Transport Ups and Downs
So - from today we can use our Pay As You Go Oysters on the clippers, which gets us a 10% discount on the fare. I'm really pleased about this - it joins up the transport system much better even if it doesn't follow through that the Clipper counts on the daily travelcard-capped fare which would have been the ideal outcome (of course...) You can find more details here.Even more useful for those of us who use the Southeastern trains, we'll soon be able to use our PAYG Oysters on the main lines too - the machines which were shipped in several months ago will, apparently, be turned on on the 2nd Jan 2010. I guess it remains to be seen whether we still get to have actual human beings in the stations after the demand for paper tickets drops...
Where I'm also less clear is what the hell's happening with Southeastern's new timetable. We've been warned that we'd get no through trains to Charing Cross in the new edition but from my (albeit brief - I hate reading timetables online - must get a proper paper one from the station - if there's a human there, of course...) perusal of the new version, there do still seem to be the odd one or two through trains. I know nothing about what's going on there.
I'm going to test out my Oyster on the Clipper ASAP. I'll report back.
posted by The Greenwich Phantom at
10:00
13 Comments:
While an avid reader of the Phantom, I am not a resident of Greenwich but of Greenhithe, further downriver. After years of commuting into town with the various incarnations of SouthEastern trains, I am now blessedly retired but, even for occasional visits, still baulk at the hour-plus spent grinding my way in (even outside rush hours you get to within sight of London Bridge and then stop and crawl to Charing Cross). Pace you Meridians but the high speed Javelin trains from Ebbsfleet are now the only way to travel. "It's SouthEastern, Jim, but not as we know it".
I really hope Southeastern dont stop the Charing Cross service through Greenwich!! I work in Soho so rely on the trains for for my commute.
Now if I am reading correctly, I believe I must break my journey and stand at an already busy London Bridge on a daily basis to pack onto the other overcrowded Charing Cross trains?? It might add another 15-20 mins to my journey just platform changing and taking pot luck i can sandwich myself on to another train! Bad news indeed!
The change at London Bridge, for Charing Cross, is very quick (the trains you'll want always go from platform six and they're very frequent in the morning) but having to trudge up and down the stairs each time is rather tedious.
From memory, I thought they were going to stop the direct trains to Charing Cross off-peak but retain them during commuter times.
Lots of unhappiness among people using Blackheath Station - reduction in services to London between 8am and 9am and the Blackheath-Charlton link being cut during peak hours.
see
www.blackheath.org/transport.html
Fantastic news regarding the clippers. 10% off too! I'll certainly be using them more now.
Btw, has anyone else heard the rumour of an extra pier being built in East Greenwich?
Being able to use PAYG Oyesters on the mainlines will be very welcome too. Finally!!! No more having to turn up several minutes early in order to queue for a ticket.
I now travel from Blackheath in the mornings, and the direct (near non-stopping) train to Cannon Street, dire as it was, has been axed. There's now a much reduced service on all lines, which will be painful.
Looks like Maze Hill has it better - more frequent trains in the morning, and I seem to recall there were Charing Cross trains in there (possibly change at Greenwich?).
The big news is the massively improved service in the evening. Before your choice was: get the 17:48 from Cannon Street or wait till 19:00 for the next one; you could change at London Bridge for one of three trains in-between that were spaced some 22 minutes apart. Mrs Andrekabu got used to my either being home on time or being very very late.
Now there are trains basically every 10 minutes out of Cannon Street, some of which require a change at Greenwich, but it's miles better than what was there before.
Certainly introduction of Oyster Cards on mainline trains is a welcome addition to Greenwich station as well as the now active Oyster 'top-up' machines which were long overdue (and have thus saved me on more than one occasion from getting to London Bridge underground realising i had nothing on my card)! It certainly reduces time stood in queues and I was saying the other week whilst on a Clipper to the O2 how much better it will be to be able to swipe in on the boats and i will definitely be using them more often. (Though probably at a less 'choppy' time of year!)
Now if they could just find a way of keeping leaves from the track....
Still a pain for annual paper ticket holders (Cannon Street to Greenwich) . If I want to go a stop extra stop one night (Maze Hill) I need to get off the train at Greenwich (where my paper ticket journey ends), dig out my PAYG Oyster and tap in...by which time the train has left and I will have to wait for the next one!
Pity there is no way of buying the Oyster extention before you set off...
I also wonder how discounts will operate - with a gold card people on SE trains get a third off if they travel with me. How can they get the 1/3rd off with their PAYG?
Anonymous has a very valid point. I get on at Maze Hill on weekdays, but if I am out with the kiddy winkies of a weekend, we get on at Westcombe Park (becuase Maze Hill has 50+ steps to negotiate).
If I had an Oyster card, I'd need to pay for that extra trip, but as things stand, I steal that 2 minute journey straight from the cold, moneygrabbing hands of Southeastern. Which makes me happy.
I shall be keeping my paper ticket until Southeastern reopens the Restell Close access.
I too was surprised that we still have direct services from Charing X to Greenwich, even late at night.
I read somewhere that Southeastern services were maintained at the expense of Southern from stations like Brockley, but I'm not sure if it's our line they were talking about.
I also understand there may be other -potentially final- cuts once the new Thameslink is in place, so let's not start celebrating too soon.
rServices are being cut through Blackheath in order to force people onto the DLR. Unfortunately, the DLR doesnt go anywhere near where we want to go on the overground train. What I can't work out is where those cut-out trains would have been coming from as there are a couple of lines that feed through Blackheath, including the Bexleyheath Line. There havent been any direct trains to charing cross after about 5pm on that line anyway, you always have to change.
MAKE SURE you read all the small print about the Oyster cards on overground services, particularly the bit about the Oyster Extension which, of course, can't be bought at an overground station!"
The 10% discount on clippers isn't that great seeing as they have also just put their fares up again. The discount for the carnet is more isn't it?
It will be good if it gets that guy who stops you going down to greenwich pier without already buying a ticket off your back though.
I used PAYG oyster on the clipper from Greenwich at the weekend. I was dissappointed to learn that I could not just 'swipe and go' as I expected, but instead you still have to queue at the booth for tickets. The pier attendant would not let me down without a printout that you get from the booth, the booth people said that it was becasue they could not install readers on the pier. When finally on the boat I saw people using handheld oyster readers on there, I asked the attendant what was going on. She said you can only get on and swipe on board if the Greenwich booth is shut, otherwise you are obliged to go to the booth. A silly system I think, they have certainly not speeded anything up and the discount is pretty small. But overall integrating with the rest of the transport system is a good thing and at least they are moving in the right direction.
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