TfL huh?
So they’re now urging us to not use the tube to get to Covent Garden.
Does this strike anyone as, just… weird? I mean, there’s an £8 congestion charge already in place. So you’re not supposed to drive. And now they’re starting to tell us not to take the tube places. The bus is indeed a replacement option, but I find buses tend to take forever and are often sporadic. You don’t get one for twenty minutes then you get three. Not convenient when you’re meeting someone for lunch and you don’t want to leave an hour to get there.
And yet, are there plans to ‘fix’ the Covent Garden station? Not that I could see. There’s a vague promise about all stations being ‘modernised and refurbished’ for the 2012 Olympics, but that’s it. I mean, I know it would be a big inconvenience and very disruptive… but aren’t there people who are paid precisely to come up with strategies to deal with that? And what happens in 2012? If there are so many issues with the Covent Garden tube station now, what’s going to happen with the city is flooded with people?
Really, I just think it’s ridiculous for them to tell us to not use the broken tube station instead of just fixing it for goodness sake.
Related posts:
I think it’s mainly that the station can’t be “fixed”. The area around Covent Garden station is horrendously expensive, and also very built up and old. To do major work around there would seriously disrupt the station and would also cost huge amounts of cash. Instead you can work for about 5/10 minutes from Leicester Square or a bit longer fomr Holborn.
I’m glad that they’re spending their money on other things rather than upgrading a predominantly tourist used station that has alternative links nearby.
I agree that there are other nearby links, but I think the fact that it’s a big tourist station shouldn’t be overlooked. I know when I’m a tourist in a foreign city, I’m always leary about taking the bus because those tend to be difficult if you don’t know exactly where to get off. Walking is always an option, yes, but again, London is easy to get lost in and it is way easier to take the tube. That’s why it exists, isn’t it?
The fact that congestion rises so steeply on the weekends suggests it’s not just tourists, either. It’s a popular area. There are lots of restaurants around there. I think it’s one of the nicer areas in London to shop.
I don’t disagree that people should use the alternatives. At the same time, I think it’s short sighted of them to not plan some kind of improvement. I don’t anticipate Covent Garden will get any less popular as time goes on.
it will if it stays broken!
Come on mate, its only 3 blocks from Leicester Square which isn’t a deep elevator only station. I hate Covent Garden anyway…
The whole point is most tourist travel from Leicester Sq to Covent Garden on the Tube when it is actually quicker to just walk!
Conclusion: Covent Garden is overcrowded because of silly people. There I said it.