Inside King's Cross: CH5

[jon0844]

Were previous series' so full of swearing? My son liked watching these, but now he's a bit older (5) he is easily influenced and the Bounds Green depot guy swearing all the time was a bit off putting.

It seemed unnecessary and made me wonder what Virgin/Stagecoach thought of it, although reading the other thread on here about staff 'banter' on Virgin West Coast, maybe he was tame in comparison!

Okay, perhaps it wasn't so much about trains to appeal to a young child, but my son loved all the other TV shows. I won't be letting him watch this one, sadly.

 

[Mag_seven]

Were previous series' so full of swearing? My son liked watching these, but now he's a bit older (5) he is easily influenced and the Bounds Green depot guy swearing all the time was a bit off putting.

It seemed unnecessary and made me wonder what Virgin/Stagecoach thought of it, although reading the other thread on here about staff 'banter' on Virgin West Coast, maybe he was tame in comparison!

Okay, perhaps it wasn't so much about trains to appeal to a young child, but my son loved all the other TV shows. I won't be letting him watch this one, sadly.

The programme is after the watershed so I don't think its really appropriate for a 5 year old. And as for the swearing I'm glad the adult audience is not treated like children by having the swearing bleeped out.

 

[yorksrob]

I have to say, I quite enjoyed the 'warts and all' nature of the programme, and that includes the unparliamentary language.

 

[jon0844]

The programme is after the watershed so I don't think its really appropriate for a 5 year old. And as for the swearing I'm glad the adult audience is not treated like children by having the swearing bleeped out.

I don't mind either but it's surprising that Channel 5 didn't make it for a wider audience.

Personally, if I was being filmed for TV I'd tone down my language. But that's just me.

I realise it's to make it look more raw and genuine, even though the editing suggested to me that it wasn't all totally natural.

 

[Qwerty133]

Shame more wasn't made of the issues caused by having a non-standard train in the fleet (the guy at bounds green was told that his proposed set swap wouldn't work due to it being 'the 90').

 

[Juniper Driver]

The British public are a thankless lot.

Cramming into that lift was madness.I',m sure I wouldn't.Everybody is in such a hurry,though.

 

[jon0844]

The British public are a thankless lot.

Cramming into that lift was madness.I',m sure I wouldn't.Everybody is in such a hurry,though.

At first I thought all the lift occupants were silly, then I realised that it was likely one or two squeezing in without the others agreeing, or able to do anything about it.

I think most people assume the max occupancy signs have a huge safety margin, or that an alarm will sound and the lift won't move.

 

[Stampy]

I was at King's Cross last night, on my way home from the AFC Wimbledon v Northampton match - and was stood on Platform 10 waiting for the train there to "appear" as the 1922 back to Peterborough..

Sitting in Platform 11 was the 1904 to Cambridge which was rammed full of passengers, with people in the doorways..

And yet people were STILL trying to force their way on - with somebody even holding the door open for his family who were casually strolling down the platform with seconds to go to departure, even though both the Station Announcer AND the driver of the 1904 announced that there would be ANOTHER train in 30 mins!!!

Sometimes we just turn to sheep..... Baaaaa!

 

[Antman]

the Bounds Green depot guy swearing all the time was a bit off putting.

It seemed unnecessary and made me wonder what Virgin/Stagecoach thought of it

I would presume Virgin/Stagecoach managers would already know what goes on, and the fact he continues to swear the company deems it acceptable.

However it did seem to be a bit 1970's, and I am not sure there are many other organisations such behaviour would be permitted.

Sitting in Platform 11 was the 1904 to Cambridge which was rammed full of passengers, with people in the doorways..

And yet people were STILL trying to force their way on - with somebody even holding the door open for his family who were casually strolling down the platform with seconds to go to departure, even though both the Station Announcer AND the driver of the 1904 announced that there would be ANOTHER train in 30 mins!!!

Sometimes we just turn to sheep..... Baaaaa!

Perhaps the fact that the previous 18:52 train had been cancelled due to the lack of a driver explained why it was rammed full, and meant that the customers didn't trust the train company to actually run the train 30 minutes later.

It is a pretty fundamental failure to schedule a train and not actually have someone available to drive it, so no wonder the train company's customers don't believe anything it says. It is also understandable they will hold the doors to help other people being delayed more than they have been already by the train company's poor organisation.

What amuses me is the GNR must run their services on an absolute minimum number of staff. I can understand if a week beforehand they looked at the roster of drivers and thought "damn, don't have enough for Saturday, let us remove those from the schedule now so our customers can plan ahead". Nope, the trains are cancelled on the day with a couple of hours notice. Is it hope against expectation or just poor organisation?

