My husband has been taking the ELL to West Croydon these past two days, and I am afraid, his journey has not been as pleasant.

I got this email from him this morning:

"All five trains on the new overground I’ve caught or tried to catch have ended up delayed or taken out of service. Yesterday the latter happened at Norwood Jn after a 45 min delay sitting outside W Croydon and I had to get a cab – fortunately got a black one - £15 but made it in time. This morning all trains were up the spout but the 8.10 didn’t matrerialise and judging by the overcrowded 8.19 Caterham train none of its predecessors had either."

Interesting to see how different the experiences and expectations of different people have been.

I've had very positive experiences so far with the new line/new trains - this is after a couple of weeks of changing at NXG and travelling to/from Shoreditch High St and a couple of days of going from HOP to SHS.

Yes, the air conditioning's been too warm or too cold, but nothing beyond mild discomfort and certainly not the Black Hole of Calcutta conditions some people seem to have experienced.

The trackside fire at Norwood Junction yesterday clearly caused issues, but the ELL train I was on (around 6pm) at least had very clear announcements as the driver let people know what was happening, as far as he knew it - much better than some incidents have been treated by Southern in the past - and the delay (for me) was 10/15 mins.

Overall the impression that I have is of a great service which is having a few teething problems. Aside from anything else, the design of the new trains means that they can be a lot more crowded without people clustering round the doorways - but maybe that's a personal bugbear of mine. Am I seeing things through rose-tinted glasses?

As an admin note, is it maybe time for a new thread on reflections on the coming of the London Overground/ELL/new trains?

I wonder if this part of the forum is what you are after? This link to the East London Line thread in Beyond SE23 section should arrive at my posting of my morning experience.

Last evening, I was also on the ELL train (BTW, I should be saying the former ELL, as I believe it is now the London Overground, yes?) at around 6pm and didn’t experience conditions that were as hot as hades nor did I slump out of the carriage door at Forest Hill needing a silver thermal survival blanket to be treated for hypothermia. And indeed the driver of my train kept us clearly informed.

Did we both buy our rose-tinted glasses at the recent Specsavers sale?

I love the trains. But I don’t think that they have any dining cars. Nor First Class. Now the conservatives are back in, they’ll fix that quick smart. Or else I’ll be writing to everyone and sign off, “Outraged of Forest Hill”.

One thing that I’m looking forward to is that Hoxton is now potentially quicker to get to on a Friday or Saturday night for a drinkie than taking a bus down to East Dulwich. I’ll tell you, davidl, the amount of times I’ve waited for a freakin’ bus outside The Capitol just to go a couple of miles. After 20-30 minutes or so of anxiously waiting for the 185 to turn up from Lewisham or the 176 from Penge and having watched what seems like one hundered and ninety seven 197 buses come past, I’ve realised I could’ve walked there. At other times when I want to cross London Road and I don’t need the bus, then I feel that there are buses lined up along the whole stretch of the road that you can’t even squeeze past!

You heard it here first people of SE23, ”Hoxton is the new East Dulwich.”

Get onboard!

Teething troubles aside and having recovered from been cooked on a delayed train yesterday I can report that todays journey on the line formally known as the East London line was fine. Both ways. And a seat in both directions - what rare luxury is this? Well worth the 23 year wait......

I was pleasantly surprised by the space on the 17:36 from London Bridge today. I didn't get a seat but I did have space to stand, which is a welcome change.

I thought the samr thing. I was on a delayed 18:21 (left at 18:26) - I got a seat and it wasn't hudgely busy.

I was absolutely amazed on Monday when the lineside fire caused delays. The 17:36 didn't leave until 17:56, the 17:53 disappeared and so I held out no hope of getting on the 18:06. But low and behold it had spare seats on it.

On the first working day of the new system, one point seemed to be proved - that the ELL will provide people with another way home when things are bad at London Bridge.

I also don't find the four trains per hour that bad either. I always used to miss trains like the 17:36 and 18:05 and have to wait 15 mimnuts anyway.

Let's hope Monday and Tuesday are a sign of things to come!

Thank you for your report, Erekose. It is a relief to know that another SE23.com Forum user has run the gauntlet of the London Overground and survived.

Maybe the Forest Hill Society could provide a service of counting the locals on each day and then counting them off?

But has everyone survived so far? There are some long time users of this forum that we haven’t heard from for quite a while. Where is Brian?

*Gulp* Hopefully, not encased in a block of ice on the London Overground or baked like a Bombe Alaska endlessly being transported from Dalston Junction to West Croydon or Crystal Palace with side trips to New Cross. From here to eternity.

