Waiting for the train

Are seats on railway platforms destined to become "optional extras"?  I was alerted to this by some comments on the internet (including here http://bicyleblog.blogspot.com.au/2012/11/customer-service.html), so I called past to check.  Yes, it is indeed true that there are now no seats on one pair of platforms at Flinders St.  As someone who appreciates the ability to rest my aging bones while waiting for the train, I think this is an unfortunate move. 

No seats - just marks on the ground where they were!

I am not sure why it has been "necessary" to remove the seats.   I gather that Metro thinks it may create space for a few more people to stand on the platform.  Strange that this has just now become an issue for the first time since 1922 (see below) even though we are told there were big crowds in the 50s (before the loop, mind you).   And if it has become an issue, perhaps if Metro ran enough trains, the crowds wouldn't build up.  In fact, perhaps it would suffice if all the trains that are supposed to run in fact operated instead of being cancelled. 

Another possible explanation is that it will assist passengers to transfer from a train on one side of the platform that was originally destined to go to "x" when Metro in its wisdom decides at the last minute that, instead, the train on the other side of the platform will go there, so everyone has to change over.

How long are these seats on another platform going to last?

For what it is worth, apparently this is not the first time seats have been removed in the alleged interest of creating more room.  In Jenny Davis's book, Beyond the Facade, it's noted (page 260) that "most" of the seats were removed from the platforms in 1922 "to make more room for waiting passengers"!  But at least then they left a few seats.


PS - for a follow-up blog by aami, see  http://bicyleblog.blogspot.com.au/2012/11/i-posted-recently-about-removal-of.html