Starbucks On Southern
I was offered a cup of coffee from the trolley on the train back from Worthing today.
I refused, as the trolley had the Starbucks logo on the side.
Has the anti-Starbucks protest got to me? I think so, but we had actually discussed this at lunch.
I’ve not completely got them out of my life, but where there are alternatives like Knot Pretzels at Clapham Junction, I use them.
The Most Read News Item On The Crossrail Web Site
This article is the most read article on the Crossrail site.
It’s about property prices rising because of the new railway line!
It was always thus and with any sniff that their house might be worth more, people will always check.
After all, government know that the best way to get re-elected is to make sure property prices rise.
This is also why most people object to new housing developments in their area. The law of supply and demand might cause the value of their house to fall, so it’s better to be safe and sure and stop more being built.
Does The Passenger Know Best?
As I indicated in this post, if I was going from Dalston Junction station to Gatwick Airport, I’d go via Clapham Junction station, as the interchange is simple because of the well-designed bridge.
But what is the recommended route from the National Rail Enquiries journey planner? It seems to recommend routes via New Cross Gate station and often ones that need two changes as well. But it does generally get times of just over the hour. Forcing the journey planner to go via Clapham Junction gives a silly route using Highbury and Islington station and the Victoria line, which you don’t want to do with a heavy case. Finally, I got it to go via Claphsm Junction and it looks like this route is about twenty minutes slower than the New Cross Gate route. But most of that time is spent changing trains, so you have plenty of time for buying coffee and tickets.
So sometimes, it’s easier to do the journey, the way you think is best!
Changing At Clapham Junction Station
The one thing that worked well on my trip today, was changing at Clapham Junction station to go south.
If you use the bridge over the tracks, it is fully served with lifts, so if you are wheeling a heavy case to Gatwick Airport, it is probably easier than say getting it off the Underground at Victoria station. There’s also a couple of coffee shops on the bridge and even in the rush hour today, there was somewhere to sit.
I think we should congratulate Network Rail on doing a good design job in bringing an old bridge up to the standard that travellers expect these days.
I would also recommend you buy your tickets before travelling, unless you are prepared to go through the barriers and buy the tickets at the station.
One good thing about changing at Clapham Junction, is that if you use the bridge it is fairly eas to find your ongoing platform. Coming north, it is very easy as you always go to Platform 2.
Hopefully, this will improve as more and more people use Clapham Junction station to change to and from the south. Today, the trains to and from the station on the South London line weren’t very full. But then that was the case when the rest of the Overground opened.
I don’t think it will stay as quiet for long!
Going South
I could have called this piece Going Southern or Wandering Through Sussex, but today’s trip was a bit of a nightmare.
I’m always a bit apprehensive going south of the Big Sewer, as inevitably when I do I get lost or something happens.
Today’s trip couldn’t have been simpler. I wanted to get to Bosham station, just to the west of Chichester to have lunch and walk by the sea with an old colleague. It appeared that now the new South London line is open, a start by going to Clapham Junction station would be a good idea. From there I would take the 09:38 towards Bognor Regis and change off this train at Barnham station for Bosham.
The first leg went very well and just a couple of minutes late, the lightly-loaded Overground train pulled into Clapham Junction. There was a slight problem in that there are no ticket machines by the Overground platforms and you have to go outside the gated area to get a ticket. I couldn’t complain about the price and it cost me just £15.30. As one connection from the Overground to the train I wanted was just a minute, you’re a bit stumped if you cut it fine and have a ticket to collect.
I could have done it as the 09:38 pulled into the station, about ten minutes late.
We ran well until Billingshurst, but then it all started to go wrong, as a train in front had broken down. Eventually, it became obvious, I wouldn’t make my connection, so I phoned my friend and we agreed, he’d pick me up at Chichester. Which is what happened, but we finally got to the restaurant in Bosham about an hour after we planned.
We had our lunch and a walk and then I was dropped back at Bosham station to get the train home. As my ticket allowed me to go via Havant, if I wanted, I wasn’t pleased to see the westbound train steaming out of the station, as I arrived on the platform. As the trains seemed to be running to a random edition of the timetable, I thought the best thing to do, was to take the first train to arrive, as most seemed t0 be either delayed or cancelled.
