Checkmate wrote:Not everyone heads to London Bridge in the morning and leaves London Bridge in the evening.
East Croydon is the busiest station that Southern operate and a major interchange for stations to Gatwick and the south coast. How will the introduction of East London Line services affect the commute to East Croydon?
Or are we expected to get a 75, 450 or 197 instead?
The email from Southern says that in the morming high peak hour there will be two trains per hour hour from Sydenham to East Croydon.
There is no mention in the email of evening services from East Croydon to Sydenham, so I can't help you on that one.
There will continue to be two direct trains per hour to and from Sydenham and East Croydon just as we have at the moment.
Here is an emailed answer from a Southern Manager on this point:
"In the current timetable there are direct trains from London Bridge via Sydenham to East Croydon or beyond up to 1605, then nothing until 1914. From May 2010 the plan is for direct trains from London Bridge via Sydenham to East Croydon or beyond to 1606, then nothing until 1906. Therefore the interval between direct trains between the Sydenham Corridor and East Croydon is slightly improved compared with the current timetable - trains between the Sydenham corridor and East Croydon are not cut. The East Croydon southbound direction in the evening peak is full, and we are unable to accommodate any additional trains, but connections will continue to be provided at Norwood Junction."
I was surprised to learn that there are currently no direct trains from Sydenham to EC during the evening rush hours - although there are direct trains from EC to Sydenham during the evening rush hours.
So at face value things are going to remain as they are.
However - as a hardened reader of missives from train officials I'd ask you to note very carefully the last sentence of the reply above. Does this mean that half hourly trains between EC and Sydenham during the evening rush hours are to be cut or maintained? It's very unclear.
I've written back to the manager to clarify the situation and I will post the answer here as soon as it arrives.
Did anyone raise with, and then get a reply from, the Southern managers on the issue of the withdrawal of the direct service from Charing Cross?For those of us who do not commute daily into London but who visit the West End in the evenings, this is the most unwelcome of the proposed changes.
The above is the result of asking for train times from London Bridge to Sydenham between 5pm and 1am.
It seems, however, that the train times are not more evenly spaced in the late evenings and that the last trains leaving LB are still at 2324, 2353, 0026.
