In message , at 18:55:33
on Mon, 7 Jan 2013, remarked:

With the implication that they'd been substituted by luggage
encumbered tourists- but then you said the seats were empty.

There were few Business Class seats and they were not very full. The economy
seats were full.

So quieter than normal.

with the current allowances I think people have the same amount of
luggage all year round.

Evidence?

Years of flying round the world with countless hours spent observing at
check-in and baggage carousels. Also the way baggage allowances have
steadily reduced over the years, with some full service airlines now
charging for the first bag let alone the second. A great incentive for
each person to take (eg) exactly one 22.9kg suitcase and one 9.9kg
carry-on whatever the season.

A few sets of skis in the winter to a very small number of destinations
is balanced by families going on beach holidays and taking the kitchen
sink with them.
--
Roland Perry

In article
,
(Recliner) wrote:

wrote:
In article ,
(Roland Perry) wrote:

In message , at
03:04:56 on Mon, 7 Jan 2013, remarked:

Huh? Where did business class come into it?

You mentioned business passengers.

Travelling at times other than the first weekend after the new year!

With the implication that they'd been substituted by luggage
encumbered tourists- but then you said the seats were empty.

There were few Business Class seats and they were not very full.
The economy seats were full.

Certainly on my flight there was almost no-one in business class

So maybe the airport was quieter than usual.

No, it was full of people in Economy with lots of luggage! Do keep up,
Roland!

Economy is always full of people with lots of luggage. The empty
seats in Business Class is where the quietness arises.

Luggage amounts do vary by season I think you'll find.

but there were a lot of people in Economy with a lot of luggage.

There always are.

Not so much luggage in the summer.

with the current allowances I think people have the same amount of
luggage all year round.

Evidence?

Heathrow Y class pax are allowed one free suitcase plus a larger and a
smaller carry-on bag. Do winter Y class pax exceed this, or summer Y class
not fully use it?

23KG but I bet that is more fully used.

--
Colin Rosenstiel

In message , at 03:42:02
on Tue, 8 Jan 2013, remarked:
Heathrow Y class pax are allowed one free suitcase plus a larger and a
smaller carry-on bag. Do winter Y class pax exceed this, or summer Y class
not fully use it?

23KG but I bet that is more fully used.

Does it matter when getting on and off replacement buses, or negotiating
stairs for shuttle services whether or not the bag weighs 23kg or 20kg?
I doubt many people travel with bags sufficiently below 23kg that it
would make any practical difference.
--
Roland Perry

In article , (Roland Perry)
wrote:

In message , at
18:55:33 on Mon, 7 Jan 2013, remarked:

With the implication that they'd been substituted by luggage
encumbered tourists- but then you said the seats were empty.

There were few Business Class seats and they were not very full. The
economy seats were full.

So quieter than normal.

No, Roland! The plane was very full, almost entirely with economy passengers!

with the current allowances I think people have the same amount of
luggage all year round.

Evidence?

Years of flying round the world with countless hours spent observing
at check-in and baggage carousels. Also the way baggage allowances
have steadily reduced over the years, with some full service airlines
now charging for the first bag let alone the second. A great
incentive for each person to take (eg) exactly one 22.9kg suitcase
and one 9.9kg carry-on whatever the season.

A few sets of skis in the winter to a very small number of
destinations is balanced by families going on beach holidays and
taking the kitchen sink with them.

There was certainly a lot of luggage on platforms at Northfields and Acton
Town with minimal facilities for handling it.

--
Colin Rosenstiel

In message , at 05:35:33
on Tue, 8 Jan 2013, remarked:

So quieter than normal.

No, Roland! The plane was very full, almost entirely with economy passengers!

Do keep up - the planes are full all year round. They juggle the fares
to make it so.

There was certainly a lot of luggage on platforms at Northfields and Acton
Town with minimal facilities for handling it.

That's a TfL problem, not a Heathrow being only as busy as normal
problem.
--
Roland Perry

On Monday, January 7, 2013 1:24:21 PM UTC, Steve Fitzgerald wrote:
In message , Recliner

writes



Presumably there were two Picc shuttles and one District shuttle running

into a station that normally has mainly through trains? A few trains do

reverse there, using the sidings on each side of the station, but

certainly not three shuttles from the west, so I'm not surprised that the

capacity was very limited. What might have been cool would have been to

allow pax to stay on the train during the reversal, thus getting them to

the opposite platform without using the stairs or lifts, but I suppose

that's not allowed.



Were there three shuttles though? I'm not sure the Piccadilly wasn't

shuttling from Ealing Common (to Rayners Lane and ?beyond).



Yes, I think you're right about that.



It was running an ACT - RLN shuttle, which is what they usually do in

these cases.

--

Steve Fitzgerald has now left the building.

You will find him in London's Docklands, E16, UK

(please use the reply to address for email)

The service was as follows at the west end:
District: Ealing Broadway to Acton Town every 10 mins
Piccadilly: Rayners Lane to Ealing Common (reversing via depot outside road with District IO conducting) every 20 mins
Piccadilly: Acton Town to Terminal Five every 10 mins
Piccadilly: Osterley to Terminal Four - Terminal Four to Northfields every 10 mins

East end was
Hammersmith to Cockfosters
West Kensington to Barking
West Kensington to Tower Hill
Wimbledon to Upminster
Wimbledon to Edgware Road
Olympia to Hight Street Kensingtons

Platform one at Acton Town could not be used as it was within the possession. There was also a mad plan to bring trains out of the possession via a wrong direction move (which would have suspended the service! fortunately unconnected industrial action by Tube Line's drivers stopped that!)

The worst WTT for sometime. Trains being delayed as people boarded leaving congestion on the approach to Acton Town!

Was embarrassing assisting customers in central London, I advised anyone with the money to go via Paddington and HEX!

In article ,
(The Mink) wrote:

The service was as follows at the west end:
District: Ealing Broadway to Acton Town every 10 mins
Piccadilly: Rayners Lane to Ealing Common (reversing via depot
outside road with District IO conducting) every 20 mins
Piccadilly: Acton Town to Terminal Five every 10 mins
Piccadilly: Osterley to Terminal Four - Terminal Four to Northfields
every 10 mins

Was it really not possible to reverse 3 trains every 10 minutes at Acton
Town with three platforms available?

East end was
Hammersmith to Cockfosters
West Kensington to Barking
West Kensington to Tower Hill
Wimbledon to Upminster
Wimbledon to Edgware Road
Olympia to Hight Street Kensingtons

Platform one at Acton Town could not be used as it was within the
possession. There was also a mad plan to bring trains out of the
possession via a wrong direction move (which would have suspended the
service! fortunately unconnected industrial action by Tube Line's
drivers stopped that!)

I have to say it was not clear why platform 1 was within the possession on
Saturday night.

The worst WTT for sometime. Trains being delayed as people boarded
leaving congestion on the approach to Acton Town!

And not enough staff to manage all the confuse PAX.

Was embarrassing assisting customers in central London, I advised
anyone with the money to go via Paddington and HEX!

At least there were people assisting there, unlike at Northfields. The
people trying to do so at Acton Town looked pretty overworked.

--
Colin Rosenstiel