How was your commute?

Well it’s the first week day of the new schedule. How was your commute?

The 0828 appeared a shorter train. All the seats looked filled from my favourite boarding spot. So I grabbed a coffee and waited for 0836 which was 3/4 empty and stayed as much to London Bridge. I’ve never seen a morning train leave New Cross Gate do empty. Shame it’s real old commuter stock. No tables. Spent a long time stopped outside London Bridge.

I can’t see how it would have been related to the new schedule, but I did get a seat when getting on an Overground train from FH to Canada Water at 0743. I literally can’t remember that ever having happened before!

Hmm. 0836 arrived into LBG later than the old 0845 did.

I left early this morning to catch the “new” 06.42 (old 0645) and it was late, arriving into FOH at 06.46. It was as busy as the old 06.45 was so no change there. I forgot to check how the “new” 06.58 (old 06.54) was running and it had dropped off the National Rail app when i remembered so it must have run pretty much on time. I did notice the 07.13 was running 6 minutes late when I looked though…

The 0658 arrived at 0658!

I was running late so got the 8:13am train at around 8:20am. Unsurprisingly it was packed, no seats available, and some Brockley commuters were left standing on the platform.
Seeing the way people were moving back up the platform it may also have been shorter than some people were expecting.

I much prefer taking the train an hour earlier.

I caught the 8.03 from Sydenham (which is 8.06 from forest hill) and the train was practically empty. Leaves about 5 mins later than old train but only starts at Crystal palace so usually good for seats and my preferred train. Albeit today it was even emptier than usual. So at Forest Hill still plenty of seats available.

I go to Victoria so easiest option is a walk to Sydenham Hill or a bus to Denmark Hill/Peckham Rye. The SH option is just a couple of minutes earlier. Denmark Hill changes are awful - fewer trains and bigger gaps in service. Unless you actually work IN Victoria station, you need to be on the 0817 to avoid being late. Previously there were two just after 0830 that got in before 0850.

I rode my bike today tho so was fine. I do need to take trains Thurs/Fri though which won’t be fun.

Mine was great, but then again, I don’t get the train lol

Well not since the Overground first started in 2010!

Absolute joke this new timetable. Catford is awful. Only 2 trains now I can get opposed to 3. They’re very packed too

Just saw the 0754 Overground to Highbury & Islington leave practically empty by rush hour standards.

The 0758 Southern to London Bridge was no more crowded then a train an hour later on the old timetable.

Awful, I have the choice of getting up 15 mins earlier and getting into to work 35 minutes early or scrape in on 9am if everything runs smoothly. Also I can barely squeeze onto the trains from Crofton Park whereas before a seat was guaranteed and same for overground. Not happy. Trying different route every day but disappointed by delightful commute is now a pain.

The loss of the 07:21 means that the 07-28 (running at 07:30) was very crowded.

Those of you using Crofton Park may find it better at the moment to try Southern from HOP or Brockley to London Bridge and change for Thameslink there, where there are more trains.

You can’t live next to a mainline then complain about train noise. Expect it to get worse as national rail is moving towards 24/7 trains.

Also there’s a reason property is cheaper near Crofton Park / Catford. Because they aren’t priority/mainlines and the service will always be crap.

Missed my train home tonight as I forgot about the new times. But discovered the new shop on the London Bridge concourse sells Cook ready meals and loads of wine. So that’s a win

Oh. Which part? Station concourse? Lower concourse? Or that bit connecting the station to the underground?

Details please

Lower concourse, near the escalators for Platforms 8 and 9 (or thereabouts). It’s built around a central display and you need to head towards the back to find the freezers full of Cook meals.

Oh cool. I noticed something new had opened to the left of Leon’s. But nothing suggested the wonderment of ready meals. Having a bare pantry I had to resort to Uber Eats.

Greggs is also coming

It’s called urban express

Not looking too healthy this evening. How many years did they have to plan this?

Not good at all
Plus issues on the Overground too due to a bridge strike

Although neither to do with the new timetable.

Was going to post it in a new thread but didn’t want to be starting new threads here there and everywhere.

