Platform Announcements

Heard this morning at London Bridge Rail Station - two immediately sequential loudspeaker announcements made by the same person:

"This is a passenger announcement. Due to overcrowding, London Bridge Underground station is inaccessible. We advice passengers to seek alternative routes"

"This is a passenger announcement. Due to signalling failure in the Blackfriars area, trains to London Blackfriars are suspended. London Underground are accepting rail tickets from this station"

We all know that problems occur, but a little joined up thinking is a good idea.

All Out

So the RMT have decided to have another of their teenage temper tantrums. Go fig!
This is despite the fact that no-one seems to understand why the strike happened or what changed to lead to the suspension of action late last night. But we've all been warned that this is not the end of this story. There is still a threat of action with the beginning of another 72-hour strike on Monday. Bob Crow has nailed his colours to the mast again in a statement to BBC News 24:

"Our view the deal we have got is the best possible but if these people from
Transport for London keep on going round and trying to rubbish us then it's
their fault if the strike takes place next week again."

Let me see if I understand what he's saying - another strike will not depend on particular terms and conditions but on whether Transport for London "rubbish" the union! If this isn't simply playground posturing then I don't know what is. Perhaps they'll threaten TfL with a beating from their older brother next week...

Snow

I love snow. You can imagine, then, that I was pleased to discover a white world outside when I pulled my curtains this morning. That's even despite the fact that the centimetre or two of snow we had managed to double my commute to work by rail.

One thing that annoys me no-end when this kind of thing happens is people complaining that it's "typical" when there's disruption after snowfall like this. They point out that other more snow-bound countries manage to keep trains running on time through the snowiest of winters. There is a big difference. Snow will normally hit us in London for no more than a day or two in any winter. So while I'm sure there are many infrastructure and technological solutions to the problem - is it really worth the time, trouble and expense?

I think what annoys me most is that the people who complain when things do go wrong, like they did today, are probably the self-same people who would be up-in-arms if ticket prices increased or their taxes went towards implementing a solution which will only ever be used a few days a year.

Commuter Thought Number 234

Why is it that those individuals who are antisocial enough to play music loudly and without headphones on their mobile, while on the train, only ever seem to play aggressive shouty rap?
Is there a correlation here? You never get, for example, loud Des O'Connor or even loud rock.