Olympic test-run on London transport leaves commuters grumbling:
Exercise to test the capital's Olympic rail capacity coincides with the temporary closure of King's Cross station
• Live coverage: your tales of transport disruption
Thousands of London commuters endured a gruelling journey into work on Tuesday morning after an exercise to test the capital's Olympic rail capacity coincided with the temporary closure of King's Cross station.
With the Games just over a fortnight away, Network Rail and Southeastern trains rehearsed their station management plans to see how five key stations – London Bridge, Cannon Street, Waterloo East, Charing Cross and Victoria – will cope with the increased passenger numbers.
London Bridge was most affected by the exercise, which saw a queuing system put in place and entry to the station confined to the forecourt on Railway Approach/London Bridge Street.
Despite complaints on Twitter from disgruntled passengers, a spokesman for Network Rail said the rehearsal had gone well and that due warning had been given. He added that there would have been little point staging the exercise if people had decided to change their travel plans because of the drill.
"During the Games, some of our stations will be extremely busy at certain times of day – nowhere more so than London Bridge," he said.
"To deal with the huge numbers of additional passengers travelling by rail at Games time, we have plans for each of our stations to help manage crowds and keep people moving. Tuesday's test events will give regular commuters the chance to get used to the way some of our busiest stations will work during the Games and allows us to make sure the plans we have in place are right."
The spokesman said that things had gone "smoothly" at all five stations, but suggested those travelling this evening should allow extra time for their journeys.
He said Network Rail had been keeping an eye on Twitter and "frankly there are as many, if not more, positive/neutral comments than negative. As you well know, people don't often tweet to say: 'Things are fine' – they use it when they feel strongly about something and want to vent."
He did not accept that there had been problems at London Bridge, despite tweets suggesting the station had been "mayhem", "carnage", "horrible" and "a nightmare".
"Olympic testing day at London Bridge station … If its like this when the real thing happens think I'll be working from home for 2 weeks!" read a not untypical tweet, from Dan Willett.
"I've got a team of people who've been at the station since 6am providing real-time information," the Network Rail spokesman said, "plus I came through there at just after 7.30am, and they are saying that everything has gone as planned. I appreciate some people may have not enjoyed having to take a slightly longer route through the station but that is all we're asking people to do."
He also denied Network Rail had under-publicised the event in order to impress on people how overcrowded London Bridge would be during the Games.
Commuters are being advised to avoid the central London station altogether during the event.
He added the plans to deal with the Games-time upsurge included one-way systems and crowd-management measures, which would keep Olympic and non-Olympic passengers separate during London 2012. There were no plans for another rehearsal like Tuesday's, he said.
Further disruption was caused on Tuesday morning after King's Cross station was closed during rush hour after a Northern Line train broke down, forcing the evacuation of the station to prevent overcrowding. Tim Cook tweeted: "Kings cross station closed. People everywhere, this is mayhem."
Helen French added: "Out on a supposedly simple journey to London for interview. Get to Kings Cross and underground closed. Walk to Euston and underground closed."
Sophie Atkins predicted pessimistically: "Fyi london. You will not cope with the Olympics."
guardian.co.uk © 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Exercise to test the capital's Olympic rail capacity coincides with the temporary closure of King's Cross station
• Live coverage: your tales of transport disruption
Thousands of London commuters endured a gruelling journey into work on Tuesday morning after an exercise to test the capital's Olympic rail capacity coincided with the temporary closure of King's Cross station.
With the Games just over a fortnight away, Network Rail and Southeastern trains rehearsed their station management plans to see how five key stations – London Bridge, Cannon Street, Waterloo East, Charing Cross and Victoria – will cope with the increased passenger numbers.
London Bridge was most affected by the exercise, which saw a queuing system put in place and entry to the station confined to the forecourt on Railway Approach/London Bridge Street.
Despite complaints on Twitter from disgruntled passengers, a spokesman for Network Rail said the rehearsal had gone well and that due warning had been given. He added that there would have been little point staging the exercise if people had decided to change their travel plans because of the drill.
"During the Games, some of our stations will be extremely busy at certain times of day – nowhere more so than London Bridge," he said.
"To deal with the huge numbers of additional passengers travelling by rail at Games time, we have plans for each of our stations to help manage crowds and keep people moving. Tuesday's test events will give regular commuters the chance to get used to the way some of our busiest stations will work during the Games and allows us to make sure the plans we have in place are right."
The spokesman said that things had gone "smoothly" at all five stations, but suggested those travelling this evening should allow extra time for their journeys.
He said Network Rail had been keeping an eye on Twitter and "frankly there are as many, if not more, positive/neutral comments than negative. As you well know, people don't often tweet to say: 'Things are fine' – they use it when they feel strongly about something and want to vent."
He did not accept that there had been problems at London Bridge, despite tweets suggesting the station had been "mayhem", "carnage", "horrible" and "a nightmare".
"Olympic testing day at London Bridge station … If its like this when the real thing happens think I'll be working from home for 2 weeks!" read a not untypical tweet, from Dan Willett.
"I've got a team of people who've been at the station since 6am providing real-time information," the Network Rail spokesman said, "plus I came through there at just after 7.30am, and they are saying that everything has gone as planned. I appreciate some people may have not enjoyed having to take a slightly longer route through the station but that is all we're asking people to do."
He also denied Network Rail had under-publicised the event in order to impress on people how overcrowded London Bridge would be during the Games.
Commuters are being advised to avoid the central London station altogether during the event.
He added the plans to deal with the Games-time upsurge included one-way systems and crowd-management measures, which would keep Olympic and non-Olympic passengers separate during London 2012. There were no plans for another rehearsal like Tuesday's, he said.
Further disruption was caused on Tuesday morning after King's Cross station was closed during rush hour after a Northern Line train broke down, forcing the evacuation of the station to prevent overcrowding. Tim Cook tweeted: "Kings cross station closed. People everywhere, this is mayhem."
Helen French added: "Out on a supposedly simple journey to London for interview. Get to Kings Cross and underground closed. Walk to Euston and underground closed."
Sophie Atkins predicted pessimistically: "Fyi london. You will not cope with the Olympics."
guardian.co.uk © 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
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