Is 41 minutes enough to get from East Croydon NR to Beckenham Junction NR?

mm333 · 1 Jul 2019

I’m going from Chichester to Canterbury East route not London and NRES is suggesting I go via East Croydon, tram to Beckenham Junction, then to Bromley South and Canterbury.

The itinerary gives me 41 minutes on a Saturday lunchtime from arriving at East Croydon to leaving Beckenham Junction. Is that enough to leave one station, get the tram and board the next train to Bromley?

RailUK Forums

district · 1 Jul 2019

That will be plenty of time in my opinion.

Terry Williams · 1 Jul 2019

Should be plenty of time if there are no service interruptions.
Journey time is 21 minutes with a frequency of every ten minutes

HTH

Jona26 · 1 Jul 2019

Just something to bear in mind - does the ticket include the cost of the tram?

30907 · 1 Jul 2019

Jona26 said:
Just something to bear in mind - does the ticket include the cost of the tram?

No. NRE doesn't give a fare that way though I dont see an issue with the NR parts of the route.

Busaholic · 1 Jul 2019

Your train is ten minutes late, you join the scrum to exit the station, you've just missed a B.J. tram and have 10 minutes to wait for the next - oh, and B.J. tram stop is outside the station and you have to go over the footbridge once you're in the station. I wouldn't be so sanguine - I reckon it's more 50:50, particularly if you need to purchase a tram ticket, which can only be done on the tram platform. Sorry!

JonathanH · 1 Jul 2019

Jona26 said:
Just something to bear in mind - does the ticket include the cost of the tram?

No. The tram won't be included.

Penge West / Penge East changing at East Croydon, Norwood Junction, Penge West / East and Bromley South is the way to avoid the tram but given the messing around is slower.

Sample itinerary via Penge West / East
Chichester 1139 - East Croydon 1254
East Croydon 1303 - Norwood Junction 1307
Norwood Junction 1322 - Penge West 1326
Penge West to Penge East on foot
Penge East 1345 - Bromley South 1355
Bromley South 1405 - Canterbury East 1521

Tram option
Chichester 1209 - East Croydon 1323
East Croydon to Beckenham Junction by tram
Beckenham Junction 1405 - Bromley South 1411
Bromley South 1427 - Canterbury East 1529

JonathanH · 1 Jul 2019

Busaholic said:
...need to purchase a tram ticket, which can only be done on the tram platform.

Contactless / Oyster only these days on Tramlink (or valid paper ticket bought elsewhere) - no tickets on the platform.

Busaholic · 1 Jul 2019

JonathanH said:
Contactless / Oyster only these days on Tramlink (or valid paper ticket bought elsewhere) - no tickets on the platform.

The point is that it's not done on the tram - TfL like to make out that their trams align with buses on fares, but it's an important difference and Revenue Inspectors are much more active on Tramlink than on any other TfL services. If you're not a local or a regular user it's easily done to rush on to a tram, the doors close and you look for a reader....I've done it myself, and got off at the next stop rather than risk it.

Antman · 2 Jul 2019

mm333 said:
I’m going from Chichester to Canterbury East route not London and NRES is suggesting I go via East Croydon, tram to Beckenham Junction, then to Bromley South and Canterbury.

The itinerary gives me 41 minutes on a Saturday lunchtime from arriving at East Croydon to leaving Beckenham Junction. Is that enough to leave one station, get the tram and board the next train to Bromley?

Plenty of time although as always it does no harm to allow a bit extra just in case.

Southern · 2 Jul 2019

Would travel via Clapham Junction and Denmark Hill not be permitted? Only thing to note is that London Overground are running a bus replacement between Clapham Junction and Canada Water this weekend but a 1209 departure from Chichester will still get you to Canterbury for 1621.

JonathanH · 2 Jul 2019

Southern said:
Would travel via Clapham Junction and Denmark Hill not be permitted? Only thing to note is that London Overground are running a bus replacement between Clapham Junction and Canada Water this weekend but a 1209 departure from Chichester will still get you to Canterbury for 1621.

That is a whole hour slower than going via the OP's preferred route (and longer than easier options with waiting time that go to Canterbury West instead - e.g. Gatwick / Redhill / Tonbridge or Brighton / Hastings / Ashford)

Alfonso · 2 Jul 2019

Unless you're desperate to got Canterbury East not West, wouldn't a via Barnham ticket be about half the price of a not London ticket? Go via Redhill Tonbridge or along the south coast?

Romilly · 2 Jul 2019

To save time at East Croydon, in a train coming from the south coast I would be in the rear coach of a 4-coach train, the rear or next coach of an 8-coach train, and about the third coach from the rear if it's a 12-coach train.

