Not for the faint hearted (Waterloo & City Line)

Name: bigdave

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Product:	Waterloo & City Line
Date:	03/08/01 (541 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Frequency of trains, Direct route, Reliability

Disadvantages: Overcrowding, Heat, Bumpy

For those of you who have never had the experiance of using the Waterloo and City line then I feel its my duty to warn you of what you might expect.

As the name of the line suggests the line operates between Waterloo station and Bank station. Where this line differs from most of the other lines is that because it exists purely for the business community, there is no weekend service, and the last weekday service is at 9:30pm.

Trains are frequent and when everything is running smoothly you should expect a train to turn up evry 2-5 minutes.

Waterloo has only a huge ramp and a wide set of stairs as access to the platform fo this line. This can be really off putting in peak times when you see thousands of people queing just to get on the platform, but dont despair, because of the frequency of trains the queue is fast moving.

Once you finally do get on the train, this is one of those occasions in life where the smaller you are the greater advantage you have. Everyone will try to cram in to every last nook and cranny there is available. If you are tall like myself (6ft 4) then make sure that if you cant get a seat that you stand in the middle of the aisle, if you dont you are likely to find yourself doing the whole journey folded into the curve of the train.

As for the journey itself this is where the real fear is, the train is probably one of the fastest travelling on the underground network, except that the condition of the track doesnt really lend tself to travelling at those speeds. If you are standing make sure that you get a good tight grip of either the railings or a very trusted friend next to you, if not the consequence could be disatorous. On many occasions I have seen many a Waterloo&City virgin trying to do the journey without holding on, only to see them get thrown round the carriage like a rag doll, and usualy to the displeasure of many streesed and irate passengers.

On arrival at Bank, just foll
ow everyone else dont event attempt to stop mid flow, in fact I think this is impossible anyway, the crowd will just sweep you in the direction that you want to go. For the more active the stairs offer a a faster escape route than the at present one trav-o-lator, this wiil be remedy some time in the new year when the 2nd one is opened.

During the summer when the temperurs start to soar, life on the line can become very unpleasent as the temperature soars to unbearable levels.

Outside of peak ours you would hardly recognise this line as it rarely gets busy so that you cant get a seat.

Reliability is mainly in the whole good, but when it does go wrong ity usual goes wrong in style, leading to usually huge delays and often complete closure of the line. There was a story not so long ago about one of the trains got stuck in the tunnel under the Thames, the train behind it tried to push it out, but this too got stuck,in the end all passengers had to get out and walk a few miles in the pitch black sweltering tunnell.

So all I can say is that if you do have to use the line, try to do it off peak, and if it must be peak time, well get prepared to be trampled!

Summary: