Can the Railways Cope with the Olympic Crowds?
 

IMHO - NO!!

Judging by the fiasco of handling the cold, wet and bedraggled crowds
in London over the last four days of the Jubilee Shen. (= shenanigan
as in alt.shenanigan) I don't think that they have a chance.

None of the traincos. ran a Saturday service. None put on extra
coaching stock. Many thousands were left on platforms unable to board
the cattle trains they needed to get to London.

The aggressive police and 'crowd control' stewards hadn't a clue how
to treat people, incl. kids, the elderly, the infirm, wheelchair
users, etc., herding everyone around like sheep regardless.

Its going to be fun to see all of the Railcos screw up during the
Olympics.

CJB.

Can the Railways Cope with the Olympic Crowds?
 

On Wed, 6 Jun 2012 05:22:21 -0700 (PDT), CJB
wrote:

IMHO - NO!!

Judging by the fiasco of handling the cold, wet and bedraggled crowds
in London over the last four days of the Jubilee Shen. (= shenanigan
as in alt.shenanigan) I don't think that they have a chance.

None of the traincos. ran a Saturday service. None put on extra
coaching stock. Many thousands were left on platforms unable to board
the cattle trains they needed to get to London.

I thought the problems were mainly on the Sunday, when they ran only a
normal or slightly enhanced Sunday service for what turned out to be
much larger crowds than they expected. From what I heard, trains
worked OK on the other days.

Can the Railways Cope with the Olympic Crowds?
 

On Jun 6, 1:36*pm, Recliner wrote:
On Wed, 6 Jun 2012 05:22:21 -0700 (PDT), CJB
wrote:

IMHO - NO!!

Judging by the fiasco of handling the cold, wet and bedraggled crowds
in London over the last four days of the Jubilee Shen. (= shenanigan
as in alt.shenanigan) I don't think that they have a chance.

None of the traincos. ran a Saturday service. None put on extra
coaching stock. Many thousands were left on platforms unable to board
the cattle trains they needed to get to London.

I thought the problems were mainly on the Sunday, when they ran only a
normal or slightly enhanced Sunday service for what turned out to be
much larger crowds than they expected. From what I heard, trains
worked OK on the other days.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-18313891

Diamond Jubilee passengers left on railway platforms

Many of the trains to London were full

Dozens of passengers trying to reach London on Chiltern rail services
were left on platforms as trains to the capital were full.

The first Marylebone service to leave Birmingham was full at Moor
Street station, according to passengers.

Many more trying to get on at Dorridge, Warwick and Banbury were left
behind to wait for later trains.

CJB.

Can the Railways Cope with the Olympic Crowds?
 

On Jun 6, 1:36*pm, Recliner wrote:
On Wed, 6 Jun 2012 05:22:21 -0700 (PDT), CJB
wrote:

IMHO - NO!!

Judging by the fiasco of handling the cold, wet and bedraggled crowds
in London over the last four days of the Jubilee Shen. (= shenanigan
as in alt.shenanigan) I don't think that they have a chance.

None of the traincos. ran a Saturday service. None put on extra
coaching stock. Many thousands were left on platforms unable to board
the cattle trains they needed to get to London.

I thought the problems were mainly on the Sunday, when they ran only a
normal or slightly enhanced Sunday service for what turned out to be
much larger crowds than they expected. From what I heard, trains
worked OK on the other days.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news...tration-861150

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012...n_1565838.html

etc.

A crucial question is whether Stratford Station will be able to cope.
As I understand it, people buy Olympic tickets for a three hour period
which presumably means that every three hours or so there will be a major
surge in passengers. If that is correct, will the ticket barriers at Stratford
be sufficient to "process" the resulting hordes or will there be massive congestion?

It is not of course only the train companies who need to perform well.
There is also London Underground. This afternoon, just to provide a
little encouragement for the faint hearted, the Central Line was
suspended between Liverpool Street and Leytonstone because of
a burst main at Mile End. If the Central Line stops at the wrong moment
during the Olympics, there will be total chaos.

Can the Railways Cope with the Olympic Crowds?
 

On Jun 6, 1:22*pm, CJB wrote:
IMHO - NO!!

Judging by the fiasco of handling the cold, wet and bedraggled crowds
in London over the last four days of the Jubilee Shen. (= shenanigan
as in alt.shenanigan) I don't think that they have a chance.

None of the traincos. ran a Saturday service. None put on extra
coaching stock. Many thousands were left on platforms unable to board
the cattle trains they needed to get to London.

The aggressive police and 'crowd control' stewards hadn't a clue how
to treat people, incl. kids, the elderly, the infirm, wheelchair
users, etc., herding everyone around like sheep regardless.

Its going to be fun to see all of the Railcos screw up during the
Olympics.

CJB.