Fair concern, but in this case a new topic would have made sense IMO. No biggie.

Dreadful tonite with delays and cancellations around 6pm. Very pleased we have an alternative in our neck of the woods but Overground packed out. Glad I dont live further out around Sutton area…

I thought they had a no strike agreement.

Overground trains running fine this morning. Southern are still trying to understand the concept of running trains.

Not all of them. My partner trying to get to Gatwick. First the Sutton train ‘delayed’, then the West Croydon becomes non-stopping from Sydenham … hope she makes it to her flight.

Not sure who you’re responding to, but doesn’t it depend on the noise? Some noise can be suppressed with sound baffling, and other design features. Positioning of speakers will affect whether station announcements are heard by nearby residents - who don’t need to be told 200 times per day that unattended luggage may be destroyed by ‘security services’.

My commute? Bloody awful! But nowt to do with trains…
My bike and I had a separation of ways and I had to have a little lie down in the road.
New tarmac, fresh shinny road markings, a corner and rain. You can even see the bit where I came off!

I’m sure it must have been painful and that your comment is not to be taken literally.

Wishing you a rapid recovery.

A little blood and a fair bit of skin but nothing to concerning - thanks.

I bet it felt just like being a kid again - when you’d be doing that every other day.
The wounds heal but I hope it didn’t ruin any of your favorite clobber!
My last one of those was one dark night in about 1986 when I rollerskated backwards down Manor Mount and had to swerve to miss a car pulling out of Pearcefield Road - ripped my SIMS Wheels T-shirt to shreds!

Made a hole in my expensive breathable top but that’s fine as I don’t mind my elbow getting wet!
Yes - when I was a kid I had permanent holes in my knees and elbows but now I feel rather old and stiff!

Hope you are as ok as possible mate. Took the car today as I didn’t fancy it out there after last night downpour.
I totally get the thing with clothing. Ripped a pair of thermal bib tights, and ruined brand new bar tape last time. Falling off just gets more expensive with age.

Yeah it all good - just a silly old codger cycling in the rain! It’s still better than taking train by the sounds of some posts here though!

Awful. Back to the old ‘tin’ trains with less coaches peak times. Feels like it’s back to the days before East London Line - packed, old trains. Horsham/Gatwick service used to stop at New Cross Gate, handy for when Southern decides to run fast from London Bridge to Crystal Palace, so it was good to change for Overground at Nxg. Now that’s gone. 8.09am to Victoria super slow and takes about 10min at Crystal Palace. Also noticed that trains into London Bridge are slow and have to wait much longer for a free platform. Massive downgrade. Maybe this new timetable works for some, somehow I feel majority of commuters are let down by it.

Every time!!!

I’d only just discovered that Horsham train interchange at NXG recently - such a shame it’s gone.

I went into the office early today and no bike has have to go out to Berks later. Jumped on a 185 and there’s now only two Victoria trains between 7&8 from Denmark Hill. So I stayed on the bus and got there at the same time.

All I can say the 17;10 to Sutton stopping at forest hill is great

And for the morning instead getting the 07:52 I get the 07:43 so don’t really understand the problem

For anyone suffering the new timetable, cancellations and delays, there’s a petition gaining signatures here:

While i don’t think nationalisation is the answer, the current management don’t seem to realise how critical this infrastructure is to so many people and businesses as are just playing with the railway in my opinion.

Interesting to see that the new timetable has even got Thameslink in trouble with Poundland!

The rescheduled 06.45 to 06.43 (which has never been on time since the new timetable started) was cancelled this morning… I couldn’t be bothered waiting until the 06.58 so got on the Overground to CW and changed onto the Jubilee Line to Waterloo… which reminded me why I never take this route in the morning… I cannot believe how busy that route is even at that time in the morning.

Yes. The Overground is a victim of its own success. It started with only 4 carriage trains. Now it has 5 per train. I can get on them now, but there is no chance of a seat. I find it peculiar that that the Overground has more carriages than some mainline trains!Personally, I think we should give up with the mainline trains, increase the number of Overground trains and restrict the stopping lines to the Overground.

