The Telegraph: Tube overcrowding creates 'dog eat dog' commuters
Overcrowding on the Tube has created a ruthless, survival-of-the-fittest mentality among passengers, a report claims.
''Dog-eat-dog'' travellers sometimes suspend normal behaviour to grab seats at the expense of pregnant women and people carrying babies, the report from the London Assembly found.
Some passengers have to psyche themselves up to prepare for the ''struggle to clamber on board, with 80% of those surveyed for the report experiencing ''discomforting overcrowding'' on the Underground. Other travellers ''shut down'' by listening to music and ignoring other passengers.
The report also found that more than half of the 716 people polled were sometimes unable to board the first train because of the overcrowding.
The report also criticised what it described as the ''chaotic'' Tube Jubilee line upgrade which has seen sections - and sometimes the whole line - shut at weekends.
The report, from the London Assembly's transport committee, highlighted passengers' ''coping strategies'' for dealing with the daily commute. These included:
:: Mental preparation - psyching oneself up for the ''struggle to clamber on board'';
:: A dog-eat-dog or survival-of-the-fittest attitude;
:: Suspension of the normal codes of behaviour - for example, going after a seat regardless of who else might want it, ignoring pregnant women and people carrying babies;
:: Adopting a Tube persona, more ruthless and selfish. One passenger said: ''I'm a different animal on the Tube to normal life. I'm not me. I'm a bit less interested in others.''
:: Switching off/shutting down - ''going into an automatic pilot routine'', listening to music, turning one's back;
Making sacrifices one would not usually consider - for example, losing personal space and comfort to be at a meeting on time;
:: Deliberately going the wrong way for one or two stops in order to get a seat.
The report took evidence from the Madrid metro system where upgrade work involved far fewer line closures than has been the case with the Jubilee line.
The transport committee's chairman Caroline Pidgeon said: ''Our report highlights shocking levels of overcrowding on the Tube and the impact this has on people. London Underground cannot be complacent about finding ways to make the situation more bearable.
''We are also calling for new thinking on how Tube upgrade work is managed. We cannot have a repeat of the way the Jubilee line upgrade works have been handled when it comes to upgrading other lines. There is an assumption that seemingly endless line closures are inevitable but, as our report and the evidence from Madrid shows, this is simply not the case.''
A Transport for London spokesman said: ''The committee rightly acknowledges that more and more people are travelling on the Tube which is why it is so crucial that we deliver the much-needed improvements.
''We are spending billions to increase capacity on the Tube by 30% in what is the biggest investment in decades.
''This will mean more trains, able to carry more passengers, with faster journeys and larger stations.
''Even today, the improvement in reliability means that more people are carried on the Tube compared with three years ago with no additional crowding caused.
''With new trains running on the Victoria line, the opening of a new ticket hall at King's Cross St Pancras and the first new air-cooled train due to enter service on the Metropolitan line by next June there are tangible improvements for customers.''
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BBC News: Tube crowds 'at shocking levels'
"Shocking" levels of overcrowding on the Tube network means passengers often have to psych themselves up to travel, a London Assembly report has claimed.
More than 80% of Tube users said they experienced "overcrowding which caused them discomfort", the study suggested.
It called for a "traffic-light" system in ticket halls so people can judge exactly how packed the trains will be.
Transport for London (TfL) said it was spending "billions" of pounds to increase space on the Tube network.
"This will mean more trains, able to carry more passengers, with faster journeys and larger stations," a spokesman said.
The report said some passengers developed a ruthless "dog-eat-dog" mentality when boarding trains because they knew it would be difficult to find a seat.
Sometimes they would grab seats at the expense of pregnant women and adults carrying children, it added.
Others came up with "coping strategies" to deal with the lack of space, such as listening to music or turning their backs on fellow passengers so they would not see the crowded carriage.
Some admitted they had to psych themselves up for the "struggle to clamber on board", while others said they had to make sacrifices - such as a loss of comfort - to ensure they arrived at work on time.
Caroline Pidgeon, the London Assembly member who chairs its transport committee, warned TfL that it must not be "complacent about finding ways to make the situation more bearable".
The report also criticised the "chaotic" upgrade of the Jubilee Line extension, which has resulted in sections of the line being closed for whole weekends several times in recent months.
"We are calling for new thinking on how Tube upgrade work is managed," Ms Pidgeon said.
"We cannot have a repeat of the way the Jubilee line upgrade works have been handled when it comes to upgrading other lines."
A TfL spokesman said the committee "rightly acknowledges that more and more people are travelling on the Tube, which is why it is so crucial that we deliver the much-needed improvements".
"We are spending billions to increase capacity on the Tube by 30% in what is the biggest investment in decades.
"This will mean more trains, able to carry more passengers, with faster journeys and larger stations."
