Getting home in the heat.
Jan. 28th, 2009 10:51 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
hnpccYesterday was a very strange day, weatherwise. The forecast was for 38oC (with the rest of the week being 41oC, 43oC, 40oC, 40oC, 30oC, 27oC, 26oC. So quite warm then.) At 1pm it was 26oC, a cooling sea breeze having sprung up and come in from the bay. Quite nice, actually.
By the time I left work it was back up to 30oC, and still rising. I was lucky leaving, a tram arrived pretty much as I got to the stop and I headed into Flinders St.
At Flinders St, there was a very angry man with a bike shouting abuse at a group of Connex workers. Bad sign #1. I side-stepped him, and the approaching security officers (I mean, seriously, what did he think was going to happen there?) and headed for the escalator to my platform.
The information sign above the escalator said: "Please listen for announcements." Bad sign #2.
Coming down the escalator I realised that the platform was absolutely chockers (Bad sign #3). And that there was a train there. And that no one was getting on it (Bad sign #4). And seriously, the platform was getting very, very crowded.
I managed to thread my way up about 2/3rds of the way along the platform to where I normally get on the train. The first announcement came over:
"Passengers for the Epping line please go to platform 2." OK. Not my line. About half the crowd started moving towards the escalators or subways to get to platform 2. The rest of us (for the Hurstbridge line) stayed put (while trying not to get accidentally knocked over).
"Passengers for Greensborough.."
Silence. Those of us remaining on the platform all waited attentively to see if we'd get any extra information.
About two minutes later the announcer started up again.
"Passengers for the 5.35 Greensborough train please make your way to platform 14."
I looked at my watch. It was 5.50pm.
Together with about 4/5ths of the people on the platform I started moving down to platform 14. Platform 14 sucks. It's actually an extension of platform 1, that goes under Federation Square. It's dark, it's cold (OK, that bit wasn't exactly an issue) - and, most importantly, there's a 1.5m wide bottleneck near the start with no guard rails to stop people falling on the tracks that everyone has to get through. Naturally I was standing on the side closest to the tracks when we got to that point.
All several hundred of us shuffled along, trying to make sure that no one was accidentally pushed on to the tracks. En route we spotted a TV crew filming, and waved.
"Hey, we might end up on the news!"
"We won't get home in time to see it though."
And then we met the people who had been on the train (only a hundred or two) and were now trying to get off platform 14. Through the only exit. Fortunately I'd passed the bottleneck by then.
I made it on to the train and grabbed a seat. And sat there.
And sat there.
And sat there.
Good thing I'd grabbed the Mx.
At about 6pm (give or take a minute or two) we started off. By this time there were still a few seats available. We reached Southern Cross station. All remaining seats quickly filled up. As did all the standing room. And then some.
The rest of the loop and Jolimont no one could actually get on the train. I could see people start to try, realise that there really was no space at all, and give up in disgust.
At Jolimont one lady wanted to get off, which meant that about 30 people had to get off and then back on again. So we might have fitted one more in, I don't know.
Fortunately we ran express to Clifton Hill. At Clifton Hill it felt like the train emptied, but that turned out to be the same 30 people having to get off and on again so that five people could make it off the train.
From there on the train emptied out slowly, with the predictable peaks at the usual stations.
Having left work at 5.15pm, I made it home at 6.45pm.
To be honest it didn't really worry me as much as it might have - the train was air-conditioned (yay!) and the air-conditioning was even managing to cope with the huge numbers of sweaty bodies in a small space. I had a seat, I had a sudoku, and failing all of that I had a book. Given that I'd checked the Connex website before I left and no problems with my line had been reported at that stage, and Dean got home OK I think I might have just gotten (un)lucky with the defective train being right when it was.
Still, there were 45 cancellations across the network yesterday - I suppose at least my train ran! (Eventually.) Given that it looks like the forecast temperature is likely to be reached today though, I might consider taking the bus home! It'd take a roughly similar time, but at least I'd get there.
Edit: and after talking to a guy at work who catches the same line home I discover that the defective train on platform one turned out to be less defective than previously thought and magically turned into the 5.47 express train to Hurstbridge. It left right behind us, and stayed stuck right behind us all the way out to Greensborough. Heh. It was also packed, probably with all the people in the Loop that we couldn't fit on.
By the time I left work it was back up to 30oC, and still rising. I was lucky leaving, a tram arrived pretty much as I got to the stop and I headed into Flinders St.
At Flinders St, there was a very angry man with a bike shouting abuse at a group of Connex workers. Bad sign #1. I side-stepped him, and the approaching security officers (I mean, seriously, what did he think was going to happen there?) and headed for the escalator to my platform.
