London Tube - double whammy of incidents!

[whole diary]

[Btline]

First came the news that Tory Mayor, Boris Johnson, was to put up fares in the middle of a recession (to pay for his scraping of several congestion charging policies; i.e. making some of the poorest Londoners pay more to save some Chelsea tractor owners a few bob - good priorities).

Then came a video allegedly showing a staff member verbally "assaulting" a passenger.

What does this forum make of the events?

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

Footage of a Tube worker yelling at an elderly man and calling him a "jumped up little git" has emerged - a day after the announcement fares will rise. The images, captured by another passenger, show the man in conversation with an Underground steward. The worker then calls him a "jumped up little git" and a "little girl" before apparently threatening to "sling him under the train".

Mayor of London Boris Johnson said he was "appalled" by the video.

The video was shot by businessman Jonathan McDonald. Describing his version of events leading up to the scene, Mr McDonald said the elderly man had got his arm stuck in the door of the train. Mr McDonald said when the victim told the Tube worker what had happened, he was sworn at three times in an attempt to make him stand behind the yellow line.

Mr McDonald said: "The elderly guy quietly questioned why he had to swear, as did several other passengers. [The worker] literally screamed in this guy's face. That was when I pulled out my video camera. Right at the end of the clip you hear him exclaim 'sling him under a train'."

Mr McDonald thinks the incident is particularly bad coming the day after Mayor of London Boris Johnson increased prices on the Underground. He said: "So we have staff threatening to throw passengers under trains and in return, prices going up. Are we supposed to tolerate this?"

Mr McDonald continued: "At the end of the clip you see the look of utter disdain from the female guard. I said, 'he will lose his job for this'. She laughed and walked away in the assumption that we have no power."

A TfL^» (Transport for London - about) spokesman said: "We are appalled by the scene captured in this video and will investigate thoroughly and urgently what took place and what led to it. We do not tolerate members of the public being abusive to our staff but neither will we tolerate members of our staff abusing members of the public."

Boris Johnson put a response on Twitter: "Appalled by the video. Have asked TfL to investigate urgently. Abuse by staff is never acceptable."

[super tm]

You cant say they are connected surely !!!

[devon_metro]

First came the news that Tory Mayor, Boris Johnson, was to put up fares in the middle of a recession (to pay for his scraping of several congestion charging policies; i.e. making some of the poorest Londoners pay more to save some Chelsea tractor owners a few bob - good priorities).

Then came a video allegedly showing a staff member verbally "assaulting" a passenger.

What does this forum make of the events?

Yes, because travelling around London is so outrageously expensive. Might I suggest to any residents of London to come to where I live where it certainly isn't cheap to use the buses when the service is so awful in comparison.

[Timmer]

He had no choice after the mess left behind by the previous administration.

Fares would have still gone up if Red Ken was still in charge. Makes no difference whos in power fares will always go one way and thats up.

[Btline]

No, the reason why fares have gone up is that Boris has scrapped certain Congestion charge proposals (put forward by Ken), meaning there is a funding gap. If he scraps the Western congestion charge zone watch the fares go even further.

And London's fares are really expensive. You can get a day ticket on the Paris Metro for less than a single tube journey!

Whether you like Boris or not, Ken was better for London's tranport. Just look at what's been done since Boris took over!

[John R]

A day ticket for less than ^1.60?

[Phil]

I quite like the fact that people can't (or at least shouldn't) glug alcohol on the Tube.

[Ollie]

A day ticket for less than ^1.60?

Or ^4 without Oyster^▸ (Smartcard system used by passengers on Transport for London services)..

[John R]

If you don't use Oyster^▸ (Smartcard system used by passengers on Transport for London services) then you are either a foreign tourist or an infrequent visitor who won't suffer the ongoing high costs of cash fares.

The danger is of course that Oyster fares will creep up. ^1.50 to ^1.80 in two years. Next year (ie 2011) I bet you it will be ^2.

[Btline]

A day ticket for less than ^1.60?

About ^1.40

[Ollie]

If you don't use Oyster^▸ (Smartcard system used by passengers on Transport for London services) then you are either a foreign tourist or an infrequent visitor who won't suffer the ongoing high costs of cash fares.

The danger is of course that Oyster fares will creep up. ^1.50 to ^1.80 in two years. Next year (ie 2011) I bet you it will be ^2.

Or me who can't find my Oyster, and really isn't in the mood to ever try find it, and rushes to much so can't sort a new one

[moonrakerz]

to pay for his scraping of several congestion charging policies

What does this forum make of the events?

He's obviously after his "rake off" !  (Sorry, couldn't resist that   )

[Chris from Nailsea]

Ooh: scraping the barrel there, moonrakerz! 

[Chris from Nailsea]

An update on the 'London Tube rant' story, from the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

Commuter rant Tube worker resigns

A London Underground worker who was seen yelling at an elderly passenger in a video has resigned from his job.

Transport for London said Ian Morbin, a customer service assistant, handed in his resignation over the incident at Holborn station on 15 October. Mr Morbin has apologised but TfL^» (Transport for London - about) said the behaviour was "unacceptable".

The video shows him calling the man "a jumped up little git" and "little girl" before apparently threatening to "sling him under the train".

The statement said: "Mr Ian Morbin, a Customer Service Assistant at Holborn Tube station, has advised London Underground that he wishes to resign for personal reasons. He has informed us he would like to apologise for the incident involving a passenger at Holborn Tube station on Thursday 15 October and hopes that his actions have not detracted from the professional job done by hundreds of London Underground staff every day. As we made clear from the moment this incident was brought to our attention this kind of behaviour is totally unacceptable and does not represent the way our staff go about their jobs helping millions of customers every day."

The incident was captured on video by businessman Jonathan McDonald, a fellow commuter at the central London station. Describing his version of events leading up to the scene, Mr McDonald said the elderly man had got his arm stuck in the door of the train. When the victim told the Tube worker what had happened, he was sworn at three times in an attempt to make him stand behind the yellow line, he said.

Mr Morbin can be heard threatening to call the police to deal with the passenger, who is understood to have done nothing wrong.

After the footage emerged London Mayor Boris Johnson put a response on Twitter saying he was "appalled by the video".