We know it already, but it is really useful to have the data.
Forest Hill station is already just outside the top 100 busiest rail stations in the country! But more importantly, if you combine Sydenham, Forest Hill, Honor Oak Park & Brockley (never mind also New Cross Gate) then the combined daily usage just for this short section of rail is 38,337 entries per day - or double to volume of the whole of Lewisham station.
It is good to know that the new Windrush operator is planning on introducing more trains by the end of the year, but I do hope it might also mean more incentive to increase our train services (not Overground) to places like East Croydon in the near future as well
Thatās a bit unfair, comparing four stations to one!
Lewisham has 7m entries and exits per year, Forest Hill is 4.2m, New Cross Gate is 4.6m, Brockley is 3.7m, Sydenham is 3.5m, New Cross is 3.2m (which is a bit surprising to me).
ha! yes, I did say āstationsā. While the individual stations are large, but not as large as Lewisham, the point is that this corridor is a very busy and highly concentrated. My focus was on how we might leverage the collective traffic to lobby for greater services for this corridor, with Forest Hill at the centre.
Indeed, the numbers for New Cross were much higher than expected, but Iām guessing it includes a substantial number of the unfortunates who jumped on the wrong train and got stranded
I was getting off the train at FH station the other day, and a fellow passenger said to their travelling companion āeveryone gets off at Forest Hillā. It was true there were many people departing that day - more than the other stations Iād passed through - and I definitely feel as though that is the case, anecdotally, whenever Iāve got off a train in FH since.
Yep, the direct East Croydon train was useful ā it would be great to see it make a comeback. I also remember the halcyon days when there were direct trains from Charing Cross to Forest Hill, from about 8pm.
I was brought up in the area in the 60s and 70s and some trains that stopped at FH then used to bomb up to LB āfastā without stopping at intervening stations. It shows that FH was considered a hub even back then.
Yes, I came here in 1971 at the age of 12, but even in the mid 1980s when I was letting properties on Dartmouth Road and prospective tenants were asking me where the nearest Tube station is Iād say āForget Tubes - you can go from the flat, walk to the station and be off the 9 mins train to London Bridge in the time it would take to get from the street and down to a platform in some Tube stations!ā, which usually worked.
But the fast LB train then went on to Charing Cross, maybe without stopping at Waterloo East if I remember correctly, for a total journey time of 13 mins.
The Up escalator from the Jubilee Line at Canada water to the southbound Overground has been roped off out of action for months and months whereas the down escalator is still in service.
I can walk up the stairs but for those with heavy shopping etc it seems a bit daft that the down escalator is in action but the up one isānt I dont get why they dont just reverse the direction of the escalator..surely thats possible?
Weāve always had a bit of a Cinderella service to Charing Cross when we had it. First it was off-peak only, then cut to evenings and all day Sundays, then completely cut back to London Bridge thanks to the Thameslink Programme.
The Overground has been a blessing for most, but if you prefer travelling on Southern, itās been gradually cut to two trains per hour with peak services only returning more recently.
I think weāre half way there by TfL finally improving the Windrush line services to 10tph from December which will see trains between New Cross Gate and Sydenham operate at 12tph (14tph in the peaks) while the fight to reinstate the direct East Croydon services continue.
I know two of the Windrush line trains to West Croydon have same platform connections at Norwood Junction, but itās still not useful for disabled passengers.
