It's almost a case of tell us something we don't know when you see the screaming front page headline "Meltdown" and a picture of a tube that looks like it's melting.
Yet another report about overcrowding on the tube. Bullet point tube logo roundels to emphasise the points:
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Within ten years Tube will carry 19 extra people in every rush hour carriage
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One third of network will be crowded at peak
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Safety fears will force more stations to close
Yada, yada, yada. Anyone who commutes every day knows this. "Overcrowding on the Underground will be 'unimaginable' and it would 'be difficult to describe how unpleasant' travelling in the capital will be", said Metro quoting from a report compiled for Transport for London which was published "yesterday" (How many reports get published on Sunday? I'm sure Metro are just trying to add to the gloom of a Monday morning.)
Basically London's predicted to have a surge in population by 800,000 by 2016 which means that up 620 million quid more investment in London's transport is needed a year to cope with the extra bodies. So the report is to persuade ministers to invest more cash, although "The Department of Transport said it had already increased Tube funding significantly".
Just to let you know the Tube's definition of "crowded" is "when there are more people standing than sitting". Nice to know that crowded is a word they understand, even though overcrowded still doesn't seem to exist in the Railway dictionary.
Anyone who wants to read the full Metro article can do so, and as The Big Smoker said - Is there ever a report on London transport which isn't damning?
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