On Sep 18, 7:36*pm, Paul Corfield wrote:
On Fri, 18 Sep 2009 03:12:52 -0700 (PDT), EE507
wrote:

Had a trip from Clapham Junction to Highbury & Islington yesterday
afternoon - a bargain £1.10 with Oyster. Can anyone help with the
following queries?

Why are most LO station name and platform number boards marked with
'This is a temporary sign'? What's wrong with them?

The old Silverlink signs were stickered over with the Overground orange
signs. They are intended to be temporary because all Overground stations
will get a refresh which involves replacement of all signage as well as
CCTV, passenger info systems etc. *This programme is starting around
about now after what seems like something of a delay. I'd not be really
surprised if the planned scope has been trimmed to try to save as much
money as possible. I have not seen anything to suggest signage has been
cut.

I shall now hide under a table before the residents of utl re-ignite
previous rantings about signage and London Overground.

Judging from comments and queries from other pax e.g. "does this train
go to Camden Road?" overheard at CLJ, I think the assumption that most
pax are doing 2-3 station hops is incorrect.

Source? I've never heard or read anything about such an assumption
existing.

The three other occupants
of my bay from Willesden Junction hadn't left the train by Highbury.
The train - 17:30 ex-CLJ - had plenty of standees but was not crush
loaded. A non-scientific survey, but in conclusion seating in the 378s
will be totally inadequate: was a compromise of 2+1 seating considered?

It doesn't surprise me that people travel a fair old distance on
Overground services. Nonetheless it is also true (and sometimes a
surprise to me!) that loadings can be high or very high and that is why
the trains are designed as they are. Here are two photo links that
perhaps illustrate the point.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nicohog...72157594559110...

Hmmm, that's deeply unpleasant. At least the trains now run every 10
mins in the peaks. Roll on the 4-car NLL!

I haven't quite seen the same scale of crowds at Stratford in the peaks
but I have seen crowds a bit smaller than that alight from a train at
Stratford - on a Sunday when the headway is every 30 minutes!

checks timetable

That's ridiculous - second busiest shopping day of the week and all
that. When oh when will we adopt standard 7-day timetables [1]?

I know we'd all love a seat - I certainly do - but the fact is that most
people just want to get home in the peaks and if that means a train
designed for standees is needed then that's what's needed. Off peak the
lack of seats may be more of an issue but the trains will be 4 car and
the service levels more frequent than today (barring services Willesden
- Richmond and Watford - Euston).

I'd agree with that - going 4-car will help offset the net loss of
seats.

I actually think GOBLIN will be more
an issue because a x15 headway will probably unleash a lot of suppressed
demand on that route and 2 car DMUs may struggle to cope.

At least the 172s will provide an extra 6m train length. What is the
proposed seating layout? Is this
http://www.therailwaycentre.com/New%...0/DMU_172.html
correct in saying it will be 3+2?

[1] With peak extras obviously.