to be offended by that deeply unhelpful notice on Tube barriers which says that children under five and dogs must be carried?

[Raichy]

Do dogs and children under five have the same status? And what if you have more than one child under five? I can't help feeling that the Tube has not been designed with parents and children in mind. Also these nightmare barriers are now at mainline stations too. My children are older now, but I have spent much time in the past struggling with them and automated barriers. I keep meaning to write and complain, but I thought I would see what other people thought first.

But that's the thing. Anyone can use the side gate so the OP doesn't have a point at all imo.

Oh I'm confused now cos everyone's talking about escalators but the OP's talking about barriers [hblush]

i'm still interested in the escalators. i've got a double buggy, so i never unfold it - no way i could manage dd the bolter, baby and folded buggy on an escalator. but is it really unsafe?

Hmm.
Well, when I had babies and buggies and was tackling the underground, there were few automated barriers but there were signs saying fold buggies and carry beasts on the escalators. So I might have got muddled.
Yes BTW, the buggy wheel slipped under the side of the step as we went down, mangled the wheel and twisted the frame of the buggy beyond repair.
Two very nice chaps helped me with my luggage and my daughter and with the unhelpful staff member at Baker street. I was compensated for the buggy.

YABVU, OP. God, it's almost as if the entire world wasn't designed for the convenience of you and your precious child/dog... dogs and small children get to use the tube free of charge and it is therefore U to think they're entitled to any special concessions at all. Also, any child with average coordination skills should be able to time their dash through the automatic gates long before they are too big to be carried!

On a visit once, when a nerd like me ventured into the outside world, I didn't know about the side gate. I told the DSes to wriggle like snakes on their tummies under the barrier.

Even Tube staff were laughing.....

i can pick up the children

i cant pick him up!!!

" I'm confused now cos everyone's talking about escalators but the OP's talking about barriers "

The OP isn't exactly accurate, so I think people are taking the chance to yak generally about their families and other animals on the Underground.

i used the tube on thu, spent the day in london with a friend had 12yr old and 10mth old with me, ihad her in pushchair and managed just fine, lots of helpful people around for the stairs, mainly 'hoody teens' actually! i never noticed the signs and i took the pushchair on the escalator, when going down i put it on the step in front of me and balance it on the back wheels, when going up i go on backwards first adn then have it on the step lower than me again balancing it on the back wheels, have the wrist strap on and hold on tight. done it loads with all 5 of mine and never had a problem, infact i see loads of people doing it and never seen anyone tell them off, tho i did notice the little sticker on the escalators showing that buggies are to be folded, oops!

I told the DSes to wriggle like snakes on their tummies under the barrier

Dogs have a higher status than children in the caravan world. There are hundreds of adults only sites that say 'Pets allowed, no children'.

The tube is difficult with small children, or the infirm or anyone other than a fit and healthy person.

It was designed as mass trass for city workers so wasn't really designed to cope with minority groups. It is getting better but TBH if I can possibly avoid it with children I do.

TBvH if I can possibly avoid it at all I do. However I am fortunate I live in zone 1 so have multiple other options - boris bike (no good with kids), bus, walking or river boat (which is great as long as the place you want to go to is on the river!).

"I can't help feeling that the Tube has not been designed with parents and children in mind. "

ahahahahaha! Ahaha hahaha hahaha [wipes eyes]

You need to get out more!

Seriously get over yourself! As someone who lives in central London with two under fives I have better things to worry about. And yes, there are special gates, and the sign is just TFL covering their butts in case someone sues for Little Johnny falling over on the 121st step of the Angel escalator. They don't actually make you carry them. No-one gives a shit.

I think if there are battles to fight, it's probably about disabled access (which is an actual real-life offence to equality and dignity). TFL are doing their best with an antique set up but that's a whole lot more important than some bleeding sign.

Of course YABU. Dogs and children are not equal . No, no, no. Dogs are much higher and should really have their own tube line. I mean, when was the last time your child went out rat catching or helped a blind person or rescued someone from a mountain side? No, dogs are far more useful and as such have more status.

