I popped into Euston yesterday at 6pm. The electronic Solari boards all
had trains on them but none had a platform apart from the DC service.
The concourse was packed with baffled people. As soon as a platform
appeared for a train, part of the crowd made its way forward weaving
through the rest. It was chaos! I asked the information woman if
something had gone catastrophically wrong with a system, but no, this
was normal and the crowd level was normal too. Some trains had no
platform announced until they were due to leave in four minutes, which
is fine for the fit but not so good for twirlies. I was astonished that
such an important station could be run so badly.

I found a flood gate whose purpose I could not divine. As you go down
the escalators from the main concourse to the Underground, if you turn
left at the bottom instead of right you end up in a corridor leading to
the car hire and stuff. There is a flood gate a few metres from the
Underground ticket hall, but it's only head height rather than roof
height. Why is it there at all? Is the car park expected to flood?

On 2016-02-22 16:31:24 +0000, Basil Jet said:

I popped into Euston yesterday at 6pm. The electronic Solari boards all
had trains on them but none had a platform apart from the DC service.
The concourse was packed with baffled people. As soon as a platform
appeared for a train, part of the crowd made its way forward weaving
through the rest. It was chaos! I asked the information woman if
something had gone catastrophically wrong with a system, but no, this
was normal and the crowd level was normal too. Some trains had no
platform announced until they were due to leave in four minutes, which
is fine for the fit but not so good for twirlies. I was astonished that
such an important station could be run so badly.

Yes, the "Euston scrum" is a terrible way of operating. Given the way
there is space, they would be better operating a queueing system on the
ramps.

Neil
--
Neil Williams
Put my first name before the @ to reply.

In message , at 17:21:12 on Mon, 22
Feb 2016, Neil Williams remarked:

Yes, the "Euston scrum" is a terrible way of operating.

Not just there - the scrum is evident daily at Kings Cross and St
Pancras MML.
--
Roland Perry

On Mon, 22 Feb 2016 16:31:24 +0000, Basil Jet
wrote:


I popped into Euston yesterday at 6pm. The electronic Solari boards all
had trains on them but none had a platform apart from the DC service.
The concourse was packed with baffled people. As soon as a platform
appeared for a train, part of the crowd made its way forward weaving
through the rest. It was chaos! I asked the information woman if
something had gone catastrophically wrong with a system, but no, this
was normal and the crowd level was normal too. Some trains had no
platform announced until they were due to leave in four minutes, which
is fine for the fit but not so good for twirlies. I was astonished that
such an important station could be run so badly.

I found a flood gate whose purpose I could not divine. As you go down
the escalators from the main concourse to the Underground, if you turn
left at the bottom instead of right you end up in a corridor leading to
the car hire and stuff. There is a flood gate a few metres from the
Underground ticket hall, but it's only head height rather than roof
height. Why is it there at all? Is the car park expected to flood?

Quite possibly. When the Great Hampstead (and downhill thereof) Flood
occurred about 30-40 years ago there were a heck of a lot of places
which turned out to be occasional flood risks. With the Underground
station there is a particular risk of otherwise minor flooding causing
serious trouble as there is no other "dam" between the bottom of the
concouse escalators and the main escalator shafts. The area on the
other side of the gate would itself be something of a sump if fed by
any flood/storm water coming down the ramps from Cardington Street and
Eversholt Street.

On 23/02/2016 02:40, Paul Corfield wrote:
Welcome to how main line terminals are now run. It's appalling.

You're lucky using main-line terminals where they can't change the
platform at the last minute.

At stations with 4 tracks such as those between London and Bedford it's
not at all unusual for a platform change to be announced with only 1 or
2 minutes notice. Regulars have learned to wait at the foot of the
steps, and even then only the more nimble can get up them, across the
footbridge, and down the other platform before the train leaves. Indeed
at stations like Luton Airport Parkway where you can see all the tracks
from the footbridge, increasing numbers are waiting there until they see
the train approaching one or other platform.

--
Clive Page

On 23/02/2016 08:24, Clive Page wrote:
On 23/02/2016 02:40, Paul Corfield wrote:
Welcome to how main line terminals are now run. It's appalling.

You're lucky using main-line terminals where they can't change the
platform at the last minute.

Heard at Waterloo "Here is a platform alteration…"


At stations with 4 tracks such as those between London and Bedford it's
not at all unusual for a platform change to be announced with only 1 or
2 minutes notice. Regulars have learned to wait at the foot of the
steps, and even then only the more nimble can get up them, across the
footbridge, and down the other platform before the train leaves. Indeed
at stations like Luton Airport Parkway where you can see all the tracks
from the footbridge, increasing numbers are waiting there until they see
the train approaching one or other platform.



--
Graeme Wall
This account not read.

In message , at 09:14:45 on Tue, 23 Feb
2016, Graeme Wall remarked:
On 23/02/2016 08:24, Clive Page wrote:
On 23/02/2016 02:40, Paul Corfield wrote:
Welcome to how main line terminals are now run. It's appalling.

You're lucky using main-line terminals where they can't change the
platform at the last minute.

Heard at Waterloo "Here is a platform alteration…"

Very rarely hear those at Kings Cross, although in the back-room the
trains often arrive at a different platform to the one RTT was
predicting in advance (not RTT's fault, when the change happens they do
reflect it).

Clive uses the MML platforms at St Pancras where platform changes have
little consequence, or SPILL where platform changes are very rare, for
obvious reasons.
--
Roland Perry