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Tuesday, November 02, 2004

Knots-in-hill gate

That's a terrible pun! Sorry. But you do feel like you could tie yourself in knots sometimes negotiating the corridors that LU want you to walk down, and this week we return to Notting Hill Gate.

Tell me - how much power has an LU employee got to stop you walking the 'wrong way' down a corridor? It's not breaking the law - is it a by-law? I don't think so .. so just because LU say "Not this way", or "No exit" doesn't mean that you can't, right?

Here's a (rapidly drawn) sketch of Notting Hill Gate as it was when I came through it this morning.



I changed from the District/Circle lines and was going down to the Central line platforms, so I was okay.

But if you're coming UP from the Central to go to the District/Circle, there is a 'rope barrier' (the green dotted line), where they make you take the much longer route of going up a second set of escalators, into the ticket hall area, and then down the steps to the D/C platforms. Why? When it's quicker to take the corridor that isn't blocked off (the red line being where there IS a gate to stop you) and get to the D/C platforms that way.

There was even a LU employee (brown blob) standing there looking menancing as if to tell you not to take the shorter, quicker route to the D/C platforms. So what would he do if you took it! Hold you back and restrain you? Maybe I should try it tomorrow morning and find out.

Obviously someone is going to come back and give me the 'safety' rant here, as it only happens during the morning peak, and say that it's 'good for passenger flow' (or something). Right?


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