please empty your brain below
The "cable" in question is a communications antenna that runs the length of the track and transmits signalling information to the trains. They found on the first installations of the new signalling system that they were having serious communication issues, and that replacing the cable helped solve them.
That's all the "wrong cable" amounts to. I can't really see how this can be cast as incompetence. They're using the proven signalling system the DLR uses and they'd done considerable testing of how it would work on the tube on a specially built test track at Highgate depot. I don't know what more they could have done.
(sorry for introducing facts to the discussion DG)
Well, with hindsight it is obvious. They should have tested it thoroughly in a tunnel. They even had the not-in-public-use section from Green Park to Charing Cross (and beyond almost to Aldwych) to do this. Furthermore it wouldn't have have been wasted effort as it could be commisioned as part of the project.
However Captain Hindsight always has twenty-twenty vision.
And this could just be coincidence, but all the copies of Metro are gone by the time I get to the DLR station just like they always did prior to the works, whereas for the past 18 months or so, I've always been able to pick up a pristine copy no matter how late I get there. Commuters who used different routes whilst the works were happening returning back to their normal route perhaps...?
dg writes: Thanks, I've now updated the table.
For people living in the East End, especially in the docklands area, the persistent closures earlier this year have been horrendous.
Especially as the DLR was also undergoing a lot of work at the same time.
We often had the choice of an overcrowded DLR, or nothing at all.
Just as well that I quite like the walk from Canary Wharf into the city at weekends.
+ @Anonymous: I live in Kingsbury on the north-west stretch of the Jub, and the weekend closures cause the roads to become so congested that *any* bus (whether rail replacement or not) journey becomes a nightmare, and it's not just a little more time; it's a lot. So I would have to say "yes - it's a *lot* of hassle"
But yes, there are alternatives, and yes often DG has a colourfully exagerrated tone in the writing here. But for my family, the persistent Jubilee/Met Line weekend closures have definitely caused a lot of inconvenience: e.g. guests and other family reluctant to come to visit us at weekends, not being able to get into town and back early for short visits to musuems/shows/exhibitions etc. and most of all, the lack of spontaneity in trip planning, especially in the summer time.
But thanks to DG's most useful consolidated chart (the original of which has been stuck to our fridge door for months, we have at least been able to know what to expect without having to leaf through reams of TfL notices buried on their website. Thank you DG for updating this.
The stations are less busy and they're close enough to the Northern, Bakerloo, Met and the Thameslink. You never hear people complain on that end anyway. Unless there's an event at Wembley, obviously.
The 'big daddy' of them all will be the resignalling of the 'surface' lines - Met/Cir/H&C which all interact with each other and which are already being constantly suspended for track replacement work.
Next month the first of the new S Stock is supposed to arrive, so here's betting on still further disruption as they tweek platforms,sidings and (existing) signals to accomodate the slightly longer trains.
Happy days.
The Jubilee Line closures have caused chaos in this household. At least one family member has to traipse from North Greenwich to Stanmore on two Sundays afternoons a week for working purposes, not leaving from the Stanmore end until after 11pm. Imagine that journey on rail replacement buses? Yes, its vile. So, Anonymous, it may not be the end of the world for you, but have you ever considered that you may not actually be the only person in the world?
1) Oyster cards not valid on national rail.
2) "Quick bus journey" - bus service from Edgware to Stanmore is timetabled to depart once every half hour. Missing one by 5 minutes = 25 minutes hanging around wasted.
3) Further bus journey required from Stanmore, then 20 minute walk.
Not such a "quick fix" as you initially thought, eh? When the JL is actually running, the journey is relatively painless, if lengthy. When its not running, I can assure you its complete and utter murder. And the return journey is a nightmare and sometimes impossible to complete
However, perhaps you would care to offer us a lift there and back in your nice comfy car?
107, 142 and 340 all take you from Edgware to Stanmore. No way you need to wait 30 minutes...
And I obviously don't know where in or around Stanmore you need to be; if it's a bus journey AND a 20 min walk away from Stanmore station I can't imagine it's still in Stanmore anyway.
So unless you give me details I can't work this out. But I'd be quite surprised if the replacement bus was actually the fasted option for you for that journey.
Also, I don't have a car; I'm a cyclist actually. But thanks for being so open to what I thought might've been good advice.
North Greenwich is the nearest tube station to home. If the Jubilee line isnt running, I can't see that Oyster would be accepted from Eltham, which is our nearest rail station, can you?
And, once at Stanmore, the destination is Grim's Dyke Hotel in Harrow Weald. So if you've any smart ideas about how to get there when the Jubilee Line isnt working, bring 'em on, big boy.
In addition to everything IanVisits said, replacement buses around the Isle of Dogs are especially horrid. Never ending roadworks. The sweet irony is that these roadworks are a result of the DLR works and Crossrail works....!
Half the road closed at Westferry because of DLR work, which can cause major tailbacks getting into / out of Canary Wharf.
One of the access roads into Canary Wharf closed because of Crossrail works.
So actually, sorry to sound OTT, but the replacement buses really are a huge pain in the neck out here. And neck is not the word I wanted to use
Angry bear today aren't we.
Oh, and until recently there was no Jubilee Line replacement bus serving Canary Wharf as you had to go into town on the DLR & get the Northern Line! (even when it was also shut!)
SO, do I feel sorry for those north of Waterloo???? Yes, but at least I can start to enjoy my weekends again without hours of diversions and grief!
Rob
As I always say, you Londoners are spoilt. Try living in rurality (fewer than 50 miles from the centre of Trafalgar Square actually in my case) and see what your transport options are then.
But what's the obsession with Oyster? A Travelcard from Eltham is the appropriate ticket for this journey.
But I've noticed that some of the marginally more upmarket restaurants around the station have closed down. Now your option to dine out in Willesden are only an expensive Japanese, a tiny Euro-fusion or one of the two hundred kebab joints. Maybe it's only a coincidence, but I believe the absence of the Jubilee at weekends it's no good for the village.
I think I am right in saying that, since May, there has been only 8 weekends where there has been a service during a weekend on the silver slug.
Being the cynical man I am, once it has been unveiled by red ribbons, fanfare and other pomp and circumstance the bosses at Tube Lines decide to give this sparkly new signal system in mid-Jan that will cure all our ills - well, save us a few minutes here and there at least (alledgedly) - what are the odds that the new signal system will breakdown in the first week; I know it has been on test between Wembley Park and Stanmore for some time although quite when and how good it has been hasn't been advertised.
All this apart, why oh why hasn't TFL come up with the wonderful and I consider logical idea of reopening the defunct Metropolitan Line platforms at Willesden Green and Neasden? Surely this would help alleviate some of the pressure from the replacement bus service on those weekends when the Jubilee Line isn't running and the Met Line is?
The platforms still appear to be in very good nick and I think it would be welcomed by those living in those areas seeing that this has now has to be endured until mid-Jan; I happen to live in Queensbury.
Just my two'penneth....great site by the way. Cheers.
TridentScan | Privacy Policy