SE23 Forum

I think that this forum should praise good local services where appropriate and deserved.

I have got to say - ?Andy? the owner of the Coffee shop at HOP station (despite being an Arsenal supporter) is a real treasure. Pretty much always cheerful in the morning and a good bloke at that.

We can put it in the Forest Hill Unsung Heroes Thread! it can just be a long list of all the good things in Forest Hill. (i think it is a few subjects down)

I'd second that! Polite, helpful and always cheerful. He once et me pay for my paper the following day when I had a large note only. Shame I no longer use the train since the East London Line closed - tried the replacement bus but it was appalling - 40 minutes to crawl to Canada Water. So now, no paper from Andy and a daily stressful grind through the Blackwall traffic jam.

i just joined this forum today, after hearing my ex-but-still-local-housemate talking about it at the weekend. I've lived in HOP for six years (having enjoyed every single moment) and today, for the first time, i went to the coffee shop at HOP station. I hadn't stopped by before as i felt a grande wet latte would have taken the place of a communter boarding at Brockley. I was feeling peckish at 10am, having not had breakfast tsk tsk, and asked 'Andy' if he anything to eat ie flapjack etc. He didn't, no problem. He then offered me one of his own apples... he washed it and dried and then gave to me. I'm still overwhelmed by his kindness... i hope to pass it on

I'm also glad to have found this forum...even if i am nearer catford than some!

Yes, please pass it on. I like apples.

Perryman,

With your name you should like pears!

Yes, I like a nice pear. Pass them on too.

And the little coffee shop serves a very tasty moccacino, too. Always makes me cheer up to have one before sqeezing onto the train, plus service with a smile is great! Wish they were selling a few snacks as well, would be a good addition.

The ticket machine has been out of action due to vandalism for a week now and it means we all have to queue at the ticket office. The queue for tickets from the ticket office this morning was ridiculous - right to the top of the stairs of platform 1. When is the ticket machine going to be fixed?

Almost certainly worth emailing Southern at comments@southernrailway.com - they're generally good at getting back to you the same day or the day after.

The queue was long this morning, but from the coffee stall to the ticket office it was less than 10 mins - that was around quarter to nine.

We are now entering into the third week of no ticket machine and Southern Trains have yet to provide a substantive response to my email. What is going on??

It's a nightmare! But at least the really quick ticket man was back today - he keeps his eye on the queue and is about as fast as anyone could be I think!

He wasn't there when I went to HOP station yesterday at about 5pm. Had a funny sign on his window saying "gone for break, back at 8pm". Think he came back later though, assuming that his break was not 3 hours after all. (if it was then I'll be sending off my application for THAT job right now) Am really getting fed up with weeks of weekend rail works, non existent replacement buses and tcket machines that are saying "no".

I was aiming for a 730 train on tuesday - woahhh how wrong was I - 15 min queue because the ticket machine was not working.

I am now buying tickets the night before - either at HOP if early enough or walking to FH station, not exactly convenient. I asked the chap today when it would be fixed - no idea apparently!

I have also sent several e-mails to Southern Customer services and had no response! After missing 2 trains this morning I gave them a call to complain.

I was told that it?s a nationwide problem and it?s not only Southern who have suffered the effects of vandalism to ticket machines. As such a high number of ticket machines are currently out of action expect to wait up to 12 weeks before it?s fixed.

On a positive note I agree with jon14, the ticket guy who has been working the last few mornings is very quick and keeps the queue moving.

For those on weekly/monthly tickets I can recommend going Oyster and getting your weekly/monthly top-ups from the shop just down from the station, thus avoiding the need to rely on any ticket sales at the station itself.

We cannot use Oyster for a daily ticket.

I have heard that the area manager for HOP station, Chris Daly, does not have a timescale for when this ticket machine will be fixed and he will be at HOP station all day on Monday 29th September "to monitor the situation and take passenger questions". I suggest we make our feelings clear. Things don't happen unless we make ourselves heard!

That should be interesting! He'll see a massive queue, people missing thier train, and the next one, and the next one.

I wonder what passenger questions he'll get? I can guess a few:

Q1: When is the ticket machine going to be fixed?
Q2: When is the ticket machine going to be fixed?
Q3: When is the ticket machine going to be fixed?

He'll only need to have one answer, but guess what - I bet he won't have it!

Good advice from Russ B though if you can/need to do it.

Surely difficult to blame therailway company if out of action due to criminal action.
I am sure they will repair as soon as possible.