please empty your brain below
Very good. Enjoyed that.
Pedantic detail. West Ham. You say...

dg writes: Ah yes, good point, deleted, thanks.

IslandDweller | 03.10.17 - 7:22 a.m. | #

..... but why are there never Countdown displays at bus stations?

Still anon | 03.10.17 - 7:43 a.m. | #

How long did your journey take? I bet it was quicker than you expected.

Now, if all that attention to detail stuff was fixed, what would we have to moan about?

100andthirty | 03.10.17 - 7:55 a.m. | #

Free bus travel for school children just encourages trips of one or two stops. No wonder we have obese kids.

The overground was famous for fare dodgers , thats why they have the targeted announcement. I'm sure at the weekend back in the day virtually no one paid on lines going through Hackney Downs, most travellers used it as a free party bus . Bongo drums and scruffy dogs seemed to be popular along with HSL (high strength lager)but I never found it threatening. Sometimes even entertaining.

chicker | 03.10.17 - 7:55 a.m. | #

Worst DG post ever!

The equivalent of someone shouting "First World Problem !' at me whilst I manage the very real stresses of commuting.

new still anon | 03.10.17 - 8:23 a.m. | #

Never a dull moment at Bus Stop M!

Peter | 03.10.17 - 8:30 a.m. | #

I thought DG was someone who never got angry...

popartist | 03.10.17 - 8:53 a.m. | #

@Popartist: came over more as irritated than angry, resigned rather than apoplectic; Sadly I would be the latter in a similar position...

The Legendary Zelda | 03.10.17 - 9:02 a.m. | #

Even the moans show how lucky London residents are!

Andrew Bowden | Homepage | 03.10.17 - 9:03 a.m. | #

The fact that bus stop ‘M’ is missing four timetables is annoying.

You know that life is good when these are the only things, you have to gripe over.

The world is a dangerous place, but that doesn’t mean that you have to dwell on it.

They maybe first world problems, but we live in the first world.

Michael | 03.10.17 - 9:05 a.m. | #

It’s a manipulative post that tries to lead the reader into a complacent misguided view that there’s only minor irritations with the transport system really and we should all count our blessings and tug our forelocks at our transport overlords, rather than highlighting any real concerns.

new still anon | 03.10.17 - 10:27 a.m. | #

Provocative first sentence alert !

Is this one of those DG tests ? I need more coffee first.

Kevin | 03.10.17 - 10:30 a.m. | #

Of course I may have misjudged it after having a bad commute !

New Still Anon | 03.10.17 - 10:33 a.m. | #

Better out than in, that's what i always say...

Milo | 03.10.17 - 10:41 a.m. | #

'Elizabeth Line' is a bit of a mouthful. But it occurred to me 'Lizzy Line' rolls off the tongue somewhat better. Still, it makes little sense to call it one thing for years, then expect everyone to switch.

Fellow Traveller | 03.10.17 - 11:36 a.m. | #

Wait, why don't you have to stick your arm out to stop the bus? I know there's not really request stops any more but they'll still go straight through if no one gives any sign they want that one to stop.

Skyguy | 03.10.17 - 1:10 p.m. | #

Two things: firstly, how many of these gripes are caused by fellow travellers and not the transport company?

Secondly, all of this sounds like a fairly unexceptional day. Which is why public transport users need to have a glass half full approach, otherwise every little niggle becomes a drama and the cumulative effect is to drag one down in a whirlpool of despond.

Marc | 03.10.17 - 1:21 p.m. | #

Ah, The Adventures of Grumpy Old Geezer! Great fun!

And I'm with you about "the Elizabeth line". It's Crossrail. It's not as if there's a station called Elizabeth [cf Victoria].

Suse | 03.10.17 - 1:35 p.m. | #

You've been eavesdropping on my internal monologue haven't you? I had to cover my mouth so as not to worry the neighbours from my laughing as I read the post. Things like the crowds on the Jub Line platform at Stratford, people not following direction signs and just missing trains are regular unspoken gripes.

@Still Anon - astonishingly TfL recently said in a report that market research had identified that passengers really want real time Countdown displays at bus stations. Well duh!!!

PC | 03.10.17 - 1:44 p.m. | #

Still. Mustn't grumble.

Julian Bond | 03.10.17 - 1:58 p.m. | #

>>London has the finest public transport network in the world

Does it? It's one of those things that's often said, but is it in fact true? I have to say, I'm dubious. For a start, how does one quantify "finest"?

As an alternative, how about "London has one of the poorest metro systems in the world" :P

| 03.10.17 - 3:04 p.m. | #

I caught a 69 from Stratford on Saturday and a 97 from Stratford International on Sunday, both of which had a wait which seemed longer than the 11-13 minutes in the timetable; then the melée to board was as if it was the last bus for the day. It was the kind of experience that would push me do make the journey by car, if I had one.

The previous weekend, we were in Wales, and took a couple of buses in Harlech (three services pre day). They were far more civilised.

martin | 03.10.17 - 3:11 p.m. | #

OK, so the thing is, go to Tokyo and apart from there being too many people, which is also the case in most of London, you just don't get any of these minor irritations. (Knowing some Japanese helps)

Singapore may be close but it's too hot. Hong Kong used to be, until about 10 years ago.

