Reply to: London has the world best public transport

[SquishedBunny]

Having suffered through rush hour on the underground systems in Tokyo, HK, Singapore, Beijing, Madrid, Seoul, New Delhi, Melbourne, and London I'd have to say that they all suffer from over crowding during rush hour to varying degrees.
There are some good points about the London tube: stations are walking distance apart, service is frequent, only 1 operator so only 1 ticket.
Unfortunately its good points are overshadowed by the problems brought about not having a continuous infrastructure improvement program. The majority of the trains are out of date, the stations are cramped and dirty (although the new platforms at Bank aren't too bad), there’s no cool/heating in stations or on trains, and no where else in the world have I have I had to blow black crud out of my nose after being on an underground train (Victoria line is the worst for this, you can actually see smoke when standing on the platform).
The one thing that did amuse me when I first arrived in London was the constant announcements that there was a 'good service' on all the lines. Everywhere else (especially Tokyo & HK) a good service is just expected, it's not such an infrequent event that I need to be informed of it. Honestly do they want a present and a pat on the back every time there is a train isn’t late?

[DBA_bloke]

How did you choose which school to send him to?
Have you thought of living closer, surely he is your priority?
Have you thought of being a fulltime carer and driving him both ways?
Please don't blame the government for your choices.

Harsh, but true.

[Lucy]

London Transport gets my vote. Those living outside London don't know what is it like in the rest of the country.

My son is 11 years old and has to travel 15 miles to get to his school in gloucester. He has to be driven three miles to the nearest bus stop in Newham and when the bus turns up it takes him to the Glouecester Park and Ride and then another bus turns up to take him to school. He leaves home at 07.00 and gets home at 17.30 and school finishes at 15.30. BTW he is a year 7 pupil and 11 years old and has to endure a two hour journey home everyday.

How did you choose which school to send him to?
Have you thought of living closer, surely he is your priority?
Have you thought of being a fulltime carer and driving him both ways?
Please don't blame the government for your choices.

[Lambros]

London Transport gets my vote. Those living outside London don't know what is it like in the rest of the country.

My son is 11 years old and has to travel 15 miles to get to his school in gloucester. He has to be driven three miles to the nearest bus stop in Newham and when the bus turns up it takes him to the Glouecester Park and Ride and then another bus turns up to take him to school. He leaves home at 07.00 and gets home at 17.30 and school finishes at 15.30. BTW he is a year 7 pupil and 11 years old and has to endure a two hour journey home everyday.

[NickFitz]

Voted for by tourists - they don't have to suffer the northern line at 8am!!!

I use the Northern Line at around 9am for a half hour journey - it's not at all bad then, particularly starting from a terminus so I'm guaranteed my choice of seat

Hope the client doesn't start expecting me to get in for 8:30 any time soon..

[Lucy]

2 points:
- The New York travelcard covers a much smaller area than London,
zones 1-6 is a huge area.
- Most londoners get a monthly (or more) travelcard on their oyster, for unlimited travel on trains, tubes and buses, for the zones they live in.
The monthly travelcard for all five zones (which most Londoners wouldn't need) is £150 per month which is about £5 per day. Not too bad for unlimited travel on buses, trains and tubes anywhere, anytime in the most expensive city in the world.

London is not the most expensive city in the world.

[Lucy]

Aye. My total travel bill each month is £105.
No car tax, road tax, petrol and maintenance

Including the wear on your knuckles?

[daviejones]

What about the likes of New York, Tokyo?

Haven't the Chinese or Indians sorted out their transport systems with all the trillions $$$ they have?

I am sure the MTR in Hong Kong moves more people and it is so reliable it puts us to shame...

[sasguru]

In London a one day travel card (1-6) is somewhere around £6.30 where a similar card in Yew York is around £3.50, nearly exactly half the price. This difference is roughly the same for single/return tickets and any other comparible ticket types

2 points:
- The New York travelcard covers a much smaller area than London,
zones 1-6 is a huge area.
- Most londoners get a monthly (or more) travelcard on their oyster, for unlimited travel on trains, tubes and buses, for the zones they live in.
The monthly travelcard for all five zones (which most Londoners wouldn't need) is £150 per month which is about £5 per day. Not too bad for unlimited travel on buses, trains and tubes anywhere, anytime in the most expensive city in the world.

[Not So Wise]

From the perspective of a tourist it could easily be the best in the world because without doubt one London has one of the most extensive public transport systems (and why not, they have been building it for around 100 years or more) and outside of rush-hour (and how many tourists travel at rush hour?) it is generally hassle free to travel, with newer lines like Jubilee clean and well lit

For those that live here and require it to get to work though it is totally different because they normally have to use it at the worst times of of the day, when all the cracks in the system are plainly obvious (mainly volume of demand vs capacity)

I note also they mention that the tourists consider it the most expensive, what the article does not highlight is by how much, when you compare it to the runner up for the 2nd best transport system (and also the 2nd most expensive), New York, the differences are huge.

In London a one day travel card (1-6) is somewhere around £6.30 where a similar card in Yew York is around £3.50, nearly exactly half the price. This difference is roughly the same for single/return tickets and any other comparible ticket types

And from conversations over the years with people it is the same pretty much everywhere when comparing any similar sized city against London (UK)

We pay double (or in most cases more) when compared to anywhere else but we defiantly don't get twice the service

[DBA_bloke]

feck off.. central line at rush hr is a joke..

having a big fat mamma shove her sweaty armpit in your face is repulsive

listening to "yeah but how do i get there? INNIT" winds me up loads

DLR is nice though, no driver ooooooooo

The clue is in the question, as loveable old Wogan used to say: Rush Hour. RUSH HOUR! Of course it's tulip! It's RUSH HOUR!

[chef]

feck off.. central line at rush hr is a joke..

having a big fat mamma shove her sweaty armpit in your face is repulsive

listening to "yeah but how do i get there? INNIT" winds me up loads

DLR is nice though, no driver ooooooooo

[Peter Loew]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/7027322.stm

No, I couldn't believe it either

(Yes i know the title looks like it was written by a non native speaker of the language)

What a crock of shi*

[Devlin]

NYC is quite good, but not as extensive as London, you can often be a long walk from one of the stations.

[sasguru]

London transport is, no matter what YOU think, one of the best transport systems there is anywhere. The only way it could be improved would be to kill half of all Londoners, to reduce the sheer volume of passengers. Volunteers?

So our Islamist friends are only acting in our best interests?
Makes you all warm and glowing inside.