"MIG" wrote:
Doesn't explain nonsensical stories like "services from Dartford
to Victoria being diverted because of problems on the Lewisham line".
... Was this information really provided by a TOC or was it BBC
News that randomly jumbled all the words?

No way to know; nonsensical press releases are not rare (I've just been
reading 20 from TfL which all contnue to give Boris credit for initiatives
launched by Ken).

But it may be that they got two press releases referring to 'apparently
related' incidents and they got merged by an idiot with no clue about
Geography.

I don't think such things are outsourced to India yet; imagine the wonderful
stories that we'll get then!
--

Andrew

Andrew Heenan wrote:
"Graham Harrison" wrote:
Yes... don't get me started about the BBC travel news and railways. They
seem to be incapable of doing any more than parroting what one TOC tells
them. For instance (I can't remember the exact words) "SWT trains are
replaced by buses between Southampton and Basingstoke." Well, if SWT
trains are replaced, what's happening to XC on the same route?

I'd guess that probably 95% of 'news' is simply rewritten press releases.

That's what press releases are there for - or it is for the couple I've
written! It can be instructive to look at some of the crud on TOC and
other websites. I had a look at the Porterbrook website recently - they
illustrate themselves with pictures of slam-door trains.

Few journalists ever bother to ask questions, let alone challenge the
'facts'

Who would they ask these questions to? The TOC who has supplied the
wrong information, who would presumably read it back to them....

Plus many 'news' services employ no journalists at all.

If the TOC can't be bothered to get it right, they shouldn't really
expect someone rushed off their feet - and according to friends in
radio, sometimes not even paid - to do their work for them.
--
Arthur Figgis Surrey, UK

On Nov 11, 6:39*pm, Mizter T wrote:
On 11 Nov, 18:14, MIG wrote:





On Nov 11, 4:47*pm, Roland Perry wrote:

In message , at 16:12:58 on
Tue, 11 Nov 2008, Graham Harrison
remarked:

Visitors to World Travel Market are advised that London Underground is
currently experiencing delays on the Docklands Light Rail (DLR) between
Bank Station and Shadwell Station.
1) I heard something very similar yesterday. * Is there any relation
between the 2 incidents?

I expect it's like the travel news I heard in Sunday that said trains
were disrupted because of works to the Bradway tunnel (south of
Sheffield). Yes, they would be, the tunnel's closed for three months!
But somehow they made it sound like it was just that day.

The DLR seems to be permanently borked in the vicinity of Excel.

It's completely scrude again tonight. *So this morning it was
equipment failures between Shadwell and Bank, now it's signalling
problems at Greenwich.

What equipment I wonder?

Thinking about it, they said that services between Shadwell and
Bank ... due to equipment failure ... so the escalator theory is
possible, without the equipment itself being between Shadwell and
Bank.

I get the feeling that it was built so much on the cheap in the 1980s
that it is completely falling apart. One could hope that the problems
are due to all the work going on, but there seems to be more to it
than that. *Escalators needing to be replaced after only 17 years is
an example.

Hmm, I don't think so - today's DLR is very different from what it was
on opening. The signalling system has changed entirely (or almost
entirely) since then.

It's certainly different from the early noughties when I used to
commute on it quite a lot because it was the slow but reliable
option. Now it's the even slower and totally unreliable option. I
tend only to use it on my PAYG days, or I would if it ever ran ...

The reason given last night for the closure of Bank DLR station was
faulty ventilation equipment in one of the tunnels between Shadwell
and Bank. I assumed it was the same problem this morning. Bank DLR is
closed all too often these days which is a pain while Tower Gateway is
closed and there is no East London Line from Shadwell.

This evening, dodgy signals were to blame for the fact they were
running a shuttle between Lewisham and Cutty Sark and between Cutty
Sark and Bank.

On 12 Nov, 00:51, wrote:
The reason given last night for the closure of Bank DLR station was
faulty ventilation equipment in one of the tunnels between Shadwell
and Bank. I assumed it was the same problem this morning. Bank DLR is
closed all too often these days which is a pain while Tower Gateway is
closed and there is no East London Line from Shadwell.

This evening, dodgy signals were to blame for the fact they were
running a shuttle between Lewisham and Cutty Sark and between Cutty
Sark and Bank.


Thanks for the extra info.

This thread on the District Dave forum also tells of the same - or at
least similar - problem on two consecutive days this summer:
http://districtdave.proboards39.com/...ay&thread=8460

The walk from Shadwell DLR to Whitechapel LU station isn't actually
very far at all - just over half a mile up Watney Street and Cavell
Street. Alternatively there are buses along Commercial Road into town,
or otherwise simply walk e.g. along Cable Street which delivers you to
the Tower of London.

