And the final delays...

Alright then: delays for yesterday and the final journey last week (before my holiday, which was very agreeable, thank you), the last day in the year since Signal Failure began.  Following this, I'll get a letter sent out and reposted here as soon as I can make the time to do so.  Updates after that will be a couple of bits and pieces I find interesting and, of course, any response received from TfL.  Stay tuned...

Last Tuesday, then, the tube from Paddington to Waterloo was a minute early, but the train to Hersham was two minutes late, so a £5 charge.

Yesterday, the journey in featured a train that was three minutes early arriving in Waterloo, but the fact that both ticket machines in Hersham were broken, and the ticket office not open, meant I lost five minutes finding someone at the platform in Waterloo to explain this to and buy a ticket from.  This meant I was two minutes late by this point.  This led to me catching a later tube than I should have been able to, and resulted in an overall six-minute delay on my way into work (including the two-minute Paddington penalty).

Last night, the tube from Paddington to Waterloo was four minutes late, causing me to miss the fast train to Hersham, and the slow train was a minute late, making a total delay of 27 minutes.

All in all, the final delays to report for Signal Failure amount to 35 minutes and £87.50 to add to the tally.

Last bits of housekeeping

Just the last couple of travel updates before our year is up.

This morning's train from Hersham to Waterloo was on time, but there was a two-minute delay on the connecting tube to Paddington, plus the two-minute Paddington penalty.  Four minutes and £10 overall.

I'm on vacation out of the country for a week starting tomorrow, so the final few posts and the open letter are likely to be delayed.  Stay tubed, though, and I'll let you know any responses received.

End game

Did everyone have a nice weekend?  Mine was very pleasant, thanks  took the kids to a farm/play park on Sunday.  Good times were had.

Last Thursday, my journey home consisted of a tube that ran on time, and a connecting train that left Waterloo three minutes late, so £7.50 to Signal Failure.

This morning, I came in early for a meeting with our CEO (subsequently postponed by several hours, which is a little irritating, but what are you going to do?).  The train to Waterloo was bang on time, and the connecting tube even arrived at Paddington a minute early.  However, it was still Paddington, not Edgware Road, so the two minute penalty applies, netting another £2.50 for Signal Failure.

And I have to admit to being pleasantly surprised that the birthing of the new royal sprog - and the attendant hordes of media, tourists and security - did not make my journey on foot from Paddington through the hospital grounds to work any more complicated than normal.  Not that this has anything to do with TfL.

In the more exciting big picture of this blog, we're rapidly approaching the anniversary of the whole thing being set up, which is the point at which we tally the figures and send the bill to TfL.  And, as I'm likely to work from home the rest of this week, and am on vacation most of next week and part of the week after, the totals aren't likely to change much as we enter the end game.

Stay tuned for some amateur stat-crunching and recaps and, of course, I'll be posting a copy of my letter and bill to Signal Failure - as well as any replies (don't hold your breath) - for your viewing pleasure as the time approaches.

Till later then!

I'm Peppa Pig (oink!)

Image credit: mum-friendly.co.uk

Had a day off yesterday and, together with my wife, kids and sister, drove down to Peppa Pig World near the south coast.

My daughter's been fascinated by Peppa for months now, and we thoguht we'd better get down to the attraction before she went off her.  Despite a slow start to getting into the spirit of things, she was soon deleriously happy to be flying Miss Rabbit's helicopter, riding in Peppa's hot air balloon, and driving a tractor (from no episode I've ever seen - and I've seen them all, many, many times).  It was a good day out, though ridiculously expensive for what it was.  Still, she has some great stories to tell all her friends at the childminder's today!

So, on to the travel updates.  Tuesday night's journey home was sadly not as trouble-free as I would have hoped: a six-minute delay on the tube from Paddington to Waterloo caused me to miss the train I'd intended (no explanation offered).  Add to that a 22-minute delay on the connecting train to Hersham due to a broken-down train at Vauxhall, and I arrived 48 minutes later than I should have.  TfL owes me another £120.