I don’t think that Canada Water northbound overground platform would cope with the increased number of commuters. The westbound jubilee line trains would also not have capacity.

EDIT: Crossrail may change how people use the overground / jubilee line, so I hopefully stand to be corrected.

I would love to see an overground service terminating at London Bridge; however, I don’t expect that will happen in my lifetime.

I’ve only been commuting this week, twice in the morning from FOH to london bridge where the train has had to wait outside LBG for a platform. That part of the journey therefore takes much longer than it used to. Other morning services to canada water seem much as usual. The real shame for me is the change in time of the morning service via crystal palace to Victoria - if it was on time i could get a seat and get to work on the 8.06 just by 9am, but the new later departure time makes it unsuitable.

Though GTR are culpable, the DfT and the Secretary of State are ultimately responsible:

I preferred it when we had mainline trains every ten minutes from Forest Hill to London Bridge and the occasional train to Charing Cross.

I would suggest Overground trains from Crystal Palace to Canada Water only. They could come in on the southbound platform, which has greater passenger capacity.

I think we are blessed to have both and glad to have a choice so I can avoid the overground

Amen!

I couldn’t go back to how it was, even if the every 10 min service to London Bridge was good. Forest Hill station wouldn’t have seen the investment it received if it wasn’t for the ELL extension and is now a real turn up and go station (well at least from Platform 1).

I also like the fact I can travel to other parts of London for £1.50 such as Stratford instead of some of the expensive prices if only using National Rail services or a mix of NR and the tube.

preferred it when we had mainline trains every ten minutes from Forest Hill to London Bridge and the occasional train to Charing Cross.

I would suggest Overground trains from Crystal Palace to Canada Water only. They could come in on the southbound platform, which has greater passenger capacity.

Blockquote
I think this is a brilliant idea! and they should axe the stupid New Cross train as its only a 3 min walk to New X gate and the trains run empty from Canada water and are utterly pointless.

06.43 cancelled again this morning. 06.58 running late.

And I’ve yet to see any of the newer trains on our routes - what about these?

We’re not getting them. However the Class 455 units on Southern (the oldest stock) will be replaced at some point, probably with more of those ironing board Southern trains.

well thats a shame. Really feels like the service has gone backwards with all the old stock on our line.

At least those “ironing board” Southern trains, assuming you’re referring to those ones that we currently get on the Victoria route, have air-conditioning and seats which aren’t cramped together in rows of three with narrow aisles, and usually come with 10 coaches. I actually find the seats rather comfortable as well, especially compared to the Overground !

I understand that the old trains won’t be replaced under the current franchise so we’re probably stuck with them for a few years more to come.

I believe the 06.43 did turn up today but I was running a bit late and wouldn’t have made it so took my time at home and got the 06.58 instead. #publicserviceannouncementoftheday

My train today stank of cigarettes and Dettol. Not that fresh smell of some naughty teenager sneaking a quick fag on a late return home. But that deep ingrained smell you only ever get in old working men’s clubs and pubs with threadbare carpet of the 70s.

Gives an idea how old this stock is.

The Class 455 units which are on Southern were built between 1982-1984 which gives you an idea of how old the units are.

They were refitted over a decade ago, but are really showing their age now.

I’ve found the newer trains seem to have issues with the doors or electrics on occasion; the 455s might be ancient but there is nothing fancy about their technology so less likely to break (just about all they have going for them)

For me my morning commute from FOH to LBG feels proportionally worse - down from 6 to to 4 trains an hour between 7am and 8am (one of which is invariably late or cancelled), plus the long timetabled waits to get into a platform at London Bridge. Quite disappointing really.

The waiting around before London Bridge is a bit annoying indeed - I was hoping that the train would simply arrive early when it leaves on time but it actually gets held on the way.

That said, I’m rather impressed with punctuality so far especially considering all the issues with Thameslink. I find our trains running like a clockwork the last few days. They used to be reliably late every single time and now they’re bang on time most of the time.

