Horrible Commute

Posted on 2015/11/18 23:09:28 (November 2015).

[Monday 16th November 2015]
There seems to be a certain amount of up and down involved in commuting. When we first moved earlier this year, following eight years of walking to work, getting across London by tube at rush hour was rather a shock to the system. After a couple of months I began to get used to it, partly as I began to adjust my routine to avoid the worst of it, and figure out alternative routes when things weren't going well. The summer then brought a bit of a further reprieve it seemed, as a combination of people being on holiday and perhaps being more inclined to cycle or walk reduces the load on the tube a bit. Come the Autumn though, with everybody spending more time at work, the weather starting to worsen, and daylight hours shrinking, I've noticed it get worse again. I think there may also be a secondary effect that after the initial adjustment to the new norm, now a kind of longer term malaise with the reality of it has set in.

Today on the way back was especially bad, which was even more annoying as I'd tried to leave early so I could get home and cook for a change - I hardly managed that at all last week. The entrance to the underground at Victoria seems to almost routinely be closed when I'm trying to get home on Mondays now. Usually it's somewhere in the region of a 10 minute wait before they determine the overcrowding on the platforms has subsided, and open the gates again. Today though it seemed to be taking even longer than usual, and I really didn't feel like being stuck in a big crowd. So after a while I gave up, pushed back through the crowd, and tried to get a bus at least part of the way. I managed to get on a not very helpful bus, which I got off again around Marble Arch, then walked all along Oxford Street to Oxford Circus, only to find the station there completely closed as well. I trudged on further from there and eventually managed to get onto the tube at Goodge Street. My commute which ought to normally take half an hour took an hour and a half.

It was too late to cook by this point, so I picked up some Chinese takeaway on the way back instead.

These now regular temporary station closures are apparently just a capacity issue. Given that Victoria line trains already operate pretty much back to back - there's only a minute between them at peak times - it is a bit worrying. The number of tube users will continue to grow, and some parts of the network are demonstrably struggling to cope. I wonder if any serious thought is being put into how to meet this growing demand? It did make me wonder if there could be money to be made with some kind of private bus service like Leap here in London - just for getting across the centre of London, from hubs like Victoria to Euston, without all the stops en route, and in a bit more comfort. Oh and an onboard bar, ideally.

Hopefully I at least don't have too much longer of this to put up with, my office is supposed to be moving to Kings Cross some time next year, possibly as early as April (although more likely in the summer). At that point my commute should be cut in half, and if public transport completely fails to cope then worst case it should be about a 40 minute walk.

Downside to the Big City I guess :-( Didn't realise they shut the stations due to "over capacity" Must be a new thing, although it is a very long time since I last went to the capital.

Posted by Nigel at 2015/11/22 20:48:36.

Downside to the Big City I guess :-( Didn't realise they shut the stations due to "over capacity" Must be a new thing, although it is a very long time since I last went to the capital.

Posted by Nigel at 2015/11/22 20:48:37.

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