This morning was more like it: despite leaving Hersham a minute late, the train was two minutes early arriving in Waterloo.  This allowed me to get an earlier connecting tube to Paddington, but since that one was delayed by three minutes, I still only got to work when I should have (according to Journey Planner), rather than early.  And there's still £5 to add for the two-minute Paddington penalty.

All in all, 50 minutes and £125 to the slate.

Boring

Delayed by three minutes on the train from Hersham to Waterloo this morning, all delay accrued beyond Surbiton (and therefore TfL's fault).  Had to get a later connecting tube to Paddington as a result, itself a further minute delayed, owing to overcrowding at Paddington.  And another two minutes for the Paddington penalty charge.  In all, I was therefore five minutes late for £12.50.

Other news is boring today.

Not every Oyster contains a pearl

Last night's journey back came with a 'tiny' one-minute delay on the tube from Paddington to Waterloo.  Unfortunately, it was enough to make me miss my connecting fast train to Hersham, so it ended up costing me (and therefore TfL) 26 minutes and £65.

In other news, Oyster Card was smugly congratulating itself on another anniversary recently.  I don't think I covered it on this blog, but it was the usual stuff along the lines of 'everyone else in the world is jealous of how awesome Oyster is and, in fact, the number one reason for tourism and general permanent immigration is people wanting to use the Oyster system'.

Anyway, Oyster's just been rapped on the knuckles by the watchdog London Travelwatch for being overcomplicated and overcharging passengers.  Have to say, I didn't get the overcomplicated charge, but then I didn't know about the pink and yellow readers confusion - it's not something that's ever affected me.  Actually, given I'm just learning about it now, it's probably affected me loads, but it's too late to do anything about that now!

'Sir' Peter Hendy, TfL chief, also seems to have recanted a whiny justification of his Olympic bonus from the official annual report of his organisation before it was published.  Methinks the lady doth protest to much.

LULZ cats

Stop press: a more important story has been found.

An itty-bitty kitten has been found on a London Underground train.  I like cats.

Victoria the kitten
(Image credit: PA via BBC News website)

Overground, underground

Despite leaving Paddington a minute late last night, my Bakerloo Line train to Waterloo arrived a minute early, so I had no difficulties catching my intended fast train connection to Hersham.  Unfortunately, this connection was delayed by five minutes owing to a 'points failure'.  I didn't catch where this was and so, feeling magnanimous, I've decided to give TfL the benefit of the doubt and assume it happened outside of Zones 1-6.  No charge, therefore.

This morning's train from Hersham to Waterloo was a minute late (definitely accrued within TfL's area of control), and the connecting tube was three minutes late arriving in Paddington.  Plus the two minute Paddington Penalty, of course, making a total of five minutes and £12.50 to add to the tally.

Meanwhile, in the rest of London, a head-on tube collision on the Northern Line was narrowly avoided, and TfL is under pressure to answer the questions 'WTF happened?' and 'How are you going to prevent something like this from happening again?'  Labour London Assembly Transport spokeswoman Val Shawcross has praised the actions of 'a' train driver in averting disaster.  Presumably, a head-on collision involves two trains, though, so I don't know why the other train driver wasn't also praised, since I imagine he didn't just plough on as the collision wouldn't have been avoided then either...

TfL's also looking into turning some major roads into overground tunnels so that residences and businesses can be built on top of them - space always being at a premium in London.  There seem to be no plans to do this anywhere near Wimbledon, however, so mine is the only Wombles joke we'll allow.

Image credit: tidybag.co.uk

Claims for accidents on the London Underground have reached £2.5m in the last four years, according to The Telegraph.  Though they don't come outright and say it (or, rather, write it), this seems to be a new record.  Obviously, domestic terrorist Bob Crow was quick to point out that if only TfL always gave in to his and his trade union's frequent and outrageous demands, this would never have happened.

And finally, speaking of strikes, Bob Crow's corralled RMT members who work on the Boris Bike scheme to strike too.  Is there any one of my readers who cares less than me, I wonder?

Defective trains and signal failures

Despite being a minute late leaving Paddington, my Bakerloo Line tube last night arrived at Waterloo a minute early, so I managed to catch my train.  That was a minute late, but only outside of TfL's sphere of influence, so it doesn't count.

