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"At the next station, therefore, disregardful of the convenience
of other people, I struggled out, and should never have done
so had it not been for the insistent demands I made that
I should be let out. After being revived somewhat on the platform
I boarded the next train to find that things were all but as bad,
save only I was standing next to the door instead of being wedged
in the compartment like a sardine. This state of affairs went on as
far as Mile End, when I changed on to the District Line—I thought
things would be much better, but truth to tell they did not improve
until we reached Plaistow, and even all the way to Barking the
District train was seriously overcrowded.
"For an old man of 63 to try to travel on such a railway is
stupid, and it must be a serious hindrance to the health of people
who are a long way off being so old as I am. There is no doubt in
my mind that the distressing circumstances under which so many
people travel to work and home again is one of our most serious
factors militating against a healthy life.
"I invite people to turn to the history books and read the story
of the Black Hole of Calcutta and then ask what should be done
to the people who force us to accept travelling conditions which
arc comparable with the Black Hole and other similar distressing
imprisonments."
Another matter which needs attention is the provision of more and
better shelter facilities for people waiting for buses at busy stops.
We must see that at all places where at peak hours there are queues
it is possible for people to be housed in the dry. I see no reason why the
bus people could not take a shop or even two shops and turn them into
waiting places with a covered way over the pavement.
The cost of acquiring the premises is only like putting money from
one national pocket into another national pocket, and can be regarded
as a transfer; and even maintenance, which is usually a serious problem,
would in this case be minimal.
Alternatively, so far as Barking is concerned the time is overdue for
the Barking Station to be entirely redesigned, and when this is done it
should be possible to make ample provision for all the buses which stop
in the middle of the town, and for these buses to have a proper waiting
place where the people can remain dry if not warm and dry.
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