Were my predictions of serious overcrowding on the evening Southern services completely wrong?
I would like to be wrong on this occasion even if I will feel quite stupid about joining other in making such a fuss.

But we should remember that the ELL was introduced not to replace Southern Services but to relieve the supressed demand on our line that resulted in serious overcrowding on many trains. We are predicted to get a 40% increase in passenger numbers during peak times, which will be shared between Southern and ELL. But on the basis of 2 days the system might be able to handle it.