The train in from Hersham to Waterloo this morning was on time, but the connecting tube to Paddington a different story.  I ended up waiting for nearly 15 minutes on a hot and overcrowded platform owing to, if I understod the announcements correctly, both an earlier signal failure and a defective train.  In the end, this delayed my journey by 16 minutes for £40.  Plus another £5 for the Paddington penalty.

Finally, I also realized I forgot the two-minute Paddington penalty in yesterday's calculations.  Another £5, bringing the total to 20 minutes at £50.

We haven't had one in a while, so here's my current Tube Bingo card for the week.

Sunny evenings, strikes, and sycling

Made a journey on Friday after all in the end - went out to Clapham Junction for a friend's birthday celebrations in a lovely beer garden just off the beaten track.  Everyone in the party except me, it seems, suffered from hay fever, so I'm not quite sure why a flowery beer garden was chosen, but I certainly appreciated it, and have never in my life seen such a worthy supply of tissues and antihistamines.  Nice.

The journey in, however, was a minute delayed, due to sitting outside of Clapham Junction station for a platform to become clear (at least, I assume that's why - obviously no explanation was given).  There was also a minute's delay coming back, and I have no idea what caused that one.  Two minutes and £5.

This morning, I had another jaunt to the Passport Office.  The train arrived at Vauxhall a minute early, though it didn't let me catch an earlier tube from there to Victoria.  The tube, incidentally, was one minute late for another £2.50.  Following my (this time successful) appointment, the tube from Victoria to Paddington was two minutes late (and horrifically overcrowded).  £5.

So, in total that makes five minutes £12.50.

Also in the news today is yet another strike threat from the RMT.  This time, it's about the plans to axe around 100 'guard' jobs from certain overground trains.  Everyone's favourite shit-stirrer Bob Crow was typically melodramatic:

"The news that millions of passengers are to be put at risk through plans to throw guards of [sic] London Overground trains on north London routes will send shockwaves through transport services."

And finally, if you live in Kensington & Chelsea, expect significant transport problems, as well as your car being towed if you dare to park along the route of a bicycle race in the borough.  Because bike races are more important than the convenience of borough residents or those who need to travel through the borough.  At least, according to our beloved floppy-haired leader Boris Johnson.

Roll on summer!

Four-minute delay on the tube from Paddington to Waterloo going home last night.  Caused me to miss the fast connecting train home to Hersham.  The train I did manage to get on was one minute late, though that was outside of TfL's network.  Nonetheless, the overall delay to my journey caused by TfL's tardiness was 27 minutes, which equates to £67.50.

It looks like a glorious weekend and week coming up, so I'll leave you with some good news, for a change: TfL's rolling out some more air conditioning.

Fwah fwah fwah fwah fwah fwah

About yesterday: I forgot to add the two-minute penalty for my morning's journey into work owing to having to get off at Paddington instead of Edgware Road.  That's £5.  Yesterday evening, I was delayed by two minutes on the tube from Paddington to Waterloo, though it didn't affect the connecting train I took.  That train, however, was also two minutes delayed for another £5.  No explanations were given for any of this.

This morning, the train from Hersham ran to schedule, while the tube was three minutes late for £7.50.  Some form of explanation was offered for this, but it was completely inaudible.  Actually, it sounded sort of like the adults always do in any Peanuts cartoon.

Seven minutes and £17.50 in total.

Hello again!

Sort-of refreshed from two days off, despite the 5 a.m. start my son and daughter delivered to us this morning, and with some good news: both the train and the connecting tube into work this morning were on time.

Long may it continue.

Elsewhere, we read that TfL has launched a revamped web site.  Indeed, I noticed something different about it when I logged in this morning, namely that the fonts were all messed up.  Good work!  Incidentally, I'm not just being rude here, it looked nothing like the picture shown on The Drum.  It looked exactly the same, just that the fonts were all over the place.

Finally, if you commute to London from any of the stations between Liverpool Street and Enfield Town, Chingford, or Cheshunt via Seven Sisters, you might want to think about moving home before 2015, when TfL will take over these routes and screw them up.

Last one for a few days again...

