Sweet Sanctuary
© Michael St.Mark 2013
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London Underground District Line platform; Hammersmith
The only relief, such as it is, from the unremittingly grim and dehumanizing experience of travelling on
the capital’s rail network; is to strike it lucky in finding the occasional snack & soft drinks kiosk snuck
begrudgingly away in some cupboard hole in a supporting pillar or else set into a filthy grime-encrusted
station wall corner, TFL giving SFA deference to the basic needs and comforts of its long-suffering,
extortionate fare-paying customers – oh and try finding a London Underground public convenience
anywhere below ground.
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The real agenda behind the dash for privatization
Fatcat profits before people – same old Oxbridge jobs-for-the-boys’ snouts-in-the-trough CEO / management ethos.
London – about the most vibrant capital in the world, yet its underground network shuts down after midnight even
on Saturdays, presumably, because it’s not cost-effective afterwards, forcing crowds of revellers thronging the streets
to work out a random bus to get home or else pay through the black cab nose.
Totally uncivilized and 3rd world backwards mentality **
Go to Paris and spot the (massive) difference in the way the French travelling public are treated. ( Saturday’s Metro runs
through until 2.15am Sunday morning and with vastly superior comfort and facilities )
If it doesn’t make a good profit, cut it.. and sod the travelling public – that’s TFL.
* Sir Peter Hendy needs to look at his own shabby 20th C. run-down excuse for a transport system before pinning blame other run-down privatized profit b4 public nightmare operators.
** Update 2014; after over 100 years operation of the world’s first underground rail service, TFL finally and grudgingly bow to decent public service operating procedures & announce the introduction of a 24hr tube service.
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