I've not been on the tube for the past few weeks but I keep getting notifications from TFL about severe delays on the Piccadilly line. I'll be back on the tube again starting tomorrow so just wondering how busy it really is in the mornings compared to normal. Thanks
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I realise this is an under-the radar hint. But people with, say, a Zone 1 -3 Tube Travelcard can go outwards to Bounds Green, swap platforms, and then have a better chance of getting on a train.
Won't work if you've a Z 1-2 card strictly from Manor House. Unless you like to live ever-so-slightly dangerously. Ticket inspectors in the current regime - well you takes your chances, but I'd be surprised if they had designs on this particular benighted limb right now.
Update -- HA!! As Lauren says above, !!
I've actually not found it to be as bad as anticipated. I only use it for the 'final leg' of my journey as I switch from to the Piccadilly from Finsbury Park to go one stop to the Manor - and I've not found the platforms to be crowded or the wait to be overlong. I gather it's a lot worse in the morning though, and the trains are definitely going slowly.
Didn't we have this same issue last year for about 6 weeks as well?
Same issue last year? Yes - just not as pronounced or extended as this time.
This is TFL's explanation:
Around this time of year we tend to experience problems with wheels on some trains. Areas of the tracks become slippery due to large quantities of leaf fall, and cold or wet weather. On slippery tracks the Piccadilly line train wheels can lock when braking, causing 'flats' to form. This damages both the wheels and the track.
In order to repair the wheels we have had to take a large number of Piccadilly line trains out of service.
Following similar issues last year we carried out full leaf clearance on the line, vegetation management, and enforced speed restrictions to reduce wheel problems.
The longer leaf-fall period this year, coupled with the bad weather caused by Storm Angus, created conditions that caused a higher than usual proportion of our trains to be affected within a very short space of time.
It's also possible that it's made worse by the 24-hour running so no time then for maintenance?
.
Not that old 'leaves on the line' excuse surely? It'll be the 'wrong kind of snow' next.
Interestingly, the TFL regular email about weekend transport issues makes no mention of delays on the Piccadilly Line...
It is leaves on the line and it was the same last year and the year before that etc depending on the actual weather and the resultant patterns of leaf fall. The problem is that the Picc will suffer like this so long as the 1973 stock trains remain in service. The new tube for London (NT4L) is not expected into service on the Picc until 2023! I think the problem is that the '73 stock has a much more primitive anti wheel slide/lock system (state of the art at the time of building) than the newer trains on the Central and Jubilee lines which means '73 trains generate far more wheel flats. LUL keeps a large float of spare wheelsets and this year installed a new wheel lathe at Northfields depot. The only other thing thay can do is cut down as much lineside vegetation as possible, upsetting all the lineside residents in the process!
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