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Tag: trains

ELL passenger numbers to quadruple in four years

The opening of the extension to the East London Line from Dalston Junction to Highbury & Islington on Monday 28 February heralds another step in passenger numbers using the line. 

Transport for London chart of passenger numbers is as follows:

  • During the first full month of operation: 40,000 passengers used the line daily
  • By September 2010: 70,000 passengers used the line daily
  • In March 2011: 100, 0o0 passengers will use the line daily
  • By the endof 2015: 120,000 passengers will use the line daily

These are figures for the existing East London Line and do not include estimates for the spur to Clapham Junction due to open at the end of 2012. At its peak, the old East London (which headed north from NX Gate) carried 30,000 passengers daily .

Transport for London estimate that the number of passengers using the line in its first full mo

  

Why it’s now virtually £300 per year more expensive to travel from Penge East than Sydenham

An annual season ticket including tube travel now costs almost £3oo more per year if you travel from Penge East rather than Sydenham station.

This is in large part a result of over-the-top fare rises by Southeastern who run the line from Orpington to Victoria via Penge East and Sydenham Hill. Whilst Southern (and LOROL) who run the Sydenham line have announced more modest fare rises, Southeastern have hiked the cost of an annual season ticket by 12.5%

The fact that Penge East is in Zone 4 and Sydenham in Zone 3, simply does not explain the considerable differences in fares. 

In reaction to the rises, Rochester and Strood Conservative MP, Mark Reckless and Labour MP for Erith and Thamesmead, Teresa Pearce, have both called for Southeastern to be stripped of the franchise.

Below is a list of annual season ticket prices from Sydenham and Penge East:

Sydenham to London Bridge/Charing Cross (train only)

Days/Months Price
7 Days £21.00
1 Month £80.70
3 Months £242.00
6 Months £483.90
12 Months £840.00

Sydenham to London Bridge/Charing Cross including tube

Days/Months Price
7 Days £32.20
1 Month £123.70
3 Months £371.00
6 Months £741.90
12 Months £1,288.00

Penge East to Victoria (train only)

Days/Months Price
7 Days £27.90
1 Month £107.20
3 Months £321.50
6 Months £642.90
12 Months £1,116.00

 Penge East to Victoria including tube

Days/Months Price
7 Days £39.40
1 Month £151.30
3 Months £453.90
6 Months £907.80
12 Months £1,576.00

East London Line hits 70,000 journeys per day. TfL presents update on extra late trains and extension to Clapham Junction..

In a report to the Sydenham Society and other stakeholders, TfL reports the  latest news on the East London Line.  

  Written Update – London Overground 13 December 2010 

1.      Dalston Junction – West Croydon service 

Performance on the Dalston Junction / West Croydon route is the highest on the Overground network. On average 95.4% of trains, arrive within 5 minutes of their scheduled arrival time.  

Customer satisfaction levels on the new Dalston Junction – West Croydon route have been high since it opened. The key stats from the most recent customer satisfaction surveys are:

  • Overall satisfaction score of 86 out of 100 (Overground network average was 81)
  • General punctuality score of 84 out of 100 (Overground network average was 77)
  • Service frequency score of 83 out of 100 (Overground network average was 71), reflecting the value of the high frequency 5 minute service provided on the core section.
  • October 2010 passenger counts on the Dalston Junction – West Croydon route showed that the number of journeys undertaken per weekday on the route had risen to 70,000 (compared with 40,000 in the first full month of operation).

 2.      London Overground extension to Clapham Junction

  • The Government’s recent Spending Review announcement re-confirmed the funding for the London Overground extension to Clapham Junction, so TfL London Rail continues to press on with the project. 
  • The construction works will be split into new railway works (which will be developed and delivered by TfL), and On-Network works, i.e. those to existing National Rail infrastructure (which will be developed and delivered by Network Rail).
  • Tender responses have now been received for the TfL works, i.e. construction of the new 1.3km railway ink between Surrey Quays station and the existing South London Line at the Old Kent Road (largely within LB Lewisham). It is expected that the contract will be awarded in early 2011 and construction work will start in spring of 2011.
  • Network Rail is continuing with the design of the connections into the existing national rail network and the works at Clapham Junction required for the scheme.
  • When the construction works are complete in late 2012, London Overground services will run from Clapham Junction to Dalston Junction via Surrey Quays calling at all stations en route.  A fleet of new high capacity, air conditioned trains will provide a direct and frequent service of four trains per hour to Docklands (via Canada Water) and the City (via the new Shoreditch High Street station).
  • The funding for the scheme did not include the cost of building a new station at Surrey Canal Road.  Although TfL, Lewisham Council and other stakeholders have lobbied the Department for Transport for funding, the Department has now confirmed that it will be unable to provide the £7m required.  However a site for a possible future station has been incorporated in the design of the extension so that, should funding be confirmed at a later date, it could be built with reduced disruption to the operational railway. TfL and Lewisham are continuing to work together to ensure that the design of the scheme in this area takes account of the proposed development nearby.

 3.      Later Dalston Junction – West Croydon services.

From 13 Dec later services will run between Dalston Junction and New Cross Gate allowing late night travellers to interchange with Southern services at New Cross Gate. From 13 Dec the extra trains between Dalston Junction and New Cross Gate will be the 23:47hrs, 00:01 hrs and 00:15hrs from Dalston Junction.

Thameslink 2000 now becomes Thameslink 2018! North-south rail link is safe but will open at same time as Crossrail.

The £6bn Thameslink north-south link through the capital is safe from cuts, Transport Secretary Philip Hammond has announced. But the project will not now be completed until 2017-8 – opening at roughly the same time as the east-west Crossrail project is completed.

The newly revamped line – so long delayed that the project was initially called Thameslink 2000 – will enable passengers to travel directly from Sydenham station to Thameslink stations north of the river (via London Bridge). Existing lines from both south and north of London will feed into the network meaning that passengers from Sydenham will be able to travel to destinations such as Peterborough or Cambridge without leaving the Thameslink system.

 What Thameslink and Crossrail will mean for local passengers:

  • The ability to travel directly from Sydenham to Thameslink stations north of the river

  •  Direct access to Farringdon station giving links to Crossrail and underground network

  •  Brand new station at Whitechapel giving step-free access to Crossrail, Hammersmith & City and District lines.

John Bull, the respected rail commentator who runs the London reconnections blog sums up the situation:

“Overall, it is important to keep in mind the positives, and the confirmation that Thameslink will go ahead is most definitely a huge one. In addition, Hammond also confirmed a number of electrification schemes that will be of benefit to London and its surrounds – notably between London and Reading, Didcot, Newbury and Oxford all of which should be completed by 2016.

Given the potential for wholesale cuts, therefore, which had left many commentators (this author included) fearing the worst, today has represented another good day for London’s transport infrastructure. It is easy to pick at the details, but there are few who, pre-CSR, would have thought it likely that London would emerge with its Underground upgrades, Crossrail and the Thameslink project intact. Common sense, of course, indicated that they should all proceed, but it would not have been the first time that common sense had fallen victim to financial or political necessity.

So whilst it is easy to look upon today’s announcement as a re-announcement rather than an announcement – an exercise in confirming that which was already taking place – it is worth bearing in mind that this is ultimately very much a positive thing for the capital.”

http://londonreconnections.blogspot.com/2010/11/thameslink-confirmed-to-continue-as.html

Thameslink regional map 2018

Crossrail map

New Whitechapel station lower concourse
Whitechapel proposed ticket hall
New Farringdon station - Smithfield entrance