So I found myself on a Brighton train and felt the best thing to do, would be to ask the conductor’s advice, as to the best route back to Clapham Junction. But he was nowhere to be seen, so I decided to take my chances at Barnham station.
There I got advice to go to Worthing and get a London train from there, which is what I did. I finally arrived at Clapham Junction nearly three hours after being dropped at Bosham. The trip is scheduled to take around one hour fifty minutes.
To make matters worse, i just missed an Overground train at Clapham Junction and had to wait fifteen minutes. But there were no further delays and I thought the train was surprisingly full for an early evening one. It will be interesting to see how traffic builds in the next few months.
So why were the Southern trains late?
One of the rather overworked employees said is was all down to the cold and when I said it didn’t seem to happen on the Ipswich line, he blamed the third rail electrical system. Perhaps, now the long-since dead idiot who decided to use this system, is getting the criticism he deserves. After all Southern Railway did start electrification with an overhead system and then ripped it out in the late 1920s.
I should say too, that all the staff were very good and helped when they could. The advice to go via Worthing was totally spot on.
I think next time, I go south, I’ll check on the weather first!
Is The New South London Line What Passengers Want?
I ask this question after the report of the demonstration last night and this piece on the South London Line’s opening today. Both reports give the impression, that most South Londoners think the routing is wrong.
I’m not from South London and therefore I have no idea what is best for Peckham and Clapham. But I do know that opening the East London Line to Crystal Palace prompted me to visit, as exploring the electric trains south of the Great Sewer, is something that North Londoners are genetically programmed not to be able to do. They always feel happy on anything that is on Harry Beck‘s iconic Underground map.
The opposition to the routing of the South London Line seems also to be led by a group of anti-Boris politicians, who tend to believe that anything Boris backs is thoroughly bad and driven by his ego, rather than common sense.
What seems to have been forgotten here, is that the new South London Line routing was proposed before Boris became Mayor and that something had to be done for a few years to create extra paths into London Bridge station, whilst it is being rebuilt. Just as I complain about buses being disrupted by Crossrail, in part the South London Line problems are a victim of the London Bridge improvements. I think it is true to say, that Transport for London has an extensive database of journeys by public transport in London, because of the Oyster Card and Freedom Pass information. So they probably know a lot more about where customers actually go, than the customers themselves.
Incidentally, I travelled part of the way this morning to Clapham Junction station with a doctor, who was going on shift at Kings College Hospital by Denmark Hill station from his home in Hoxton. It was certainly an easier journey for him than before the new line opened. So although, there will be some losers because of the changes, there will also be winners. How many other people have moved house or changed job in the last couple of years, in anticipation of the changes? We don’t know, but Transport for London will in a few months, when they analyse the journeys.
Do-It-Yourself Wheelchair Ramp At Manningtree Station
I photographed this at Manningtree station.
Do-It-Yourself Wheelchair Ramps At Manningtree Station
Does it send a message to those in wheelchairs?
Coffee And Pretzels At Clapham Junction
Not for me the pretzels, but the coffee was good in my pit-stop at Knot Pretzels at Clapham Junction station.
I do love their innovative use of an old trunk for the sugar and stirrers.
Closing A Chapter – The New South London Line Opens
In some ways today, I closed a chapter in my life, that started when I moved back to London. Soon after, the rebuilt East London Line of the London Overground opened. I wrote about it here.
Today they opened the last section to Clapham Junction station and I was on the first train there from Highbury and Islington station.
The pictures could have been better, but it was just after seven this morning.
Not Everybody Is In Favour Of The New South London Line
This article on the BBC, shows that at the moment not everybody is in favour of the new South London Line as some of the inner suburban services will be dropped. But politicians will jump on any bandwagon however rickety to try to get one over on their rivals.
However, I think this will blow over, as partly the changes are caused by the rebuilding of London Bridge station.
I have used the inner South London line a few times to get to Victoria, by taking a bus to London Bridge station and then meandering through Peckham. The pictures of Battersea Power Station were taken on such a trip.
I’m just off to catch the first train from Highbury and Islington to Clapham Junction. It’ll take me longer to get round than this video.
The Anonymous Widower 