Certainly.
As far as I make it, there are now eight Overground services an hour, even late at night, four from Crystal Palace, and four from West Croydon. These are every five minutes, with a missing train every third train. It's 15 minutes from Sydenham to Canada Water (compared to the 20+ minutes to London Bridge and the long walk).
That's in addition to the four services an hour to/from London Bridge which are slotted into the missing train gaps.
So twelve services an hour into London, every five minutes.
Also if you're out in Crystal Palace, the last train to Sydenham/Forest Hill is at ten to midnight.
I noticed that at NCG the announcement mentioned Goldsmiths College, but it didn't mention the Horniman Museum at Forest Hill...
East London Line Launch on Sunday 23rd May.
Well it might do, as the 07:40 is now the 07:39!fishcox wrote:Totally recommend it, although I dont think its going to affect my daily grind into work, the 0740 to London Bridge is still a much easier journey for central London.
Just had a look at the new timtable for the LBG trains (new line is useless for me for work) and some of the morning trains now take 22 mins to get to London Bridge (as opposed to 16 mins returning), there are no fast trains any more, some trains have been cancelled (07:45 and 08:33), and we know there are only 4 trains an hour in the evening.
Add this to the cancellation of trains from Charing Cross in the evening (and some of us used them as part of the daily commute and the journey is now 10 mins longer) and it looks like we are getting the short straw here!
As with anything someone is bound to lose out. You can't please everyone. It is a shame that the LBG service has been reduced because some people, including myself, moved to SE London because of the ease of travelling to work.
However this new Overground service now suits me better because my circumstances have changed this year and I now work in the City instead of the London Bridge area. So today I was able to get a train to a station that was only a 5 minute walk from the office (I'm a fast walker... TfL said it would be a 10 min walk). Which is good because it means City workers will now consider moving "south" which will have a positive effect on the housing market here, won't it? I can also get back into my "sport" as what was a 1-2 hour journey to training is now 45 minutes.
Yesterday it was nice seeing families make an occasion of the first day, taking their lunches to eat on the train and discussing how much freedom it gives them for family outings over the weekend. Also at Shoreditch over hearing a group of people discuss where in South London they were going to go for the day. Plus the air-conditioned trains were lush!!
So I think it's a positive thing for the area. Mind you if I was still working at London Bridge maybe I would have a different POV
However this new Overground service now suits me better because my circumstances have changed this year and I now work in the City instead of the London Bridge area. So today I was able to get a train to a station that was only a 5 minute walk from the office (I'm a fast walker... TfL said it would be a 10 min walk). Which is good because it means City workers will now consider moving "south" which will have a positive effect on the housing market here, won't it? I can also get back into my "sport" as what was a 1-2 hour journey to training is now 45 minutes.
Yesterday it was nice seeing families make an occasion of the first day, taking their lunches to eat on the train and discussing how much freedom it gives them for family outings over the weekend. Also at Shoreditch over hearing a group of people discuss where in South London they were going to go for the day. Plus the air-conditioned trains were lush!!
So I think it's a positive thing for the area. Mind you if I was still working at London Bridge maybe I would have a different POV
The advantages outweigh the minor disadvantages in my opinion. A couple fewer trains in the morning for London Bridge / Northern Line folk - but the trains will be emptier because of people moving to the overground.
The morning train was always 22 minutes, usually with an added wait outside London Bridge.
You could always do 15 minutes to Canada Water, then nip on the Jubilee Line to London Bridge - that will take under 7 minutes in total. Or Whitechapel for the District Line folk. So if the next train at Sydenham is a Overground, get it, it'll be quicker.
As for the evening, 8 trains an hour from Canada Water with a simple platform change is a no brainer for those that this journey is convenient for. The longest wait is ten minutes though.
The morning train was always 22 minutes, usually with an added wait outside London Bridge.
You could always do 15 minutes to Canada Water, then nip on the Jubilee Line to London Bridge - that will take under 7 minutes in total. Or Whitechapel for the District Line folk. So if the next train at Sydenham is a Overground, get it, it'll be quicker.
