On Aug 12, 8:26*am, Bruce wrote:
On Wed, 11 Aug 2010 14:48:22 -0700 (PDT), Andrew H

wrote:
Now that Oyster Pay as you Go is valid on National Rail (although it
may already have been valid on Thameslink? but was all a bit vague and
confusing), I used the Thameslink route for the first time this year,
and realised that once Blackfriars south bank entrance is open, it
will be a handy link straight to the south bank and the popular thames
walkway/London Eye/Tate Modern/Millennium Bridge etc. At off peak
times a more comfortable journey than using the Northern line from
Euston.

It will be a very long walk from Thameslink's Blackfriars southern
exit to the London Eye. *I doubt that even 1% of tourists would
consider it.

A long twenty minutes walk along the side of the river? The walk which
is sign posted for the further distance from the Tate Modern to the
London Eye.


As so often on uk.railway, posters only consider their own personal
situation and seem to lack any ability to give a moment's thought to
what most normal people would want, and do.

The vast majority of tourists would find staying in the thoroughly
seedy Kings Cross area quite repugnant. *If anything is going to put
them off returning to London, that's it. *

The situation may well improve over the next few years as the new
Kings Cross and St Pancras International is completed (the hotel is
still under construction) and the area is cleaned up. *But for the
time being, it is a particularly unpleasant place to be.

So for some years hence, the vast majority of people who come to
London will still find accommodation among the thousands of hotels
that are to be found to the west, and of which trainspotters seem
completely unaware. *Perhaps I should not be so surprised that
trainspotters are so out of touch with normal people - it's the nature
of the hobby, I suppose, and its close connection with autism.


Rather than pontificating on what other people will do or know, why do
you go and see exactly how seedy and repugnant the King's Cross area
really is these days? Especially the bits with the various hotels
mentioned are, the area has much improved and many tourists can be
found staying in the hotels around there. Of course, you are probably
forgetting that many of them are now arriving by Eurostar (or are you
going to tell me that all the Asian and American passengers are here
on business with their families) and won't want to be dragging their
luggage to the west.