Your perception of rail travel in the UK?

[teuchter]

Although it's true that local knowledge does tell you which routes are liable to get stuck in traffic etc. For example I now know there is usually not much point getting a bus along Piccadilly.

 

[Doppelgänger]

If they are getting on at Bank, they might be changing to the Jubilee Line and London Bridge.

If they are getting on at London Bridge, they might be picking up the DLR at Bank, which is literally 2 minutes walk from the Northern Line.

You're indulging in making assumptions about people and judging them based on those assumptions but you don't actually have a clue what their motivations are. (Not to mention that there might be other, more personal reasons why they want to minimise their walk, but that's besides the point).

Maybe, but they aren't ALL doing it.

 

[kabbes]

Maybe, but they aren't ALL doing it.

How do you know? Why wouldn't they all be doing it?

 

[ethel]

A bus from London Bridge to Euston would take weeks.

i meant the bus to bank, liverpool street etc.

 

[ethel]

I don't use buses for one reason only: I don't have the first clue what bus to catch, where to catch it from or when to get off it. Trains are easy -- the network is there in front of you. To use the bus, you really have to have a working local knowledge.

learn

 

[kabbes]

There's a lot of people who, with absolutely no knowledge whatsoever of somebody else's personal circumstances or even their origin and destination, will feel free to judge somebody for their travel methodology. But it's a fool's errand, frankly.

 

[Doppelgänger]

How do you know? Why wouldn't they all be doing it?

Because I have seen some of these people in places like on the escaltor, so I know they are going one stop.

Another example I saw a lady get on at St. James's Park and she went one stop to Victoria- where I was getting off and then she went to the mainline station- another pointless trip.

 

[kabbes]

learn

Why? I don't make any regular journeys where I would want to catch a bus. I'm not about to learn the whole network on the off chance that one day I might need to use one.

 

[ethel]

How do you know? Why wouldn't they all be doing it?

because a lot of people are lazy sods.

 

[ethel]

Why? I don't make any regular journeys where I would want to catch a bus. I'm not about to learn the whole network on the off chance that one day I might need to use one.

ah but we aren;'t talking about you. we are talking about people who could eaasily get the bus as part of their commute. i agree that the london bus system is pretty eay to navigate. the buses even talk to you now!

 

[ethel]

There's a lot of people who, with absolutely no knowledge whatsoever of somebody else's personal circumstances or even their origin and destination, will feel free to judge somebody for their travel methodology. But it's a fool's errand, frankly.

i wonder if tfl keep stats on this. i presume they do since they have now made a concerted effort to stop people going from holbor or leicester square to covent garden by having posters and signposts advising that it's a 5 minute walk.

 

[kabbes]

Because I have seen some of these people in places like on the escaltor, so I know they are going one stop.

Another example I saw a lady get on at St. James's Park and she went one stop to Victoria- where I was getting off and then she went to the mainline station- another pointless trip.

I don't know if I'd agree that is pointless. It's an easy station to get on at and an easy one to transfer to the mainline on. She may have had to walk from the other side of SJP and not been up to the full walk to Victoria -- maybe she had a problem with her leg, for example. She may have had another reason.

Don't be so quick to jump to conclusions about strangers and judge them for it. Walk a mile in their shoes first.

 

[kabbes]

ah but we aren;'t talking about you. we are talking about people who could eaasily get the bus as part of their commute. i agree that the london bus system is pretty eay to navigate. the buses even talk to you now!

No, I was talking about me. I said that the reason I don't use the bus is because I don't know the routes. You advised me to learn them.

 

[ethel]

No, I was talking about me. I said that the reason I don't use the bus is because I don't know the routes. You advised me to learn them.

ah, but then you changed your reason to that you didn't need to use the bus. that's a different argument.

 

[kabbes]

To be frank, the most common reason for people going one stop is probably the one already suggested earlier -- people simply don't know the way overground and don't realise that the stops are so close together. That can certainly be addressed by simply having better signage. But I also bet a lot of the *apparent* one-stoppers are actually changing line.

