There’s fuc*k all on Rockall   57°35’48”N 13°41’19”W
Contact The Rockall Times Dramatic pictures of our 2003 assault on Rockall
  Monday 13th March 2006  Society   Powered by Yeast Logic
[E] [P] [I]

TFL tube repair plan angers Londoners

Lack of disruption provkes widescale disruption
by Windsor House

Londoners will have to endure months of regular services seven days a week if a controversial new idea for modernisation and maintenance of the Underground is implemented.

Under the unprecedented new strategy, Transport for London will seek to have all upgrades and repairs carried out at night when the network is normally shut. This will be done by employing extra engineering staff — albeit at much a higher rate of pay and requiring regular employees to supervise the labour at hours inconvenient for them. Managing to get all this done between the hours of one and five in morning — when no trains run — will allow the Tube system to close and open at its regular times so depriving millions of weekend travellers the opportunity to use the much-loved rail replacement buses on routes all over town or use.

There are concerns that this may impact upon the firms in charge of this work causing them to have reduced profits. "It's true that this will cost us extra money," admitted the CEO of one the company's responsible for the Tube's infrastructure, "but we thought it was worth it. This way a lot of people who come into London at the weekend will have be able to do so quickly and quite frankly we don't need all the extra money we've been earning. Enough is enough after all."

And there is a major worry that this unusual approach may upset some Londoners. "For years people have expected this sort of work to require the closure of sections of lines or at times even whole lines at least during weekends," stated one passenger representative. "Now after drawing up contingency plans to get into town on a Saturday afternoon they find they can simply hop on a Tube. Our members are busy people with better things to do than scrapping carefully-laid back-up plans. Expect complaints, and plenty of 'em."

Reaction on the street demonstrated similar outrage at the disruption this lack of disruption will cause. Raj, from Tooting, had already been waiting at the temporary bus stop for half an hour when it was pointed out that the Northern Line was actually open and there was no bus service to take. He was last seen stomping off towards Balham muttering something about "too bloody late now". Mavis from Hammersmith — who had just walked five miles in the rain because the Piccadilly Line was "always closed" — expressed stunned disbelief at the news that trains were indeed running. "I'll need a sit-down and a cup of tea, make no mistake," she huffed.

However, LUL Managing Director Tim O'Toole has insisted: "Whatever convenience the public has to put up with it's worth it. In the long run we'll still be able to annoy and aggravate our customers as we always have done, we'll just have to find a different way of doing it."

Previously

 Posse Rispek Checker