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1 - Ruislip Manor station staff don't know when the last direct train ex Baker Street is on Mon-Wed (but Tangy does).
2 - Whoever's running @NorthernLine doesn't know if there's any tph changes during the Camden Town works this week.
3 - No one knows about Olympia services.

etc...

I don't think they all are - we've got several on here for a start!

That said I remember a bizarre incident at Baker Street some years ago when crowds of people were trying to get to the Piccadilly Circus/Regent Street area for a Formula One demonstration run. Both Piccadilly Circus and Green Park stations wound up being closed due to overcrowding, with announcements on the Bakerloo Line platforms at Baker Street that passengers for Piccadilly Circus should take the Jubilee Line to Green Park, and vice versa!

I remember standing on the platform at Acton town no trains going westbound towards Heathrow many passengers getting on and complaining.

hopeful traveller wrote:1 - Ruislip Manor station staff don't know when the last direct train ex Baker Street is on Mon-Wed (but Tangy does).
2 - Whoever's running @NorthernLine doesn't know if there's any tph changes during the Camden Town works this week.
3 - No one knows about Olympia services.

etc...

You don't expect Customer Service to be able to read a working timetable do you?
They use Journey Planner for travel advice for specific journeys.

luscheduler wrote:

hopeful traveller wrote:1 - Ruislip Manor station staff don't know when the last direct train ex Baker Street is on Mon-Wed (but Tangy does).
2 - Whoever's running @NorthernLine doesn't know if there's any tph changes during the Camden Town works this week.
3 - No one knows about Olympia services.

etc...

You don't expect Customer Service to be able to read a working timetable do you?
They use Journey Planner for travel advice for specific journeys.

That's the problem, though!

TfL's given some pretty horrific advice in the past - mostly due to their dislike of, you know, acknowledging non-TfL services. Probably what made me most annoyed is their advice during Subsurface closures through Farringdon - apparently there are no trains from Farringdon to St Pancras when the tube is shut (for your information, Thameslink runs trains during the weekend, it's weekdays that they don't).

Pretty high up in my quibbles list, though, is the official advice for getting to Mansion House/Cannon Street/Monument. Catch the number 15 bus? What happened to the conveniently open Central Line next door...

Obviously, some TfL staff are brilliant and helpful - but some are aggravatingly closed minded

Other links frequently ignored by TfL staff include:
- Queensway is close to Bayswater (TfL staff recommends change at NHG)
- Kensington Olympia is a short bus ride from Hammersmith (TfL recommends change at West Brompton and Earl's Court)
- Vauxhall is connected to Wimbledon (TfL recommends change at Victoria)
- Shepherd's Bush to Watford Junction with the direct Southern train a minute away (TfL recommends ignoring it, waiting for the Overground and changing at Willesden Junction for another Overground)

But my absolute favourite is their advice for getting from Tower Hill to Barking when that stretch of line is closed - take the 2 hour replacement bus!! What a brilliant idea...

The Orange One wrote:TfL's given some pretty horrific advice in the past - mostly due to their dislike of, you know, acknowledging non-TfL services. Probably what made me most annoyed is their advice during Subsurface closures through Farringdon - apparently there are no trains from Farringdon to St Pancras when the tube is shut (for your information, Thameslink runs trains during the weekend, it's weekdays that they don't).

Pretty high up in my quibbles list, though, is the official advice for getting to Mansion House/Cannon Street/Monument. Catch the number 15 bus? What happened to the conveniently open Central Line next door...

Obviously, some TfL staff are brilliant and helpful - but some are aggravatingly closed minded

Other links frequently ignored by TfL staff include:
- Queensway is close to Bayswater (TfL staff recommends change at NHG)
- Kensington Olympia is a short bus ride from Hammersmith (TfL recommends change at West Brompton and Earl's Court)
- Vauxhall is connected to Wimbledon (TfL recommends change at Victoria)
- Shepherd's Bush to Watford Junction with the direct Southern train a minute away (TfL recommends ignoring it, waiting for the Overground and changing at Willesden Junction for another Overground)

But my absolute favourite is their advice for getting from Tower Hill to Barking when that stretch of line is closed - take the 2 hour replacement bus!! What a brilliant idea...

There is logic behind some of the advice given, for instance whilst the vast majority of us know that Queensway to Bayswater is a short walk, someone who isn't very mobile may even struggle with this (my nan being the example I'd use here). Their advice will have to be tailored to everyone hence why they advise to change at Notting Hill Gate where the change distance is shorter using lifts, etc. Same for Cannon Street/Mansion House/Monumnet

The general rule in railways is to advise people to connect at terminus stations because they are more likely to get a seat (in theory) and it will be less busy on the service (again in theory). If you change at Vauxhall, you will have to battle with all the traffic from Waterloo first as oppose to Victoria. Passenger flows will also have something to do with it (Vauxhall station can hold far less people than Victoria) and also, Vauxhall is classed as 2 separate stations and changes will be harder for less mobile people compared to Victoria which is effectively 1 complex (see point above).

On the other hand, Shepherd's Bush to Watford Junction is either lack of knowledge or a Southern train has just left then there is another hour wait for the next one.

Ken O to Hammersmith is just sheer lack of knowledge.

Tower Bridge to Barking just don't bother

Yes

Good points.

I'd still have said Queensway to Bayswater was easier on foot (or the 70 bus) then up the multiple stairs and escalators of NHG.

I think you misunderstood about Vauxhall/Wimbledon - the person was at Vauxhall and being advised to take 2 tubes instead of one direct SWT!

In which case that's pretty stupid UNLESS they had not bought any tickets yet. If they had bought a ticket from the LU machines then it doesn't matter which way they go as TfL get all the money. If not and they went and bought a ticket from a NR station then SWT would get the money instead. Hence why TfL are reluctant to offer other routes, despite it being much quicker and more logical

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Tube Geek wrote:Yes

I agree, mostly they are, but there will be good staff as well! Get a Z1-6 travelcard (with, in my case, a railcard) from a self service machine not operated by TfL before you set out (from outside the zones) and only interact with rail staff if you have a ticketing query (what ticket to buy) or harder purchase, or if they ask you for a ticket, and also at the end when we get back if it is a gated station. The only other tine is if we need to be let through barriers, not getting travel advice. I don't do absolute timings in London, but on NR (and LU, but this doesn't matter as much as we generally don't need to worry about branches, staying mostly central (sometimes further, on NR)) we can use the departure boards or in the cases of at the beginning of the day, have times memorised, and perhaps a timetable on your phone.