As for the evening, 8 trains an hour from Canada Water with a simple platform change is a no brainer for those that this journey is convenient for. The longest wait is ten minutes though.
Maybe, but that'll require a Travelcard season rather than a rail season. I can't speak for the Z1-3 tickets, but for 1-4 it'd bump the price by getting on for 50%. So yes, you can do it, but it'll cost ya.JeeBee wrote:You could always do 15 minutes to Canada Water, then nip on the Jubilee Line to London Bridge - that will take under 7 minutes in total. Or Whitechapel for the District Line folk. So if the next train at Sydenham is a Overground, get it, it'll be quicker.
Thanks for the advice, and I will look at it, but unfortunately, I need to get to either Russell Square, Euston or Goodge Street as I work in univesity-land in Bloomsbury and usually go on to Charing Cross and get a bus or walk, and I'm not a big fan of the tube at the best of times. So the thought of 3 tubes in rush hour in a heatwave is not filling me with joy!JeeBee wrote: You could always do 15 minutes to Canada Water, then nip on the Jubilee Line to London Bridge - that will take under 7 minutes in total. Or Whitechapel for the District Line folk. So if the next train at Sydenham is a Overground, get it, it'll be quicker.
It's just that when I moved here 8 years ago, the morning trains were only 16 mins, and the evening trains went at regular 10 minute intervals and there was a through train from Charing Cross when I worked late - which is often.
I'm glad that it's great for some people, but I don't have any particular need to go to East London at the moment - yeah I know, maybe I should get out more LOL
Video of the day:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxU2XsCkqog
I tried to embed it but the HTML is off on this website.
There is another video coming tonight.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxU2XsCkqog
I tried to embed it but the HTML is off on this website.
There is another video coming tonight.
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goonerchamp
- Posts: 167
- Joined: 28 Jun 2005 12:18
- Location: Sydenham, Sydenham where the f**k is Sydenham
Yes the ELL trains are all well and good - the aircon is really appreciated at the moment and its fantastic if you now have the option of using the jubilee line at canada water.
The downside is that, based on tonight's journey home from london bridge, having only 1 train every 15 mins during the peak, is really stretching it to say the least.
The downside is that, based on tonight's journey home from london bridge, having only 1 train every 15 mins during the peak, is really stretching it to say the least.
Does anyone actually head south from Sydenham to go to work? 
Overground services to West Croydon are more frequent, start earlier and finish later.
But we've lost our Sutton services (apart from one at silly o-clock in the morning) and I suspect may of those who do head south will be making an additional change at Norwood Junction to get where they're going.
Overground services to West Croydon are more frequent, start earlier and finish later.
But we've lost our Sutton services (apart from one at silly o-clock in the morning) and I suspect may of those who do head south will be making an additional change at Norwood Junction to get where they're going.
Video no.2 - the News
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2miLtLC06w
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2miLtLC06w
And the much vaunted aircon system was also knackered on some of the ELL trains (including mine - I was roasted from Shadwell!).rbmartin wrote:It was just as bad for ELL passengers today. A lineside fire at Norwood Junction affected both sets of trains during the evening peak.goonerchamp wrote:the new lines great - but was getting home today from London Bridge 5:30pm such a f**king mission - I hope this ain't the norm every day
Did we not have these exact same kind of problems when it was just the Southern service? Delays during peaks hours (last night's delay wasn't the fault of any train company), sweltering trains ... etc etc
I was fortunate enough to get a ELL train at Syders (from CP) during the delays. The train driver apologised for the delays for both services then kindly gave an alternative route to get to London Bridge using his service or, he said, wait on the platform for an indefinite time for the other services to start again. Still people complained throughout the entire journey even though they managed to get to London Bridge quicker than if they had taken the latter advice.
I was fortunate enough to get a ELL train at Syders (from CP) during the delays. The train driver apologised for the delays for both services then kindly gave an alternative route to get to London Bridge using his service or, he said, wait on the platform for an indefinite time for the other services to start again. Still people complained throughout the entire journey even though they managed to get to London Bridge quicker than if they had taken the latter advice.