Well 1 of the former NSE area TOC north of the river still not agreed
T + C for extra Olympic staffing !!

Can the Railways Cope with the Olympic Crowds?
 

On 06/06/2012 13:36, Recliner wrote:

On Wed, 6 Jun 2012 05:22:21 -0700 (PDT),
wrote:

IMHO - NO!!

Judging by the fiasco of handling the cold, wet and bedraggled crowds
in London over the last four days of the Jubilee Shen. (= shenanigan
as in alt.shenanigan) I don't think that they have a chance.

None of the traincos. ran a Saturday service. None put on extra
coaching stock. Many thousands were left on platforms unable to board
the cattle trains they needed to get to London.

I thought the problems were mainly on the Sunday, when they ran only a
normal or slightly enhanced Sunday service for what turned out to be
much larger crowds than they expected. From what I heard, trains
worked OK on the other days.

I think Southeastern at least were running longer trains on Sunday. I
read a suggestion that public interest in the Thames Pageant event had
perhaps been rather underestimated by some (perhaps including TOC planners).

Anyway, even if public transport performs reasonably well during the
Olympic Games, I'm sure it'll be a complete shambles according to CJB's
expert assessments...

Can the Railways Cope with the Olympic Crowds?
 

On Jun 6, 6:01*pm, Mizter T wrote:
On 06/06/2012 13:36, Recliner wrote:









On Wed, 6 Jun 2012 05:22:21 -0700 (PDT),
wrote:

IMHO - NO!!

Judging by the fiasco of handling the cold, wet and bedraggled crowds
in London over the last four days of the Jubilee Shen. (= shenanigan
as in alt.shenanigan) I don't think that they have a chance.

None of the traincos. ran a Saturday service. None put on extra
coaching stock. Many thousands were left on platforms unable to board
the cattle trains they needed to get to London.

I thought the problems were mainly on the Sunday, when they ran only a
normal or slightly enhanced Sunday service for what turned out to be
much larger crowds than they expected. From what I heard, trains
worked OK on the other days.

I think Southeastern at least were running longer trains on Sunday. I
read a suggestion that public interest in the Thames Pageant event had
perhaps been rather underestimated by some (perhaps including TOC planners).

Anyway, even if public transport performs reasonably well during the
Olympic Games, I'm sure it'll be a complete shambles according to CJB's
expert assessments...

There did seem to be a huge lack of planning, especially over the
Sunday. The stewards were offensive, probably due to being forced to
sleep on the streets and then having to work 14 hours without being
allowed to go to the toilet, all this for sod all money. Why cannot we
plan for this sort of thing in this country? If you think a million
people are possibly going to be jammed into a very small area of
London, twenty metres either side of the Thames from Battersea to the
Tower, why run a Sunday service. Don't they learn form the past? I'm
waiting for the headlines on July 28th, its not beyond imagination
that there will be a total failure to cope the night before

Neill

Can the Railways Cope with the Olympic Crowds?
 

On Wed, 6 Jun 2012 08:51:12 -0700 (PDT), CJB
wrote:

On Jun 6, 1:36*pm, Recliner wrote:
On Wed, 6 Jun 2012 05:22:21 -0700 (PDT), CJB
wrote:

IMHO - NO!!

Judging by the fiasco of handling the cold, wet and bedraggled crowds
in London over the last four days of the Jubilee Shen. (= shenanigan
as in alt.shenanigan) I don't think that they have a chance.

None of the traincos. ran a Saturday service. None put on extra
coaching stock. Many thousands were left on platforms unable to board
the cattle trains they needed to get to London.

I thought the problems were mainly on the Sunday, when they ran only a
normal or slightly enhanced Sunday service for what turned out to be
much larger crowds than they expected. From what I heard, trains
worked OK on the other days.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-18313891

Diamond Jubilee passengers left on railway platforms

Many of the trains to London were full

Dozens of passengers trying to reach London on Chiltern rail services
were left on platforms as trains to the capital were full.

The first Marylebone service to leave Birmingham was full at Moor
Street station, according to passengers.

Many more trying to get on at Dorridge, Warwick and Banbury were left
behind to wait for later trains.

Yes, as I said, the problems were on the Sunday, when they didn't
boost services to at least Saturday levels. This won't be an issue for
the Olympics, when services will be running at max capacity.

Can the Railways Cope with the Olympic Crowds?
 

neill wrote:

There did seem to be a huge lack of planning, especially over the
Sunday. The stewards were offensive, probably due to being forced to
sleep on the streets and then having to work 14 hours without being
allowed to go to the toilet, all this for sod all money. Why cannot we
plan for this sort of thing in this country?


But it was planned. Pay them fsck all, tell them to sleep rough under
a bridge (no trolls please!) and then work without a break for 14
hours. How dare they ask to go to the toilet ...they'll be wanting to
eat next!

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