I'm working from home again today and have next Monday and Tuesday off, so this is likely to be the last update for a little while (enjoy the quiet while you can).

My  Bakerloo Line tube to Waterloo from Paddington yesterday was three minutes late.  This caused me to miss my connecting train, though that wasn't as bad as it could have been since the intended connecting train was a slow train, and the one I caught instead was a fast train.  Nonetheless, when you add the three minutes the fast train was delayed by (owing to having to wait for a late train to enter Waterloo before we could depart, apparently), that made me seven minutes late overall for £17.50.

There's other news out there today, but I judge it to be boring.  Have a nice Friday and weekend, y'all.

In which Signal Failure supports Bob Crow's position

Tube from Paddington to Waterloo was on time yesterday, but the train suffered delays owing, sequentially, to a late departure from Waterloo because of a previous train being held at a red signal, and then congestion at Vauxhall, Clapham Junction, and Wimbledon.  Got home five minutes late in the end for £12.50.

This morning, the train from Hersham was a minute late by the time it arrived in Waterloo, and the tube to Paddington accrued three minutes from there.  Plus the two-minute Paddington penalty charge to make another 5 minutes and £12.50.  So 10 minutes and £25 in total.

And finally, whoever would have thought I would find myself agreeing with Bob Crow?  But he said:

"With transport taking a massive hit in the spending review, and with jobs cuts and fare increases looming large, it is outrageous that the top brass across TfL are raking in combined bonuses of £2.5m."

And he's right.  This was in reference to the news that TfL has been splashing around serious amounts of money for its senior staff because they didn't manage to cause any massive cock-ups during the Olympics last year, when there was a record number of passengers and a 20% reduction in delays.  I do have to wonder, though, whether there was a record number of passengers anyway, or if it's only because of the Olympics boost.  Because if it's the latter, then they're basically using the Olympics twice as a justification.  And potentially three times because they don't state how delays are calculated.  For example, if they were based on reported delays per passenger, likely a lot of Olympic visitors didn't know or couldn't be bother to complain (not to mention the regular commuters, who have learned it's rarely worth bothering to complain about delays), thus reducing the ratio.  Possibly that information is somewhere out there, and if anyone has more time on their hands than me and would be willing to check it out, I'll happily post an update/correction to the proceeding.

In for a particular windfall was head honcho "Sir" Peter Hendy, who got a £319K bonus on top of his £331K salary.  Nice work if you can get it.

Peter Hendy
(Graphic credit: allcandycontainers.com)

But much as I don't feel TfL staff in general deserve all the perks and pay they already receive (as mentioned one or two times in this blog before, I believe), it's hard to see how liberally dousing the bosses with cash can be reconciled with refusing to give any more to the staff on the ground (r under it, as the case may be).

Your passport to TfL

So yesterday morning I made a little detour on the way into work to get a passport for my newborn son.  We're attending a wedding in Berlin at the end of July, so need to use the Fast Track service to make sure the passport's ready in time.  I won't bore you with the details of the bust that appointment proved to be, but I will bore you with the transport details: train from Hersham to Vauxhall was two minutes late (inside TfL's network).  Didn't affect the connecting Victoria Line to Victoria, which was a minute early.  Four minute delay taking the circle line from there to Paddington after my appointment (Circle line train simply didn't turn up when it was supposed to).  Five minutes overall for £12.50.

Going home that night, the tube from Paddington was two minutes late arriving at Waterloo, so I missed the fast train home, and the slow train was four minutes late (within TfL's network).  Meant I was 31 minutes late overall for £77.50.

This morning, the train from Hersham to Waterloo was bang on time - nice one - but the tube to Paddington was two minutes late.  And another two because it was Paddington, not Edgware Road.  Four minutes for £10.

So, overall since the last update, TfL owes Signal Failure another £100 for 40 minutes of wasted time.

Elsewhere, TfL has refuted claims it might sell the "mind the gap" announcement to some stupid drinks company.  Though the sponsorship money this would raise (reputed to be six figures) could be used to cut/maintain fare levels or fund network improvements, I have to approve of TfL's decision:

"This is a safety critical message and we have no intention of changing this for commercial sponsorship. We have been clear about this with Frank PR [representatives of drink firm Upbeat - ed.]"

