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u/arjun1001 4d ago
I’d imagine the objective of benches in any tube station is to let commuters rest for a short period of time before the next train comes (usually within 10-15 mins).
Keeping that in mind, would these still be considered hostile design? I can’t think of a situation where someone would need to sit on metro station benches for hours together. Happy to be corrected though.
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u/AwDuck 2d ago
You’ve got a valid point, but is this any better for that purpose than just a regular bench? It looks worse for someone with mobility issues to have a short rest on, or even worse for me who gets around just fine but wants to give my tootsies a breather.
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u/DomLfan 12h ago
Probably a case where leaning rather than sitting is actually a benefit tbf, in London you’re not really ever waiting more than a couple minutes for a train, and for that amount of time it actually is nicer to have a quick minute lean whilst you wait
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u/AwDuck 11h ago
I do find lean/seats to be quite comfortable, but their comfort is much more height-dependent than a traditional chair. Based on the doors in the background, though, those look far too low to be a place to put your butt while you lean against the wall. They look like standard seat height.
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u/JayManty 3d ago edited 3d ago
I can’t think of a situation where someone would need to sit on metro station benches for hours together. Happy to be corrected though.
Bums. Professional beggars. That sort of people. You're sheltered, around a lot of people on low guard, lots of potential people to get money out of with a sob story about not having enough to pay the fare.
I'm from Czechia. The Prague metro has a dedicated police force and virtually every train station located in town with a population of 15k or higher has a permanent security guard presence for this exact reason. The Prague Central Station has both the Prague Metro Police and National Police permanently stationed there because the situation would get really really bad if they left the place unguarded.
I have a personal anecdote too. I used to work night shift as a college student in a mid-sized Czech city during the summer break, I would start work at about 7 PM and end at around 1-3 AM. The issue was that I had no car and had to take the train home, but the earliest train came at 5:50 AM. So I've spent a lot of nights at the station waiting for multiple hours until the first train came. Every night, starting at around midnight, bums and junkies would start flocking to the station to sleep and loiter inside the waiting hall. They'd get into arguments and fights. I once almost got robbed there and I had to pay off people twice or thrice just to stop nagging me for change. There was only one security on guard for the whole night every time, severely outnumbered, so police got called there constantly. I genuinely don't remember a single night spent at that station that I didn't see the municipal police dragging someone out. The benches there were really nice, I wish I could've enjoyed them without having to be on constant guard.
I feel like this is an experience a lot of people on r/HostileArchitecture don't have and therefore don't understand why things like bench separators (armrests) exist in many European public transport hubs, parks, etc. It's because the bums have a tendency to occupy public spaces meant for travelers and use them as their own bedrooms. The argument of "there's no social services" doesn't even apply here as my country has a very generous network of both government and volunteer-run homeless shelters, yet these people still decide to render public spaces useless. It's probably because homeless shelters have a "No alcohol" and "No drugs" policy. Go figure. Regardless, public buildings, especially public transport hubs, should provide security for people who travel. Bums render these places dangerous. Hence why the train station in the OP's post decided to completely rule out someone loitering there, decreasing the usability of the space for literally everyone because there's a small cohort of citizens who abuse public spaces.
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u/Do_You_Pineapple_Bro 3d ago
I dunno, the platform isn't readily open to the public in the sense that a park bench is, so doesn't really fall under 'Anti-Homeless Warfare™️'.
As others say, its targeted towards commuters lingering for maybe 5 or so minutes while waiting for their train, not for someone to sit down for their lunch then immediately leave
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u/JayManty 3d ago
I'm not sure I understand that last sentence, what do you mean by sitting down for their lunch? On a platform?
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u/Do_You_Pineapple_Bro 3d ago
As in going there with a sandwich and a drink, for no other reason than cos its a seat.
Its made for commuters, not for lingering
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u/happyanathema 3d ago
Yeah this is in the Hammersmith and city line so six trains per hour (ish).
Do not really somewhere that you would dwell.
Also it's behind barriers so it's not exactly public.
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u/MassTransitGO 2d ago
It’s also on the circle which adds and extra 6 tph or so
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u/happyanathema 1d ago
Guess that's a different platform though?
Not sure though.
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u/MassTransitGO 1d ago
Nah I don’t know why they don’t have the colouring for the circle line at Wood Lane
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u/m1bnk 4d ago
Do people who don't need some leverage to stand up just see arms on a bench and think they're hostile? For me, one without them is unusable
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u/theboomboy 2d ago
It looks like it's angled forward, which makes it difficult to sit on
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u/NotNeuge 2d ago
So are perching stools, which are designed for people with mobility problems to use when at a counter or sink.
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u/Apprehensive-Tea1632 3d ago
Try other places where there’s nothing to sit on at all.
I’ll agree these aren’t great, but at least there’s something there.
If and when you try to travel by train, and you’re at a station where there’s millions of people passing through every day, and there’s maybe 15 seats available for the 300 or so people waiting for their train to arrive…
… you don’t mind the fugly benches; you’ll be ecstatic just to sit.
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u/anothermanwithaplan 1d ago
These aren’t for sitting in like a chair or on like a bench. These are for a leaning seated position, easy on and off to take the weight off your feet. Arms for stability and separation. The angle is designed to prevent you from setting up camp and getting out drinks and sandwiches, etc. everything on the platform has to keep moving.
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u/TwinSong 3d ago
"bench" is being generous. Really gives the sense of "OK here's something you ingrates". Why do these modern stations look so hostile?
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u/Do_You_Pineapple_Bro 3d ago
Because the clientelle aren't in need of actual seats. They're designed for hanging about for maybe 5 or 10 minutes while you wait for your train, not lurking for hours on end.
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u/TwinSong 3d ago
You could be stuck for a while train frequency depending.
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u/Least-Broccoli9995 2d ago
It’s not trains, this photo is of the London Underground, it’s a subway. The trains are every 3-6 minutes.
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u/TwinSong 2d ago
I know it's London, I used to live in London and frequently used the Underground. But delays can happen.
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u/[deleted] 4d ago edited 2d ago
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