Don't worry about it too much, once your child grows up and starts paying tax he/she will become slightly more important than the dogs.

I had no idea such signs existed on the barriers but I was aware of them on escalators.

There are side barriers for you to go through so that is a non issue both for children or dogs. (I have a guide dog and travel on the underground on a fairly regular basis).

I have also carried him (all 70 odd lb of him) up and down escalators and while it is not an experience I enjoy I am not about to not use the underground because of it.

I watched a programme on bbc once called beyond boundaries - about a group of disabled people trekking across namibia. One of them was an amputee who had lost his leg on ... an escalator.

I agree that the tube isn't largely designed with the disabled in mind (if you're thinking buggies in comparison to wheelchairs) but tbh the tube was built at a time when disabled access was not considered a priority, and it is designed in such a way that it would be impossible to make the changes required in order to make it so. The newer stations such as the extention to the jubilee line have made adaptations such as lifts as well as escalators in order to accommodate buggies/wheelchairs/dogs (I will go in a lift rather than carry my dog on an escalator, although sometimes the staff will stop an escalator as long as it's not at peak time). But for the majority of stations this is not possible - the masses would soon start complaining about the increased fares and the disruptions to their journeys).

I have to say that I've only ever found the tube staff helpful, and I have travelled on my own through some of the busiest stations on the underground (kings cross, for instance).

Op you seriously need to get out more.

if anyone looked at the sign, it said 'take extra care with children, dogs must be carried' and each gets its own little demonstrative picture in case you are too foreign to understand...so in actual fact it doesn't say what the op says it does.

if you have a Great Dane/Wolfhound size dog you are going to be a bit buggered, really. possibly only able to use those with lifts to all platforms?

i liked the MRT in Taiwan. all platforms served by lifts. but their tube is miniscule compared to Londons, and all built in the last 30 years...

i was actually really pleased in that when i went to buy my travelcard for myself and ds1 the guy said to me is he eleven or under? i lied and said yes!! (he is ONLY just 12) and he said, 'well 11 and under travel free on the underground etc) i was as i thought it would be the same as the trains where once they are 5 you pay! so i was really pleased and like i say i coped fine, but i have done it many times with various small children, no its not ideal or easy but it is managable.

misdee you got there first! :o

I was going to challenge TFL to pick up either one of my German Shepherds or my Labrador. :o

Dogs and under 5's having the same status? Oh if only...

I suggest OP that in future, if this really bothers you, you take the bus.

HTH.

I fell down an escalator at a Tube station (one of the very very long steep wooden old ones) when I was a small child. I have vague (horrid) memories of it.

We took our 4 year old dd on the Tube (and 7 year old dd1) in the summer. I didn't find it as stressful as I thought, although we did avoid the worst of the rush hour. I accept that if you work in London you don't have that luxury.

dd2 and I soon worked out our "way" of dealing with the barriers/escalators etc.
Main rule was to be aware of others trying to get through. On down escalators I carried her on one hip leaving one hand free to hold on myself. On up escalators I was one step behind her, I lifted her on to the step right in the middle and made sure we were both steady. Dh carried the heaviest luggage and kept a close eye on dd1

My mum used to have a massive 8 stone bull mastiff. Wouldn't have fancied trying to carry her as well!

DBF I have now just had an amusing image of a group of mners arriving with assorted large dogs. I don't have a large dog; could I borrow one of yours to go with my 4 year old?

If only there were some sort of above-ground mode of transport without barriers and escalators... perhaps something wheeled and red, which could travel around London stopping at designated points.

Ah well. Nevermind.

Do you read it as 'carry your child incase he bites someone's leg' ?

My aunt's spaniel's paws got sucked in by the escalator belt due to long fur. The aunt wasn't carrying her because it was raining and the paws were dirty. The dog was screaming and yelling her head of in pain, vet had to amputate two toes. The aunt is still upset.

Keep being offended OP.

*Laquitar" I think it's "carry your child in case he/she wees up someone's leg!"

YABU to be offended by something so minor.