No, they can definitely be activated at national rail stations with Oyster readers now. I have also updated my Oyster card at the machine outside FH station.

The only annoyance with the website updating is that you can only select dates in the future for your new travelcard e.g. if I wanted to buy a 7 day travelcard it can only start from tomorrow, wheras if I use the machine outside FH station the travelcard can start from today.

When I got overcharged in January, as I found it hard to stay on the line on their expensive 0845 number, I used the help and contact form on the TfL website, a week later, I was contacted and offered a refund and a goodwill gesture as compensation for being overcharged.

Ooh a goodwill gesture! Was it money or something more fun?
Seriously though, there must be loads of money that they get in this way that doesn't get noticed by people.

Foresters, I got a tenner out of them which was added onto the card at the FH station barriers when I touched in, then last Friday received another £4 as a refund for an "operational failure"

Couldn't resist this pic!

Clapham Junction branch is still 2 years away. Do you think they will realise that the map is wrong?

They are also missing Surrey Canal Road which, although not 100% certain, is likely to be part of phase 2 and so the 2012 map will probably never look like that.

Other than this, a beautiful picture showing FH and HOP on the Tube system. Finally London's Tube system will be properly connected!

Why isn't the National Rail symbol applied to all the stations that are also standard rail stations?

Presumably, since you gain nothing at changing at B, HOP or FH rather than at NXG or Sydenham, there's no point.

It does seem to imply that National Rail services won't stop there. What's the difference between Sydenham and Forest Hill that makes one an interchange station and the other not?

I expect TfL are assuming the main interchange stations will be Syd, NJ, WC, CP and NXG where those stations are the first port of call for Southern (National Rail) services on the East London Line.

Although the tube map which showed the ELL extension in the past showed the NR logo on all the stations south of NXG.

In any instance, I expect LOROL will cover the stations not served by the ELL at launch until 2012. (Feb 2011 for the northern extension to Highbury and Islington for NLL, Victoria Line and FCC services to Moorgate) with white cover on platform signs. This way, they don't have to buy new signs in two years time.

There is nothing suspicious in the lack of NR symbol, baboonery is correct, this is a convention amongst most TfL maps. Think about if you wanted to travel from Crystal Palace to London Bridge (and ignore the existing half-hourly Southern loop service). It makes most sense to change from the ELL to Southern at Sydenham (higher chance of a seat) or at NXG (nearer to destination and also higher chance of a seat as some people change for the ELL). Whilst you can change at any of the other stations, nothing is gained, and its probably more efficient in terms of timetabling to try to encourage everyone to change at two places rather than ad-hoc at all stations.

Similar things happen all over the place. For example, on the equivalent Picadilly line maps for the Tube, interchange to the District line isn't shown for Gloucester Road even though you can, simply because nothing is gained and waiting for Earls Court/South Kensington works just as well.

I wish I had time to pore over maps and debate their contents like some of you good people. Perhaps when I'm 65...

Roz, for me, I just kinda notice these things...some kind of strange afflication maybe. But i'd need to ask you for the full route of the P4 [/quote]

This is not the first time the BR symbol has been missed off FH.
I agree that maybe there are longer term plans for some (all?) southern trains to run on the middle fast track between sydenham and new cross gate. (The points are already there.)

1. This would reduce interference between the 2 services.
(explains how a regular service will better integrate with the more random southern service).

2. It would also encourage passengers going into london from these Overground-only stations to stay on the train at NXG and take the longer route. Which is the main point of the exercise, after all.
(explains why they think the overground will be a popular route in).

3. It would make the Southern service faster for their premium customers from further out.

So it makes sense.
They would also need to discourage passengers taking a short-cut back home, via charring cross/waterloo/LB/NXG -perhaps by making many of the evening Southern services fast to norwood junction... (another piece of the jigsaw...).

Incidentally, I had not realised that restrictions to london bridge due to competing franchises had been played out before:

wiki link

There were plans to run this line all the way to charring cross! You can still see where this now disused line branched away underneath south bermondsey station.gmaps link

If Southern were given permission to scrap Metro services, it'd probably be between Norwood Junction and New Cross Gate, allowing trains to run fast along the majority of the middle line, which would leave the stations inbetween on the slow line to London Overground.

In any case, the plan is to extend the platforms on our line to run 10 car services on, so I expect Southern will continue to provide services on the Sydenham line in addition to London Overground for a few more years yet.

While the East London Line is a welcome addition, it won't stop the need for a direct train service into Central London.

The obvious solution is to stop some trains at New Cross Gate to allow ELL passengers to go to London Bridge.

In principle it's a good idea, but then how are you going to get passengers who normally use peak services of 6-8 cars onto the 4 car ELL trains? Only be squeezing them in like cattle to NXG.

It's my intention after May 23rd to try my commute into town via Canada Water to see if it's worth the £1 off my current Oyster journey and the hassle of an extra 10 mins on my journey or to stick with Southern.

I have to admit on the return home, I'd rather stay on the Jubilee and change at Canada Water where they'll be a train every 7 mins instead of waiting at London Bridge.[/quote]

I cannot believe that the bridge and shelters still aren't open. They've been finished for months now and visible work going on has fallen to virtually nothing. Us poor platform 2 users have has absolutely zero shelter for months when the brandy shiny new one is clearly ready and just sitting there behind barriers.

The main footbridge too could have easily been opened (at least two) months ago. If it's the lifts holding it's opening up, 95% of us never use the lifts so cordon them off and let us cross the line without leaving the station?

The guards on the station appear to know nothing too. "In about a month" is the standard answer I've had twice now - you'd think if you worked there you'd find out.

It's all very frustrating. Even a few signs with progress/timetable info on would at least bring us out of the dark.

I have few observations about the new footbridge and the platform "improvements"

1/ The footbridge entrance on platform 2 is half hindered by a brick wall in front of it and the yellow handrail (the one closest to the platform edge) just out significantly. So, effectively, there's a bottle neck at the entrance.

2/ What's with the double-depth shelter on platform 1 compared to the one on platform 2? Come evening rush hour, commuters will have to walk close to the platform edge in front of the yellow line.

Personally, I like the struts holding the bridge up and the red brick elevator columns, but the corrugated roofing and the excessive use of "chicken wire" instead of windows makes it look cheap.

When I asked at FH ticket office on Easter Saturday I was told the footbridge should have been opened that weekend, however there was a problem with the power supply!

When returning from LB last night I noticed the shelter was lit, but the footbridge still wasn't. Even if there is a problem with lighting I also don't understand why the shelters can't be used. What's the bet it's 'elf & safety'!