He pointed to new trains on the Victoria Line, a revamped ticket hall at King's Cross underground station and the promise of air-cooled trains on the Metropolitan Line next year as "tangible improvements for customers".
The survey conducted by the assembly talked to 716 people in September.
The assembly also commissioned Andrew Irving Associates to conduct detailed focus groups with 57 commuters on how they coped during the rush hour.
Responses from BBC's readers on tube overcrowding: http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/london/hi/people_and_places/newsid_8389000/8389376.stm
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theage.com.au: It's 'dog eat dog' on London's overcrowded Tube: report
Chronic overcrowding on London's Tube network turns people into animals who adopt a "dog eat dog" attitude to fellow passengers, according to a report released Tuesday.
Travellers ignore pregnant women or parents with babies in a "survival of the fittest" atmosphere on the underground train system, which is struggling to cope with never-ending tides of commuters and tourists.
"I'm a different animal on the Tube to normal life. I'm not me. I'm a bit less interested in others," one person told researchers for the study, compiled for City Hall bosses.
The British capital's vast underground network - embodied in the iconic London Tube map, much pored-over by tourists - is a perennial source of grumbling for London's weary workers.
Some parts draw more gripes than others. The Northern Line has the worst reputation, but many others can be hellish at rush-hour, with packed platforms and even more sardine-line trains, often so full that no-one else can get on.
Other examples of how people cope with the daily Tube grind include:
- "Suspension of the normal codes of behaviour - for example, going after a seat regardless of who else might want it, ignoring pregnant women and people carrying babies;
- "Adopting a Tube persona, more ruthless and selfish;
- "Switching off/shutting down - going into an automatic pilot routine, listening to music, turning one's back;
- "Developing strategies to reduce the impact of overcrowding - for example, by going the opposite direction for one or two stops in order to get a seat."
Transport for London, which runs the Tube network as well as London's buses and other travel infrastructure, insisted it welcomed the report.
"More and more people are travelling on the Tube, which is why it is so crucial that we deliver the much-needed improvements," said a spokesman.
"We are spending billions to increase capacity on the Tube by 30 percent, in what is the biggest investment seen in decades. This will mean more trains, able to carry more passengers, with faster journeys and larger stations."
But the report's authors said: "The overwhelming majority of passengers perceive the experience of overcrowding as a highly unpleasant and abnormal situation... Some commuters are left feeling tired and stressed out.
"It can take an hour or two to calm down," it said.
**********
Overcrowding on the Tube has created a ruthless, survival-of-the-fittest mentality among passengers, a report claims.
''Dog-eat-dog'' travellers sometimes suspend normal behaviour to grab seats at the expense of pregnant women and people carrying babies, the report from the London Assembly found.
Some passengers have to psyche themselves up to prepare for the ''struggle to clamber on board, with 80% of those surveyed for the report experiencing ''discomforting overcrowding'' on the Underground. Other travellers ''shut down'' by listening to music and ignoring other passengers.
The report also found that more than half of the 716 people polled were sometimes unable to board the first train because of the overcrowding.
The report also criticised what it described as the ''chaotic'' Tube Jubilee line upgrade which has seen sections - and sometimes the whole line - shut at weekends.
The report, from the London Assembly's transport committee, highlighted passengers' ''coping strategies'' for dealing with the daily commute. These included:
:: Mental preparation - psyching oneself up for the ''struggle to clamber on board'';
:: A dog-eat-dog or survival-of-the-fittest attitude;
:: Suspension of the normal codes of behaviour - for example, going after a seat regardless of who else might want it, ignoring pregnant women and people carrying babies;
:: Adopting a Tube persona, more ruthless and selfish. One passenger said: ''I'm a different animal on the Tube to normal life. I'm not me. I'm a bit less interested in others.''
:: Switching off/shutting down - ''going into an automatic pilot routine'', listening to music, turning one's back;
Making sacrifices one would not usually consider - for example, losing personal space and comfort to be at a meeting on time;
:: Deliberately going the wrong way for one or two stops in order to get a seat.
The report took evidence from the Madrid metro system where upgrade work involved far fewer line closures than has been the case with the Jubilee line.
The transport committee's chairman Caroline Pidgeon said: ''Our report highlights shocking levels of overcrowding on the Tube and the impact this has on people. London Underground cannot be complacent about finding ways to make the situation more bearable.
''We are also calling for new thinking on how Tube upgrade work is managed. We cannot have a repeat of the way the Jubilee line upgrade works have been handled when it comes to upgrading other lines. There is an assumption that seemingly endless line closures are inevitable but, as our report and the evidence from Madrid shows, this is simply not the case.''
A Transport for London spokesman said: ''The committee rightly acknowledges that more and more people are travelling on the Tube which is why it is so crucial that we deliver the much-needed improvements.
