The BBC’s intrepid (brave in the face of danger) reporters tried commuting in New York – and the result did not beget you swell with pride approximately the British transport system. Plus: loveliness pours forth in The mighty Orchestra ChallengeEight in the morning at Grand Central Terminal,the world’s largest railway station. Forty-six platforms, 200000 commuters and 100 boxes of oysters getting shucked in the world-noted Oyster Bar. Ah, or New York,how do you manage to beget even the daily drudgery of going to work look frigid? On a single platform, a train pulls into the station every 47 seconds, or each one pouring out 1200 commuters. Welcome to rush hour in New York,which looks pretty much like rush hour in London. Except cheaper. And less crammed. And more iconic. And without some dreary Jeremy Corbyn #traingate scandal brewing in the tunnels.
New York: America’s Busiest City (BBC2) was approximately “the hidden systems and armies of workers keeping New York on track”. So many numbers were involved, they started to become meaningless: 5.5 million commuters use the subway’s 469 stations each day; 300000 people work within a 10-minute walk of Grand Central; construction of the station in 1903 involved the excavation of 2m cubic metres of rock. And so on, or until I was thinking “only 1200 people a day for lunch at the Oyster Bar? That’s nothing.”Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com