simoncox.com train times

Thursday was "Meet the Managers" morning at London Bridge. I had forgotten until I saw thier temporary stand on the concourse. The managers are always recogniseable by thier long charcoal coats that passengers only ever see on days like this or on TV when they are apologising for something.

I met a nice chap who had no idea why the 08:31 from South Croydon had been 8 minutes late two days running as he catches the train from Hove to Victoria. I didn't appreciate the 'I'm a commuter too' attitude! The chap that could give me the answer was engaged with some commuters already so they took my e-mail address and said the would write to me...

I was at South Croydon in time to get the 08:09 this morning but I was unprepared for the utter mess that Southern had got themselves into this morning.

The 07:49 Victoria had not arrived - due to a broken down recieving train at Chipstead.

There was a London Bridge Train shown booked for 08:04 - this is not in the timetable and has never happened before so I assume it was a extra train put on - and it arrived late at 08:11 with only 4 carriges and was full to the brim. Some people managed to get on but they were squeezed in like the tube at rush hour. It's not safe - remember the Clapham crash report.

The 08:09 London Bridge was due at 08:37.

I cought the 08:27 Victoria train and changed at East Croydon which was packed with people looking lost. As I got off the rain I heard one passenger remark that it had taken him an hour to get there and he was not happy.

I caught the 08:32 from East Croydon and arrived at London Bridge at 08:45 - 13 minutes - which is very fast.

I wonder how much damage this disruption does to the countries economy. I strongly suspect that there will be a lot of fractious people at work in London today.

I saw the poster just before Christmas at the bottom of the escalators from the Jubilee line at London Bridge. They are shutting the escalators up to the London Bridge mainline station until May. I didn't have time to get a leaflet to find out why they are doing this and I suspect that most commuters have ignored the posters because it's difficult to stop and read them when you are in a moving crowd.

This is potentially going to add five to ten minutes to my journey each way which means up to 26 hours of my life lost to an extra bit of commuting. How sad am I for working that out. The thing that bothers me about this is that most people will try and use the Northern line entrance because it is closer than the Borough entrance. The Northen line entrance is usually crowded because the station staff often have to close the barriers while the platforms clear. With the extra numbers of Jubilee Line commuters trying to use this entrance it could become a massive bottle neck.

Let's see what happens tommorow.

Paula decided that she would leave at the same time as me this morning as she had to get the train up into the West End of London. I hate this as it severely disrupts my routine - my little world of self, my commuting cocoon is invaded. I have to do extra things like lock the door behind us, not plug my headphones in and listen to the radio, not bundle onto the train and try and get that last seat, talk politely and not read my book. However Paula realised that she had forgotten her mobile phone and had to go back. It was only 20 meters but did I wait? No. Because I have this routine in place I can time getting to the station in time for the train to perfection. Disruption to this pattern usually means that I am late and miss the train. Paula caught up with me on the platform and the trains were up the creek anyway.

07:54 arrived at 08:13 - packed - could not to get on.
08:01 arrived at 08:15 - packed - decided not to get on.
08:09 arrived at 08:19 - nearly empty! Got a seat! Arrived at London Bridge 08:48... Ah Mondays.

Well the initial threat of the Jubilee line escalators at London Bridge being switched off till May has not quite turned out as expected - which for once is a good thing. One escalator of the six (two flights of three) is boxed off and being attended too. To cope with the passenger movements the staff have introduced a one way system - up only in the morning rush hour and down only in the evening. If you are travelling in the 'wrong' direction you will have to use the Northern Line entrance/exit or the entrance/exit into Borough High Street.

For once the disruption has been minimal and its working out just fine.