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unusual : getting about

It's cold. I'm angry. We have been standing waiting for the train for an hour.
Finally, a train pulls in. We board. Ah, a sense of relief: the security of actually being on a train knowing you are on your way. Well, you would think so. A message crackles over the loud speaker... "sorry about the delay, it has been caused by a fatality in Hackney and we are just waiting on a driver." We wait another 50 minutes.

OK. I can understand the first reason; fatalities have loads of bureaucratic red tape associated with them. Suicide rates rise drastically just before Christmas and transport is a popular method of choice.

But the second reason: no driver. What!! Even as a transport planner, I have difficulty understanding why, in one of the world's most powerful cities you cannot find a driver. So what is the answer? Get rid of the drivers.

Paris, Copenhagen and Vancouver all have trains that drive themselves.
So does London, and all because of this great thing called ATO (automatic train operation). The Victoria line was built in the '60s and opened in the '70s, but Underground bosses decided that people wouldn't be able to handle a train without a driver. The driver's role on these trains is to start the train and open the doors. But if you were given a choice between 1. delays for hours at Stansted in the cold or 2. a train that was quick and reliable but didn't have some guy reading the paper at the front, which would you choose?

We continue to wait for a driver. As a nice gesture they offer us free tea to soften the blow. As I near the cart to enjoy a cup of tea (maybe that's the problem - the driver is off somewhere having a cuppa), an announcement declares that we will be changing to the train on the other platform. Frantically our train empties and now our seats are lost and I am three carriages down and hence last on. I end up sitting on the floor. Crap. That's London transport for you; just as you are about to get your free hot tea, it kicks dirt in your face.

Although I work in transport, I don't care about makes and models of trains, trams and buses - I just want to get home. Transport is a means to an end. London's means is pretty amazing, and in the following series I'm going to show you an outsiders perspective on London's transport.

WF

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