Brian, please report in!

I've been using it every day this week but I'm off work so the journeys have purely been to have fun. No problems so far; tried out interchanges at Whitechapel, Shadwell, Canada Water etc and all are easy. I did try to open one of the windows yesterday and it was locked - I'm not very comfortable about that.

The OH has commuted every day and got on an ELL train to change at Whitechapel for KC yesterday - complained that as a visually impaired person it was tricky identifying which platform to use for the Hammersmith & City Line - but that the Overground experience was positive.

I discovered the 1960's next train display feature on the westbound District/H&C platforms on Sunday which I found confusing. Still at least they work unlike the ELL ones downstairs which don't seem to work on the core section of the line.

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.

Hi,

I'm not overly impressed by it all. Tuesday morning (around 8:45am) travelling from Forest Hill, the London Bridge bound train was rammed and standing room only, while the northbound ELL trains seemed almost empty.

This morning (around 9:30am), delays on the ELL were causing the Southern ones to run late, albeit only by around 5 minutes. Again, almost everyone on the platform seemed to be waiting for a London Bridge train and the two ELLs which came and went while I waited attracted just two or three passengers each.

I saw one man ask if the ELL was going to London Bridge and he was singularly unimpressed when the platform official tried to convince him to go via the ELL and Jubilee Line...

Decided to use the new line to travel home on Monday evening - sadly the train decided to break down at Surrey Quays (just before 7pm).

Not a great start, but am sure it will sort itself out very quickly.

And I really enjoyed the experience of being in a brand new train. Very clean, comfortable, with working air-con, and lots of standing room. Nice.

Though I can see the platforms at LB if I stand up at my desk, I decided to go Jubilee-Overground home last night, just to try it out. I was leaving the office at about 18.02, so might not have made the 18.06, which was a factor in my decision.

Big gap for a Jubilee line train at LB. Rammed when it arrived, despite Stratford-dwelling colleague telling me I might get a seat going eastbound at that time. Nice interchange at CW, but just missed a train. Next one to NX, so had a near 10-minute wait at CW. The West Croydon train was virtually empty, but s-l-o-w. I got to FH at about 18.46 or so, which was obviously some time after the next Southern from LB would have got me there.

So, in summary, I was unlucky with connections. Had the Jubilee come right away I'd have got the previous train at CW and been at FH before the 18.21 from LB got there. I probably won't use if often from here, but I will if I'm out elsewhere in the centre and I can benefit from the better change at CW.

Tried out the Overground yesterday with a day trip to Dalston.

A pretty faultless journey both ways with a journey time from HOP to Dalston of 27 minutes. I am looking forward to trips to Columbia Road flower market (Shoreditch), the Geffrye Museum (Hoxton), the riverside pubs in Wapping (Wapping) and Wilton's Music Hall (Shadwell) without having to change on public transport or drive.

Coming back in the rush hour I was surprised how empty the train was (you could probably have got a seat if you got on at Shoreditch) and it was not much busier on to Canada Water. So all in all it looks like a great option if you work to the North or East of the City and want to avoid the dingy cattle market that is London Bridge.

The trains may get busier once the line is extended to Highbury & Islington next year and it links up with the Victoria line but that will also improve connections with North London.

The Geoffrye Museum/Columbia Rd flower market combo is a great one on a Sunday. Both five minutes from Hoxton station. I recommend the Royal Oak pub on Columbia Road itself. One of my favourite pubs in London

Haven't had any experience of the evening Southern services yet: the severe delays on the last two nights have resulted in me going to Catford Bridge instead.

I used LO this morning as I had to go to Bond Street and was very impressed. Got the 8.34 from FH, got a seat and it wasn't even slightly crowded. Interchange at Canada Water was pretty seamless and while I didn't initially get a seat on the Jubillee Line train. it was comfortable standing room and I had a seat by the time we got to Waterloo.

All in all, a much more pleasant journey than I expected.

I had a meeting in Moorgate early this morning so did the LB train and then hopped on a bus from LB to Moorgate as apposed to the Northern Line (I hate tubes).

BIG mistake, sat for 20 minutes on the bus just trying to get out of LB. It's Overground for me from now on.

It's lovely going to work in West London, changing from the Overground to the Jubilee at Canada Water.

It was rubbish coming back from the West End late evening along the District Line to change at Whitechapel. Trains took ages to get there, and a long wait at Whitechapel cos of the dreaded New Cross Train nonsense.

Better off with national rail at that time of night unfortunately.

Just occurred to me that FH/HOP now have direct access to a multiplex cinema in Surrey Quays.