How can the train be always disrupted in London

martindow

remorseless wrote: »

I get all of that about complexity, different companies blah blah though service is still pretty bad!
How do people put up with it year after year? Or is it just polite British attitude to take it on the chin?

Well it doesn't do you any good getting angry over something you can't control. It's like raging against the weather. Learn to be philosophical and travel in a zen-like state.

trukdiver

liz545 wrote: »

Unlike a lot of other European cities, London has a number of different train operating companies running services into and through the city. They all have to do engineering and maintenance work, and that can cause delays and disruption. So there might be delays at Euston one week caused by problems on a line run by London Midland, and at Waterloo the next caused by issues with South West trains. They're not really related to each other, but they add up to an overall picture of 'the trains are screwed' that never seems to go away.

The TOC's don't do engineering work. That's all done by Network Rail. There can be several train companies running services on the same stretch of line but they all have to obey the same signals. It's one of the most complex and busy networks in the world. The part around Clapham Junction might even be THE busiest in the word?

macman

It's actually vastly better in terms of punctuality now than when I first used it in the 1980's. Which part of the network are you referring to? Train, tube, or Overground?
The network is unique in that much of it was privately built in the late 19th century without any state or city planning or finance, with many lines in direct competition with each other, so creating a fully integrated system out of that is a work still in progress.
Crossrail should make a huge difference, as long as your journey is west to east or vice versa.

googler

remorseless wrote: »

I get all of that about complexity, different companies blah blah though service is still pretty bad!
How do people put up with it year after year? Or is it just polite British attitude to take it on the chin?

The alternative, if the money were available, would be to have a programme of scheduled maintenance and improvement that's more extensive than the current one. Then folks would moan that bits of the network were closed for that....

DKLS

remorseless wrote: »

I get all of that about complexity, different companies blah blah though service is still pretty bad!
How do people put up with it year after year? Or is it just polite British attitude to take it on the chin?

Usually its just accepted as crap happens, the trick is to learn what the alternatives travel options are. Its a pain but sometimes crap happens, I have had significant delays due to someone having a heart attack, people being arrested, mechanical breakdown, train drivers with the scutters and jumpers.

Not much you can do, no point in upping the blood pressure over something you have naff all control of, just ensure you have some reading material/games/apps/music.

trukdiver

googler wrote: »

The alternative, if the money were available, would be to have a programme of scheduled maintenance and improvement that's more extensive than the current one. Then folks would moan that bits of the network were closed for that....

They already moan that it doesn't run 24/7!

eskimo26

remorseless wrote: »

I have been living in London for over a year now and I am amazed how the train system is constantly having issues!!!!!

What's going on? How can the city always have some problems?

Try journeying in from the commuter belt.
Delays and service is horrific.
Trains so full they break the rules for transporting cattle.
Rip off prices and rising again and again and not by small amounts.

You could always spend your time filling out their absurdly long forms only to have them throw some loose change your way and pocket the rest of the compensation for themselves! Crooks.

Doesn't help that the whole thing has been carved up and given to private companies and their are all these communications issues between all these different entities [NHS is next btw it's already happening].

Reminds me of BT whenever my friend had a fault with his broadband the company had to wait for BT to sort it out or check the line because BT is still in charge of it or something? They are either incompetent or prioritize their own customers, he went with virgin in the end out of desperation just to get away from the situation of a third party having to go through BT via his broadband provider. :rotfl:

It's also a cultural thing, this laid back can't be bothered attitude that gives brits a reputation as 'lazy workers'. I'm convinced it's not this bad in Germany and I know the Japanese culture doesn't allow it, if a driver is even minutes late [i'm not exaggerating literally a few minute] they kick up this HUGE fuss about how sorry they are. They have a big culture of responsibility and shame out there.

Having said that the over population in Japan is hideous, they hire people to push people into the trains to make room.

remorseless

yes culture plays a role as well, as much as London is complex... I lived in Tokyo for a while and it is complex as well, though train and connection seem to be just working.

The cost of transport is absurd in London.
I guess the reason I was asking is because after a year or so in London, I don't feel as it's a city where I would settle because of these logistic problems!

JezR

Tokyo was destroyed in 1923 and through WWII, so relatively little infrastructure remains from before those times.

Maybe London could employ staff to cram the trains full as they do there ...

remorseless

JezR wrote: »

Maybe London could employ staff to cram the trains full as they do there ...

hahaha been there and done that, no need to hold anywhere! Also women only carriages for obvious reasons.

I think waiting to get on a crammed train because of crowding is less frustrating than a delayed train with expensive fare. At least I can queue and get in once it's my turn.

In London trains are often overcrowded in peak hours (same as Tokyo) especially if you're unlucky to leave on Zone 3 near Zone 2 stations!