Lancaster Gate Station

[ThameslinkUser]

Also on the map but much better graphically shown on the TfL Go app.

Quite. Much better than trying to adjust the long-standing service status and fit in all info about stations on the ESUBs (although from recollection they show as a ticker on some of the newer ones)

 

[Horizon22]

Quite. Much better than trying to adjust the long-standing service status and fit in all info about stations on the ESUBs (although from recollection they show as a ticker on some of the newer ones)

The ESUBs generally show service status. They do scroll along the bottom but quite slowly and if there’s more than 4-5, then you’ll be long gone by then.

 

[ThameslinkUser]

if there’s more than 4-5, then you’ll be long gone by then.

Which there almost always are, hence why I'm suggesting its a poor idea destroyting the huge impact of line information used by all for the sake of a couple of journeys involving specific stations and lifts given there are other mediums, including station staff, TfL Go, and on-board announcements.

 

[Horizon22]

Which there almost always are, hence why I'm suggesting its a poor idea destroyting the huge impact of line information used by all for the sake of a couple of journeys involving specific stations and lifts given there are other mediums, including station staff, TfL Go, and on-board announcements.

Indeed. People who really need step-free access or whatever additional support should really personalise their journeys (via journey planner, TfL Go, checking with staff etc.) as the service status board is a wider overview.

 

[LoucaoHop]

Lancaster Gate throughout the past 2 years or so has always been a very unreliable station. But this time they have outdone themselves, it's been weeks! Every single time the station is closed due to "unavailability of staff"... Even though every single day in the morning when I am passing through on the central line tube to go to work I see a person pulling out the sign underground to say the station is closed... It's extremely annoying, especially for people like me who literally rely on the station to come and go from work, I don't think TFL realizes that there are other people out there working some very hard shifts, and when they finish late all they want to do is get home safely and use the flipping station instead of having to walk 15minutes at 23h in the night to another station because effing Lancaster Gate is closed due to staff unavailability... BS!

 

[duncanp]

Lancaster Gate throughout the past 2 years or so has always been a very unreliable station. But this time they have outdone themselves, it's been weeks! Every single time the station is closed due to "unavailability of staff"... Even though every single day in the morning when I am passing through on the central line tube to go to work I see a person pulling out the sign underground to say the station is closed... It's extremely annoying, especially for people like me who literally rely on the station to come and go from work, I don't think TFL realizes that there are other people out there working some very hard shifts, and when they finish late all they want to do is get home safely and use the flipping station instead of having to walk 15minutes at 23h in the night to another station because effing Lancaster Gate is closed due to staff unavailability... BS!

It is almost as if TfL are doing this deliberately to force people to use other nearby stations, so that they can then close it permanently due to, er, low demand.

Just the banks who restricted hours and services at various branches, forcing people to seek alternative options.

...and the supermarkets who restrict the number of self service tills that can take cash.

 

[Recessio]

It is almost as if TfL are doing this deliberately to force people to use other nearby stations, so that they can then close it permanently due to, er, low demand.

Given how hard it is to close train stations nowadays, this is nothing but an absolutely groundless conspiracy theory. Not at all comparable to something unregulated like bank branches or supermarket checkouts.

Besides, even though I'm not sure why I'm indulging your "theory", there are stations far more viable candidates for closure than Lancaster Gate - but if that's a discussion worth having then it would be for a new thread.

As always, the simplest solution is the truth, which as stated up-thread in post #19 - there's a cover group in dispute, and TfL have simply failed to get any available staff.

 

[Horizon22]

It is almost as if TfL are doing this deliberately to force people to use other nearby stations, so that they can then close it permanently due to, er, low demand.

Just the banks who restricted hours and services at various branches, forcing people to seek alternative options.

...and the supermarkets who restrict the number of self service tills that can take cash.

They're not. It's just it seen as the station with the least priority presumably for the local area team and therefore is the first to go if there's any staffing issues.

 

[Dstock7080]

Lancaster Gate open today, however Holland Park and Chancery Lane closed

 

[TrainGeekUK]

Lancaster Gate open today, however Holland Park and Chancery Lane closed

Is Chancery Lane busy M-F for the banking workers who pass through?

If so, closing it at weekends seems logical (not desirable however).

That said, TFL need to get their house in order pretty soon as these station closures are not acceptable.

 

[Mawkie]

That said, TFL need to get their house in order pretty soon as these station closures are not acceptable.

On the contrary, LU are pushing ahead with reducing station staff by 600 (as per the funding deal from central government).

PS There is an overtime ban starting next Thursday, so that will really highlight the issues further.

 

[trebor79]

Is Chancery Lane busy M-F for the banking workers who pass through?

Chancery Lane always seems very quiet.

 

[SunSeeker]

On the contrary, LU are pushing ahead with reducing station staff by 600 (as per the funding deal from central government).

PS There is an overtime ban starting next Thursday, so that will really highlight the issues further.

There are talks that the company want us to postpone the OT ban, and then engage in discussion to reinstate some positions.

