Strike Tales

So the strike is upon us, the TV idiot has made his worthless comments, Unkle Bob is providing the Evening Standard with plenty of ammo and nobody seems to know who Manuel Cortes is. (Alright, the last comment is a little unfair on the free tabloids that continue to litter London Underground trains and stations - he's definitely being mentioned - but the big news is Johnson vs. Crow). More on the strike will follow (perhaps tomorrow, we'll see).

Now, I didn't post yesterday because I overslept (well, I was unusually reluctant to get out of bed, knowing I hadn't managed to track down a translation for class that morning, and ended up falling asleep again) and was fully intending to take advantage of the free days off, effectively giving myself a two week holiday (it's "reading week" next week, which is basically half term).

This morning, however, I got up to find that the Central line was running to HOL (Holborn). To HOL indeed! I have never been on a train that's reversed at HOL before, so I hastened to get ready and sample the unusual workings. Now, at HOL, trains can reverse using a siding located between HOL and TCR (Tottenham Court Road), which it's quite easy to catch a glimpse of from passing trains. It is located at the disused British Museum station, which was closed in 1933, I think ultimately due to "competition" from HOL. The platforms at British Museum have, however, been removed and I think the siding is outside of where they used to be. Anyway, I've got a very rough sketch of what it looks like there, but I've not really got any clue where the signals are and stuff, so this is pretty simplified:

A very simplified schematic diagram of the track layout around Holborn, showing the location of the reversing siding used today

In short, trains were arriving on westbound platform 1. There, they were tipped out and run empty into the siding to reverse. The T/Op then changed ends (I don't think, although it's possible, that a T/Op got into the cab at the back - which would allow him/her to take the train back out of the siding immediately, without the driver who took it into the siding needing to change ends) and drove it back out of the siding into eastbound platform 2.

So, that's what was happening and HOL and - never having seen it before - I decided to go and have a look (despite the need to struggle through the rain :P). My journey started at ROV, where it seems a WOO-HAI shuttle was being operated by all of one train at that time of day. I didn't have at all long to wait, though, and I took a WOO train into WOO. All pretty normal so far. At WOO, though (where - unsurprisingly - there were 3 trains in WOO sidings), things got interesting, with the WOO train reversing off platform 2 to go back round to HAI. I happened to notice that while this was happening, the EPP train was held outside of platform 3 and even when the HAI train was on its way, it only drew up to the block marker board outside platform 3, before finally being cleared into the platform. I can only imagine Wood Lane were understaffed and/or taking a lot more manual control (not that that block marker board can be controlled manually but the semi-auto signals around WOO can), but then maybe this is standard.

Not long after that, a LES (Leytonstone) train arrived - it seems that trains were shuttling back and forth between LES and EPP. That, then, took me into LES and it was certainly nice to hear Sonia announcing LES as a destination for a train. Apparently, the LES-EPP shuttles were all reversing off of platform 2 and I stayed to watch that. Meanwhile all trains serving platform 3 were going to HAI via NEP (Hainault via Newbury Park) - I believe a HOL to HAI via NEP shuttle service was operating. Since I'd had to let a HOL train go to watch the EPP reverse, I took the chance to get myself a drink and have a very brief look at the mosaics depicting the films of Alfred Hitchcock - which serve as a tribute to the director who was born there.

After that, I finally boarded a HOL train, which was certainly a very nice change. It was a pretty good journey actually, we non-stopped BEG (Bethnal Green) and CHL (Chancery Lane) and I was able to get quite unusually good look at the sidings (BEG end) and crossover (BAN end) outside LIS (Liverpool Street). Admittedly there wasn't all that much to see at HOL, but it was a very nice trip and it's nice to be able to say I've been there, seen it and done it - although the T-shirts looked a bit tacky so I didn't get one of those :P

