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One-way systems - good and bad

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Bletchleyite

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As you didn’t specify only shops, I hope you are aware from these forums the ludicrous and lengthy detour these one-way systems impose at some major stations?
At Finsbury Park, if changing from National Rail to the tube, towards central London, you have to actually EXIT the station on the eastern side, walk past random strangers in traffic-clogged streets, re-enter the tube station on the western side, a good ten-minute diversion for a fit person, assuming green signals at pedestrian crossings. When the spiral staircases were open, you could get from NR platforms to tube level in under a minute!!
Even coming from tube to National Rail involves exiting the station and re-entering, at least doubling the transfer time.
Kings Cross is similarly stupid, and they persist with ‘following the arrows’ late at night, when there are so few passengers you could drive a bus through the spaces between people if the rules were relaxed, in accordance with passenger numbers !!!

I don't think all one-way systems are good, but they can often provide benefits. For instance if it was possible to separate the flows to and from platforms 8-11 at Euston properly (which it isn't really) this would be so much easier to use. And yes, it's good where supermarkets are designed for one-way systems (with the middle and end aisles to allow you to backtrack) because it makes things less congested and more pleasant to use. Whether they need to be in place at all times is more debatable, but with regard to Kings Cross didn't that have a one way system in place even before COVID, i.e. platform ends for exit only?
 
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adc82140

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One way systems are good where computer modelling shows that it can shift large quantities of people quicker: Football stadiums, large railway stations during the rush etc.

They are pointless everywhere else, and with reference to Covid do not protect in any way, in fact you are at more risk from the weird parade of slow moving people around supermarkets all going the same way that it creates. The low point was the "have a one way system around the BBQ" advice when garden visits were allowed. What were they on when they came up with that one?
 

trainophile

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I went into Morrisons last night. Only wanted one thing, ended up walking about half a mile! I was informed when I tried to access the cordoned off self-service check-outs that I had to loop around the top end of the aisle and join the "queue" - except there was no queue and most of the self-serve bays were free.
 

Scrotnig

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I went into Morrisons last night. Only wanted one thing, ended up walking about half a mile! I was informed when I tried to access the cordoned off self-service check-outs that I had to loop around the top end of the aisle and join the "queue" - except there was no queue and most of the self-serve bays were free.
See, this is exactly the sort of nonsense that makes me think "ok, won't bother then".
 

Mugby

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The one-way system at Leeds Station is horrendous beyond belief; basically, you can only go up the stairs of the west end footbridge and you can only go down the stairs of the east end footbridge.

So, as an example, if you arrive on a train which stops at 12D (perhaps right by the steps) and you want a Manchester train off 15. you have to walk all the way back along 12, up the steps onto the west end footbridge, cross to the exit end, down the steps and head towards the gate lines, do a U turn, then back along 8, up the steps to the east end footbridge, walk it's full length and then down onto 15.
I've timed it and you need almost fifteen minutes for a simple platform change and the whole farce adds up to a lot of walking indeed.

To top it off, there's an 'attendant' at the top of every set of stairs on the west end footbridge, to make sure no one attempts to go down
and there are similar 'attendants' at the platform level of every set of stairs to the east end footbridge to make sure no one attempts to go up.
All agency staff, paid for doing nothing all day long. Still, the Government is paying so presumably money's no object - and a private company is making a handsome profit out of it!
 

MarlowDonkey

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They are pointless everywhere else, and with reference to Covid do not protect in any way, in fact you are at more risk from the weird parade of slow moving people around supermarkets all going the same way that it creates.

A couple of local supermarkets have now dropped one way systems. But if track and trace worked rather better, perhaps there would now be statistics on how many caught Covid by meeting people for less than thirty seconds moving in the opposite direction.

The system of having a queue for the next checkout becoming available can make sense, although using up a member of staff to police it probably means it will be dropped in the longer run.
 

Jonny

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Shops and such places are one thing as they are private property, but how would you enforce such things on the street where pedestrians are used to being not regulated?
 

birchesgreen

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Shops and such places are one thing as they are private property, but how would you enforce such things on the street where pedestrians are used to being not regulated?

Probably get some thugs in hi-viz to taser grannie if she goes the wrong way along the street.
 

johnnychips

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Shops and such places are one thing as they are private property, but how would you enforce such things on the street where pedestrians are used to being not regulated?
They are ignored in Sheffield and nobody tries to enforce them. Everything is fine.
 

yorkie

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In Reading there is a bridge under the railway line to the east of the station which has a crazy one way system; pedestrians are supposed to cross a busy road twice. There is absolutely no way I would do that.
 

AdamWW

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In Reading there is a bridge under the railway line to the east of the station which has a crazy one way system; pedestrians are supposed to cross a busy road twice. There is absolutely no way I would do that.

Possibly a slight failure to assess overall risk there?
 

yorkie

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Possibly a slight failure to assess overall risk there?
Of course, we can see that.

But overall risk is deemed to be utterly irrelevant if you are a box ticker whose remit relates to Covid19, and who has a requirement to do something; they do not see things in the way that we do.
 

trainophile

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I checked on BRTimes for Leeds minimum connection time, which is given as 10 minutes. I have just booked a 14 minute connection between two Advance tickets. Wondering what my chances are!

Surely in large stations they need to extend the minimum connection times if they are going to insist on people transiting all around the station perimeters to get to their next platform.
 

johntea

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The one-way system at Leeds Station is horrendous beyond belief; basically, you can only go up the stairs of the west end footbridge and you can only go down the stairs of the east end footbridge.

So, as an example, if you arrive on a train which stops at 12D (perhaps right by the steps) and you want a Manchester train off 15. you have to walk all the way back along 12, up the steps onto the west end footbridge, cross to the exit end, down the steps and head towards the gate lines, do a U turn, then back along 8, up the steps to the east end footbridge, walk it's full length and then down onto 15.
I've timed it and you need almost fifteen minutes for a simple platform change and the whole farce adds up to a lot of walking indeed.

To top it off, there's an 'attendant' at the top of every set of stairs on the west end footbridge, to make sure no one attempts to go down
and there are similar 'attendants' at the platform level of every set of stairs to the east end footbridge to make sure no one attempts to go up.
All agency staff, paid for doing nothing all day long. Still, the Government is paying so presumably money's no object - and a private company is making a handsome profit out of it!

Is the Southern entrance/exit still exit only?

One positive that has come out of that is they seem to have happily marked up the previously staff only door on Platform 17 as a passenger exit route so if your train arrives on Platform 17 you are straight off the train and out of the station within a couple of minutes, but then if I'm heading for a train back on Platform 17 (or 16) I can't enter via the southern route, I have to use the main entrance then the horrendous one way loop around the station which takes around 10 minutes at a fairly brisk pace!
 

trainophile

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Can anyone give me a rough guide as to the process for getting from platform 12 to 7A? Is there a map somewhere detailing the one way system?
 

yorkie

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I checked on BRTimes for Leeds minimum connection time, which is given as 10 minutes. I have just booked a 14 minute connection between two Advance tickets. Wondering what my chances are!

Surely in large stations they need to extend the minimum connection times if they are going to insist on people transiting all around the station perimeters to get to their next platform.
It wouldn't be fair to penalise passengers with longer journey times.

Also it can't be done without agreement of all relevant operators.
Can anyone give me a rough guide as to the process for getting from platform 12 to 7A? Is there a map somewhere detailing the one way system?
That's easy.

Just imagine the eastern footbridge is out of use.
 

yorkie

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If you attempt to use the wrong one you will be sent back, so you can't go wrong ;)
 

Crossover

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Thank you. If only I was familiar enough with the station to know which is the eastern footbridge! :oops: . I'm sure I can work it out.

I’ve not had the misfortune to travel through Leeds during this chaos, but I believe the Eastern bridge is at the York end of the station and that the bridge you’ll need is the one that’s surrounded by glass with the (presumably closed?) retail outlets on it
 

yorksrob

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The one way system at Ashford, Kent is nice and unassuming. Just a case of walk on the right.
 

nlogax

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Silverburn mall seemed very busy today, on a par with more normal times. However there's a very definite and daft one way system in operation. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the Silverburn Human Roundabout

20200811_141152.jpg
 

Dave91131

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Example of a business needing to be seen to do "something".

Visited local restaurant last week for first time since lockdown. Layout upon entry is bar area with seating to right, restaurant area with seating to left.

One way system in place meaning in order to reach our allocated table in restaurant we had to walk 90% of the way around the restaurant, passing every other table of guests present bar one, pass through and handle 3 separate interior doors, and walk right beneath the air conditioning unit which was working very hard.

Had we been allowed to take the shortest route to our table we would have only had to walk past one other table of guests, handle zero doors, and not pass beneath the air conditioning unit.

Bonkers, ludicrous, stupid, dumb, etc etc etc...
 

BJames

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Silverburn mall seemed very busy today, on a par with more normal times. However there's a very definite and daft one way system in operation. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the Silverburn Human Roundabout

View attachment 82088
There is a poor attempt at this in Enfield's Palace Gardens shopping centre (which is primarily outdoors I will add). Had to laugh when I saw it.
 

py_megapixel

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Have this little diagram I drew for another thread - my local Co-Op:
1597156836150.png

You'll notice that if you need something from both aisle 4 and 5 you have to ignore the system
 

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Nicholas43

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GWR has put stickers inside every other pair of doors in 165/6 carriages saying No Exit, please use door 'to the left'. They mean 'at the other end of the carriage'. A possible wrong interpretation is 'on the other side of the carriage, jumping down onto the track'. The result is frantic last-minute dashing along the narrow aisles, not observing physical distancing.
 

Mugby

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I was in Birmingham a couple of weeks ago and you could leave New Street Station by the main entrance onto Smallbrook Queensway but you couldn't enter the station there. Someone guards the entrance and tells people they must use the walkway to Stephenson Street.

However, at Stephenson Street you can both enter and leave even though it's more of a confined space. To enter, you must use the doors at the Navigation Street end and then double back along the narrow concourse.

It's another station where you need to be aware of the procedure if you're a bit pushed for time, especially if you arrive by taxi.
 
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