Line Down

So the plight of the Bush people continues. Tfl is shafting us once more, with gusto.

With only 4 weeks notice (because they changed their minds in Dec) we have been informed that the Central Line Shepherd's Bush station will be closed for 8 months. For the first week we were all quite bemused, seeing the posters and thinking 'have I been totally self involved and not noticing that they are closing down my main transport hub for the next 8 months of my life??' until realising the posters had just been erected.

And from confusion comes fury. As the 20,000 commuters who use the station everyday realised that the station was closing with barely a whit of notice they start to bubble with anger and frustration.

From fury comes action. The local Labour MP with the rather brilliant name of Andy Slaughter rustles his troops together and starts a campaign to keep the station open.

Of course most of the commuters are used to the persistent frustrations, disappointments and irritations of TfL and have resigned themselves to the fact it will take them longer to get to work, will be more of a pain in the ass and will cost more of their hard-earned moolah.

The campaign is worthy but most of us think ultimately pointless as we all kow that TfL will do as Tfl pleases, even if it means getting a night bus to Hell and back before getting a tube on a weekend.

The best moment was when Andy Slaughter and pals were flyering outside the station, and at the same time employees of TfL were handing out flyers in a sort of propaganda-off.

Being the democrat that I am, I took one of each and read both. Here is a run down of the points made.

Campaign to keep the station open:

• TfL is being paid by Westfield to replace the escalators and spruce up the station, they were given an ultimatum: have it finished by the time we open or we don't pay for it. I.E. It is run by who pays for it, not for paying commuters who already pay extortionate ticket prices.
• Their original plans were to keep the station open, so it is actually possible to do so, they are simply buckling under corporate pressure.
• The suggested replacement services are a farce. One shuttle bus every 10 minutes is about as useful to commuters as a vaccine against happiness.
• Local businesses will suffer hugely, particularly as the station will reopen when Westfield is open, which will have poached much of the travelling custom.
• TfL are a bunch of cash-led douchebags.

TfL:

• It will be quicker
• It won't take as long
• We can finish it faster
• It will be quicker