The Anonymous Widower

GTR Create A Crisis Out Of A Little Local Difficulty

My Plan was simple. I intended to take a train down the East London Line to South Norwood and from there walk across the platform to hop one stop to East Croydon. At East Croydon, the idea was then to get a Thameslink Class 319 to Luton and Bedford, taking pictures along the route.

I should have known there were problems at Dalston Junction, as staff didn’t know where trains were to be routed. In the end my West Croydon train, which had been prematurely turned at the station, was sent off to Crystal Palace.

I spent about fifteen minutes at New Cross Gate changing from my train to a following West Croydon one. It sped to South Norwood, where I waited to try to get some pictures of the passengers crossing between southbound Overground and Southern trains.

The wait was in vain and I didn’t get my pictures and in the end took a train to East Croydon to get Thameslink.

At East Croydon, chaos was in full flow, with trains arriving randomly in opposite directions on the same platforms, and after nearly an hour, I managed to squeeze onto an extremely crowded Bedford train.

Eventually, the crush in the train eased and I got to Luton and Bedford in a Class 319 train.

The problem had all been caused by a serious signal fault at Clapham Junction. These happen, but it was GTR‘s response to the problem that failed so badly.

When I was waiting at South Norwood, there were no staff on the southbound platform and no information about what was going on.

At East Croydon, information was again minimal, but it probably didn’t help that the station is in the middle of a rebuilding.

GTR must get their act together.

Reading between the lines in this section on East Croydon station from Wikipedia, it seems that GTR aren’t the only ones, where East Croydon station is concerned.

October 28, 2014 - Posted by AnonW | Transport/Travel | Croydon, Govia Thameslink Railway, Trains