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Travelling from FH to Paddington
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soulrider


Posts: 37
Joined: Nov 2007
Post: #1
03-04-2008 02:10 PM

Hi,

I was hoping some of you friendly people can just give me some advice. My offices are moving from Wimbledon to Paddington in June and we have been given a form to fill out how long the new journey will take. According to Tfl, it will take around 49 minutes which includes train to London Bridge, Jubilee to baker street then baker street to paddington. Is this the best way? Is the estimate accurate, the reason I ask is i have read the forum with the train disruptions lately and i'm dreading it!

Cheers

Christian

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Johnc


Posts: 138
Joined: Jan 2007
Post: #2
03-04-2008 02:27 PM

That might be the quickest but probably not the most pleasant. When I have to go to Paddington I tend to get the 176 to either the Elephant and Castle or Waterloo, and the Bakerloo line to Paddington. Not much better, but at least its only one change. Its not a journey I would fancy every day I must admit.

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Sherwood


Posts: 1,412
Joined: Mar 2005
Post: #3
03-04-2008 02:38 PM

The train from Catford goes to Elephant & Castle.

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grahamw


Posts: 58
Joined: Nov 2007
Post: #4
03-04-2008 02:51 PM

I do the exact same journey quite often, and the route you describe is the quickest that I've found. The connection between Jubilee Line and Bakerloo line at Baker Street is really easy.
I'd say 49mins was a tad optimistic though. Depending on the trains at FH, I've found it can take around 75mins+
Hope that helps

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Elizabeth25


Posts: 212
Joined: Mar 2005
Post: #5
03-04-2008 02:52 PM

More realistically. Whenever I have had to go to Paddington from Forest Hill it has taken over an hour. Sometimes TFL gives times that relate more to 'how the crow flies' than a real journey.

We usually go to Charing Cross then take the Bakerloo Line.

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michael


Posts: 3,255
Joined: Mar 2005
Post: #6
03-04-2008 03:10 PM

I use the Jubilee line as it is faster than Bakerloo. I would say that 49 minutes from the train leaving FH sounds about right, but you will need to get to the station and wait for a train, so add 10-15 minutes - I would call it an hour.

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jon14


Posts: 145
Joined: Sep 2007
Post: #7
03-04-2008 04:12 PM

I once travelled from Wales to Forest Hill. It took me 2 hours to get from Wales to Paddington, and 1.5 hours to get from Paddington to Forest Hill Crying

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sydenhamcentral


Posts: 269
Joined: Mar 2008
Post: #8
03-04-2008 04:16 PM

I travel every day from Sydenham to Marylebone.

I change at London Bridge, get the Jubilee line and change at Baker Street to the Bakerloo (you just cross the platform, 30 seconds).

It takes 50 mins to 1 hour every day.

To go on from Marylebone to Paddington is another 5-10 minutes

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Cellar Door


Posts: 356
Joined: Oct 2007
Post: #9
03-04-2008 09:32 PM

I travelled from Forest Hill to Marylebone (2 stops before Paddington on the Bakerloo line) for six years using public transport. I stopped last December and switched to using my bicycle. (Mostly to get more exercise in my life.)

From shutting my door on Woodcombe Crescent, Forest Hill to turning on my computer at my desk on Harewood Avenue, Marylebone it was rarely much more than 1 hour.

Here are the bits of my travel with the minutes at the end:

Walk to Forest Hill station 5
Wait for train (and maybe a coffee from Anya in the coffee hut) 5
Train ride to London Bridge 15
London Bridge railway platform to Jubilee line platform 7
Wait for Jubilee line 3
Jubilee line to Baker Street 13
Jubilee line platform to Bakerloo platform 1
Wait for Bakerloo line 3
Bakerloo to Marylebone 2
Bakerloo platform at Marylebone to office 5

It's approximately 4 minutes further on to Paddington.

I mostly caught the 7:20am train from Forest Hill. The train service from Forest Hill for the 7:20am was rather good and always got a seat. Rather comfy and pleasant time to travel. But, soulrider, I've been reading with dismay the recent reports on this forum about the train service going through a rough patch.

