As the are mere seconds into their journey the train's tannoy announces "We will soon be approaching Barking Stop. Passengers are to be made aware to mind the gap as it is larger than most station gaps. Please be advised tha-". And anything else he might have said was cut off by a wave of static as the train continued to peacefully rattle along to its destination.
Aside from the louder-than-normal screeches as the carriages hit rust on the tracks the journey was fairly standard for the Hammersmith & City Line. The passengers stood and sat in their usual weary malaise that was half anticipation of arriving at their stop and half unease at the crowd amassed in each carriage, all apparently wanting to get off at Barking.
The tension between passengers only increased as more tried to squeeze on at East Ham, barely leaving room to breathe. Nobody spoke, not even the clusters of youths who arrived together and stopped smiling or making eye contact with each other the second the train pulled away from their station. The air felt unbearably thick and several older people had fainted or were in the process of fainting. Nobody moved to help them - they were all thinking about their next stop.
When the train pulled into Barking, as announced over the tannoy, everyone who was conscious turned their attention to the doors on both sides. As they slid open the people closest peered out into the dark void of the underground. The platforms on either side were barely visible through the gloom as the gap was about twelve feet on either side.
It wasn't really known why there were to many tracks at this stop when only three lines ran to it (and one of those was only in use a handful of days per month) yet it seemed that twenty could happily fit side-by-side with reasonable gaps between each.
One by one the passengers began to hop down and race to the platforms of their choice, much in the way that rats leave a sinking ship in drips and droves. After about an hour the only ones left were those who were still to terrified of the sheer darkness between them and the platform exits and those who had succumbed to the heat and lack of air caused by the crowds.
These people never last much longer than an hour. Exactly 75 minutes after the train stops it powers down completely. Sensible passengers run as soon as the doors open and don't look back until they are on board another train or are on the surface while the slower ones who try to make it to the platforms after the lights shut off are rarely seen or heard from again save for their names scrawled along the passages in dark red graffiti. Always dripping as if it was freshly sprayed.
Aside from the louder-than-normal screeches as the carriages hit rust on the tracks the journey was fairly standard for the Hammersmith & City Line. The passengers stood and sat in their usual weary malaise that was half anticipation of arriving at their stop and half unease at the crowd amassed in each carriage, all apparently wanting to get off at Barking.
The tension between passengers only increased as more tried to squeeze on at East Ham, barely leaving room to breathe. Nobody spoke, not even the clusters of youths who arrived together and stopped smiling or making eye contact with each other the second the train pulled away from their station. The air felt unbearably thick and several older people had fainted or were in the process of fainting. Nobody moved to help them - they were all thinking about their next stop.
When the train pulled into Barking, as announced over the tannoy, everyone who was conscious turned their attention to the doors on both sides. As they slid open the people closest peered out into the dark void of the underground. The platforms on either side were barely visible through the gloom as the gap was about twelve feet on either side.
It wasn't really known why there were to many tracks at this stop when only three lines ran to it (and one of those was only in use a handful of days per month) yet it seemed that twenty could happily fit side-by-side with reasonable gaps between each.
One by one the passengers began to hop down and race to the platforms of their choice, much in the way that rats leave a sinking ship in drips and droves. After about an hour the only ones left were those who were still to terrified of the sheer darkness between them and the platform exits and those who had succumbed to the heat and lack of air caused by the crowds.
These people never last much longer than an hour. Exactly 75 minutes after the train stops it powers down completely. Sensible passengers run as soon as the doors open and don't look back until they are on board another train or are on the surface while the slower ones who try to make it to the platforms after the lights shut off are rarely seen or heard from again save for their names scrawled along the passages in dark red graffiti. Always dripping as if it was freshly sprayed.
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