It’s a shame to have fewer trains before 8am but there are more instead after 8am which is when they have been usually busier.

06.43 this morning has gone from being 5 minutes delayed to now just “delayed” which probably means it’s about to be cancelled. Nice to see the adjustments are working well!

Now back to being 8 minutes delayed.

08:25 to Caterham, the first train to East Croydon cancelled today…

Yep. Such a pain when they do that. I’m now going via Timbuktu to get to Gatwick.

I’m now catching an earlier train to arrive at work 10-20 minutes later. Part of this is due to the longer journey times built into the timetable. But most of it is the annoying stoppage outside of London Bridge. And combined with a similar stoppage now outside Charing Cross.

And seldom a train with a table for my On the Hoof coffee.

It sucks.

It definitely feels like a worse service on the Southern trains - the overground is no different, just getting used to the change in timings.
Older carriages, longer waits outside LB, poorer service to East Croydon and beyond. I’m sure some users are benefiting but it’s not us.

Just found a website that allows people to search past train times.

I did a search for FH to LB departing between 6 and 10 am, Monday to Friday, for the last two weeks.

image711×977 338 KB

I’m on my phone so a bit limited, but it would be interesting to see if we can pull more relevant data out that I did.

Ooohhh… that website is interesting…

I’m not surprised at the red-tinged result for the 0843. My two experiences on the 0836 bares out the 80% result as well.

But as with my first trip and my second today, the 0836 was barely 1/3rd full.

Remember, with delays and cancellation Delay Repay is your best friend.

https://delayrepay.southernrailway.com/customer-details

The petition reached 10,000 signatures quite quickly, and has received a response from government in an unusually short period too. From https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/220440 :

Passengers on this franchise have faced totally unsatisfactory levels of service in recent weeks. Poor service prior to this, as the Gibb report made clear, had largely been down to industrial action by the trade union on Southern rail. The Secretary of State and the Rail Minister have been clear that they share the frustration of passengers about the situation in recent weeks and they intervened as soon as the problems arose, with the Transport Secretary demanding a recovery plan. Since then, the Department has been in daily contact with the leadership of Network Rail and Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) and have insisted that both organisations put whatever resource is needed into resolving the situation, and into making sure that there is proper industry leadership of the recovery effort. Service information to passengers has improved and considerable work is being undertaken to operate the services in the timetable.

This timetable change was intended to deliver the benefits to passengers of major investment in the rail network. This means, through the £7 billion Thameslink Programme, new trains and improved stations, including the rebuilding of London Bridge and Blackfriars. The programme and timetable changes were designed to provide more frequent and longer trains through central London to respond to the huge growth in passenger numbers that we have seen in recent years. But this timetable change instead has resulted in unacceptable disruption for passengers that rely on these services.

The process of introducing the new timetable was overseen by an Industry Readiness Board, which included representatives from Network Rail, the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) and the train operating companies, and an Independent Assurance Panel. Both of these groups informed the Department that they had not been given any information to suggest that the implementation of the new timetable should be halted. These bodies were set up specifically to ensure that all parts of the rail network – Network Rail, GTR, other train operators - were ready to implement these major timetable changes. It should have been clear to them that some key parties were not ready; they did not raise this risk. As few as 3 weeks before the timetable was to be implemented GTR themselves assured the Transport Secretary they were ready to implement the changes. Clearly this was wrong, and it is totally unacceptable.

Investigations being carried out right now will give more information about what has gone wrong and why the industry remained of the view until the last moment that it would be able to deliver these changes. There has to be a proper investigation into events. Since this petition was launched the Chief Executive of GTR, Charles Horton, has resigned in order to make way for fresh leadership of GTR. Further action may need to be taken against GTR but only once we have the findings of these investigations.

It is right that the industry has apologised for the situation and that Charles Horton has stepped down, and it is right that we learn the lessons for the future, but right now the focus should remain on restoring the reliability of their service to passengers.

