New Victoria Line train

Arkady · March 2010

Andy, as moderator perhaps you might confirm that you are happy for this to go out? Suggested amendments welcome. I have a contact at TFL who can probably find me the appropriate person to send it to. No hurry though, let’s give it a few days to see who might want to contribute. Dear TFL On behalf of StroudGreen.org* we would like to formally present our thanks and praise to [], who regularly supervises the southbound Victoria Line platform on weekday mornings. It has been noted by several contributors to the forum that []’s irrepressible cheer, unfailing supply of helpful advice, and vaudeville-standard tune-whistling greatly contribute to making our daily commute tolerable. Despite the unending army of miserable commuters, he always has a smile and a nod for those in his temporary care. He is a jewel in the crown of your staff, and should be rewarded accordingly. We hope that this declaration of our appreciation can be duly noted and passed on. Yours sincerely StroudGreen.org *StroudGreen.org is a forum for residents of Stroud Green in North London, which lies between Finsbury Park and Crouch End.

Arkady · March 2010

@staplejack: where do you normally get the overland from?

Jenowl · March 2010

A very well-written letter.

staplejack · March 2010

@Arky. Harringay. Not far.

Would a staff with a jewel in its crown be a sceptre or a mace?

Arkady · March 2010

@staplejack - why not get the W3? Unless you live on the ladder somewhere? Good point on the jewel-crown-staff thing though.

staplejack · March 2010

I live on SHR by the library - so the crushing delights of first capital connect are simply too tempting.

I think it is time for the bicycle to make a reappearance, frankly.

Nick10 · March 2010

Great letter.

Will make a note to smile at, or start a conversation with, the pleasant TfL man.

Arkady · March 2010

@staplejack: Fair enough. How much does it cost? I'm on MVR, and I was using it to get to High&I when I first moved but it seemed to be fleecing my pay-as-you-go something awful. As the W3 is covered by my zone 1-2 travelcard I decided I'd use that when the weather discourages walking. It's less rammed, and I get to see what's happening on SGR. @Nick: A good conversation-starter is to ask him about the new trains. He gets visibly excited. A

Ian · March 2010

He is a great bloke. I only started chatting to him recently, I am not a great man for mornings. I saw him say hello to a regular and I thought I'd like to be a regular too, makes it feel more pleasant. So I started breaking the ice with a nod, moved to a word and now we have a little chat every morning. I guess it shouldn't be remarkable but somehow it is. We should nominate him for a people's honour next time round. Public service should always be like that.

andy · March 2010

I have no idea what any of you are on about, but I'm happy for this to go out 'on behalf of' stroudgreen.org, since you all seem to be keen on it.

Ian · March 2010

I'm not keen on a letter going out on behalf of stroudgreen.org, mainly because I don't thing it's the place to start campaigning/representing a collective view. I think the bloke is great, as I've said, but it doesn't seem right to me that the site takes a corporate view about anything. I'd be up for writing on my own behalf though.

staplejack · March 2010

@Arky when were you using the overground? I think they've only recently updated to allow PAYG customers. Not even too sure on that point as I have an annual season ticket.

Singularly failed to walk to FP this morning, I only remembered that I was going to once I was already down the spiral staircase...

Arkady · March 2010

@Ian: Surely a community forum is a great place to campaign, if there's interest in doing so? It's a great organising medium. @staplejack: I was using it in January when the PAYG kicked in. Do you have a season ticket just for Harringey-Finsbury Park? How much is that if so?

Ali · March 2010

Send it to the top man Howard Collins who is the Chief Operating Officer of LU http://www.linkedin.com/ppl/webprofile?vmi=&id=28093694&pvs=pp&authToken=TgmY&authType=name&locale=en_US&trk=ppro_viewmore&lnk=vw_pprofile It seems that as he is senior he will be based at their office above St James Park Tube Station. I found that the address of this is 55 Broadway LONDON SW1H 0BD

ADGS · March 2010

How about sending a letter from '[list of names of people who have said upthread how great he is] of Stroudgreen.org'?

tosscat · March 2010

I agree with Ian.

staplejack · March 2010

@ Arky zones 1-3. And the annual acts as a network card for discounts on longer rail journeys too.