Can't really think of anywhere else where everything just runs smoothly almost all the time. (Limiting myself to big cities here)

John | 03.10.17 - 3:49 p.m. | #

Feel better now?!

Cornish Cockney | 03.10.17 - 3:50 p.m. | #

If you walk around looking as miserable as that, the wind might change, and you be stuck looking miserable FOR EVER.

Malcolm | 03.10.17 - 3:58 p.m. | #

You should have added, who removed all the other Countdown/I-bus displays at stops in E3.

Kim | 03.10.17 - 4:30 p.m. | #

On the bus, didn't the schoolkids sit in the seats meant for less able people? They do around here.

dg writes: Yes they did. But they sat everywhere else too.

I enjoy being a miserable git and shaming them into getting up if an old lady gets on.

Oh, and that's a seat, not a bloody luggage rack. Therefore I'm going to sit in it and make you remove your Tesco bag even though others are too embarrassed to.

Chris | 03.10.17 - 5:52 p.m. | #

That's what I can't abide on buses when people hog two seats by not moving over or having their bags on one seat. After all they've only paid for one seat.

Tones | 03.10.17 - 6:34 p.m. | #

John at 3:49 -- Vienna, or is that not a big enough city in your mind?

James Webber | 03.10.17 - 7:19 p.m. | #

I know it isn't important, but First Class doesn't apply on trains to/from Hertford East.

dg writes: The sticker on the window said First Class applied. In which case I should have griped about the sticker.

Wolf | 03.10.17 - 8:37 p.m. | #

@Skyguy

When they phased out the request stops, what they actually did was phase out compulsory stops. All bus stops are now technically request stops now.

the orange one | 03.10.17 - 9:07 p.m. | #

The boy who only went 2 stops did at least have to walk to and from the bus stop. The probable alternative is a door-to-door lift from a parent, and free bus travel is breaking them of that habit and showing them there is an alternative.
(frequent moan from my son at about age 10: "Why can't you give me a lift everywhere like all the other parents?")

Andrew S | 03.10.17 - 9:31 p.m. | #

I wonder how many of your actions on the day annoyed other travelers?

Sir Biton | 03.10.17 - 10:06 p.m. | #

There may be a clue to DG's intentions with this post in the inconsistent references to "bus stop bypasses".

(Incidentally a rather horrible phrase, though I cannot think of a better one).

Malcolm | 03.10.17 - 10:44 p.m. | #

Thanks for the review of some of my stations... :)

Chris | 03.10.17 - 10:59 p.m. | #

I relate far too well to this.

another chris | 03.10.17 - 11:26 p.m. | #

Living outside the UK it was a real funny read....Why do so many of you take it too seriously?

deruf | 04.10.17 - 9:35 a.m. | #

@ John - hate to tell you that DG could easily go into gripe mode in Tokyo, Singapore or Hong Kong. I agree that rail in Tokyo is generally good but it is not perfect, it has its glitches and failures. Both HK and Singapore Metro systems now regularly suffer breakdowns because assets are reaching the age where they fail - power cables, tracks, sleepers, drains, signals etc. Singapore has been particularly badly hit with this and is now struggling with implementing new signalling on its original lines. It does, though, open the last section of the Downtown line in about 20 days.

At least Singapore is spending heavily on new lines and lots of bus service expansion. Hong Kong is struggling badly with building its new lines with construction delays due to labour shortages, land acquisition issues and difficult geology.

I've travelled in all three places by bus and metro and they're fine in their way. None are perfect though and neither is London. The only place that I'd ever really describe as "perfect", in terms of its public transport, was Zurich but it doesn't have London's size and population to cope with.

PC | 04.10.17 - 5:56 p.m. | #

PC - Thank you for mentioning Zurich's transport system. It gives me a chance to use one of my favourite German words.

Die Strassenbahnhaltestelle.

Chris | 04.10.17 - 7:29 p.m. | #

Talking of U-Bahnhaltestellen on efficient metro systems, Munich's has a phenomenon which always takes my breath away: Sheidplatz station where two lines converge with cross platform interchange. Imagine an open-plan Camden Town all on the same level, and all the Bank and CX branch trains enter the platform at the same time, and same with the Edgwares and Barnet's. Time after time trains coming in from four distant corners of town enter the platforms within seconds of each other and leave enough time for people to change, and off they go. Thing is, the 10-minute frequency is a bit rubbish compared to most of our tube.

In other news, the destination display on the eastbound District & Circle line at Gloucester Road is working properly for the first time I cam remember. Seems to have kicked in around the same time as Bow Road's partial success.

NickW | 05.10.17 - 12:16 a.m. | #

A perfect example of why you'll be single for ever.

Mark | 05.10.17 - 12:16 a.m. | #

So funny. Makes me feel better. I'm not alone in being annoyed about the small things. You are a treat to read.

Sally Hirst | 07.10.17 - 9:53 p.m. | #











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