London better than New York for transportation - but where is Bristol?

[whole diary]

[grahame]

From UK^▸ (United Kingdom) Business Insider

I rode London's famous Underground system for a week — and I saw why New York's subway will never catch up

It was the summer of hell, and I needed some relief.

To take a break from the swamp that New York City becomes in the summer, I took a week-long trip to the sunny paradise of London for a well-deserved vacation.

OK, fine. London may not be that sunny, but it is a transportation paradise. When comparing it to New York, anyway, London seems like a city that actually cares about its public transportation. Its trains run often, its buses have a priority network, and there's even a congestion charge for private cars driving in the city center, which feeds money back into the transportation projects.

Things are not so great in New York right now. The state and city are in an interminable battle to escape blame for the crumbling infrastructure that millions of New Yorkers rely on every day. But some fixes being suggested now, like congestion charging, have already been at work in London for years.

I decided my vacation would be a good opportunity to see how London's public transportation system works. Not once did I get stuck in a tunnel or even have to wait longer than four minutes for a train — and with countdown clocks at nearly every station, I always knew when the next train was coming. I also never had to detour because of track work, which is done overnight in London.

I think it's best summarized in the status update you hear over the PA^▸ (Public Address) system every so often in the Underground: "There is good service on all London Underground lines." You definitely don't hear that every day in New York.

While New York often uses the age of its system as an excuse, I saw how London overcame its ancient architecture — some of which dates back to the mid-19th century — to build a modern transportation system. Honestly, it felt strange to be in a city where the denizens didn't constantly gripe about how long it took to get wherever they were.

[continues]

So ... how would you compare other UK cities ??

[Tim]

The NY subway has one great advantage over the Tube in that it is air conditioned.  I would be more inclined to call the Tube a "swamp" than the Subway.

The NY network does however is filthy and has an uncared for look about it which the Tube doesn't these days.  But in terms of getting you where you need to go at an affordable price they are both very good. 

[ChrisB]

The subway has double tracks allowing during-the-day maintenance...big bonus

[Tim]

The subway has double tracks allowing during-the-day maintenance...big bonus

and 24 hour service

[ChrisB]

....because its got double tracks and can run & maintain at once

[TaplowGreen]

....because its got double tracks and can run & maintain at once

......and it doesn't have the RMT^▸ (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers).

[stuving]

I think this is mainly a reaction to a recent run of incidents and accidents. For example, just looking for train failures and derailments that lead to evacuation in tunnels, there were two in July (one due to an emergency break application that cause a derailment and shorted the third rail causing a fire - or at least a lot of smoke), one in June, another in May ...

[Adelante_CCT]

Although we've had two minor incidents at Oxford Circus and Holborn in the past week.

[chrisr_75]

It's also not that often you hear the 'good service on all London Underground lines' message either. There's ongoing weeknight closures in the Met, problems with the night tube, Overground always seems to have a section closed somewhere or other. And the recent incidents as already mentioned.

I suspect if the author had stayed for, maybe a month or two, the novelty would've worn off and his or her rose tinted spectacles would be letting through a lot more light...!

[IndustryInsider]

Interesting to hear that perhaps familiarity does indeed breed contempt and that when you look at something as an 'outsider' with a fresh pair of eyes (even if behind rose tinted spectacles) our railway systems actually often compare very well with elsewhere.

[Adelante_CCT]

Yes, but as far as we know he didn't try GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway)! 

[trainer]

Arriving at the foot of the stairs (not escalator) in a central London Underground station (can't recall which one - possibly Paddington (PAD^» (Paddington (London) - next trains))) I saw a man from the USA with a great deal of luggage and a frown looking up the steps.  'Is their no elevator?' he asked.  'I'm afraid this is London: only stairs,'  I wearily explained as I picked up my own suitcase.  He was not impressed.  He had travelled through St Pancras International (STP) so the first impression had been good.  Then came the reality. I'm sure things are much better now but last time I travelled the same way (June) I couldn't even get a through train to PAD from STP (changing at Baker Street essential) and with luggage it can be a bit of an ordeal to navigate the system -  and worse of course for those who need step-free access.

The complexity of bus stops (and bus station) in Bristol to get to where you want to go is worse for the visitor I think. Yesterday (17.08.17) I tried to explain to two senior visitors to Bristol how to get to the Suspension Bridge or the SS Great Britain by bus having arrived in the Bus Station.  They decided the Broadmead shops would suffice after it became obvious that it wasn't straightforward to change and although I knew the bus route numbers I couldn't remember where the stops were.  Clearly not unique to Bristol (try finding a specific bus in Birmingham - or even a train to Stratford-upon-Avon if arriving at New Street) but we are not there yet in easy access public transport and cross (or even inter-) mode travel.

Having said all that, having looked at some US based travelogues they think the British system is good.  I suppose it all depends where you stand as to what you see.

[Adelante_CCT]

Some Londoners don't agree

[trainer]

The current editor of the Evening Standard may have had an opportunity to increase funding to the Underground to help deal with some of the deficiencies in a previous job.

[TaplowGreen]

It's also not that often you hear the 'good service on all London Underground lines' message either. There's ongoing weeknight closures in the Met, problems with the night tube, Overground always seems to have a section closed somewhere or other. And the recent incidents as already mentioned.

I suspect if the author had stayed for, maybe a month or two, the novelty would've worn off and his or her rose tinted spectacles would be letting through a lot more light...!

I'd have to challenge that - the Underground's reliability and performance is far ahead of where it was 10/15/20 years ago, and I'm quite familiar with the "Good service on all lines" message as I head into London every morning.

Obviously if you have data that demonstrates the opposite I'm happy to review that position

If only we could say the same of GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway).