please empty your brain below
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A neat encapsulaion of what could be termed 'I've lived in London for a long time syndrome': the rage that occurs when you realise that you are going to get to your destination a couple of minutes later than if you had been on that (unidicated) first train to depart.
This condition is also in evidence when passengers are seen running hell for leather towards a train which is just about to shut its doors: it is a racing certainty that there will be another one along within five minutes but, no, they simply have to get on that one that is ready to leave.
Alan | 23.10.08 - 9:15 a.m. | #
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The old indicators at Earl's Court have been taken away for refurbishment, and for their own protection during the refurbishment of the roof. They'll be back, as English Heritage requires it.
They'll probably be accompanied by modern next train indicators, but because trains are often rerouted between platforms at the last second, it may not be an improvement.
The Circle Line scheme make Edgware Road get slightly easier, as all trains on the southernmost platform will be going to Hammersmith.
Mr Thant | Homepage | 23.10.08 - 9:23 a.m. | #
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Not really being terribly fascinated by these indicators (becuase I find them totally unreliable so don't bother with them anyway), I still skimmed the post. Probably at double my normal skimmin sped.
The only word that jumped out at me was 'dotmatrix'. I read it as 'dominatrix', paused and went back to see how that had crept into the post.
Sometimes I wonder about myself 
Blue Witch | Homepage | 23.10.08 - 9:45 a.m. | #
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Don't worry, Blue Witch, you weren't the only one who misread that! I thought I'd be the only one...
Adrian | 23.10.08 - 10:27 a.m. | #
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Earl's Court is my least favourite station by a very long way for precisely this reason. I don't think I've ever been there (and thankfully I don't have to very often...) without ending up on a train with a confused tourist going to the wrong place. Willesden Junction (and yeah, I know it's a totally unfair comparison really, and not even Underground) manages to have the same-coloured routes intersecting without all this confusion!
Red Dalek | Homepage | 23.10.08 - 11:11 a.m. | #
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The changing platforms for the first train out is a strange thing. Just the other day, I was sitting comfortably on the train reading my book when we came into a station with that 1st and second option. Our driver anounces that the other train on the adjacent platform will be leaving first. Now, for years I've never bothered to run for the other as 90\\% of the other passengers do. Why was it then, that I got up - still with my book open, walked across the platform and sat on the other train. I'm going loopy.
Bina | Homepage | 23.10.08 - 11:22 a.m. | #
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Hey you folks...want to be a contestant on the Krypton Factor?
They're looking for contestants:
http://www.itv.com/kryptonfactor/
Bina | Homepage | 23.10.08 - 12:49 p.m. | #
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When you've lived in London long enough you always do what it takes to get the next train. Not to save a few precious minutes, but because you can never quite be sure that there will ever be another one...
disgruntled | Homepage | 23.10.08 - 2:15 p.m. | #
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I was in Earl's Court tube station the other week, and experienced myself the dreadfulness of its next train indicators. I wanted a District Line train to High Street Kensington, but I gave up and went to Gloucester Road (via the Piccadilly Line) instead, where I could catch the Circle Line. And, to be honest, the indicators at Gloucester Road aren't much better.
Why do most of the naff indicators seem to be on the Circle, District or Hammersmith & City lines?
Andrewh | 23.10.08 - 2:25 p.m. | #
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Always had a soft spot for Earls Court, so was glad to see its proper indicators with their elegant illuminated arrows are coming back. The new ones are embarrassingly shit.
Matt | 23.10.08 - 2:28 p.m. | #
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"Becuase" and "skimmin sped"...Blue Witch!! Too much dotmatrixing?
Amused | 23.10.08 - 3:07 p.m. | #
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Gotta disagree with you about Olympia. It's always on the southernmost platform (4?), so no issues with where it's going to appear. It's just that there's only 3 (or sometimes 4), an hour.
Edgware Road is MUCH worse than Earl's Court.
Geofftech | Homepage | 23.10.08 - 3:45 p.m. | #
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You know, you guys could all stop worrying and just make sure you position yourselves so you can see what the front of the train says as it pulls into the station. So you don't know how many minutes you have to wait. So what? Train indicators lie, as dg has pointed out himself, and, in most cases, if you have to wait over five minutes for a service to your destination, you can count yourself unlucky. Chill!
Having said that, I make a case for Ealing Common eastbound. Both platforms only tell you the destination of the approaching train when it's almost in the platform (that signalling problem presumably), but the eastbound also flags up "special" at various times in off-peak hours, to indicate that the District Line train pulling into the platform is actually heading for the sidings just past the station, and is just stopping while they alter the points. It's that "ah, train!...oh, not my train" feeling. And yet someone always walks up to it and presses the button...
Chloe | Homepage | 23.10.08 - 5:27 p.m. | #
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Why do most of the naff indicators seem to be on the Circle, District or Hammersmith & City lines?
Because these lines have the naffest signalling systems and there is not much point in spending decent money on indicators if the information they provide is rubbish.
Pedantic of Purley | 23.10.08 - 5:45 p.m. | #
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Staying with a friend who lived near Farringdon while visiting London about a year ago and making some trips to SW London, I changed trains at Edgware Road a bunch of times. That CCTV camera view of the display on the concourse has got to be one of the most asinine things I've ever seen. They couldn't just install another display that's identical to the one on the concourse and... run some wires between the two, or something? Doesn't seem like it should be all that complicated.
Josh | 23.10.08 - 5:59 p.m. | #
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STOPS HERE.
Why do LU use this phrase, of course the train stops here, that's how people get on and off! What's wrong with TERMINATES HERE?
PG | 23.10.08 - 10:29 p.m. | #
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"Becuase" and "skimmin sped"...Blue Witch!! Too much dotmatrixing?
Amused - hands not working properly, knackered keyboard, and new newest version of voice recognition software malfunctioning, I'm afraid. Would that I had the energy for the other...
Blue Witch | Homepage | 24.10.08 - 11:28 a.m. | #
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I spent five years of my life waiting on Earl's Court Stn (yes - full-time... at least it felt like it at the time). My escape from London would have felt to have been futile if They had improved the signage. My sympathies, though, to those of you still suffering.
Kerensa | 25.10.08 - 12:59 a.m. | #
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I'm glad someone else noticed, and similarly concluded, the ridicularity of the CCTV 'coverage' of the concourse displays at Edgware Road.
I suspect not only do they want to avoid the expense of setting up four stacked displays on the platform, that there also probably isn't space -OR- that even if there -IS- space, it would probably encroach on the available space necessary for evacuations or other safety reasons, or that it would "increase risk" to anyone maintaining the displays. Having said that though, they could easily adapt one of those 'compact displays' that are now standard in Ticket Halls, and put one there, showing the same information as the concourse system. And I don't believe for one minute it's not possible to feed data from one DMI system to another - it's just that it takes some effort, and also knowledge - knowledge that designers simply roped in on a short-term contract won't possibly have, because they won't have been working for the company they're contracted through more than a couple of months.
Mark Boulton | Homepage | 08.01.11 - 7:59 p.m. | #
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you can avoid the hassle of trying to determine the next H&C train at Whitechapel by instead changing at the next stop, Aldgate East where they all use one platform, so if transferring from the Overground [which is underground here!] to the Underground [which is overground here] and heading west, take the first train from the westbound platform[s] [one has been closed off recently] and change at Aldgate East if necessary - bet that isn't on TfL's Journey Planner!
daguerrotype - aka 'Midnight Cowboy' | 08.11.11 - 9:30 a.m. | #
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Wait long enough and an improved display will come along.
martin | 25.07.22 - 7:52 a.m. | #
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