Balham, gateway to... all sorts of places actually

Continuing the theme of station improvements it is amazing how much it cheers you up when your local station improves. Balham has been too small for too long – given it is a major interchange with the Northern line among other things. Improvement works are nearly finished. The side exit has been opened up really easing the flow on the stairs and the ticket hall massively improved – lighter, more space, the barriers moved up the ramp with a much more accessible ticket office. It is better all round. However, I wonder if three ticket machines will be enough...

Overcrowded or just the wrong train?

I needed to get up to Milton Keynes earlier this week.  I wanted to avoid using the Tube and tryout a service.
I also wanted to get a seat so I could get some work done, so I caught the 8.28 direct service from Balham to Milton Keynes.  I was expecting a sleepy service, loads of space, seat with table, etc.  Hmmm, only a four-car train turned up. Odd how passengers were bunched in tight groups on platform plus couldn’t believe how many of them there were.
Train arrives. Four-car train laid out with seating in twos around tables and cramped areas around doors. Ideal for longer distance journeys, but this was clearly going to be metro crush. I managed to get suitcase and me on, but it just got worse. More people squeezed on at Wandsworth Town and Clapham Junction. Where on earth are they all going? Shepherd’s Bush – Westfield has clearly boosted this useful route. With the right train layout (like the Overground trains) this might have been bearable, but this really was grim.
Will check with Southern what their plans are.

London calling

Devolution is all the rage. It is likely some rail powers will be marked up in a forthcoming devolution consultation from the Department for Transport (DfT). So far the debate has focused on relatively uncontroversial issues like Northern and Transpennine somehow being franchised by a northern local government coalition and Cornish branch lines. But what about London – if devolution is good for some place, why not metro type services in London?

The Mayor has a clear ambition to gain more control over London rail services. It is difficult to see how this can be resisted. Transport for London’s (TfL) track record on rail has been very positive – the London Overground is a great success. You always feel that metro services are the poor relations in train companies – our National Passenger Survey shows this is the case. The management attention always seems to be on longer distance services where perhaps more revenue lies. Much of the rail industry seems like a Home Counties affair – few of the senior management live in London.

Running dense, metro type services looks like a business that needs sustained, very high levels of management attention and investment. Passengers deserve the chance to put their opinions in about the operation of London’s commuter services. While passengers don’t care who runs services, they do want to know who is in charge. Could TfL convince them and would the DfT let them?