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One in four 'feel unsafe on Tube'

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David

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More than a quarter of Londoners still do not feel safe travelling by Tube since the July bombings, a survey says.
Of the 500 people polled by Westminster Council in September, 27% said they were apprehensive about Tube travel, 14% about bus travel and 3% in a car.

The survey suggested that although the number of people afraid of public transport travel is falling, memories of the bombings still upset Londoners.

Almost seven out of 10 people (69%) polled feel sad when reminded of them.

The number of Londoners having disturbed thoughts or dreams about the bombings increased from 23% in July to 30% in September, according to the survey.

It also showed just over two thirds (68%) to be satisfied with the response by the Metropolitan Police and its commissioner Sir Ian Blair.

One third (34%) said they were dissatisfied with Prime Minister Tony Blair and the government's response.

Westminster Council leader Simon Milton said: "Having played a key role in both the response and recovery to the bombings this summer, we decided that it was essential to evaluate Londoners' perceptions...so that lessons can be learned in the event of future attacks.

"There may well be issues of ongoing trauma that may need more research.

"It is important that Londoners continue to be reassured that it is safe to return to the centre of our great city."

In August, London Underground (LU) put up posters explaining there were more patrols, searches and checks on trains and at stations than before to try to make commuters feel safer.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/4415748.stm
 
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Dave A

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Absolute crap! In-fact, the tube is reporting an INCREASE in passengers!

I'm not afraid! All those people who are, well you'd better find a deep hole to hide in because the world is no safer than before 7/7!
 

jd

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Harry Potter said:
Almost seven out of 10 people (69%) polled feel sad when reminded of them.

This surprises me! So 31% of people feel no sadness at all for those who died or who lost loved ones? Heartless people.

Anyway, I agree with Dave. You can't not go on the tube 'cos you think you might get blown up, as it were. You're no safer crossing the road really. But if you get paranoid about things, you will end up afraid to go out of the house.

A few weeks ago, I went to London for the first time since 7/7. I won't pretend the events of that day weren't going through my head as I decended into Marylebone tube station, because they were, but I wasn't going to avoid the tube because of this. I think the worst bit of that day was the journey between Russell Square and King's Cross - but not because I was paranoid about being blown up myself, but because all the media images of what happened were going through my mind. But after this one journey from Marylebone to Cockfosters, the whole 'going on the Tube' thing was out of my system, so I can't really see why people who go on the tube every day still feel afraid, you have to get over things like this.
 

Met Driver

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jd said:
This surprises me! So 31% of people feel no sadness at all for those who died or who lost loved ones? Heartless people.

I doubt that anyone feels absolutely no sadness. I reckon the 31% of people you speak of probably just don't want to let it get to them, and prefer to keep it out of mind etc.
 

Dave A

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The sooner you go on the tube, the better. I went on soon after 7/7, a bit nervous, the same thoughts and pictures running through my head, but the 2nd time its easy! And now, itsas "easy as pie" :P :D

The best advice I can give to anyone still worried is:

Come to London, face your fears and you'll see there is nothing to worry about!
 

jd

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London Tube said:
Come to London, face your fears and you'll see there is nothing to worry about!

Exactly, by the time I'd made one journey I was over any worries I had. But the point is, this was a survey of Londonders, who really should have got over their fears by now. They lived with the threat of the IRA for years, but were they afraid to leave the house? No.
 

yorkie

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It boils down to how it's portrayed in the media.

The problem is that events like this, and indeed anything involving public transport but especially trains, get a lot of attention. Sometimes justified, sometimes not.

In contrast there are many road deaths every day but they usually get no mention (unless there are unusual circumstances), and the only time they're mentioned is a matter-of-fact "there are delays on the M1 due to an accident" type traffic reports.

The general public get the impression that public transport is dangerous from the media.

It's incredible to think that some people are very happy to drive places and to cross roads etc without any thought, yet get worried about using much safer modes of transport. It's illogical, but it's down to people's impressions, created and fuelled by the media.
 

Tom B

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Indeed Yorkie - if they were car bombs instead of bombs on public transport would people stop using cars? I think not.
 

Angus

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I'm not scared. I am aware that there is a very small chance that I might die but it doesn't bother me. If you let things like that bother you then you'll be too scared to enjoy life. It's the same when flying - so many people feel scared when flying because they think that they are going to die - when I'm flying I often think about air disasters (actually I sometimes take air accident books to read on flights, as I'm interested in the topic), but it doesn't bother me. You have to accept that there are risks but that the chances are small enough to make it a risk worth taking and then not let it put you off.
 

tramboy

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I know I'm not a Londoner, but I feel unsafe on the tube. Not for the reasons above...bombings and the like are rare occurances...more for the fact that you keep seeing documentaries about how shoddy the maintenance of the system is, and also how dingy all of the stations are. It would be nice if London could show a little pride in the oldest underground railway in the world, and not just treat it as if it can be left there to rot.

Take any other Metro system in the world...and you'll find that most are kept in a better, cleaner state than the tube, with the public proud to use them. Paris, Munich, Berlin, New York...the list goes on.

Regards

Dave
 
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They do actually say the Tube is one of the safest networks though.
 

Mojo

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I disagree with New York - many stations even ones underground have none or one or 2 members of staff. There are buskers, beggers and dodgy people everywhere.

In Paris I got trapped in a station because there were no staff manning the ticket gates, information on both systems is very unclear.
 

devon_metro

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IMO the london underground is avery well maintanied network, if the government chose to pledge more money towards it then i'm sure the system could be grealty modernised. There is no reason to be worried on the terror threat, the chances that terrorists will target the same system is very unlikely.
 