Was there something special about 20th June?

I ask because I got a massive spike in readers for some reason, despite having posted noting for three days and not having posted anything else until now).  About that: I thought last week was going to be a good one for updates because I had a trade show to go to for a couple of days, which involved me travelling more, and on a variety of different routes, across the TfL network than I normally do.  Sadly, fate conspired against me and I developed a rather violent GI infection on Tuesday night, so wasn't able to complete any journeys after that.  Even more unfair, it wasn't due to any trade show parties - just one of those things!

Still, I'm back at work now, and in the office again from tomorrow, so you'll see a couple more updates before the month is out.

As for what little there is to report on from last week:

• Monday night, I arrived at the Bakerloo Line platform at Paddington at 18:08, but had to wait until 18:15 for a train to depart (no reason given for this, but it appeared to be to do with station crowding).  This made me 10 minutes late arriving at Waterloo, so I missed the connecting fast train to Hersham, arriving there four minutes later than the later train was scheduled to (all within Zones 1-6).  This made me 30 minutes late home altogether for £75.
• Tuesday morning, the train from Hersham into Waterloo arrived a whole four minutes early, though at that time it didn't let me take an earlier connecting tube than planned.  The tube did, however, run perfectly to time
• Coming home Tuesday night, I went from Custom House (DLR) to Waterloo, which involved changing to the Jubilee Line at Canning Town.  According to journey planner, I was 14 minutes late on this journey.  Amazingly, this didn't cause me to miss a connecting train.  I'm not quite sure how that happened.  The train arrived back at Hersham one minute early, but that minute was gained outside of TfL's sphere of influence, so no refund

All in all, then, 30 minutes and £75 added to TfL's tally last week.

Half time

UPDATE: forgot to add two minutes to the tube journey for having to use Paddington instead of Edgware Road.  That's another £5.

The train from Hersham to Waterloo this morning was a minute late arriving - gained within Zones 1-6.  Not much, but as a special additional treat, however, the train was half its usual length at only four carriages.  Reading higher up the platform as I was, this almost caused me to miss the train entirely, and made the rest of the journey a disgusting, sweaty and crowded affair.  Apparently, the train had developed a fault somewhere near Southampton - one that could only be solved by cutting its length in half or else cancelling the service.  So I suppose I should be grateful, though it seems difficult.  Not TfL's fault, I know, but I've been known to enjoy the occasional gripe...

Meanwhile, the tube connecting me to Paddington was also a minute late, so we add a total of two minutes and £5 to the tally.

Bridge over troubled water

Working from home as is usual on a Friday, so will just round off the week with this post: yesterday evening's Bakerloo Line from Paddington to Waterloo arrived a minute early, which was nice.  That was still one minute compared to being able to set off from Edgware Road, and it didn't change the connecting train I could take, but still.  Nice.  The train was three minutes late, none of which was accrued within TfL's network, somewhat surprisingly.

In a bit of non-personal news, TfL has decided to splash on a new bridge across the Thames.  Naturally, it will be placed in East London, which for years has been underserviced and crying out for a third bridge, with an impressive economic case behind it and supported by the London Chamber of Commerce & Industry in central London, where you already can hardly see the river due to the unearthly preponderance of bridges.  It's also a 'floating garden bridge', whatever that means, but it will cost £60m, so I'm sure it's good and definitely worth another fare increase.

The perils of integrity

Despite being a minute late setting off from Paddington, last night's Bakerloo Line arrived on time at Waterloo.  Of course, if I'd been able to go from Edgware Road, I would have arrived still two minutes earlier and been able to catch the fast train from there to Hersham, so that's a black mark right there.  The train I did catch was on time, but that's still a 26-minute delay over if I'd been able to use Edgware Road.  I guess in fairness I can't really charge for that, though.

This morning's train from Hersham to Waterloo was two minutes early in arriving.  This enabled me to get an earlier connecting tube so that I arrived four minutes early in work.  But we subtract two minutes from that for the Paddington-Edgware Road thing.  Nonetheless, that's two minutes and £5 credit to TfL.

No interesting news elsewhere still...