There is a bit in there that mentions changing at London Bridge.
A change that was a quick trot over a bridge now means a trip down to the depths and back up again.
Likewise the 3 mile journey to the tube station.
When they designed this piece of shit they thought about the aesthetics and the commercial opportunities (the shopping centre) but didn't bother to think about the bloody passengers.
Interesting read. The author strongly supports a tfl take over of southeastern services whereas Grayling continues to side step the idea and the improvements this could bring and are much needed, like the junction at Lewisham. Link to consultation included deep in to the article, closes Tuesday 23 May.
Also I had never thought how irregular the services are from different London terminals to get back to Belvedere / bexleyheath. It makes learning timetables very hard, and the southeastern app can't be relied on, especially when underground or surfacing from a tubeline. Definite case for simplifying service routes and regularising intervals between trains along those routes.
Well. As you would expect, @InspectorSands delivers a detailed and well thought out analysis.
Yet, there are some bits missing, bits which you notice after living a long time in continental Europe where the buses, and something called trams, are expected to connect up with trains and metros .
Consider the residents of Eltham Park. How do they get to Eltham station? Well, they either walk, or they get someone to pick them up, because the only bus that runs through Eltham Park, does not go to Eltham station. And anyway it runs to a "timetable" which seems to be a work of fiction. not something you rely on if you are ultimate destination is Heathrow. So if the Inspector thinks we will all happily nip down to New Eltham to get the Charing Cross train, ,my question is, how exactly?
Then there is the matter of Crossrail. If they ran on to Slade Green or Dartford instead of Abbey Wood, it would be very feasible for people from Eltham to go "backwards" and get to Liverpool Street, Paddington and Heathrow on Crossrail. But that requires co-ordination of the timetable and so far I have not seen any discussion of this. It is as if no one has thought of it.
But then when we speak about Crossrail, there is a report in the Times which is behind the paywall, which writes that in fact we won't be able to get to Heathrow with Crossrail until 2023, because some idiot at the DoT signed an exclusive deal with the Heathrow Express for the track to Paddington. and we cannot have the private operator being inconvenienced in the name of integrated transport, can we?
It may well be that the Inspector would say that all of those problems can be resolved if TfL is put in charge of the whole thing. Probably right, but we need to demand that level of integration. Too many Londoners have no idea what such integration looks like.
If that's true about crossrail it's a fucking disgrace. Along with everything else to do with public transport in this country. I'm quite fortunate that I'm only 1 stop from work and if that goes down then the DLR is a backup. I honestly cannot see a time when I'd want to be relying on trains from the edge or outside of London.
Comments
There is a bit in there that mentions changing at London Bridge.
A change that was a quick trot over a bridge now means a trip down to the depths and back up again.
Likewise the 3 mile journey to the tube station.
When they designed this piece of shit they thought about the aesthetics and the commercial opportunities (the shopping centre) but didn't bother to think about the bloody passengers.
After all the expenditure, it's disgraceful.
Also I had never thought how irregular the services are from different London terminals to get back to Belvedere / bexleyheath. It makes learning timetables very hard, and the southeastern app can't be relied on, especially when underground or surfacing from a tubeline. Definite case for simplifying service routes and regularising intervals between trains along those routes.
Yet, there are some bits missing, bits which you notice after living a long time in continental Europe where the buses, and something called trams, are expected to connect up with trains and metros .
Consider the residents of Eltham Park. How do they get to Eltham station? Well, they either walk, or they get someone to pick them up, because the only bus that runs through Eltham Park, does not go to Eltham station. And anyway it runs to a "timetable" which seems to be a work of fiction. not something you rely on if you are ultimate destination is Heathrow. So if the Inspector thinks we will all happily nip down to New Eltham to get the Charing Cross train, ,my question is, how exactly?
Then there is the matter of Crossrail. If they ran on to Slade Green or Dartford instead of Abbey Wood, it would be very feasible for people from Eltham to go "backwards" and get to Liverpool Street, Paddington and Heathrow on Crossrail. But that requires co-ordination of the timetable and so far I have not seen any discussion of this. It is as if no one has thought of it.
But then when we speak about Crossrail, there is a report in the Times which is behind the paywall, which writes that in fact we won't be able to get to Heathrow with Crossrail until 2023, because some idiot at the DoT signed an exclusive deal with the Heathrow Express for the track to Paddington. and we cannot have the private operator being inconvenienced in the name of integrated transport, can we?
It may well be that the Inspector would say that all of those problems can be resolved if TfL is put in charge of the whole thing. Probably right, but we need to demand that level of integration. Too many Londoners have no idea what such integration looks like.