On Apr 2, 12:20 pm, Roland Perry wrote:
In message
, at
03:41:38 on Thu, 2 Apr 2009, TimB remarked:

As I'm sure you're aware, there are plenty of trains leaving KX after
8pm which are standing-room only.

I'm not aware of that (are we perhaps talking about the last train on a
Friday night)? In any event, one full train - perhaps 8 or even fewer
coaches - doesn't generate enough footfall to make a big station like
that "not deserted".

You must be thinking of a different Kings Cross - the one in Sydney
perhaps?

Do they also have "standing room only" trains leaving after 8pm?

There's a difference between 'not deserted' and 'standing room only'.

There's also a difference between a four-car train that's standing room
only, and a station that would be "virtually deserted" while those
couple of hundred people wandered through the concourse looking for the
right platform.

And no-one has confirmed that this late night "standing room only" train
actually exists.
--
Roland Perry

Sarah said so, and I believe her. I haven't taken the 2315 for a few
months, but it certainly loads well, though not to the point of
standing passengers. On a Friday it's certainly eight cars as far as
Cambridge (and needs to be), I can't remember offhand about Mon-Thurs.
All I personally ever said is.that the London termini aren't deserted
after 20.00. St Pancras, of course, may seem that way because so many
of 'its' passengers are in the tunnels below.
Tim

In message
, at
07:30:38 on Thu, 2 Apr 2009, TimB remarked:
All I personally ever said is.that the London termini aren't deserted
after 20.00. St Pancras, of course, may seem that way because so many
of 'its' passengers are in the tunnels below.

"Deserted" is what somewhere "seems" - it's all to do with the number of
people per square yard and so a big space will be more deserted than a
small space, containing the same number of people. Having seen several
London terminii later in the evening, I still contend that they are
"deserted" - irrespective of how many people are piled into one of the
trains on one of the platforms.
--
Roland Perry

On 2 Apr, 15:30, TimB wrote:
On Apr 2, 12:20 pm, Roland Perry wrote:



In message
, at
03:41:38 on Thu, 2 Apr 2009, TimB remarked:

As I'm sure you're aware, there are plenty of trains leaving KX after
8pm which are standing-room only.

I'm not aware of that (are we perhaps talking about the last train on a
Friday night)? In any event, one full train - perhaps 8 or even fewer
coaches - doesn't generate enough footfall to make a big station like
that "not deserted".

You must be thinking of a different Kings Cross - the one in Sydney
perhaps?

Do they also have "standing room only" trains leaving after 8pm?

There's a difference between 'not deserted' and 'standing room only'.

There's also a difference between a four-car train that's standing room
only, and a station that would be "virtually deserted" while those
couple of hundred people wandered through the concourse looking for the
right platform.

And no-one has confirmed that this late night "standing room only" train
actually exists.
--
Roland Perry

Sarah said so, and I believe her. I haven't taken the 2315 for a few
months, but it certainly loads well, though not to the point of
standing passengers. On a Friday it's certainly eight cars as far as
Cambridge (and needs to be), I can't remember offhand about Mon-Thurs.
All I personally ever said is.that the London termini aren't deserted
after 20.00. St Pancras, of course, may seem that way because so many
of 'its' passengers are in the tunnels below.
*Tim

The 2315 is eight cars Mon-Thurs (though I think it terminates at
Ely). It's never very busy on those days (mostly tipsy commuters
rather than country folk on nights out in the big city).

Most weekday trains from KX to Cambridge have spare seats from 1915
onwards except the slowish xx52 ones which stop at Stevenage, tend to
be 4-cars, and are often full and standing as far as Stevenage.

PaulO (sent from the 2015, which is 8 cars and half-full in the front
carriage)

On Apr 2, 8:55 pm, wrote:
On 2 Apr, 15:30, TimB wrote:



On Apr 2, 12:20 pm, Roland Perry wrote:

In message
, at
03:41:38 on Thu, 2 Apr 2009, TimB remarked:

As I'm sure you're aware, there are plenty of trains leaving KX after
8pm which are standing-room only.

I'm not aware of that (are we perhaps talking about the last train on a
Friday night)? In any event, one full train - perhaps 8 or even fewer
coaches - doesn't generate enough footfall to make a big station like
that "not deserted".

You must be thinking of a different Kings Cross - the one in Sydney
perhaps?

Do they also have "standing room only" trains leaving after 8pm?

There's a difference between 'not deserted' and 'standing room only'.

There's also a difference between a four-car train that's standing room
only, and a station that would be "virtually deserted" while those
couple of hundred people wandered through the concourse looking for the
right platform.