 

[GW43125]

The programme is after the watershed so I don't think its really appropriate for a 5 year old. And as for the swearing I'm glad the adult audience is not treated like children by having the swearing bleeped out.

I suppose it may be a case of "we're not customer facing therefore we can get away with it"

 

[Carntyne]

It's real life, I'd prefer to see what actually goes on than a sanitised version for TV, you don't learn anything from that.

Seen and heard far worse on the railway, don't see it as a big deal.

 

[Antman]

I suppose it may be a case of "we're not customer facing therefore we can get away with it"

Through my work I visit many 'not customer facing' places and you don't see people behaving like that, so it does seem peculiar that train company management permit it.

 

[Chris M]

I think most people assume the max occupancy signs have a huge safety margin, or that an alarm will sound and the lift won't move.

I haven't seen the programme, and I'm not familiar with those lifts, but given that in my extensive experience with lifts generally the maximum occupancy figure is always greater than the number of people who can physically fit in the lift without being intimate with everyone in there (and sometimes not even that) it is not an unreasonable assumption to make. Indeed the only times I can ever recall being in a lift that was overweight were on holiday in Portugal in 1986 when the very elederly hotel lift couldn't cope with two familes of 2 adults and two children plus all their luggage; and in the library at Swansea University when four people (three carrying books and other study materials) and the fourth with a trolley full of books proved too much.

Given the lifts at King's Cross are part of a very recent design at a place where people travelling with large amounts of luggage should be trivially foreseeable, it seems rather a serious mistake by whomever specced the lifts if they can be overloaded in the manner described in this thread.

 

[SpacePhoenix]

I would have expected all modern lifts to have weight sensors and to refuse to close the doors and move if the lift is overloaded, as a basic standard feature

 

[LAX54]

Through my work I visit many 'not customer facing' places and you don't see people behaving like that, so it does seem peculiar that train company management permit it.

Would have thought swearing goes on in many places of work now, it is deemed acceptable by many, its even tolerated at schools and TV as the 'norm'

 

[Peter Mugridge]

It's real life, I'd prefer to see what actually goes on than a sanitised version for TV, you don't learn anything from that.

Seen and heard far worse on the railway, don't see it as a big deal.

Agreed, and in any case most TV channels seem to show plenty of swearing and "highly personal stuff" before 21.00 anyway these days.

 

[221129]

I would presume Virgin/Stagecoach managers would already know what goes on, and the fact he continues to swear the company deems it acceptable.

However it did seem to be a bit 1970's, and I am not sure there are many other organisations such behaviour would be permitted.



Perhaps the fact that the previous 18:52 train had been cancelled due to the lack of a driver explained why it was rammed full, and meant that the customers didn't trust the train company to actually run the train 30 minutes later.

It is a pretty fundamental failure to schedule a train and not actually have someone available to drive it, so no wonder the train company's customers don't believe anything it says. It is also understandable they will hold the doors to help other people being delayed more than they have been already by the train company's poor organisation.

What amuses me is the GNR must run their services on an absolute minimum number of staff. I can understand if a week beforehand they looked at the roster of drivers and thought "damn, don't have enough for Saturday, let us remove those from the schedule now so our customers can plan ahead". Nope, the trains are cancelled on the day with a couple of hours notice. Is it hope against expectation or just poor organisation?

You can plan as much as you want but that can't possibly factor in sudden illness, delays on an inward working, operational incidents etc...

 

[Antman]

I haven't seen the programme, and I'm not familiar with those lifts, but given that in my extensive experience with lifts generally the maximum occupancy figure is always greater than the number of people who can physically fit in the lift without being intimate with everyone in there

That is not the case with these lifts.

The plate says "8 people, 630KG" and 8 people can squeeze in if they are friends (it is physically impossible to fit the 10 claimed on the programme).

However the lift won't move with more than six people, as most people don't weigh less than 80KG especially with bags.

Most regular users know, but you occasionally get some numpty who pushes on saying "it holds 8" then the lift doors won't close and they have to get out.

 

[jon0844]

That is not the case with these lifts.

The plate says "8 people, 630KG" and 8 people can squeeze in if they are friends (it is physically impossible to fit the 10 claimed on the programme).

However the lift won't move with more than six people, as most people don't weigh less than 80KG especially with bags.

Most regular users know, but you occasionally get some numpty who pushes on saying "it holds 8" then the lift doors won't close and they have to get out.

The larger lift of a similar design by Benugo (going up to the East Midlands platforms, where TL was going from all day Sunday) in St Pancras was stuck yesterday (around 1845). Looked like a spitting image of the one on the TV show, except the lift is larger and wasn't absolutely rammed.

