"Paul Terry" wrote in message
...

Well, it was you who suggested Bank - obviously, if you live or work
closer to another airport, it is likely to be quicker to get to that one!

Of course! But I'm glad there will be an easier way to get to LCY just in
case.

Thanks to all for the responses.

Ian

Colin Rosenstiel wrote in
:

In article ,
(Martin Underwood) wrote:

I wonder whether DLR will run any fast services, non-stop from
Bank/Stratford/Lewisham/Beckton to LCY or whether every LCY service
will stop at all stations en route.

Do they have any option? Are there facilities on the DLR for trains to
overtake each other?

That was the nub of my question: does the DLR have any crossovers for trains
to pass each other on the wrong line and/or are any of the stations on loops
off the running lines? It's such a long time since I've been on the DLR that
I can't remember.

If all the LCY services stop at every intermediate station, it's going to be
tedious - in just the same way as the Piccadilly line service from Heathrow
is tedious because it stops at everywhere inbetween.

Martin Underwood wrote:
Colin Rosenstiel wrote in
:

In article ,
(Martin Underwood) wrote:

I wonder whether DLR will run any fast services, non-stop from
Bank/Stratford/Lewisham/Beckton to LCY or whether every LCY service
will stop at all stations en route.
Do they have any option? Are there facilities on the DLR for trains to
overtake each other?

That was the nub of my question: does the DLR have any crossovers for trains
to pass each other on the wrong line and/or are any of the stations on loops
off the running lines? It's such a long time since I've been on the DLR that
I can't remember.

None of the stations are on loops. It might be possible for trains to
overtake wrong-way heading eastbound from Bank, between Minories
Junction and just east of Shadwell station, but I imagine that would
restrict capacity for other services considerably.

If all the LCY services stop at every intermediate station, it's going to be
tedious - in just the same way as the Piccadilly line service from Heathrow
is tedious because it stops at everywhere inbetween.

It's still only a 22 minute journey Bank - LCY, and there are nine stops
in between - a bit different to the Piccadilly's eighteen stops between
Leicester Square and Heathrow for instance.



--
Dave Arquati
Imperial College, SW7
www.alwaystouchout.com - Transport projects in London

In message , Paul Terry
writes
It should do - direct services will run every 10 minutes for much of
the working day, which is a better frequency than any of the Heathrow,
Stansted or Gatwick expresses (and every 14-16 minutes before 9.30 or
after 16.30).

Yes, but it's not an express. So a fairer comparison would be the total
number of trains. From Gatwick there are 12 trains/hour to London,
from Luton Airport Parkway to London around 7 trains/hour, so both have
a higher frequency.

I've used LCY several times and like the airport, but the new service
will only change it from being extremely hard to get to, to being very
hard to get to. That's an improvement, but not much.


--
Clive Page

Boltar wrote:
I know someone whos an air traffic controller at LCY. Lets just say
that some of the near misses there have been apparently quite
"stunning" too due to the steep take off and glide slopes.

Near collision, not near miss.

Let's not let the industry parlance, designed not to upset passengers,
prevent us from being truthful about what they really a near collisions.

Raoul

In message , Clive Page
writes

In message , Paul Terry
writes

It should do - direct services will run every 10 minutes for much of
the working day, which is a better frequency than any of the Heathrow,
Stansted or Gatwick expresses (and every 14-16 minutes before 9.30 or
after 16.30).

Yes, but it's not an express. So a fairer comparison would be the
total number of trains. From Gatwick there are 12 trains/hour to
London, from Luton Airport Parkway to London around 7 trains/hour, so
both have a higher frequency.

If frequency is the deciding factor, LCY will actually be getting 12
trains an hour - 6 direct, and 6 involving a change at Canning Town. In
a few more years the latter will provide interchange with a large number
of other mainline and tube services crossing London, including the
Central line, CTRL, (eventually) Crossrail, and SET at Woolwich. Its
likely that the LCY will thus become increasingly useful for a growing
number of people.

I've used LCY several times and like the airport, but the new service
will only change it from being extremely hard to get to, to being very
hard to get to. That's an improvement, but not much.

Surely that depends on where you are coming from? A colleague of mine
who lives in Limehouse and flies frequently from LCY will find it a huge
improvement. On the other hand, I live close enough to Heathrow to find
LCY pretty much of an irrelevance.

--
Paul Terry

On Sun, 6 Nov 2005, Raoul wrote:

Boltar wrote:

I know someone whos an air traffic controller at LCY. Lets just say
that some of the near misses there have been apparently quite
"stunning" too due to the steep take off and glide slopes.

Near collision, not near miss.

Let's not let the industry parlance, designed not to upset passengers,
prevent us from being truthful about what they really a near
collisions.

No. I take your point, and i realise that this is a widely-repeated
witticism, but it's based on entirely duff grammar. Clearly, these events
are misses, not hits - no planes have ever collided over LCY, as far as
i'm aware - and when we say "near miss", we mean "a miss in which the
planes were near to each other". A "near hit" would be a hit, which is not
what happened.

This is the same thing as a "close shave", which, close as it may be, is
still a shave, and not an act of metaphorical face-hacking.

tom

--
THE DRUMMER FROM DEF LEPPARD'S ONLY GOT ONE ARM!

"Paul Terry" wrote in message
...
In message , Ian F.
writes


Well, it was you who suggested Bank - obviously, if you live or work
closer to another airport, it is likely to be quicker to get to that one!


And hundreds of thousands of people in London live closer to City Airport
than to Gatwick, but will still find it quicker to get to Gatwick.

The 22 minutes from Bank seems pretty slow compared to East Croydon to
Gatwick which covers a greater distance in much less time.

BTN

In message , Sir Benjamin Nunn
writes

And hundreds of thousands of people in London live closer to City Airport
than to Gatwick, but will still find it quicker to get to Gatwick.

Only if they live adjacent to East Croydon station.

The 22 minutes from Bank seems pretty slow compared to East Croydon to
Gatwick which covers a greater distance in much less time.

The time varies between 15 and 22 minutes according to which train you
get.

But I think you are rather missing the point. London City Airport is
so-called because it operates primarily for people working in the city
and docklands.

--
Paul Terry

"Paul Terry" wrote in message
...
In message , Sir Benjamin Nunn
writes

And hundreds of thousands of people in London live closer to City Airport
than to Gatwick, but will still find it quicker to get to Gatwick.

Only if they live adjacent to East Croydon station.


Or almost anywhere on the London Bridge / Victoria / Clapham Junction lines.
or Tramlink.

Lots of people South of the river do not live near Underground stations.
Still fewer live near Underground stations with quick, direct routes into
the centre.


The 22 minutes from Bank seems pretty slow compared to East Croydon to
Gatwick which covers a greater distance in much less time.

The time varies between 15 and 22 minutes according to which train you
get.

But I think you are rather missing the point. London City Airport is
so-called because it operates primarily for people working in the city and
docklands.


And thus is vastly more useful for people who are visiting London (and
tending to stay in the centre) rather than those who already live here and
are travelling to Europe.

People who work in the City commute from a vast range of different places
from all directions, varied distances and travelling times from the centre,
and an airport 22 minutes East of Bank is therefore only of convenience to a
limited subset of them.

If City Airport was actually 22 minutes West of Holborn, 22 minutes North of
Euston, or 22 minutes South of Embankment, the impact on visitors to Central
London would be minimal, but the subset of Londoners that the airport
happened to benefit would be significantly different.

BTN