Torn on the Platform

Once I make it down to a tube platform my eyes look straight to the departures board. I process the time until the next train and find a decent place to stand. The next stage is waiting - but the form it takes varies: I might take notice of an ad, should it catch my eye; or I might play my favourite Blackberry game, Brickbreaker; or, if I'm feeling really adventurous, I will consider changing my position. These sorts of things are perfect for a ***STAND BACK TRAIN APPROACHING*** type of wait.

But get on the Victoria Line at [at least] 23:30 on a Sunday night and you'll see that these are rare. Last night, for example, I waited 10 minutes. Same process still: Eyes - Proccess - Brickbreaker; but then boredom. The point is, the remedies listed above can only go so far as an effective treatment. So what's the missing ingredient?

Wi-Fi. Above the London Underground you'll find people going through the same process as those beneath. The difference is that Wi-Fi is the get-out-clause. Yes, the process is exclusive to each person, but the principle remains constant. The London Cabbie, for instance:  pickup - traffic jam - RAC traffic app [sic]. With Wi-Fi, people are hard pushed to reach boredom.

So what I often wonder is how much wi-fi would help a tube journey. We're going to find out. For the past 6 months, Charing Cross commuters have been given Wi-Fi access on the Northern and Bakerloo platforms. This trial period has gone well, and now TfL will install 120 Wi-Fi connections in stations across the network in time for the Olympics.

The cognitive process I outlined above showed Wi-Fi to be the hero-in-waiting. Why? Well, being underground isn't pretty; being cut-off from the world above isn't any better. Wi-Fi solves this. It connects users to each other, meeting the ever-increasing demand for real-time information (careful, dictionary). Commuters on the underground are the worst for this sort of demand - give them an iPhone with signal and you'll find their Metros and Kindles at your feet, not in your face.

An air of caution, though: the commuter would love an underground Wi-Fi network; but a terrrorist would go mental for it (yes, literally). That technology allows a bloke to blow up half the Circle Line from his armchair is a pain in the arse. But it'd be more annoying for a Wi-Fi rollout to be stopped by a fear of these maniacs - without encroaching on the political element of this blog, there are far more effective ways to stop terrorists doing what they love to do.

There's some assurance, anyway, in that (initially) it's a platform-only job, leaving the trains to ride along as they are. But Wi-Fi is infectious - the trains can run, but they can't hide. The outcome, hopefully, will be a happier, more fulfilled tube network.

It'll be a great day when I can tweet about the moron who wouldn't move down the carriage - or RT the poor sod who couldn't get on because of him!