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TfL closes 40 tube stations, suspends Night Tube, fewer trains, buses next week
- emdowling 7y agoThis seems like the right response. For Americans who are used to driving everywhere, it is hard to state just how critical the tube is for all people to get to work. Very few people in London have cars, so shutting down the tube entirely would prevent critical workers from getting to work. Looking at the stations to be closed, it seems like a reasonable list; buses will still offer a reduced timetable to connect affected areas.
- j4yav 7y agoWon't this just guarantee that every bus or tram is as full as possible?
- nness 7y agoThat wouldn't be much of a change from what the tube is like normally...
- badpun 7y agoWe have reduced bus and tram schedules here in my city in Poland (they now go according to the weekend timetable) and still there's not much people in them.
- gpderetta 7y agoTube was already running 50% full from normal. Buses 40%. People are staying at home. Me and my family have already been holed up for a week.
- OwnsE 7y agoEven though this is the right response I feel this is a bit late.
- lokedhs 7y agoWith fewer trains, wouldn't that lead to more overcrowding?
- kylec 7y agoMy thoughts exactly. My local Safeway has decided to close at 9pm instead of midnight due to the health issues, which means that now everyone that would have gone later is now crowding in right before closing.
- Svip 7y agoIn Copenhagen, the metro took the reverse action, running more trains, even outside rush hours (basically all their trains all the time). Well, that happened two weeks ago, and now no one is actually taking the metro, so maybe they have cut down since then. I think bus companies and train companies in general took the same action, but they are also reporting an 80% drop in passengers.
- Symbiote 7y agoCopenhagen can do this as the metro trains are automatic (no drivers, just some controllers with oversight in an office somewhere) and the stations are often not staffed. London has to have train drivers, and most stations aren't as safe as a fairly new system.
- nnq 7y agoThen have more drivers and pay them a bit extra. Train drivers are mostly isolated in their cabins and not exposed to the people much anyway.
- anticensor 7y agoThey will eventually finish their shifts and alight at a platform; travelling as another passenger.
- cally 7y ago
- HatchedLake721 7y agoremoved
- viraptor 7y agoYou REALLY need more details or evidence with posts like that. Otherwise that may just be panic trolling.
- dairylee 7y agoThe only thing I can see is on the BBC News website they have a line that says: "The Army is preparing to provide support during the pandemic" Definitely doesn't sound like a lockdown.
- HatchedLake721 7y agoSupport includes avoiding riots and looting. Something Boris Johnson got in trouble for back in 2011 when he was Mayor of London.
- riffraff 7y agosupport means many other things. Look at italy: military medical staff in support of civilian hospitals, military personnel helping with ventilator production, military trucks moving dead bodies from city to city where crematoriums are saturated, extra checks on the roads for people who should stay at home. No riots nor looting.
- ben_w 7y agoI thought he only got in trouble for rioting and looting when he was in the Bullingdon club? Also, I get the impression that the UK armed forces genuinely don’t want to be used as an emergency police force, especially after their experience becoming one in NI. (That might just be wishful thinking on my part, but it is my impression).
- 7y ago
- tompagenet2 7y agoHere's the official announcement, perhaps should switch link to this https://tfl.gov.uk/info-for/media/press-releases/2020/march/planned-services-to-support-london-s-critical-workers https://tfl.gov.uk/info-for/media/press-releases/2020/march/...
- mrtksn 7y agoI wonder if this can be a solution to the heating problems on the older lines. I haven't done the math but a few weeks of closure or reduced service can be an opportunity for some heat exchange.
- nnq 7y agoPlease don't fuel this bad reasoning - decreasing the number of trains or lowering their speed is a dangerous measure that will increase transmission! It's the same brand of broken-mindedness that brought us the "only sick people should wear masks" and other wrong-think measures that increase transmission and make everything worse!
- Milner08 7y agoIf it was at the same capacity sure, but its been a ghost town (compared to normal) the last few days, so I doubt it will have a huge effect in that sense. It will also discourage people from taking the tube unless they have to (tbf they probably already were at the is point).
- Grue3 7y ago>the same brand of broken-mindedness that brought us the "only sick people should wear masks" So apparently qualified health professionals having to deal with masks shortage are "broken-minded", but a bunch of armchair MD Internet commenters are correct.
- eythian 7y agoYou make claims in italics, but you don't justify any of them.
- makomk 7y agoThey don't have the staff due to people being off. Many of the other odd-seeming emergency measures taken or planned for in the UK have the same root cause. Even the school closures are more about staffing than reducing the spread of the virus; apparently that's a useful measure in flu pandemics because kids lack the immunity that adults do, but since no-one is immune to this as far as we know it's kind of weak here.
- aliswe 7y agoNeither any of the comments nor the article explains what TfL stands for; it is "Transport For London", basically their public transport authority.
- lordnacho 7y agoLondon is already a ghost town. I went in for the last time a few days ago to ensure some colleagues could work from home. Normally the City (financial district) is packed with people, no seats to be had, streets full. Monday felt like a Sunday afternoon. I think people are starting to get the message.
- nnq 7y agoWhy do all countries seem to apply the very same RETARDED logic here?! You want MORE busses / trains whatever! To lower the amount of time people spend in crowded places like stations while waiting for them. To lower the amount of people in one bus or train. FFS public authorities worldwide (especially city and transportation ones) seem mentally impaired impaired when handling this! All the wrong decisions. You either fully shut down transit or you increase the number of vehicles and do whatever possibly to accelerate transit and prevent waiting. EDIT+: sorry for the somewhat offensive language, but I'm standing by it - I'm not offending anyone in particular and the public authorities doing this crap deserve it!
- madaxe_again 7y agoYou know, you can make a (perfectly valid) point without being ableist.
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- ctz 7y agoHave you considered that they are taking this action to manage their diminishing staff levels? That's what the article says, after all.
- nnq 7y agoWhy tf would they diminish staff levels NOW?! Train conductors are practically isolated from the passengers and quite safe. They should increase their staff levels in these times!
- ljm 7y agoFar be it from me to be an armchair epidemiologist, but I don't think it's a good idea to over-utilise your staff in such a situation. They can quite easily get infected themselves while monitoring the platforms, and pass it on to other colleagues. And then suddenly you have a real staff shortage.
- eythian 7y agoSimilar in the Netherlands with the train network, they've cut the train frequency way back and most intercity trains are no longer running, being replaced with sprinters (which stop at every station.) As is annoyingly common with them, the English detail is rather useless: https://www.ns.nl/en/travel-information/calamities/fewer-trains.html https://www.ns.nl/en/travel-information/calamities/fewer-tra... but the Dutch is fairly comprehensive: https://www.ns.nl/reisinformatie/calamiteiten/vanaf-vrijdag-13-maart-minder-treinen-in-de-spitsuren.html https://www.ns.nl/reisinformatie/calamiteiten/vanaf-vrijdag-...