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Could/Should all the Sub-Surface lines merge into one line eventually?

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cjp

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Erm we don't need any lines named after Royalty thanks.

I do think the Circle and Hammersmith & City lines should now merge, especially since both lines don't really have a large amount of track unique to their respective lines, maybe the Hammersmith & Circle line? That has a nice ring to it.

Fixed.
 

Antman

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Well luckily for you, the Northern is being split at some point within the next 10 years.

Is it? I thought the big stumbling block was the overcrowding it would cause at Camden Town with so many people changing trains?
 

rebmcr

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Is it? I thought the big stumbling block was the overcrowding it would cause at Camden Town with so many people changing trains?

You are correct, it is dependent on the Camden Town rebuild.

Two consultations on proposals for this had failed in the last decade or so; the third currently seems to be progressing well.
 

Antman

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You are correct, it is dependent on the Camden Town rebuild.

Two consultations on proposals for this had failed in the last decade or so; the third currently seems to be progressing well.

Good news, I hope it all goes ahead.
 
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Wow, rather pointless posting:roll:!

Clearly having two separate Northern Lines through Central London is a recipe for confusion.

Might they not rename one of them at the point they were separated? This would be easy once the northern destinations of the two branches are constant.
 

urbophile

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It's always seemed odd to me that the tube line which runs the furthest south should be called 'Northern'. Not unlike the Northern line of Merseyrail, although the Wirral extends more southerly.
 

Busaholic

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It's always seemed odd to me that the tube line which runs the furthest south should be called 'Northern'. Not unlike the Northern line of Merseyrail, although the Wirral extends more southerly.

To have called it 'Southern' might equally be considered odd in High Barnet. apart from the name already being appropriated.:) Actually, it's a bit like Oxford Street leading to Oxford (eventually).
 

tranzitjim

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I kinda see in the next 15-20 years the Met line merging with the Aylesbury line, or The Amersham branch forming a part of some future Crossrail line, a big underground shake up could occur.

Now that three of the lines, all share the identical fleet of rolling stock, for the first time in their lives, I guess we can make any rearrangements we would like to do.

Even with the S8 on the Met line, can include the Met line in any shakeup we want.
 

LU_timetabler

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Now that three of the lines, all share the identical fleet of rolling stock, for the first time in their lives, I guess we can make any rearrangements we would like to do.

Even with the S8 on the Met line, can include the Met line in any shakeup we want.

No we can't Met's S8's are not permitted to operate in passenger service anywhere where they already don't around the Circle due to short platforms.
 

tranzitjim

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With SDO surely that is "not permitted at the moment "?


I guess there is little works needed to extend some platforms to handle 8 car S8 trains if we need to extend them as such. In any case, can we not use S7 trains on some Met runs?
 

Peter Mugridge

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There are some terminus stations where S8s would be outside the starter signal. Wimbledon is an example.
 

Dstock7080

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Depots, sidings, terminal stations have had much work adapting from C & D Stock to the longer S7 Stock.

A great deal of work would be required to make this happen again for S8 Stock, i.e. Baker Street pfms.5&6 require the last 3 doors (1car) of an S7 Stock to remain closed, this would be 6 doors (2 rear cars) to remain closed for an S8.

Several District Line stations already require 1 or 2 doors both at front and rear of an S7 train to remain closed.
 

edwin_m

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I never thought of that :oops:
Repeater signal like a fog one but beyond the starter?

Or simply not worth the effort to standardise trains?

Many, probably most, termini have pointwork immediately beyond the platform ends. If the train couldn't clear this on the way in then it probably wouldn't be able to get out again and even if it could it would block some other moves before it did so. The same is true of some through stations.
 

cjp

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Originally Posted by cjp View Post
I never thought of that:oops:
Repeater signal like a fog one but beyond the starter?

Or simply not worth the effort to standardise trains?

Many, probably most, termini have pointwork immediately beyond the platform ends. If the train couldn't clear this on the way in then it probably wouldn't be able to get out again and even if it could it would block some other moves before it did so. The same is true of some through stations.

Something else I had not thought of :oops:.
Perhaps bit like being able to land land in a small field OK but it being too short to take off again?. :)
I will stick with the day job and leave tube things to the experts!"
 
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rebmcr

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No we can't Met's S8's are not permitted to operate in passenger service anywhere where they already don't around the Circle due to short platforms.

With SDO surely that is "not permitted at the moment "?

