Jul 7, 2011 1:25:26 GMT edwin said:

(...) have fewer flat junctions.

I guess this is the key issue... together with separating the HSK to Edgware Rd traffic and the one from Pread Street to Baker street.

But finance still has to be found !

[Ben]

Paddington H&C is a fairly long platform though. Would staggering the stopping points help much, as a very low cost solution?

I wonder how much effect having all traffic over Praed Street junction and Edgware Roads western throat becoming 20m longer will be, is it tight to opperate atm?

[d7666]

(%?) of passengers had their no-change journeys removed completely? I'm thinking of things like Kings Cross to Bayswater or High Street Ken to Baker Street.

Every Circle line train offers a no change journey between Kings Cross or Baker Street to High St Ken or Bayswater. Think about it



Could not resist it !

--
Nick

[andypurk]

Jul 7, 2011 15:36:39 GMT Ben said:

Paddington H&C is a fairly long platform though. Would staggering the stopping points help much, as a very low cost solution?

The main problem seems to be the stairs from the overbridge with people getting in the way of each other at the foot of the stairs.

The Paddington station upgrade works (which are linked into the Crossrail project) involve a new entrance to the Hammersmith & City line platforms from Bishop's Bridge Road and so should improve matters a bit.

I wonder how much effect having all traffic over Praed Street junction and Edgware Roads western throat becoming 20m longer will be, is it tight to opperate atm?

At least the junction is set back from Edgware Road station, so trains won't be going as slow as might have been the case.