The Tube - episode 3

[Steeevooo]

yes, but don't worry. there'll be another Episode along in minute ...

Do you mean a Tory London Underground minute, or a real minute?

[hakc97]

yes, but don't worry. there'll be another Episode along in minute ...

What do you mean in minute? The next episode is Monday.

[hakc97]

I assume that all chat relating to episode three of The Tube is exhausted?

You can say that. Who's going to bring up the chat for episode 4?

[tubeguru]

I don't know. I can't see into the future.

[geofftech]

i'll start a thread for Episode 4, for sure. although having said that i'll be out on Monday evening so will have to watch it iPlayer-styli when i return home...

interesting that you mention the 1-minutes though. i've got quite a few timings in my app now for when the board says "1 minute", how long the trains actually takes to arrive and come to a stand still. the average is 1 minute, 27 seconds - with Central line trains being the worst, where a 1 minute usually means between 1m40s and 1m50s ...

[hakc97]

i'll start a thread for Episode 4, for sure. although having said that i'll be out on Monday evening so will have to watch it iPlayer-styli when i return home...

interesting that you mention the 1-minutes though. i've got quite a few timings in my app now for when the board says "1 minute", how long the trains actually takes to arrive and come to a stand still. the average is 1 minute, 27 seconds - with Central line trains being the worst, where a 1 minute usually means between 1m40s and 1m50s ...

I thought Piccadilly Line trains were the worst in minutes, you said so in your report of your 17th time doing the challenge.

[greatkingrat]

"1 minute" could mean anywhere between 1:00 and 1:59 until the train arrives

[tubeguru]

i'll start a thread for Episode 4, for sure. although having said that i'll be out on Monday evening so will have to watch it iPlayer-styli when i return home...

interesting that you mention the 1-minutes though. i've got quite a few timings in my app now for when the board says "1 minute", how long the trains actually takes to arrive and come to a stand still. the average is 1 minute, 27 seconds - with Central line trains being the worst, where a 1 minute usually means between 1m40s and 1m50s ...

I thought Piccadilly Line trains were the worst in minutes, you said so in your report of your 17th time doing the challenge.

Do you take everything everyone says at face value, and to be the absolute truth?

[geofftech]

"1 minute" could mean anywhere between 1:00 and 1:59 until the train arrives

why? to me 1 minute should mean "No more than 1 minute", "1 minute or less".

[hakc97]

Do you take everything everyone says at face value, and to be the absolute truth?

Not always

[hopeful traveller]

"1 minute" could mean anywhere between 1:00 and 1:59 until the train arrives

why? to me 1 minute should mean "No more than 1 minute", "1 minute or less".

So what do you describe 1:30 as? It's clearly not 2 minutes.

[Iain]

I guess this just shows how widely opinions can differ on this subject. If I was forced to pin down my answer I'd say something along the lines of 1 minute is somewhere between 30 seconds and 1 minute 29 seconds. So while HT sees 1:30 as "clearly not two minutes", to me it's an entirely reasonable answer.

[Steeevooo]

To me, the time shown on the board should mean to within the time shown, i.e. if it shows 2 minutes, then it should arrive within two minutes.

[Cheshire Cat]

The problem with displaying a maximum waiting time is that the boards woud still be showing 1 min as the train pulled into the station, which could be annoying for someone standing at the bottom of the stairs at Campden deciding which train to go for (or a Tube Challenger having a quick toilet stop!)

Iain's suggestion of using 1 minute to signifiy 00:31 to 01:30 seems the most logical, because in theory it is a maximum of 30 seconds out, whereas with either of the other two conventions there is a possibility of a 59 second discrepancy.

What drives the system? I've always assumed its the track circuits, in which case the times must be very approximate. Perhaps they shold display next trains in terms of distance rather than time (although that wouldn't work for terminal stations!)

[Root]

To me, the time shown on the board should mean to within the time shown, i.e. if it shows 2 minutes, then it should arrive within two minutes.

So, what about when it shows 0 minutes?

I agree with Iain and Cheshire Cat.