S8's already use SDO on some platforms in Zone 1. They'd have to use even higher levels elsewhere — and I'm not sure at what threshold having large numbers of doors locked out becomes a safety issue.
 

tranzitjim

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For as long as you have an auto lockout feature on all those doors, there should not be any safety matter. It is a convenience matter, as people would need to walk through one or two lengths of carriage in order to get off.

I do trust the S stock all have an automatic detector, which would automatically lock the door out when it detects there are no platform at that door?
 

TFN

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There's also another minor issue of installing the "Door not in use" indicator on all the doors in the 2nd and 7th cars of the S8. I'm not sure if they have them already, I never travel on the metropolitan line.
 

edwin_m

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At some point SDO becomes counter-productive because of the distance people have to walk through the train (which may be packed) to get to a working door and the aggravation of people missing their stop because of it. It would also the evacuation time somewhat if a train had to be emptied at a platform through fewer doors, but evacation at a platform would still be a lot quicker than in a tunnel so that's probably not much of a concern.
 

gallafent

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At some point SDO becomes counter-productive because of the distance people have to walk through the train (which may be packed) to get to a working door and the aggravation of people missing their stop because of it. It would also the evacuation time somewhat if a train had to be emptied at a platform through fewer doors, but evacation at a platform would still be a lot quicker than in a tunnel so that's probably not much of a concern.

This reminds me that I was surprised that the red “door not in use” indicators on S7s running Circlesmith trains do not seem to light up until the moment that the doors are released at the station with short platforms, leading (since people weren't listening to the announcements, or were foreign, or hearing-impaired, etc.) to a stampede for the doors that work, and an unnecessary increase in dwell time to allow those people to leave the train.

Why, I wondered, do those lights not illuminate as soon as the train leaves the previous station, … or of not then, then at least 30s (say) before arrival at the short platform? Ideally, they'd blink a few times too, to attract attention. Time for a software update I'd say.
 

rebmcr

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This reminds me that I was surprised that the red “door not in use” indicators on S7s running Circlesmith trains do not seem to light up until the moment that the doors are released at the station with short platforms, leading (since people weren't listening to the announcements, or were foreign, or hearing-impaired, etc.) to a stampede for the doors that work, and an unnecessary increase in dwell time to allow those people to leave the train.

Why, I wondered, do those lights not illuminate as soon as the train leaves the previous station, … or of not then, then at least 30s (say) before arrival at the short platform? Ideally, they'd blink a few times too, to attract attention. Time for a software update I'd say.

There is an audio announcement with a corresponding PIS visual message at the previous station.

I believe the at-door indicators are interlocked with detection of the platform beacon.
 

TFN

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This reminds me that I was surprised that the red “door not in use” indicators on S7s running Circlesmith trains do not seem to light up until the moment that the doors are released at the station with short platforms, leading (since people weren't listening to the announcements, or were foreign, or hearing-impaired, etc.) to a stampede for the doors that work, and an unnecessary increase in dwell time to allow those people to leave the train.

Why, I wondered, do those lights not illuminate as soon as the train leaves the previous station, … or of not then, then at least 30s (say) before arrival at the short platform? Ideally, they'd blink a few times too, to attract attention. Time for a software update I'd say.

Honestly I forgot they even existed until this thread reminded me of them. They aren't exactly easy to see being directly above the door. I wish they could have installed red lights where the white door lights are, and when the train is at a short platform, the red lights can start flashing. I don't know if that would be effective.

Currently I find it very amusing when I'm in the last car at Gloucester Road and I see people running for other doors.
 

rebmcr

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I wish they could have installed red lights where the white door lights are, and when the train is at a short platform, the red lights can start flashing. I don't know if that would be effective.

I don't know whether flashing would be appropriate, I would associate that with "please wait, the door opening sequence is proceeding". Solid red with an accompanying eye-level 'Door not in use' indicator would be great, though.
 

edwin_m

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One thing the Underground lacks that many other metros have is arrows that light up to show the side the platform will be on at the next stop. If they had them they could have something like a red cross with an arrow pointing down the train for areas where the doors won't open.
 

rebmcr

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One thing the Underground lacks that many other metros have is arrows that light up to show the side the platform will be on at the next stop. If they had them they could have something like a red cross with an arrow pointing down the train for areas where the doors won't open.

Maybe after the 4LM signalling is complete, certainly not before on the SSL.
 
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