I don't mind either way if a letter goes out from ST.org, on behalf of named member of ST.org, or from a collective of named individuals. Would you use your real names or online monikers?

tgot · March 2010

ok, so how about we send individual letters to the same bloke - persumably the more the merrier and it may even have greater impact. i'm not sure they'll all be penned as beautifully as Arkady's prose but it's better than nothing.

is it good old howard collins who should be the lucky recipient of our letters? would this be worth a go?

Tallboy · March 2010

Quickest and easiest way to commend the bloke is to go to the London Transport website. They have a page where you can applaud the service of one of their employees. They even have drop down boxes to help you describe the chap (age, facial hair, glasses, etc). https://custserv.tfl.gov.uk/icss_csip/ZCreateRequestChangeRelatesTo.do?newTab=CA_12660

Arkady · March 2010

Given the apparent reluctance in some quarters to formulate an official SG.org response, I feel that staplejack's suggestion of a list of named individuals associated with SG.org would be best, but despite my long years on the interweb I think it would be a bit gimpy to use online nom-de-guerre's. I suggest the following. Either: a) People whisper me their real names to add to it, and i'll dispatch it on Monday. b) If that gets little or no response (I am clearly a stalker of some kind who wants to track you down, after all) then I will notify you as such and people can give individual responses. For the record, I thought that the earlier suggestion that SG.org could have some form of customer service awards was a good one, and would be an effective way of collectively giving back to the community. We could come up with categories, and have a vote. that idea will be kyboshed if some people insist that SG.org is not used for collective action, and personally I would take some convincing that that would not be a senseless shame. Arky

staplejack · March 2010

I {heart} N4 stickers in shop and restaurant windows to celebrate the awards / champion good reviews / publicise the site to new people.

We like new people, right?

andy · March 2010

I think what Ian was suggesting that the site doesn't have a 'corporate view', and he is right, it doesn't and won't. There's no office to hold an official view. At the same time, it is perfectly reasonable to use the site as a way to gather up groups of like-minded people for the purposes of book clubs, letter-writing, knitting or baiting medi. The only difference about campaigning is that people may well hold alternate views and people holding those views are as welcome as any other. So we can't say "Stroudgreen says vote BNP" as it wouldn't be true, however much some of us would want to. But in the reasonably inoffensive case of writing to a nice railwaymen, I don't think it's a big deal and it certainly doesn't set a precedent. In practice, I'm not sure saying you are from, or "writing on behalf of" a website adds that much to the value of the letter you want to send. A list of real names would send, in my view, a more powerful message.

Arkady · March 2010

@staplejack: Yeah that's the sort of thing I have in mind. Though incidentally I'm conflicted about the N4 connection, as N4 is much wider than Stroud Green (<http://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/postcodes/places/N4.html>

, but that's a minor quibble. @Andy: I agree, I wouldn't want people dashing off things on my behalf either. But I would suggest that there is a difference between a corporate view and a system of awards (annually, say) allocated by vote. If we had a 'best restaurant service' award, and the majority voted for Pappagone rather than La Porchetta, would the Porchettas amongst use really refuse to endorse the result or insist on leaving the forum in disgust? If they would then my understanding of humanity would be enriched by them explaining why that didn't make them a complete arse. Issues like politics should, of course, be left alone. Incidentally I think we can make hounding Medi a formal and corporate part of SG.org. Arky

tosscat · March 2010

An 'as voted by the members of' is fine isn't it, it's just the 'we love you, signed' I don't want a part of.

Arkady · March 2010

Fair distinction. A

Arkady · March 2010

A new Victoria Line train broke down in front of me at Pimlico last night. They kicked everyone off and it went out of service. A

Slabber · March 2010

Why are you signing your posts?

Arkady · March 2010

An eccentricity. I was once told that we're supposed to cultivate them. Picked up another new train today. Looks like it's regular northbound hitting Pimlico about 5:40, if anyone's looking. A

Ali · April 2010

Did any one send in the commendation for the southbound platform man or did it get all difficult ?

Arkady · April 2010

Not yet, but I did establish this morning that his name is 'Monti'. Perfect. Thanks for the reminder, I will send my missive off to the link that Tallboy provided. A

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