Oh, if the Jubilee Line was playing up I used to go to the Northern Line down to Elephant and Castle then the Bakerloo up to Marylebone. It adds about 10-15 minutes to the journey.

Good luck with the new work location soulrider. Maybe if the public transport doesn't work out, then I'll see you joining me pushing the pedals between Forest Hill and the other side of the river.

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hillwalker


Posts: 20
Joined: Oct 2007
Post: #10
04-04-2008 08:35 AM

Hi Cellar Door
So how long does your journey take on bike? I'm thinking of doing a very similar journey soon and was thinking about the hour mark?

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soulrider


Posts: 37
Joined: Nov 2007
Post: #11
04-04-2008 08:39 AM

Thanks for the advice. I did think the bike would be an alternative, i used to ride from pimlico to Tottenham court road when I was student and loved it! Its a shame it takes longer than i thought, maybe time to get a job in the city its much quicker!

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Cellar Door


Posts: 356
Joined: Oct 2007
Post: #12
04-04-2008 01:04 PM

hillwalker wrote:
Hi Cellar Door
So how long does your journey take on bike? I'm thinking of doing a very similar journey soon and was thinking about the hour mark?


Very good thinking, Hillwalker, as you are correct with it being an hour. But it can be much longer. The reason being is that although I've lived in London for 12 years I'm still very much the tourist. Just this morning I stopped outside the Palace of Westminster to take a photo of Richard the Lion Hearted. Well, a statue of him. I imagine that King Richard is otherwise busy with his eternal slumber!

And I've become a Mayfair-phile. I'm usually gliding through Mayfair at about 7:30am and I love the architecture and beauty. I've just recently been grabbing a cup of coffee and sitting in Berkeley Square. No nightingale's singing anymore I've observed.

I got terrific tips on the route to take from the TfL website. And also from the Cycling map that they sent to me through the post.

I've also been experimenting with which bridge is the best to cross. I'm currently favouring Lambeth Bridge but I've been across all the others from Vauxhall Bridge in the west to Tower Bridge in the east.

There's lots of cyclist emerging each day from SE23, Hillwalker. I'm most pleased you're thinking of joining the critical mass.

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grahamw


Posts: 58
Joined: Nov 2007
Post: #13
04-04-2008 04:49 PM

My trip on Tuesday morning (with apologies to cellardoor)

Walk to Forest Hill station 5
Just missed train - have to wait for next one 6
Next one cancelled (fault on train) wait another 5
can't get on next one as too full due to previous cancellation, so:
Wait for train 6
Train ride to London Bridge 15
London Bridge railway platform to Jubilee line platform 7
Wait for Jubilee line 3
can't get on train as too full, wait for next 3
Jubilee line to Baker Street 13
Jubilee line platform to Bakerloo platform 0.2 (running now as late)
Wait for Bakerloo line 3
Bakerloo to paddington 7
miss train at Paddington

think next time I'll take advice and cycle....

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baggydave


Posts: 390
Joined: May 2004
Post: #14
04-04-2008 10:51 PM

Graham W, I did not understand your poem, I know that they don't have to rhyme, but this was too deep for me.

I'd of course say cycle, there is already a thread about how to get into central London, you would then go up Victoria Street and there is an opportunity to go back roads and/or through Hyde Park.

However today I had one pedestrian walk out in front of me at Traf Square, Lots of buzzy annoying scooters who also use the advance stop lines, a cyclist on his mobile on Peckham Canal cylcle route, and a driver going through Peckham who pulled out in front of me and tried to force me into a bendy bus (now as BD hates BB's what a way to go)

So after 20 years not so sure about cycling. Note that buses, taxis or White vans, the scourge of cyclists, did not directly cause my problems today

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Cellar Door


Posts: 356
Joined: Oct 2007
Post: #15
05-04-2008 08:46 AM

baggydave wrote:
Graham W, I did not understand your poem, I know that they don't have to rhyme, but this was too deep for me.


grahamw's inspired poem of unfulfilled public transportation desires and needs, although not classical in structure, would resonate with many SE23.com forum readers. baggydave, I'm quite partial to this new style of poetry.

By the time I got to the grahamw's second line, I was weeping.

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