Anyone who commutes into London via Liverpool Street knows the situation. You take the Circle via Tower Hill, to get off at Liverpool Street. But when the train gets to Aldgate, it often stops for up to 10 minutes, due to the sheer number of trains passing through from Aldgate to Liverpool Street.
So you get off the Circle Line train, and hover on the platform to see whether the next train to leave the station for Liverpool Street is the Metropolitan Line train waiting on the next platform, or the Circle Line train you just got off.
For some reason, this occurs nearly every day. Londonist calls it The Aldgate Guessing Game. It seems to affect a huge number of people, and it an often be an intriguing little game - one has to get off onto the platform, wait for the signal on one train to turn green, and then jump onto the train before the doors close, or you could be stuck at Aldgate for a further few minutes. The game gets interesting when there are three trains wating.
Unfortunately, the stakes are high: We have often missed a connecting train because we picked the wrong train at Aldgate. So how come TfL can't sort out the timing of trains to stop this situation occurring?
Is anyone else forced to play the Aldgate Guessing Game? Please give us your thoughts on the comments page.