Lat Thursday, I went to Gunnersbury station, intending to head to Heathrow. 
Other options were to walk to Acton Town or Chiswick Park, but since the 
posters at the station said that trains left every 8-10 minutes, Gunnersbury 
appeared to be the closest and quickest option.

I arrived at the station to find one ticket machine not working, and, with a 
queue at the other, went to the ticket office (nobody waiting) where, after 
a short time, I was served. I then arrived on the platform just in time to 
see a District line train departing.

But then, while several Silverlink trains came and went in both directions, 
it was forty minutes before a District line train from Richmond appeared. 
To add insult to injury, at no time were there any announcements about 
delays, just the routine stuff about not leaving unattended bags, the xx 
Silverlink service to yyy and bus substitution next weekend.  (And with so 
many Silverlink trains, I'm not sure that the announcements were routine, 
but instead, real time.) Eventually I arrived at Heathrow 45 minutes before 
my flight departed, but then found out that all BA flights were 
cancelled....(another story why public transport is so despised by so many)

If there are PA announcements at LT stations, can they not at least be 
useful?  If I knew that I would be standing at Gunnersbury for 40 minutes, I 
could have gone elsewhere and avoided a lot of stress.

Mike B
..

On Mon, 15 Aug 2005 21:21:44 +0100, Mike B wrote:

> Last Thursday, I went to Gunnersbury station, intending to head to
> Heathrow. Other options were to walk to Acton Town or Chiswick Park,
> but since the posters at the station said that trains left every 8-10
> minutes, Gunnersbury appeared to be the closest and quickest option.

I can't see how you reasoned that was the quickest option, since it
involves two trains, hence two waits, and the first train is actually
going in the wrong direction (as in away from Heathrow if you look at it
on a real map, rather than the LU diagram).


> If there are PA announcements at LT stations, can they not at least be
> useful?  If I knew that I would be standing at Gunnersbury for 40
> minutes, I could have gone elsewhere and avoided a lot of stress.

Did you ever find out why the wait was so long?
-- 
http://gallery120232.fotopic.net/p14486547.html
(37 073 at Wolverhampton, 1985)

Mike B wrote:

> Lat Thursday, I went to Gunnersbury station, intending to head to
> Heathrow. Other options were to walk to Acton Town or Chiswick
> Park, but since the posters at the station said that trains left
> every 8-10 minutes, Gunnersbury appeared to be the closest and
> quickest option.
>
> I arrived at the station to find one ticket machine not working,
> and, with a queue at the other, went to the ticket office (nobody
> waiting) where, after a short time, I was served. I then arrived on
> the platform just in time to see a District line train departing.
>
> But then, while several Silverlink trains came and went in both
> directions, it was forty minutes before a District line train from
> Richmond appeared. To add insult to injury, at no time were there
> any announcements about delays, just the routine stuff about not
> leaving unattended bags, the xx Silverlink service to yyy and bus
> substitution next weekend.  (And with so many Silverlink trains,
> I'm not sure that the announcements were routine, but instead, real
> time.) Eventually I arrived at Heathrow 45 minutes before my flight
> departed, but then found out that all BA flights were
> cancelled....(another story why public transport is so despised by
> so many)
>
> If there are PA announcements at LT stations, can they not at least
> be useful?  If I knew that I would be standing at Gunnersbury for
> 40 minutes, I could have gone elsewhere and avoided a lot of stress.


Unfortunately Gunnersbury station is managed by Silverlink, which is why
currently there are no announcements or displays about LU services.  TfL
London Rail is spending your council tax on a multi-million pound
package of improvements to the North London Line which include real-time
customer information systems at Gunnersbury and elsewhere, according to
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/rail/initiatives/metro.shtml  Presumably these
will include information about District Line trains as well as those on
NLL.

Even if the District Line was running to timetable, Gunnersbury is
awkward for Heathrow, involving either two changes (Turnham Green and
Acton Town), or a 4-station eastbound journey to Hammersmith to connect
with the westbound Piccadilly.  Next time, you might find it worthwhile
to consult the TfL Journey Planner, quoting your postcode as the
starting point.  It will warn you of current disruptions on LU that
might affect your journey.
http://journeyplanner.tfl.gov.uk/
-- 
Richard J.
(to e-mail me, swap uk and yon in address)

"Mike B"  wrote in message
news:1124137303.1216.0@echo.uk.clara.net...