Still totally misted up and stuck half way up this time. Not sure how long people were stuck in it, but a fair while going by the condensation on the glass.

 

[Chris M]

That is not the case with these lifts.

The plate says "8 people, 630KG" and 8 people can squeeze in if they are friends (it is physically impossible to fit the 10 claimed on the programme).

However the lift won't move with more than six people, as most people don't weigh less than 80KG especially with bags.

Most regular users know, but you occasionally get some numpty who pushes on saying "it holds 8" then the lift doors won't close and they have to get out.

Which is why I said it was a specification failure - unfamiliar users, in a hurry, with heavy luggage should have been a key design consideration.

 

[Crossover]

Chap in the maintenance control room didn't moderate his language for the cameras did he?

Were previous series' so full of swearing? My son liked watching these, but now he's a bit older (5) he is easily influenced and the Bounds Green depot guy swearing all the time was a bit off putting.

It seemed unnecessary and made me wonder what Virgin/Stagecoach thought of it, although reading the other thread on here about staff 'banter' on Virgin West Coast, maybe he was tame in comparison!

Okay, perhaps it wasn't so much about trains to appeal to a young child, but my son loved all the other TV shows. I won't be letting him watch this one, sadly.

Would have thought swearing goes on in many places of work now, it is deemed acceptable by many, its even tolerated at schools and TV as the 'norm'

To be fair, there was a warning at the start of the program warning of strong language (or some such) so it wasn't entirely unexpected.

Maybe I didn't really flinch to it as I am surrounded by similar at work where folk are fairly straight-talking. Not good for a customer service role perhaps, but given they are "behind the scenes" like myself and many others are at work, I don't really it as so much of a problem

 

[jon0844]

I watched on catchup so didn't realise it was shown post-watershed initially. I didn't say I had a problem with it, just a little surprised.

The 'warts and all' approach limits the audience, plus I thought Virgin would want a cleaner image for its brand. Obviously not.

 

[al78]

Would have thought swearing goes on in many places of work now, it is deemed acceptable by many, its even tolerated at schools and TV as the 'norm'

Is it accepted on this forum? If not, why not if it is now normal and acceptable?

 

[D1009]

That is not the case with these lifts.

The plate says "8 people, 630KG" and 8 people can squeeze in if they are friends (it is physically impossible to fit the 10 claimed on the programme).

However the lift won't move with more than six people, as most people don't weigh less than 80KG especially with bags.

Most regular users know, but you occasionally get some numpty who pushes on saying "it holds 8" then the lift doors won't close and they have to get out.

I didn't think those lifts were supposed to be used as an exit from the platform.

Is it accepted on this forum? If not, why not if it is now normal and acceptable?

No-one said such language is acceptable to everyone, hence the warning at the start of the programme.

 

[AlterEgo]

Is it accepted on this forum? If not, why not if it is now normal and acceptable?

I don't see how the world of work and an Internet forum are comparable.

Swearing at work is something I and a lot of others do when in familiar company who have a common understanding that they don't find it offensive. I would certainly never swear on television though or to anyone at work I didn't know.

 

[jon0844]

I don't see how the world of work and an Internet forum are comparable.

Swearing at work is something I and a lot of others do when in familiar company who have a common understanding that they don't find it offensive. I would certainly never swear on television though or to anyone at work I didn't know.

Nor me. We swore all the time in my old office, but if we had visitors we all knew to tone things down. There was no rule book or anything, it was common sense.

Now if a TV crew came in and said 'just act normal' then I suspect we'd have still curbed our language.

I've nothing about swearing, or even people bitching about things at work (God knows, I'm guilty of that) but it doesn't automatically make something more 'real'.

Anyway, I look forward to the next episode!

 

[GodAtum]

how are dog walkers walking alongside the tracks, isnt there a fence!?

never go in their lifts :roll:

If you had an advance ticket and got stuck in a station lift, will you be allowed to travel on the next train? What about if you missed your last train, will the TOC managing the station have to put you up for the night?

Do the film crew filming trackside need special licenses?

 

[yorksrob]

They don't have much luck with their lifts !

 

[Dhassell]

That man running after that 317 has to be a highlight for me tonight :roll:

 

[Juniper Driver]

At first I thought all the lift occupants were silly, then I realised that it was likely one or two squeezing in without the others agreeing, or able to do anything about it.

I think most people assume the max occupancy signs have a huge safety margin, or that an alarm will sound and the lift won't move.

Yes I think I get that.I probably wouldn't risk it if I didn't have to.

I'm not familiar with these lifts...I take it there are stairs...(I'm sure this is a really stupid question) I can understand people having to use this lift.