Tom B

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Hang on, 25% feel unsafe on the tube yet 3% in their cars?!
 

traveller1030

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Holland on Rail said:
Well.... never been to the Amsterdam Metro after 9pm I guess :?:

Believe me, You DON'T want to use it after 9pm. Especially not "Nieuwmarkt" station wich is in the centre of the Red light district.

I was over in Amsterdam about a year ago, I didn't particularly enjoy using Nieuwmarkt at 9AM!!! (one or two crackheads on the prowl even then!).

Amsterdam is luckily that kind of place where if you're a tourist everywhere's walkable. Apart from when you've had a little too much of 'the good stuff' and end up walking in the wrong direction to your hotel - it was the second time I did that!!!

Back to the topic, another puff-piece from the media to do down the Tube, I'd guess. My first instincts are to say what utter b*****ks, the people who answered that survey are obviously fully compliant with the Agenda of Fear. More fool them.
 

yorkie

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dvn1357 said:
... if the government chose to pledge more money towards it then i'm sure the system could be grealty modernised....
They have put in more money, but as we have a botched privatisation, the money isn't going to go where it's needed.

I hear the condition of the Metropolitan tracks is poor, some bridges are weak so they had to reduce the line speed (for Chiltern trains as well, not just Met trains) on what used to be a main line from London to the North, yet I don't hear of plans to upgrade the track. No, they want to replace the comfortable trains with what are bound to be less comfortable, and inappropriate trains (having seen the computer generated images, I am not impressed). :(
 

yorkie

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Cockfosters said:
Hang on, 25% feel unsafe on the tube yet 3% in their cars?!
That's because cars have "accidents", while tubes/trains have "disasters". :roll:

And because there are so many "accidents", they don't really get reported much, other than a quick mention in the traffic & travel reports as if it's perfectly normal.
 

tramboy

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I've not been to Amsterdam, so can't comment.

What I'm really saying is that the people of London take the tube for granted, and therefore don't seem to show much respect for it, whereas in other cities, naming the two best examples I've seen as Munich and Prague, travellers here show pride in the system, and it's generally spotless.

Not sure how you can get trapped inside a station in Paris...all exit gates are automatic, and as for information being unclear, IMO the line map on every platform, as well as clearly signed connections to other lines at interchange stations makes that excellently signposted. I can't actually imagine Chatelet/Les Halles without the signage it has now!! (For anyone who's been Chatelet is the largest complex on the RATP Metro system, as well as being an interchange point between that and the SNCF/RATP operated RER network. To give an example of what it really is...it's three stations: Chatelet/Les Halles and Chatelet-Les Halles, which is the new bit! Lines calling are Metro: 1, 4, 7, 11, 14 and RER A, B, D. There might be one I've missed in that list too!)

Regards

Dave
 

Mojo

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The exit gate refused to accept our tickets, but luckily one of them was broke, so we left through that.
 

yorkie

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Mojo said:
The exit gate refused to accept our tickets, but luckily one of them was broke, so we left through that.
Surely if there are no staff present the gates should be left open? As I'm fairly sure that's the rule over here.
 

Mojo

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The rule here is that someone must be monitoring the gates (see the railway group standard here), however this is obviously not the case in Paris, which, being on an underground station and having high gates (the gates are very high, over 2m I'd say) could have some pretty nasty consequences if an incident were to happen.
 

devon_metro

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yorkie said:
dvn1357 said:
... if the government chose to pledge more money towards it then i'm sure the system could be grealty modernised....
They have put in more money, but as we have a botched privatisation, the money isn't going to go where it's needed.

Basically privatistation has ruined many of our countries railway systems with companies feeling it better to keep the customer 'happier' by buyin new trains whilst having grotty trackwork ect as you said, when i would much rather to travel on a safe rail stystem than a modern one.
 

LondonBVE

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Although i'm not living in London and never went before London, But i hope one day i can go there and take the tube happily with no worries, even the 7/7 b**b attack my mind still wanted to go to London to take the london tube as i trust london tube. I don't care about any delays or disaster. Cheers :)
 

class 313

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tramboy said:
I've not been to Amsterdam, so can't comment.

What I'm really saying is that the people of London take the tube for granted, and therefore don't seem to show much respect for it, whereas in other cities, naming the two best examples I've seen as Munich and Prague, travellers here show pride in the system, and it's generally spotless.

Not sure how you can get trapped inside a station in Paris...all exit gates are automatic, and as for information being unclear, IMO the line map on every platform, as well as clearly signed connections to other lines at interchange stations makes that excellently signposted. I can't actually imagine Chatelet/Les Halles without the signage it has now!! (For anyone who's been Chatelet is the largest complex on the RATP Metro system, as well as being an interchange point between that and the SNCF/RATP operated RER network. To give an example of what it really is...it's three stations: Chatelet/Les Halles and Chatelet-Les Halles, which is the new bit! Lines calling are Metro: 1, 4, 7, 11, 14 and RER A, B, D. There might be one I've missed in that list too!)

Regards

Dave

i would like to say in russia they have very clean metro and its very good, if your caught drawing somthing on a wall you will face the russian police :)
 

Jonno2055

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Some of the pictures you see of the russian metro, chandeliers , the full works, it does make you think how they can have a nice metro like that while we have an OK underground system but, it needs alot of work. But saying that does anyone know what the actual quality of the line is in russia. They may have nice stations but what is the service like?
 
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