''We are spending billions to increase capacity on the Tube by 30% in what is the biggest investment in decades.
''This will mean more trains, able to carry more passengers, with faster journeys and larger stations.
''Even today, the improvement in reliability means that more people are carried on the Tube compared with three years ago with no additional crowding caused.
''With new trains running on the Victoria line, the opening of a new ticket hall at King's Cross St Pancras and the first new air-cooled train due to enter service on the Metropolitan line by next June there are tangible improvements for customers.''
*******************
BBC News: Tube crowds 'at shocking levels'
"Shocking" levels of overcrowding on the Tube network means passengers often have to psych themselves up to travel, a London Assembly report has claimed.
More than 80% of Tube users said they experienced "overcrowding which caused them discomfort", the study suggested.
It called for a "traffic-light" system in ticket halls so people can judge exactly how packed the trains will be.
Transport for London (TfL) said it was spending "billions" of pounds to increase space on the Tube network.
"This will mean more trains, able to carry more passengers, with faster journeys and larger stations," a spokesman said.
The report said some passengers developed a ruthless "dog-eat-dog" mentality when boarding trains because they knew it would be difficult to find a seat.
Sometimes they would grab seats at the expense of pregnant women and adults carrying children, it added.
Others came up with "coping strategies" to deal with the lack of space, such as listening to music or turning their backs on fellow passengers so they would not see the crowded carriage.
Some admitted they had to psych themselves up for the "struggle to clamber on board", while others said they had to make sacrifices - such as a loss of comfort - to ensure they arrived at work on time.
Caroline Pidgeon, the London Assembly member who chairs its transport committee, warned TfL that it must not be "complacent about finding ways to make the situation more bearable".
The report also criticised the "chaotic" upgrade of the Jubilee Line extension, which has resulted in sections of the line being closed for whole weekends several times in recent months.
"We are calling for new thinking on how Tube upgrade work is managed," Ms Pidgeon said.
"We cannot have a repeat of the way the Jubilee line upgrade works have been handled when it comes to upgrading other lines."
A TfL spokesman said the committee "rightly acknowledges that more and more people are travelling on the Tube, which is why it is so crucial that we deliver the much-needed improvements".
"We are spending billions to increase capacity on the Tube by 30% in what is the biggest investment in decades.
"This will mean more trains, able to carry more passengers, with faster journeys and larger stations."
He pointed to new trains on the Victoria Line, a revamped ticket hall at King's Cross underground station and the promise of air-cooled trains on the Metropolitan Line next year as "tangible improvements for customers".
The survey conducted by the assembly talked to 716 people in September.
The assembly also commissioned Andrew Irving Associates to conduct detailed focus groups with 57 commuters on how they coped during the rush hour.
Responses from BBC's readers on tube overcrowding: http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/london/hi/people_and_places/newsid_8389000/8389376.stm
************
theage.com.au: It's 'dog eat dog' on London's overcrowded Tube: report
Chronic overcrowding on London's Tube network turns people into animals who adopt a "dog eat dog" attitude to fellow passengers, according to a report released Tuesday.
Travellers ignore pregnant women or parents with babies in a "survival of the fittest" atmosphere on the underground train system, which is struggling to cope with never-ending tides of commuters and tourists.
"I'm a different animal on the Tube to normal life. I'm not me. I'm a bit less interested in others," one person told researchers for the study, compiled for City Hall bosses.
The British capital's vast underground network - embodied in the iconic London Tube map, much pored-over by tourists - is a perennial source of grumbling for London's weary workers.
Some parts draw more gripes than others. The Northern Line has the worst reputation, but many others can be hellish at rush-hour, with packed platforms and even more sardine-line trains, often so full that no-one else can get on.
Other examples of how people cope with the daily Tube grind include:
- "Suspension of the normal codes of behaviour - for example, going after a seat regardless of who else might want it, ignoring pregnant women and people carrying babies;
- "Adopting a Tube persona, more ruthless and selfish;
- "Switching off/shutting down - going into an automatic pilot routine, listening to music, turning one's back;
- "Developing strategies to reduce the impact of overcrowding - for example, by going the opposite direction for one or two stops in order to get a seat."
Transport for London, which runs the Tube network as well as London's buses and other travel infrastructure, insisted it welcomed the report.
"More and more people are travelling on the Tube, which is why it is so crucial that we deliver the much-needed improvements," said a spokesman.
"We are spending billions to increase capacity on the Tube by 30 percent, in what is the biggest investment seen in decades. This will mean more trains, able to carry more passengers, with faster journeys and larger stations."
But the report's authors said: "The overwhelming majority of passengers perceive the experience of overcrowding as a highly unpleasant and abnormal situation... Some commuters are left feeling tired and stressed out.
"It can take an hour or two to calm down," it said.
**********
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