With my fun had, then, I got the next HAI via NEP train through. Wanting to see what was going on at HAI, I stuck with that. We non-stopped WAN (Wanstead) and RED (Redbridge), which came as a nasty surprise to some guy who hadn't checked before he'd travelled. I was quite glad that he could (and did) get off at GRH (Grange Hill) because he didn't seem happy and I wasn't so pleased to be the bearer of bad news, there :P

Now, I happen to know that the Central line's magnificent ATO cannot handle two consecutive station skips, as it picks up the information that the next station is closed only when it halts at the preceding station. So, let's take the example of BEG, which was closed today. At MIE (Mile End) westbound, when the train stops, various information is uploaded to the train, including that BEG is closed. However, the information that LIS is closed can only be uploaded when the train stops at BEG westbound, so if both were closed, the train wouldn't know and would stop at LIS. I noticed that we trundled through WAN - presumably in auto - at the usual crawling pace and then absolutely flew through RED - presumably in coded. I'm not sure I've ever known a train to hit such speeds in that tunnel (I also noticed the tunnel lights were on). Very exciting - don't know whether it's in line with procedure or not, though?

Eventually we made HAI where it was - even I will admit - bedlam.

To help you out, here's a diagram:

A diagram of Hainault and the track layout around there

I can only imagine Wood Lane were clearing sticks as and when and T/Ops were just being told to go (or else, the first indication that they got that they were to go was when the stick cleared). This basically led to trains departing in an order and at times that bore no resemblance to anything displayed on the departure boards, which was obviously a bit confusing. I doubt the T/Ops, who aren't told anything after all, realised that pax were being left on platforms and that they didn't have the first clue which train was going where and when - but still, an announcement would have been good before leaving.

So anyway, I turned up on platform 2 to find - not unsurprisingly - that the next WOO would be from platform 1. I think the next train to London might have been due to leave from platform 3? I'm sorry to say my memory now fails me. There might have been a bit of coming and going, but I'm pretty sure that a train from FAI (Fairlop) arrived on platform 1 at some time and this might actually have happened before any other train arrived or left. I think the stick at the FAI end cleared fairly quickly and it then headed off towards London - quite possibly the first to do so. It didn't leave, however, before one guy had held the doors open for a slow-moving passenger. I get that things weren't fun at HAI today, but don't do that. Shortly after it had gone a bewildered passenger asked me which was the next train to London. I had to let him know that he'd just missed it and that the train on platform 3 would probably be his best bet (thus said the departure boards). Also, a train had already arrived on the inner rail (from FAI), wanting a platform. And then it waited at the signal controlling access to HAI. Then it waited some more, before finally being cleared into platform 1. No sign of the WOO. My first guess was that this train was bound for HAI depot, since no westbound destination was shown - just "terminates here". This is often what you see when trains are heading for the depot, although it's also quite common for this to be shown and then a westbound destination will be updated. I was wrong, though, it was to head back towards London.

Soon, the boards updated and the train on platform 2 (apparently for LIS) was shown as the next train out, set to leave in 5 minutes. I thought I'd better let the poor guy know and found him hanging around the entrance to the station. I let him know and headed up to platform 2 myself to see what I could see. He did follow, just in time for train on platform 2 to leave, with the boards still showing a LIS train due to leave in 5 mins. The train thought it was for HOL, so I'm guessing the poor T/Op was no more clued-up than we were (though, as I say, an announcement would have been nice).

So I headed back to platform 1 (besides, I didn't fancy another chat with the poor lost passenger :P), where I found the next WOO would be leaving from platform 2, so back I went. The WOO arrived from GRH on platform 2 and I got on it. The door chimes sound on the train on platform 3, I can only assume many people rush to get on it, because the doors don't close and then the T/Op has another go and it gets on its way. Next, the WOO train's T/Op makes an announcement (good man, kudos to you - he seemed nice, too, gave me a smile) and we get on our way, leaving behind us - I was pleased to see - an almost empty platform, so hopefully nearly everyone found a train.

Well I had fun anyway, and we zoomed round to ROV - quickest I've ever done that journey. HAI depot was, predictably, as full of trains as I've ever seen it, too :P