The information sign above the escalator said: "Please listen for announcements." Bad sign #2.
Coming down the escalator I realised that the platform was absolutely chockers (Bad sign #3). And that there was a train there. And that no one was getting on it (Bad sign #4). And seriously, the platform was getting very, very crowded.
I managed to thread my way up about 2/3rds of the way along the platform to where I normally get on the train. The first announcement came over:
"Passengers for the Epping line please go to platform 2." OK. Not my line. About half the crowd started moving towards the escalators or subways to get to platform 2. The rest of us (for the Hurstbridge line) stayed put (while trying not to get accidentally knocked over).
"Passengers for Greensborough.."
Silence. Those of us remaining on the platform all waited attentively to see if we'd get any extra information.
About two minutes later the announcer started up again.
"Passengers for the 5.35 Greensborough train please make your way to platform 14."
I looked at my watch. It was 5.50pm.
Together with about 4/5ths of the people on the platform I started moving down to platform 14. Platform 14 sucks. It's actually an extension of platform 1, that goes under Federation Square. It's dark, it's cold (OK, that bit wasn't exactly an issue) - and, most importantly, there's a 1.5m wide bottleneck near the start with no guard rails to stop people falling on the tracks that everyone has to get through. Naturally I was standing on the side closest to the tracks when we got to that point.
All several hundred of us shuffled along, trying to make sure that no one was accidentally pushed on to the tracks. En route we spotted a TV crew filming, and waved.
"Hey, we might end up on the news!"
"We won't get home in time to see it though."
And then we met the people who had been on the train (only a hundred or two) and were now trying to get off platform 14. Through the only exit. Fortunately I'd passed the bottleneck by then.
I made it on to the train and grabbed a seat. And sat there.
And sat there.
And sat there.
Good thing I'd grabbed the Mx.
At about 6pm (give or take a minute or two) we started off. By this time there were still a few seats available. We reached Southern Cross station. All remaining seats quickly filled up. As did all the standing room. And then some.
The rest of the loop and Jolimont no one could actually get on the train. I could see people start to try, realise that there really was no space at all, and give up in disgust.
At Jolimont one lady wanted to get off, which meant that about 30 people had to get off and then back on again. So we might have fitted one more in, I don't know.
Fortunately we ran express to Clifton Hill. At Clifton Hill it felt like the train emptied, but that turned out to be the same 30 people having to get off and on again so that five people could make it off the train.
From there on the train emptied out slowly, with the predictable peaks at the usual stations.
Having left work at 5.15pm, I made it home at 6.45pm.
To be honest it didn't really worry me as much as it might have - the train was air-conditioned (yay!) and the air-conditioning was even managing to cope with the huge numbers of sweaty bodies in a small space. I had a seat, I had a sudoku, and failing all of that I had a book. Given that I'd checked the Connex website before I left and no problems with my line had been reported at that stage, and Dean got home OK I think I might have just gotten (un)lucky with the defective train being right when it was.
Still, there were 45 cancellations across the network yesterday - I suppose at least my train ran! (Eventually.) Given that it looks like the forecast temperature is likely to be reached today though, I might consider taking the bus home! It'd take a roughly similar time, but at least I'd get there.
Edit: and after talking to a guy at work who catches the same line home I discover that the defective train on platform one turned out to be less defective than previously thought and magically turned into the 5.47 express train to Hurstbridge. It left right behind us, and stayed stuck right behind us all the way out to Greensborough. Heh. It was also packed, probably with all the people in the Loop that we couldn't fit on.
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no subject
Date: 2009-01-28 04:26 am (UTC)I hate platform 14.
I've been really lucky with trains so far - yesterday's evening train ran to schedule, and this morning I got on what I thought was the 8:04 express running fifteen minutes late to find it had miraculously turned itself into the 8:17 all-stations train that I wanted to get in the first place. I don't think my luck will hold much longer, though.
no subject
Date: 2009-01-28 04:56 am (UTC)Quite possibly, although I'm guessing you would take earlier trains home than I usually do.
I hate platform 14.
It would work much better with another exit only at the other end coming out into Fed Sq. For starters that would ease the bottleneck a bit.
I've been mostly lucky with the trains. I'll be interested to see how the rest of this weeks pans out though!
no subject
Date: 2009-01-28 08:17 am (UTC)I was so wired and stressed I went for a run yesterday, not realising it was freezing. My poor feet...
no subject
Date: 2009-01-28 03:06 pm (UTC)