bramling
Veteran Member
Just to give the opposite view, I've been to several Central London New Years, including the Millenium, and have never encountered any difficult people anywhere, Tube, DLR, or in the streets. It was nice once a few years ago to sit in a south bank pub at 2am.
Let’s just say a lot of rostered Underground staff, when they go through their duties for the forthcoming year the first date they will make a bee-line to look at will be New Year’s Eve, and to see that they’re not rostered for nights that day. Likewise try and get rid of such a duty through changeovers and it will prove all nigh impossible. There’s a reason for all that. I think the only other shifts which come close are the Notting Hill Carnival which is similarly notorious.
Reviewing CCTV for NYE can also be revealing. A few years ago there was an allegation about a driver made to the ORR which had to be investigated, which involved trawling through several hours of CCTV at a major inner-London station. What was seen was barely comprehendable - grown adults stripping their trousers off and defacating in the middle of a platform in full view of others, fights, people jumping on the track, bottles being smashed - in other words complete anarchy.
As regards the DLR incident, this reminds me of a debacle where the Central Line was suspended for hours through Stratford in the middle of the olympics, the 92 stock up to its usual tricks!