Slum Trains of London

I took a journey across London recently, from Stanmore in the North to Richmond-upon-Thames, aiming to arrive for 9 am, a daunting prospect. I boarded the Jubilee Line at Canon's Park. This part of the system was originally not part of the Tube, and is above ground. The electric trains and cables of the Tube are an odd sight in daylight, to those of us unaccustomed.

         I was suffering severely from hayfever, and constantly blowing my nose and sneezing, so the journey wasn't much fun, even though I got a first view of the new Wembley Stadium, which is truly spectacular. Still, the train was surprisingly fast and smooth-running, and not crowded at all. Until we reached Willesden Green. An electronic babe announced we were being held at the station “for the regulation of the train service” and gave an insincere apology. We soon found out what that meant. Hundreds of people came swarming down the steps and piled in. We had been deemed to be having too easy a time of it. Still the train did not move. “Come on, come on,” I muttered under my breath. Only when the train was jammed to bursting did it move off.

         I struggled off at West Hampstead, forcing my way through packed people, and alighted with a sense of relief. Up the steps I went, and looked for the platform for the London Overground. It was not to be seen. I enquired of a West Indian man in uniform, and he told me it was fifty yards up the street. I emerged onto a pavement as crowded as the platform had been, with heavy traffic on the road alongside. The congestion was amazing. I had naively thought West Hampstead would be like suburban Stanmore, but not at all. The hot windless June day meant that fumes lingered, and the air was humid and smelly.

         It was a pleasure to get down onto the platform, which was above ground as its name had implied. I saw a train pull in to the opposite platform. It wasn't like a Tube train at all. It was the same size and shape as a conventional train, and so I thought I might enjoy the rest of the trip.

         When my train finally arrived, I got on and was utterly disappointed. Though bigger than a Tube train, the seating arrangements were the same, with seats up the sides facing inwards, and all full. I was lucky to get to lean against an odd kind of pad on the side. There were lots of things stuck to the ceiling for people to hang onto, and an array of vertical poles. The carriage was obviously new.

         As we progressed, more and more people squeezed in. An electronic babe relentlessly exhorted us to “move up the carriage and make use of all available space.” Some of the standees were reading books and newspapers, even though it was swaying a lot. I don't know how they managed it, must be long practice. I looked out the window and was disappointed by the slow speed, a mere fraction of that of the Jubilee Line train. I was astonished to see Wembley Stadium. It seemed we hadn't gone far at all.

         Gradually it dawned on me that the unpleasant conditions were intentional. This carriage had been designed with the expectation that the majority of passengers would not get a seat. A kind of moving slum.

PS I have found an article on wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Overground

Some highlights from it:-
"The most recent figures released by the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR), ...showed that it had achieved 95.9% of the Public Performance Measure (PPM) target for punctuality and reliability set by the ORR. This was above the average PPM for all London and the South East railway companies."

"In the spring 2010 National Passenger Survey, conducted by Passenger Focus, London Overground received the lowest overall satisfaction rating of any UK train operating company, at 72%."

It may be that the Overground is the quickest and best way to get where you are going, in spite of the planned discomfort. My trip back in the afternoon, at a non-peak time, was comfortable, though still slow.