Circle Line, the new Misery Line?

TfL have confirmed what most commuters thought about the extended Circle Line, there are longer waits between trains and fewer trains. It's now the worst performing line on the network. Since the changes to the London Underground line in December, the frequency of Circle line trains has been cut from seven to six an hour and there's a gap of 10 minutes between trains.


I took the above picture of the platform indicators, this morning while I was waiting as normal for the Circle Line to move at Aldgate station. Richard Parry, LU's iterim Managing Director told the Evening Standard's Ross Lydall "that passengers should have to wait on average much more than five minutes - assuming they arrive midway between trains. The "worst case" would be a delay of 11-12 minutes". Sadly I see more than the worst case in the picture above. Many commuters report that the situation is worse at Edgware Road, with up to 20 minutes wait for a train.

Murad Qureshi, a Labour member of the London Assembly, told the Evening Standard: "As someone who welcomed the operational change, I'm very disappointed. There doesn't seem to have been a better service as a result.

"I think the problem is still Edgware Road station. The Circle is the one service that seems to go down immediately when anything happens on the District, Metropolitan or Hammersmith and City [lines]."

Less reliable and more delays

Parry tried to play down the bad performance and said: "What people forget is that the service wasn't as good as what people want to remember," Mmmmm, is that true and is that even a good way of justifying a supposedly 'improved' service? What are your memories of the old Circle Line? What are things like for you on the new line?