For those of you clearly obsessed with train times (we used to spot numbers in my day) there is a cheap alternative, the bus. OK it takes twice as long, and stops a lot. But you don't have to change at London Bridge, there is no crush, you get a seat, it gives you time to do the Telegraph Crossword (thanks TJ), you can listen into other people's mobile phone conversations in peace (and they tend to be longer and more interesting than the ones on the train), you can see places like Peckham or the Elephant than I know many of us in SE23 are frightened of, but in relative safety, and it costs only a quarter of the peak time rail fare.