Department for Transport

Smooth train journey this morning but I was almost driven up the wall by an almighty orchestra of sniffing and snorting in my coach this morning, as if it was the height of truffle season! Further social studies revealed that the majority of offenders was wearing ear protection aka headphones, so they would not have to bear the noises of their own making. I was pretty close to offering a round of tissues to the whole lot but then the sniffers appeared to be in the majority over the non-sniffers, and I probably didn’t have sufficient supply with me anyway, so I ducked out…

Totally agree about people wearing ear phones. On the 185 yesterday a young man cane down the stairs wanting to get off the bus & the driver said to him, ring the bell!! The man took one ear phone out, looked at him & rang the bell
Doesn’t anybody carry tissues these days, especially with the high hay fever! Perhaps they are expecting tissues to be in a dispenser on the train !

Love the new timetable. They’ve filled in the gaps and the Southern and Overground trains have less people on them somehow.

A lot of them have probably given up and taken the bus!

Or handing over their savings to an Uber driver to get them anywhere near Gatwick airport…

I have to say I’ve found the complete opposite. There have been winners and losers with the changes.

Good if you use the Overground or London Bridge, not so much if you commute to East Croydon, Gatwick or anywhere on the Sussex coast.

Yes this so true. Was planning to hit Sussex by train on Sunday until realised that it was now 3 changes and c. 3 hours each way. Used to be able to do this easily as a day trip but no more it seems.

I tried the London Bridge train for the first time in ages and was surprised that it was half empty then arrived after 26 minutes and realised why. The journey time has doubled. Add that to less frequent trains and it could easily take you 40 minutes to travel between the stations.

I wish train type was included in train information. I’d have happily waited for an air conditioned 377 rather than the sweat box 455 I was on today.

I believe that generally the trains from and to Victoria are the only ones that are air-conditioned, except on weekends when they always seem to be wheeling out their oldest trains on show while all the new ones are lined up asleep at the depot down in Selhurst. There may be a good reason for this, but doing it during this hot weather looks like little care is giving to passengers. Ironically, they have ramped up the station announcements to carry a bottle of water with you at all times.

I had hoped this to be the case but my experience suggests a much higher usage of the 455s on the VIC-LBG route. It was on this route that I found myself on a 455 the other night and prompted me to write the post. It seems all hit and miss to me.

Some may recall the hilarious 377 train drivers who make jokes as they drive… sometimes even a quiz. Me and the OH were on one of their trains into LBG before the timetable switchover. Before arrival he bade a fond farewell to his many fans as he would be moving onto other routes. I now think that meant the 377s would be moving (mainly) onto other routes.

Bah humbug Southern. Shitty trains. No air con. And now not even a comedy roast to help with the heat.

Feeling very smug last night as I needed to get to Sloane Square for 7pm. Overground to Whitechapel followed by District line. Air con and a seat all the way. Ten minutes longer that changing at Canada Water for Jubilee to Westminster. Worth every extra minute.

I got on a bus last night - just a quick trip to East Dulwich on the 185.
I have never been hotter except in a sauna. They must be hell in “rush” hour…

From Camberwell I’d always use the buses for the commute. Thet were still cooler than the Victoria line.

With traffic lighter at the moment, if you have a bike it could be a good time to try a pedalling commute. It at least feels cooler en route though unless you go v slowly, you might need to change at the other end.

I rode in a dress last night to the cinema and it was surprisingly ok tho only half the usual distance. On the way home in late afternoon, I’ve started wetting my cycle top before I start so it can evaporate and cool me down on the hottest part in town. It is generally only when you stop, that you feel extra hot.

I ride every day but I love riding in this heat! I don’t know how people cope with buses and the like but I am happy to ride my bike in any weather. I see these lovely sunny days as my reward for riding through the winter…
Nice 22 miles this morning on my 3 mile commute!

I go to Westminster and today tried this - changing at Whitechapel rather than Canada Water. Got a seat most of the way (highly unusual) and arrived at work feeling much more chill, literally! Great idea and yes only adds 10 minutes…

grand if you get the district, Hammersmith and city is such a pot luck, I sometimes go Barbican to Whitechapel and it can be 17 minutes until the next one!