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A whinge about weekend engineering works
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Posts: 424
Joined: Dec 2002
Post: #1
14-10-2007 10:53 PM

Posts from old forum ...

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Roz
Joined 17-03-2005
Posted on Sunday, 30 September, 2007 - 05:10 pm:

I know these are necessary but did they really have to disrupt the service two whole weekends in a row, with more planned for October onwards? We rely on this service to connect us to London fast - even at weekends, for some of us, especially at weekends. Its not always clear from the website whats happening when, and the advance notification at the station was very poor - handwritten on scrappy paper. Do we not deserve better?

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Blushingsnail
Joined 21-12-2005
Posted on Monday, 01 October, 2007 - 02:35 pm:

Not just the FH/LB service was affected yesterday: we were expecting visitors and told them to use Victoria/Penge East instead. Then got a phone call from them at Victoria saying there were no services towards Penge East or Beckenham. They had to go to Blackfriars instead. Was there a conspiracy to completely screw up trains services to SE London yesterday??

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Brian
Joined 18-04-2005
Posted on Monday, 01 October, 2007 - 03:23 pm:

Roz
I agree not great when line closed over weekend but not sure what other alternative there is for the railway companies.

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Calvin
Joined 20-02-2006
Posted on Monday, 01 October, 2007 - 08:37 pm:

Is this happening again? We have family coming for half-term and they're planning to stay in London Bridge - will change their plans if there is a replacement bus service to New Cross Gate. I've checked the Southern site but it's very vague, just saying that there are works planned for London Bridge & Norwood Junction.

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Roz
Joined 17-03-2005
Posted on Monday, 01 October, 2007 - 10:46 pm:

Calvin, the timetable for Sunday 21st shows a trip from FH to LB taking almost one hour via East Croydon however 13 minutes on the way back; this is the beginning of half term week. The journey timings are probably a more reliable method of working out what is likely to be going on.

Brian, its just bad if there are disruptions several weekends in a row and that reasonably alternative routes are also affected. Hopefully this is completely necessary work and will make our lives a lot better however I suspect they just haven't given passengers any consideration at all.

I came back from London on Saturday from Charing Cross by a direct train to Lewisham followed by the P4 - I can recommend this route as the train journey is short, on time and reliable as is the P4.

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Calvin
Joined 20-02-2006
Posted on Tuesday, 02 October, 2007 - 04:29 pm:

Thanks for that - I'll keep an eye on the timetables.

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Gep
Joined 20-08-2007
Posted on Tuesday, 02 October, 2007 - 10:54 pm:

Hi agree with Calvin, I bought an annual ticket for zone 1, 2 and 3 even though during the week I don't need zone 1, but because I always go into town on Sat and Sun. Now, what's the point if there are always engineering works at weekends!?

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Roz
Joined 17-03-2005
Posted on Wednesday, 03 October, 2007 - 08:29 am:

You can still go in buts its more of a hassle; if you are going to spend 45 mins- 1 hour each way may as well go shopping/clubbing in Brighton....not a bad idea really!

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Triangle
Joined 08-05-2007
Posted on Wednesday, 03 October, 2007 - 11:03 am:

Surely, the best time to carry out repairs is when the trains aren't running? I recall when living near the railway in SE6 that they used to carry out track repairs overnight. Indeed, major repairs used to take several nights, but work didn't start until the last train had run and everything was cleared up by first train next morning. Major works are possible providing they're properly organised. However, if you ever wanted an example of what CAN be achieved then you only need consider the Great Western railway in 1891, which managed to convert 171 miles of broad gauge track to the standard gauge that we use today... All in a single weekend!

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Simon
Joined 18-07-2005
Posted on Wednesday, 03 October, 2007 - 11:17 am:

On an associated point, can you buy a monthly ticket from HOP to Charing Cross? I'm currently using a monthly Zone 1-3 travelcard but I don't really need to use the tube or bus regularly at the moment.

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Blushingsnail
Joined 21-12-2005
Posted on Wednesday, 03 October, 2007 - 12:28 pm:

Simon: you can get a train-only monthly ticket from HOP for ?63.40. With a Travelcard it would be ?105.30. See http://www.southernrailway.com/stations_fares.php

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roz


Posts: 1,796
Joined: Mar 2005
Post: #2
15-10-2007 08:36 PM

We need to get to LB on Sunday so have decided to use the P4 to Lewisham station followed by the train - they run every 10 minutes into town. Better than 50 mins plus via East Croydon. Pity the rail company can't advertise this as a practical alternative.

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roz


Posts: 1,796
Joined: Mar 2005
Post: #3
28-10-2007 03:16 PM

This happened again with services from LB going via a change at East Croydon. We took a train to East Dulwich and then a 122 home. Worked out quite well.

The station staff have advised that there are more disruptions on the way due to the EL line works and believe that most weekend services will be disrupted for the next few years at least. It would be good to have the full picture or at least a (permanent) link pasted on this website. I;m not clever enough to do this so anyone who can, perhaps you could help?

I know they have to do this work but would still like to know whether it cannot be done overnight rather than at weekends, as it does isolate FH quite a bit, and lets not forget, people still travel in to work at weekends.

This post was last modified: 28-10-2007 03:17 PM by roz.

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Sherwood


Posts: 1,412
Joined: Mar 2005
Post: #4
28-10-2007 05:24 PM

I think I have posted something about the engineering works elsewhere.
You can see engineering works around New Cross Gate, which I think is the problem.
Also, I think at some point there will be no trains to London Bridge. Shutlle buses will run instead.

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roz


Posts: 1,796
Joined: Mar 2005
Post: #5
31-10-2007 10:17 AM

An email received yesterday from Southern;

Engineering works are carried out by Network Rail as they own the railway infrastructure. Much of their work is carried out overnight but where necessary they may take longer ?possession? of the track e.g. over a weekend when a more intensive amount of work can be completed. See their website - http://www.networkrail.co.uk/aspx/761.aspx

Southern must then work round these engineering periods to provide the best possible service to passengers. This will often be a rail replacement service if no rail lines are available or it may involve a diversion to another station. The very best place to check for information is the national rail website which is updated frequently and some weeks in advance http://www.nationalrail.co.uk. Posters will also be displayed at the station.

Currently, the next set of engineering works planned is for Sun 2 Dec when those travelling into London Bridge will be routed via East Croydon but a direct service from London Bridge to Forest Hill will be available. The next weekend when a similar pattern is required is Sunday 3 Feb. More works will occur as the project progresses and passengers are urged to check their route on the nation rail website before they travel.

The main reason behind the works on this line I believe is to do with the works to bring the East London Line extension to the area from 2010. More information about this project is available at: http://www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/projects.../2105.aspx

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