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[email protected] · February 22nd 04, 11:35 PM posted to uk.transport.london

In article ,
(Ian F.) wrote:

"Bradley H. Davis" wrote in message
.. .

Anytime.

Right - you asked for it! ;-)

Why do the drivers of the train waiting on the northbound Charing Cross
platform always time it so that the minute the northbound City line
train
arrives, they take off, leaving those of us changing lines to wait for
the
next one? It's almost as though they do it on purpose - you should hear
some
of the comments! Surely it can't hurt to wait and extra 30 seconds?

Ian

Drivers should always wait for connections, and that is what trainees are
taught. However, the driver doesn't always know a train is coming in on
the other platform (Stockwell SB is a good example of this). If the air
conditioning is on in the cab, that can tend to drown out the noise of an
approaching train and often the only indication a driver has is when he
sees the passengers crossing over. This is compounded at Stockwell because
the driver will often assume that any train noise he hears is the NB
Northern Line which is easily heard through the nearby cross passage. At
Kennington it is a bit easier to hear if there is an approaching train and
the 30-40 seconds can be easily made up.

I will normally wait if I know there is a train approaching at an
interchange station, and will always wait if I see passengers crossing
over. However, when there is a two minute service and I see on the
destination board that the train behind me is only a minute away, I will
not usually wait if the approaching train hasn't actually berthed in the
platform as, by the time the passengers start to get off and walk across,
I could have left and the train behind me started to come into the
platform. If i wait, I will be holding that train (and) others) in the
tunnel behind me.

Roger