I alighted an Overground train at Shepherd's Bush this week, intending to interchange to the Underground.
And was somewhat perturbed to see this sign in the Overground ticket hall.
Central from Shepherd's Bush
Estimated walking time: 7 min
No way, I thought, is it a 7 minute walk to the Central line station.
It's only across the road, it's 60 metres max, so 7 minutes is ridiculous.
Admittedly it's further to go down the escalator and walk to the platform.
But it's not 7 minutes, that is the product of a insane imagination.
Obviously what I did was time it to see how long it really took.
I exited the Overground station, crossed the road, entered the tube station, passed through the gateline, walked down the escalator and walked down to the platform.
2 minutes precisely.
Admittedly I got lucky with the traffic lights.
Admittedly I'm fit and can walk at a decent pace, but I didn't rush or run.
Admittedly I walked down the escalator but the sign said "walking time" so I thought walking was perfectly reasonable.
No way would it ever have taken seven minutes, not without a serious mobility issue.
It took two.
What's more a Hainault train was 2 minutes away when I arrived on the platform.
I caught it with ease.
But it hadn't been on the display in the Overground ticket hall because someone had assumed I couldn't catch it.
What it should have said on that display was Hainault 4 min
but instead it said Epping 9 min
which was the second train due, not the first.
Obviously you don't want to be told that the next train is Leytonstone 1 min
because you wouldn't have a hope of catching that.
Some sort of cut-off is sensible - maybe 3 minutes, maybe 4.
But whoever set the cut-off at 7 is a pessimistic jobsworth.
This issue is particularly prevalent at Bank/Monument.
Next time you're walking round Bank/Monument take a look at how prematurely next trains disappear.
(not on the platforms themselves - they're fine - but on displays elsewhere around the station)
Here's a display in the DLR passageways leading to the District line.
It makes it look like the next trains in both directions are 7 minutes away.
But the next trains were not 7 minutes away, the earlier trains had had been deviously hidden.
And I easily caught one of them.
On another occasion I entered Monument station from the street.
Next District line train 8 minutes, said the display in the ticket hall.
I walked down the stairs which took less than 30 seconds.
Hey presto the next District line train was actually 1 minute away, followed by another 2 minutes away.
Trains disappear off the upper display after 3 minutes, despite the fact you could easily catch them.
What I think's going on is that TfL are worried people might run, slip and fall.
See a display saying Upminster 2 min and you might rush and injure yourself.
You probably won't but the risk is there and the organisation is incredibly risk averse.
No matter that you could easily walk down in 30 seconds, people still dash when they see a low number and dashing is the risk.
This only happens at some stations, others show the correct next train times all the time.
But in some places like the DLR (oh god the temporal reticence on the DLR!) nearby trains are hidden much too early.
I once did an entire week of posts about Next Train Indicators installed by cretins.
I could easily do an entire week of posts about Next Train Indicators regulated by nannies.
One final example - I went to catch the Bakerloo line from Paddington station. Elephant & Castle 5 minutes said the display in the ticket hall.
I stepped onto the escalator which promptly stopped running.
Everyone sighed and started walking down the escalator - a slow but patient crocodile.
And I still got down to the platform and caught an earlier train which hadn't been on the display upstairs.
That's how over-cautious some of these cut-offs are.
Someone somewhere at TfL is programming Next Train Indicators to deliberately hide the next train, or trains, on the basis that a tortoise might not be able to get to the platform in time.
And I wish they'd stop.