Doesn't stop it being a complete pain of course, esp if what one
really want to do is get on the Central or Northern lines at Bank - or
indeed (and perhaps more to the point) get off them and get on to the
DLR.

"MIG" wrote in message
...
On Nov 11, 6:39 pm, Mizter T wrote:
On 11 Nov, 18:14, MIG wrote:

snip

Hmm, I don't think so - today's DLR is very different from what it was
on opening. The signalling system has changed entirely (or almost
entirely) since then.

It's certainly different from the early noughties when I used to
commute on it quite a lot because it was the slow but reliable
option. Now it's the even slower and totally unreliable option. I
tend only to use it on my PAYG days, or I would if it ever ran ...


You lot have it easy! When I started using the DLR we only had Tower Gateway
to Island Gardens. Services only ran Mon to Fri and stopped at 2100 in the
evening. Since I was fitting out a building near Canada Tower this was a
complete pain. And when I started office working there and Bank opened, but
no Jubilee line, and the service conked out (usually a failure at the
junction to Tower Gateway) you were marooned in the bowls of the City with
no choice but to wait it out or take District Line/bus services to get to
work (eventually).

As for ExCel - the building of which led to the destruction of THE Custom
House. Another act of major vandalism!

MaxB

On Nov 12, 10:32 pm, Paul Corfield wrote:
On Tue, 11 Nov 2008 16:51:23 -0800 (PST), wrote:
The reason given last night for the closure of Bank DLR station was
faulty ventilation equipment in one of the tunnels between Shadwell
and Bank. I assumed it was the same problem this morning. Bank DLR is
closed all too often these days which is a pain while Tower Gateway is
closed and there is no East London Line from Shadwell.

You are correct in your assumption. Repair work overran.

--
Paul C

Admits to working for London Underground!

I went to WTM at ExCel on Wednesday, by DLR from Canning Town - they
were running a shuttle from the Beckton line turning around at Canning
Town, and the on-train indicators were showing Canning Town trains as
going to Beckton! But it worked well enough - there are always plenty
of platform staff with loudhailers telling people to get on. There was
also a free shuttle bus from ExCel to Canning Town.
Tim

On Nov 14, 7:42*am, TimB wrote:
On Nov 12, 10:32 pm, Paul Corfield wrote:

On Tue, 11 Nov 2008 16:51:23 -0800 (PST), wrote:
The reason given last night for the closure of Bank DLR station was
faulty ventilation equipment in one of the tunnels between Shadwell
and Bank. I assumed it was the same problem this morning. Bank DLR is
closed all too often these days which is a pain while Tower Gateway is
closed and there is no East London Line from Shadwell.

You are correct in your assumption. Repair work overran.

--
Paul C

Admits to working for London Underground!

I went to WTM at ExCel on Wednesday, by DLR from Canning Town - they
were running a shuttle from the Beckton line turning around at Canning
Town,

I think that's normal while Tower Gateway is closed.

and the on-train indicators were showing Canning Town trains as
going to Beckton! But it worked well enough - there are always plenty
of platform staff with loudhailers telling people to get on. There was
also a free shuttle bus from ExCel to Canning Town.
* Tim

On Nov 14, 9:09 am, MIG wrote:
On Nov 14, 7:42 am, TimB wrote:



On Nov 12, 10:32 pm, Paul Corfield wrote:

On Tue, 11 Nov 2008 16:51:23 -0800 (PST), wrote:
The reason given last night for the closure of Bank DLR station was
faulty ventilation equipment in one of the tunnels between Shadwell
and Bank. I assumed it was the same problem this morning. Bank DLR is
closed all too often these days which is a pain while Tower Gateway is
closed and there is no East London Line from Shadwell.

You are correct in your assumption. Repair work overran.

--
Paul C

Admits to working for London Underground!

I went to WTM at ExCel on Wednesday, by DLR from Canning Town - they
were running a shuttle from the Beckton line turning around at Canning
Town,

I think that's normal while Tower Gateway is closed.

and the on-train indicators were showing Canning Town trains as
going to Beckton! But it worked well enough - there are always plenty
of platform staff with loudhailers telling people to get on. There was
also a free shuttle bus from ExCel to Canning Town.
Tim

Then they should be able to get the destination indicators right.
Tim

On 11 Nov, 18:35, MIG wrote:

Tower Gateway is closed long term. *It was Bank that had an
unscheduled closure this morning.- Hide quoted text -

The 135 bus was supposed to be a replacement - but I totally fail to
understand why it runs from Old St and not Tower Gateway.

Neil