RJ
Established Member
The SWML and BML are both closed through Clapham Junction this Sunday with two massive rail replacement operations in place.
This happens every so often but every time it does, it's as if it's the first ever time the a closure has happened. The station becomes a complete and utter maelstrom with seemingly no cross TOC co-ordination to aid with the redirection of passengers. Within the station, there are usually signs sending people to Grant Road for "replacement buses" with no mention that the Southern replacement services leave from the other side of the station on St Johns Hill. This adds to congestion in the subway. Simple signs acknowledging both TOCs and regular announcments may help.
There's very little, if any crowd control for the hundreds of people who find themselves on either side of the station attempting to find their rail replacement service. Extra staff to marshall people and assist them to get to the right side of the station to reduce the number of transfers across the subway may help.
On the Grant Road side, SWR don't normally supply the rail replacement buses with any destination boards - there's the situation of having 20+ replacement buses per hour arriving to pick people up with no indication of where they are going, unless the contractor has made up their own displays. This causes delays whilst staff battle through the crowds to ask the driver where they are going. Southern do consistently display bright yellow A3 or A2 boards in the windscreens, which at least helps staff and passengers identify which service it is. A similar initiative by SWR may help to aid staff and improve passenger flow. Same goes at Wimbledon.
It's usually a stressful occasion for station staff and passengers alike and requires proper management.
Given this is all 100% predictable based on past events, will Network Rail, the station operator and the TOCs coordinate this time around to prevent "Britain's busiest railway station" from becoming an H&S nightmare as a result of planned engineering works?
This happens every so often but every time it does, it's as if it's the first ever time the a closure has happened. The station becomes a complete and utter maelstrom with seemingly no cross TOC co-ordination to aid with the redirection of passengers. Within the station, there are usually signs sending people to Grant Road for "replacement buses" with no mention that the Southern replacement services leave from the other side of the station on St Johns Hill. This adds to congestion in the subway. Simple signs acknowledging both TOCs and regular announcments may help.
There's very little, if any crowd control for the hundreds of people who find themselves on either side of the station attempting to find their rail replacement service. Extra staff to marshall people and assist them to get to the right side of the station to reduce the number of transfers across the subway may help.
On the Grant Road side, SWR don't normally supply the rail replacement buses with any destination boards - there's the situation of having 20+ replacement buses per hour arriving to pick people up with no indication of where they are going, unless the contractor has made up their own displays. This causes delays whilst staff battle through the crowds to ask the driver where they are going. Southern do consistently display bright yellow A3 or A2 boards in the windscreens, which at least helps staff and passengers identify which service it is. A similar initiative by SWR may help to aid staff and improve passenger flow. Same goes at Wimbledon.
It's usually a stressful occasion for station staff and passengers alike and requires proper management.
Given this is all 100% predictable based on past events, will Network Rail, the station operator and the TOCs coordinate this time around to prevent "Britain's busiest railway station" from becoming an H&S nightmare as a result of planned engineering works?
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