Off-peak day returns :

Forest Hill to Richmond using Southern/SouthWest trains = 45 minutes (via Waterloo ?4.70p or via Clapham Junction ?3.50p)

Forest Hill to Richmond on the LO = 90 minutes (via whole of North London)

The LO better be far cheaper than ?3.50 for me to spend an extra 45 minutes on the train

I suspect that passing through the north/south divide through zone 1 will attract the higher fare. TFL have installed special pink Oyster readers at a number of stations which would typically be used by those wishing to avoid zone 1. The idea is that you touch in at your interchange to prove that you took the longer non-central route and avoid the zone 1 charge. Any route that is construed as being through the central area would be charged as such.

So glad not to be doing this route any more ( sounds hell ) and instead having a lovely time on the P4

There is completely overwhelming evidence that passengers travelling to or through Shoreditch High Street Station on the ELL will pay a Zone 1 fare.

When Michael and I had a meeting with the senior PR person from ELL just a few weeks ago, she confirmed the "extra" charge. And just to absolutely nail this, I telephoned the ELL PR dept and they too have confirmed that this is the case.

The placing of Shorditch into zone 1 seems to me to be geographically questionable (though I can't find a map showing where the zones overlay the streets) and is certainly underhand based on how the new station was shown in a 2007 tfl brochure.



Is this a case for action?

A gentleman from London Transport was round my house last night doing a general questionnaire about transport use. I was the last person in the area that he'd surveyed and I brought up the fact that transport is fine at the moment but won't be soon due to ELL coming and them cutting train services.

What was interesting was that the London Transport guy said that I was the only person he had surveyed in our area who had brought this up at all and most people were just chuffed that we were getting the tube. This confirms to me that MOST PEOPLE in our area are completely unaware of what is going on.

It must be time to flyer now. I'm willing to take the morning off work to do so.

I was also surveyed at home by a company on behalf of TFL recently but I don't recall any of the questions asked allowed an answer about the future. They were only asking about travel patterns etc now versus the past!

He asked whether there was anything about transport that was difficult for me and I brought it up. It's in the future but the very near future so he wrote it down.

He thought it was very interesting as he'd heard nothing about the train problems and works for LT.

I've been away and am trying to catch up.

Michael indicated that he thought that an amendment about the withdrawal of the CX services was going to be put down at the council meeting last Thursday, and later confirmed that the issue was in fact raised. It does not however seem to have featured in the motion eventually passed, which referred only to London Bridge (and Bellingham to Victoria services?) - see http://forum.sydenham.org.uk/viewtopic.p...0ffc#30471

Is that right? If so, does anyone know why? It sounds bad news to me.

It seemed that way to me too, but

At the risk of repeating myself, does anybody know if people along the rest of the line to Caterham are aware of the Charing Cross issue.

The wording of the petition is worded very locally and it would be a shame to miss out on more support if it is there.
Are there contacts with other forums similar to this one, but along the line - specifically:

New Cross Gate, Brockley, [Honor Oak Park, Forest Hill, Sydenham,] Penge West, Anerley, Norwood Junction, East Croydon, South Croydon, Purley Oaks, Purley, Kenley, Whyteleafe, Whyteleafe South, Caterham

I was having a drink with a friend who lives in Croydon the other night and brought this subject up. She was horrified as yes, she can get a train back from Victoria but it's not the West End is it?

Would passengers on the Caterham branch use the service all the way into and out of London though? It'd be faster for them to change at East Croydon for fast services to LB and Victoria, although I can see why those last trains from CX would be useful to them though.

So, showtunesgirl, are you saying your friend didn't know about this?

rbmartin, I did look at the options for some of the other stations returning from London (which is the most relevant issue, I think) and there didn't seem to be a major saving in total journey time if connecting in East Croydon compared to traveling on the direct service from CHX. If no big difference, I would have thought people would prefer to sit down from Charing Cross and get up at their destination instead of changing.

(This service was one of the main reasons for my decision to move to FH a few years back. I was all for campaigning to get it to run later! The mooted ELL extension, though touted by estate agents at the time, was never a big attraction as it doesn't really go to anywhere I want to go!

West End direct to home is a big attraction!)

Anyway, my point is - are they aware of the issue? If 'they' are and aren't bothered, then fair enough. But if they don't know about it and would be concerned, it would seem reasonably prudent to consider letting them know - I just don't know how to best do this and hope others might.

Pics of the interior of the new ELL overground trains have been posted on another forum as they're now in operation on the West London Line between Clapham Junction and Willesden Jnc.

If you look, this is what you can expect from next year.

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread...57&page=41

Yup, she had no idea. And it's not just the people in Croydon. Most people in SE23 have no idea. [/quote]

The petition at http://nototraincuts.notlong.com has passed 1,000 signatures just two weeks after being set up!

Please keep signing and writing to Southern Railways and politicians. If anybody bumps into Boris in the pub - 'av a word!

So far, despite all the support of politicians, we have seen no signs of any change of heart by Southern Railway or the DfT.

The next step will need to be leafleting at all the stations on the line and I will provide more details once we have a better idea of the logistics. Any other suggestions would be most welcome.

I am more than happy to help on this.

Also what about the SE23 free magazine. Can we get them on board as well?

Oh and as for Boris. He can be found quite easily in the City Hall cafe around half one when he goes down to get his lunch.

I've worked extensively at the Open Air Theatre just outside City Hall.

According to http://londonreconnections.blogspot.com/...w-ell.html the ELLX will open on 23rd May 2010.