>
> If there are PA announcements at LT stations,


Gunnersbury is not an LU station, it is managed by Sliverlink.

-- 
John Rowland - Spamtrapped
Transport Plans for the London Area, updated 2001
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/7069/tpftla.html
A man's vehicle is a symbol of his manhood.
That's why my vehicle's the Piccadilly Line -
It's the size of a county and it comes every two and a half minutes

On Mon, 15 Aug 2005 21:03:23 GMT, "Richard J."
 wrote:


>Unfortunately Gunnersbury station is managed by Silverlink, which is why
>currently there are no announcements or displays about LU services.  TfL
>London Rail is spending your council tax on a multi-million pound
>package of improvements to the North London Line which include real-time
>customer information systems at Gunnersbury and elsewhere. Presumably these
>will include information about District Line trains as well as those on
>NLL.


I wouldn't bet on it. As far as the ones at stations like Willesden
Junction and Wembley Central are concerned, Bakerloo line trains don't
exist.

Mike B wrote:

>
> If there are PA announcements at LT stations, can they not at least be
> useful?  If I knew that I would be standing at Gunnersbury for 40
> minutes, I could have gone elsewhere and avoided a lot of stress.


Sounds like, IME,  normal service from that station!

asdf wrote:

> On Mon, 15 Aug 2005 21:03:23 GMT, "Richard J."
>  wrote:
>
>> Unfortunately Gunnersbury station is managed by Silverlink, which
>> is why currently there are no announcements or displays about LU
>> services.  TfL London Rail is spending your council tax on a
>> multi-million pound
>> package of improvements to the North London Line which include
>> real-time customer information systems at Gunnersbury and
>> elsewhere. Presumably these will include information about
>> District Line trains as well as those on NLL.
>
> I wouldn't bet on it. As far as the ones at stations like Willesden
> Junction and Wembley Central are concerned, Bakerloo line trains
> don't exist.


Those are not new systems funded by TfL (and Willesden Junction is not
actually on the list of NLL stations to get new information systems).

It seemed to me a fair bet that a TfL-funded scheme would cover
TfL-operated services at the stations affected.
-- 
Richard J.
(to e-mail me, swap uk and yon in address)

> Even if the District Line was running to timetable, Gunnersbury is
> awkward for Heathrow, involving either two changes (Turnham Green and
> Acton Town), or a 4-station eastbound journey to Hammersmith to connect
> with the westbound Piccadilly.


South to Richmond then direct to Feltham for the RailAir bus link?

-- 
John.

Johnny wrote:

>>Even if the District Line was running to timetable, Gunnersbury is
>>awkward for Heathrow, involving either two changes (Turnham Green
>>and Acton Town), or a 4-station eastbound journey to Hammersmith
>>to connect with the westbound Piccadilly.
> 
> South to Richmond then direct to Feltham for the RailAir bus link?


I'd favour catching the H91 bus from Wellesley Road towards Osterley;
at least that's heading more or less in the right direction all the
time.
-- 
Paul Robertson (class303fan@zzzbtopenworld.com)
Glasgow (remove zzz from above to reply)

"Paul Robertson"  wrote in message
news:ddt7rb$rf3$1@nwrdmz03.dmz.ncs.ea.ibs-infra.bt.com...

> Johnny wrote:
> >>Even if the District Line was running to timetable, Gunnersbury is
> >>awkward for Heathrow, involving either two changes (Turnham Green
> >>and Acton Town), or a 4-station eastbound journey to Hammersmith
> >>to connect with the westbound Piccadilly.
> >
> > South to Richmond then direct to Feltham for the RailAir bus link?
>
> I'd favour catching the H91 bus from Wellesley Road towards Osterley;
> at least that's heading more or less in the right direction all the
> time.


The 285 would take you from Feltham station to Heathrow Central bus station.
http://www.busmap.org/tt4/285.pdf