And no-one has confirmed that this late night "standing room only" train
actually exists.
--
Roland Perry

Sarah said so, and I believe her. I haven't taken the 2315 for a few
months, but it certainly loads well, though not to the point of
standing passengers. On a Friday it's certainly eight cars as far as
Cambridge (and needs to be), I can't remember offhand about Mon-Thurs.
All I personally ever said is.that the London termini aren't deserted
after 20.00. St Pancras, of course, may seem that way because so many
of 'its' passengers are in the tunnels below.
Tim

The 2315 is eight cars Mon-Thurs (though I think it terminates at
Ely). It's never very busy on those days (mostly tipsy commuters
rather than country folk on nights out in the big city).

Most weekday trains from KX to Cambridge have spare seats from 1915
onwards except the slowish xx52 ones which stop at Stevenage, tend to
be 4-cars, and are often full and standing as far as Stevenage.

PaulO (sent from the 2015, which is 8 cars and half-full in the front
carriage)

Also worth noting that KX also gets busier later in the evening when
Moorgate closes and the Inner Suburbans switch to the Cross.
Tim

In article ,
Roland Perry wrote:
In message , at 08:30:00 on Wed, 1
Apr 2009, Sarah Brown remarked:
but you won't find that 10pm rush hour penetrating as far as Intercity
services. Most major London termini are deserted from 8pm onwards.

No they're not - e.g. King's Cross, Liverpool Street, London Bridge,
Charing Cross, Waterloo, Victoria are all far from deserted after 8pm.

Different definitions of "deserted" perhaps.

As I'm sure you're aware, there are plenty of trains leaving KX after
8pm which are standing-room only.

I'm not aware of that (are we perhaps talking about the last train on a
Friday night)?

I have no idea - I wouldn't feel safe catching that train.

See my reply to Colin - the 20:52 and 22:15 are often packed. The
22:15 in particular often does the whole "filling the concourse and
then causing a stampede when the platform is announced" thing.

In article ,
wrote:
In article ,
(Sarah Brown) wrote:

In article ,
Roland Perry wrote:
In message
,
at 03:29:01 on Wed, 25 Mar 2009, Mizter T
remarked:
but you won't find that 10pm rush hour penetrating as far as
Intercity services. Most major London termini are deserted from 8pm
onwards.

No they're not - e.g. King's Cross, Liverpool Street, London Bridge,
Charing Cross, Waterloo, Victoria are all far from deserted after 8pm.

Different definitions of "deserted" perhaps.

As I'm sure you're aware, there are plenty of trains leaving KX after
8pm which are standing-room only.

Not many fasts to Cambridge IME. The 19:15 fills quite well but I've never
failed to find a seat and see few standing passengers.

The 20:52 is often "sitting on luggage rack or floor" territory as far
as Royston (and a useless train to Cambridge anyway - might as well
just have a cup of tea and catch the 8 carriage 21:15 which only gets
in 2 minutes or so later), and the 22:15 is always very crowded when I
catch it.

In article ,
TimB wrote:
On Apr 2, 12:20 pm, Roland Perry wrote:

And no-one has confirmed that this late night "standing room only" train
actually exists.
--
Roland Perry

Sarah said so, and I believe her.

I've often found myself sitting on the floor of the 22:15 as far as
Letchworth or Royston because I arrived at the station more than 2
minutes after the platform was announced. :-(

On Apr 3, 6:30 pm, Sarah Brown
wrote:
In article ,
Roland Perry wrote:

In message , at 08:30:00 on Wed, 1
Apr 2009, Sarah Brown remarked:
but you won't find that 10pm rush hour penetrating as far as Intercity
services. Most major London termini are deserted from 8pm onwards.

No they're not - e.g. King's Cross, Liverpool Street, London Bridge,
Charing Cross, Waterloo, Victoria are all far from deserted after 8pm.

Different definitions of "deserted" perhaps.

As I'm sure you're aware, there are plenty of trains leaving KX after
8pm which are standing-room only.

I'm not aware of that (are we perhaps talking about the last train on a
Friday night)?

I have no idea - I wouldn't feel safe catching that train.

Really? The 2315 often has a good contingent of dinner jackets coming
back from the opera etc, and the rest are half-asleep.
Tim

In article ,
TimB wrote:

I'm not aware of that (are we perhaps talking about the last train on a
Friday night)?

I have no idea - I wouldn't feel safe catching that train.

Really? The 2315 often has a good contingent of dinner jackets coming
back from the opera etc, and the rest are half-asleep.

I was more thinking of the midnight-oh-four, or whatever it is. I
occasionally caught it in my student days - weird people they used to
get on it!

The 23:15 I don't often get, although the last time I did, I had a
bunch of drunk Freemasons, in said dinner jackets, being extremely
sexually pushy all the way to Cambridge. It was not a comfortable
experience.

On 02/04/09 15:49, Roland Perry wrote:
"Deserted" is what somewhere "seems" - it's all to do with the number of
people per square yard and so a big space will be more deserted than a
small space, containing the same number of people. Having seen several
London terminii later in the evening, I still contend that they are
"deserted" - irrespective of how many people are piled into one of the
trains on one of the platforms.

Marylebone certainly hasn't been deserted when I've used it between 9
and 11pm on weekday evenings.

Roger