 

[kabbes]

ah, but then you changed your reason to that you didn't need to use the bus. that's a different argument.

No it's not. It's not remotely a different reason. I'm talking about why I don't use the bus. It's because when I might actually be advised use it I don't know the route. Clearly also when there is no reason for me to use it, I don't use it.

 

[teuchter]

Why? I don't make any regular journeys where I would want to catch a bus. I'm not about to learn the whole network on the off chance that one day I might need to use one.

It's not very difficult - come out of London Bridge station, and you'll find a map like this that tells you where you can go:

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/gettingaround/maps/buses/pdf/londonbridge-2163.pdf

 

[ethel]

It's not very difficult - come out of London Bridge station, and you'll find a map like this that tells you where you can go:

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/gettingaround/maps/buses/pdf/londonbridge-2163.pdf

indeed. no more difficult than a tube map.

 

[kabbes]

Gosh, I didn't know that. That's useful. Of course, I don't actually go to London Bridge Station. But I presume they have them outside normal bus stops too?

 

[teuchter]

Gosh, I didn't know that. That's useful. Of course, I don't actually go to London Bridge Station. But I presume they have them outside normal bus stops too?

Most of them, yes.

At the very least they have a route diagram for every bus that stops at that stop, telling you where it goes and how many minutes to each stop.

London has very well mapped bus system. Better than anywhere else I've ever been, I think actually. In the days before I had maps on my phone, I would use the maps in bus shelters to navigate my way around London.

 

[ethel]

Gosh, I didn't know that. That's useful. Of course, I don't actually go to London Bridge Station. But I presume they have them outside normal bus stops too?

pretty much.

 

[Doppelgänger]

I don't know if I'd agree that is pointless. It's an easy station to get on at and an easy one to transfer to the mainline on. She may have had to walk from the other side of SJP and not been up to the full walk to Victoria -- maybe she had a problem with her leg, for example. She may have had another reason.

Don't be so quick to jump to conclusions about strangers and judge them for it. Walk a mile in their shoes first.

Maybe, but i see this sort of thing all the time. The leg issue doesn't wash either as negoting stairs/people/escaltors is much harder than a 5 min walk overground.

I think as Sarahluv said, it is down to people being lazy, coupled with not having aclue where anything in london really is.

 

[kabbes]

You can't have it both ways. If it is harder to negotiate the underground than to walk overground then it makes no sense to call people lazy for taking that option!

 

[teuchter]

Also: it's healthy to walk and it's also healthy intellectually/psychologically to understand the city you live/work in on a level other than a tube diagram. Well, I think so anyway.

 

[kabbes]

There's nothing healthy about bloody London.

 

[Doppelgänger]

You can't have it both ways. If it is harder to negotiate the underground than to walk overground then it makes no sense to call people lazy for taking that option!

That was in response to your comment, since clearly EVERY person who goes one stop has a really good reeson.

But the fact still stands that I see LOADS of people go one stop. I have people at work who freely admit it aswell, eventhough it actaully is more hassle. I am not making this stuff up, sure there are some genuinely good reasons, but on the whole plenty of pople are just clogging the system up unnecessariliy.

 

[teuchter]

You can't have it both ways. If it is harder to negotiate the underground than to walk overground then it makes no sense to call people lazy for taking that option!

Well, put it this way then - applying a little extra mental effort can help save you a bit of physical effort. As well as reducing the burden on transport and letting you see bits of this great city that you might not otherwise.

Everyone's a winner!

 

[teuchter]

There's nothing healthy about bloody London.

Maybe you only think that because you only experience it on the tube or in your office.

 

[kabbes]

Maybe you only think that because you only experience it on the tube or in your office.

I've experienced it my whole life. The place is the pits.

 

[teuchter]

I've experienced it my whole life. The place is the pits.

Did you grow up in London? Why do you hate it so?