The Underground at Christmas 2000 & New Year
Ok folks some nice advice about what your expect on the London Underground over Xmas. It's going to busy, busy, busy and the major stations for this busyness are Oxford Circus, Tottenham Court Road and Leicester Square. The first two because they're the nearest to Oxford Street where MAJOR shopping takes place and the last one because it's where everything happens in London from a partying point of view - clubs, restaurants, theatres, musicals, street theatre, fun fairs etc etc.
Really sad news is that there's not going to be a major fireworks display which was planned this year by Mayor of London Ken Livingstone. Mostly this is due to the fact that London Underground wouldn't be able to cope adquately with the thousands of extra people involved coming to the event. Last year was bad enough with people taking hours to make a journey which would normally take minutes.
Ken Livingstone summarises the whole shabang here:
"The millennium festivities in London were enjoyed by some 3 million people, and greeted as a huge success. But those responsible for safety and order on London's streets had been genuinely shaken by the scenes outside Tube and railway stations and on the bridges, where people were crushed together in uncontrolled crowds. Others faced long walks home, or waited all night, with their families, to get on a train.
"It was therefore necessary to go one better this time: we needed an event that everyone could enjoy, but which did not put lives at stake. We were given, along with the 10 Alps contract, which had already been negotiated, the promise of £1.5 million of Millennium Commission grant and £3 million of government money. Nearly £2 million was given to London Underground to allow them to run trains until after midnight. The rest of the money for the event, including the fireworks, was to be found from sponsorship.
"The GLA (Greater London Authority) team worked to co-ordinate the efforts of seven boroughs, three police forces, a bevy of train operators, the Tube and the buses, and an assortment of other organisations, all of whom needed to co-operate if the event was to work. By September, an event plan was ready.
"The event was designed to meet the demands made by all the organisations we had consulted, avoiding dangerous crowds around the river. This was crucial.
"But it transpired that even on this basis, agreement was not possible. Understandably, the police didn't want crowds gathered by the river; but authorities in charge of parks and open ground around London didn't want crowds gathering there either.
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