My daily commute involves getting off at canada water and then getting the jubilee line. Why do people rush off the train like there is a Primark sale in the offing, only to get to the escalator and not walk down on either side? Does anyone else find this annoying?

I think it is to do with the science of traffic flow rather than a deliberate laziness on the part of the people 'on the right'. It is likely to be the same effect when you have very slow moving traffic on the motorway even when, at the top of the jam, there is open road. It's all about the ripple effect of just a few cars near the top of the jam slowing a little to make way and adjust to the new cars, with a succession of small brakings magnifying down the line. Added to this, cars in the inside and middle lane move right, lowering the average speed on the outside lane.

On an escalator, you almost always (when it is busy) have to pause behind the person in front of you as they get off at the bottom, if you are on the very next step. Otherwise you barge into them. You really need one or two steps gap - watch people getting off an escalator and you will see them treading the last few steps to give themselves space. On a long escalator this effect is not so pronounced as there is usually time for a gap to build up between you and the person in front as you walk.. On a short escalator, like at Canada Water, when it is very full, there is just not enough time and space to prevent this effect.

But I could be wrong and they are all just awkward b****rs (that isn't a particularly bad word, btw, this forum software appears to have been programmed by someone's maiden aunt).

This post was last modified: 06-04-2012 08:02 AM by rshdunlop.

Primark sale . If such a thing exists I pray I am nowhere near it.

Not Canada Water - but I change at London Bridge for the Charing Cross train. A train that is stacked up in the morning - arriving one after another every '1 minute' - but people still run down the stairs, knocking over old ladies - to squeeze on a train that goes two stops like there's one train to Charing Cross a week and they *need* to be on it.

You can clearly see the next train waiting a foot or two down the track.

Yes it annoys and amuses me in equal measure. More annoyingly why are there no stairs available?
Primark is a constant sale surely?

Aren't there stairs at the far end of the platform?

I do that interchange at Canada water and its a complete nightmare, and I often feel somewhat dangerous as people really push and shove to get on the escalator and it only takes someone to trip and people could easily get crushed.
There are no stairs to go from Eastbound Overground to Northbound Jubilee. However going home in the evening there are stairs up from the southbound Jubilee to southbound overground as well as an escalator.

It became obvious fairly quickly that Canada water really wasn't designed for the volume of use it now has during the morning rush hour. I also find that much past 8:00 in the morning and the chances of easily getting onto an East bound Jubilee line train reduce dramatically.
As noted in the evening it seems ok although the Southbound Overground platform gets very crowded. In contrast to all the above I am still amazed by how politely everyone queues at Canary Wharf in the evenings.

If you're enjoying Canada Water in the morning now, just wait until the end of this year when the Clapham Junction to Surrey Quays extension brings even more commuters trying to get to Canary Wharf.

I agree that is has been poorly designed.

I think the blockage of people standing on both sides of the escalator is caused by two queues of people joining the escalatortor from two different directions. It only takes one person choosing not to walk down on the left for it to become static.

Personally, I think this should be the norm on the Underground as it would double the capacity of each eascalator.

I just dont get people running for it. Very strange.

People running for the escalator makes the problem worse (see my post above). If there was a slow, steady flow, people might have the space to walk down (because you need more room between you and the person in front to walk than to stand). If everyone rushes, and there is a big inflow all at once... well, just read my thread above.

I was informed yesterday that there is a set of escape stairs behind a door to the right of the escalator (when viewed from the platform) which were apparently made available during the morning rush hour a few weeks ago and even had a sign pointing them out. Maybe an experiment to see if they were used?
Some mornings I just can't face the race to the escalator at Canada Water and go on to Shadwell and back down the DLR.

I head to the front of the train and take the escalator up and then two escalators down, never a mad panic and makes the commute that much nicer. I'm pretty sure I was told about the option on this forum...

On a slightly different point, what is the Oyster machine at the top of the escalator there for? Some people use it, others don't - it's pink.

As far as I know, it's for people travelling on to Canary Wharf etc to prove they haven't travelled through Zone 1 and make sure they get charged the correct fare.

I was told its for the PAYG users who switch between the overground / underground at the interchange and have thus used two seperate methods of transport.

It's not so much how many methods of transport you have used, but which route, making sure PAYG users are charged the correct fare.

Pink Oyster Card Readers (tfl)

I do the same as tinyem and go up to the ticket hall level and back down to the Jubilee platforms, it can be faster than going down the single escalator.