"Severe delays on the Circle Line due to an earlier incident". How come? Where did all the trains actually go?

Question

I've always wondered how it's possible for an incident, say, in the morning, to cause severe delays the Circle Line service for the rest of the day. Isn't it just a big circular train set with lots of trains going round, so that once an incident is dealt with, they all just start going round again?

Answer 1

There is a time table of sorts and it matches bus routes. So often a bus will arrive at the tube station at 3pm and the tube at 3.05 a delay could mean the tube arriving at 3.15pm instead. So if you get off the bus at 3pm - you have to wait - get off a bus at 3.15 and you probably miss the connection.

Answer 2

This is just code for "We messed up again".

Just like how earlier this week my train wasn't late, it had been "temporarily re-timed".

Answer 3

The Domino Effect I'm afraid

Answer 4

if one train should get delayed, it has a knock on affect to all the others behind it...  i think you tube users get a excellent service, considering all the problems the tube has.. and its 1800's infrastructure.... so be happy with your lot! and quit moaning...

Answer 5

Surely they must park up somewhere?! There must be sidings or something that they go into when they break down etc. I suppose they take some trains out of action. For example, they may need to investigate an incident and need time to do this.

It's certainly a conundrum – will have to ask my friend's boyfriend (a tube driver – on the crcle line I think, actually) whennext I see them, just to confirm!

Answer 6

an incident can be all sort of things!

when a person jump under a train we are not allowed to say it is a person under a train but instead it is an incident.if there are body part everywhere on the track the service will be suspended and trains won't be were they should once the service has resumed.drivers won't wait all day in their trains so if their shift is finish....

it really gets on my nerves when people are moaning about things they don't know!

Answer 7

Simply because the Circle line runs "on everybody else's" lines (look at a map) then it is always the first to suffer. If you look at it logically, to start with, there are seven trains going round the circle each way (i.e. 14) so if there's a failure anywhere on the parts of the line that they cover, by getting them out of the way (back to depot/diverted elsewhere to a siding) that leaves room for the other services to recover to timetable or emergency engineering work to be carried out. Then, and only then, can the circles be put back into their timetabled slots. I know it sound tedious for a non-railway person to understand, but that's the way it HAS to be usually. Another point to remember is this: Name a SINGLE STATION on the Circle line which is NOT already served by trains on another line. Difficult, huh? Thus, although the fourteen circles may not be in service (Unusual - it's only normally just a few or in one direction only), there are NO stations being left without any kind of service. What do you people want - blood? It takes time to get the trains back in place AND with the correct crews on them, otherwise it would be worse than the original problem.