Basically the action we have taken on our cover group by doing our own local work to rule/OT ban, has ruffled feathers at the highest level, and they have realised if the rest of the network follows suit it will be chaos with closures everywhere.

Sure it's an inconvenience for customers, and for us staff as well having to close stations, but we are doing this short term pain for hopefully long term gain by ensuring we have enough staff, which we simply don't with the new rosters.

 

[J-2739]

Chancery Lane always seems very quiet.

Which is interesting, as station usage data for 2019 shows Chancery Lane having more passengers than Mile End down the line, which I have always perceived as a busier station.

Perhaps it is frequented more by the weekday commuter, rather than people more local to the area, and so numbers are more volatile.

 

[trebor79]

Which is interesting, as station usage data for 2019 shows Chancery Lane having more passengers than Mile End down the line, which I have always perceived as a busier station.

Perhaps it is frequented more by the weekday commuter, rather than people more local to the area, and so numbers are more volatile.

Mile End tends to have a lot of interchange between central and district, so perhaps not that many entry/exits. Though there is a rather good pub a short walk away, so the entry exits have been going up by a few week for the past couple of months

 

[sk688]

Chancery Lane was closed last night with no announcement by the driver or prior notices on the train , which led to a hugely frustrating walk back from St Pauls at 11 last night

 

[Dstock7080]

Lancaster Gate closed 20.07
Chancery Lane closed 22.02

 

[W-on-Sea]

Chancery Lane is busy with commuters on weekday rush hours (not so much bankers as lawyers being the dominant local profession), but much quieter at other times as it is neither in a densely residential area nor the nearest obvious station to any major tourist attraction. It's not surprising that it was one of the last tube stations in Central London to be closed on Sundays.

 

[Taunton]

Also consider that, in most cases, for customers to reach a destination near a closed station, they are likely better off remaining on their intended line to either walk or catch a bus (ticket acceptance is always arranged on London Buses to/from stations either side)

That's irrelevant nowadays, despite this constant statement about ticket acceptance during any disruption hardly anyone has a "ticket" now, and those that remain are one-day travelcards and the like, where it doesn't matter. The vast majority use Contactless or Oyster, and I can assure you that you can't just show your credit card to the bus driver and say 'next station closed'. You have to pay again.

It's almost like the left hand of TfL doesn't know what the right hand has done.

Even more aggravating was the closure of the DLR under the Thames from Greenwich to Canary Wharf, the logical alternative was then via London Bridge, and despite the "acceptance" announcement we were charged for going via Zone 1. Ticket acceptance may be arranged, but auto-correction of Contactless charging is not.

 

[trebor79]

Chancery Lane is busy with commuters on weekday rush hours (not so much bankers as lawyers being the dominant local profession), but much quieter at other times as it is neither in a densely residential area nor the nearest obvious station to any major tourist attraction. It's not surprising that it was one of the last tube stations in Central London to be closed on Sundays.

I really don't know why it's open on Sundays. No one gets on, no one gets off. Couldn't they close it Sundays to help alleviate some of the current staffing issues?

 

[Tubeboy]

Overtime ban from 1-7 June has been suspended. Talks will take place. Positive development I think.

 

[ATS3]

Lancaster Gate station always seems to be shut these days due to staff unavailability.

They must be on for a record for the number of days a tube station has been shut.

Another one is Chancery Lane, its been on off closure for ages.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 1 Jun 2023 ==

Is Chancery Lane busy M-F for the banking workers who pass through?

If so, closing it at weekends seems logical (not desirable however).

That said, TFL need to get their house in order pretty soon as these station closures are not acceptable.

Hardly logical to shut at weekends, there are plenty of housing estates to the north of the station that it serves. Not forgetting (local) businesses in the area would suffer. From my limited experience, Mon-Fri is usually busy, but as mentioned its been shut most of the time I've tried to use it.

 

[Chris M]

I really don't know why it's open on Sundays. No one gets on, no one gets off. Couldn't they close it Sundays to help alleviate some of the current staffing issues?

As someone who uses Chancery Lane on Sundays, I don't think I've ever been the only person to get on or off a train there. It's not many people, but its not nobody.

 

[AlbertBeale]

As someone who uses Chancery Lane on Sundays, I don't think I've ever been the only person to get on or off a train there. It's not many people, but its not nobody.

Chancery Lane provides a connection between that east-west tube line and some north-south bus routes (though the connection is much less easy now that road changes have moved one of the bus stops a long way from the station). Also, as said, the area immediately to the north has a lot of dense housing, with any alternative tube station being a bus ride away.

 

[Sunil_P]

Caught us out a few weeks back after getting the 274 bus from London Zoo. Had to get a bus to Bond Street (148 I think), but we decided to use the Elizabeth Line instead!

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 14 Jun 2023 ==

Chancery Lane provides a connection between that east-west tube line and some north-south bus routes (though the connection is much less easy now that road changes have moved one of the bus stops a long way from the station). Also, as said, the area immediately to the north has a lot of dense housing, with any alternative tube station being a bus ride away.

Before the Lizzie Line opened, I used to get off at Chancery Lane for a reasonably short walk to Farringdon.