Belperpete · 2 Jul 2019

mm333 said:
I’m going from Chichester to Canterbury East route not London and NRES is suggesting I go via East Croydon, tram to Beckenham Junction, then to Bromley South and Canterbury. The itinerary gives me 41 minutes on a Saturday lunchtime from arriving at East Croydon to leaving Beckenham Junction. Is that enough to leave one station, get the tram and board the next train to Bromley?

How fast can you walk? Will you be carrying luggage? How well do you know E Croydon and Beck Jcn stations? How will you be purchasing your tram ticket? How critical is it that you catch that particular train at B.Jcn?

Several contributors have answered "plenty of time" without apparently knowing any of these things. As Terry W says "Journey time is 21 minutes with a frequency of every ten minutes". So if you are unfortunate enough to just miss a tram, it could take you at least 31 minutes just to get from the tram stop at EC to the tram stop at B.Jcn. I would allow at least 5 minutes from getting off the train at EC to getting on a tram there - longer if you are unfamiliar with the station or are unfamiliar with how to obtain a tram ticket. So that could leave less than 5 minutes from getting off the tram at B.Jcn to getting on the train there. I am not familiar with B.Jcn station, but that does sound a bit tight to me. I suppose it all depends on how critical it is that you catch that particular train at B.Jcn.

Busaholic said:
The point is that it's not done on the tram - TfL like to make out that their trams align with buses on fares, but it's an important difference and Revenue Inspectors are much more active on Tramlink than on any other TfL services. If you're not a local or a regular user it's easily done to rush on to a tram, the doors close and you look for a reader....I've done it myself, and got off at the next stop rather than risk it.

Done the same thing myself. Fortunately, at the next tram stop there was a reader directly opposite my door, so I had time to jump off, swipe my Oystercard, and jump back on the same tram. Glad I did, as my "ticket" was checked a couple of stops further along.

mm333 · 2 Jul 2019

Alfonso said:
Unless you're desperate to got Canterbury East not West, wouldn't a via Barnham ticket be about half the price of a not London ticket? Go via Redhill Tonbridge or along the south coast?

BRFares doesn’t show a Via Barnham ticket for that journey. Just Any Permitted and Not London.

I don’t have to make my decision until coming into East Croydon, depending if we’re on time and the live tram departure board.

Thanks to everyone who’s helped in this thread.

Southern · 2 Jul 2019

JonathanH said:
That is a whole hour slower than going via the OP's preferred route (and longer than easier options with waiting time that go to Canterbury West instead - e.g. Gatwick / Redhill / Tonbridge or Brighton / Hastings / Ashford)

Maybe slower but in my experience more reliable and less changes - changing at Redhill introduces a whole other set of problems because if the train through Gatwick is late and the connection is missed, that's an hour added to the journey; the Marshlink has the same problem and is a pretty tortuous and slow journey, factoring in that it was split again not that long ago. In fact, I'd discourage going anywhere near Rye on a Summer Saturday.

Antman · 2 Jul 2019

Belperpete said:
How fast can you walk? Will you be carrying luggage? How well do you know E Croydon and Beck Jcn stations? How will you be purchasing your tram ticket? How critical is it that you catch that particular train at B.Jcn?

Several contributors have answered "plenty of time" without apparently knowing any of these things. As Terry W says "Journey time is 21 minutes with a frequency of every ten minutes". So if you are unfortunate enough to just miss a tram, it could take you at least 31 minutes just to get from the tram stop at EC to the tram stop at B.Jcn. I would allow at least 5 minutes from getting off the train at EC to getting on a tram there - longer if you are unfamiliar with the station or are unfamiliar with how to obtain a tram ticket. So that could leave less than 5 minutes from getting off the tram at B.Jcn to getting on the train there. I am not familiar with B.Jcn station, but that does sound a bit tight to me. I suppose it all depends on how critical it is that you catch that particular train at B.Jcn.

Done the same thing myself. Fortunately, at the next tram stop there was a reader directly opposite my door, so I had time to jump off, swipe my Oystercard, and jump back on the same tram. Glad I did, as my "ticket" was checked a couple of stops further along.

Well yes there might be lightening strikes, alians landing on the platform or any number of other unforseen dramas but I do Swanley to Brighton regularly by that very route and 99 times out of 100 it can be done comfortably within the advertised time. If the OP doesn't want to pay for the tram take the Southern service from Beckenham Junction to Crystal Palace and change there.

Alfonso · 2 Jul 2019

mm333 said:
BRFares doesn’t show a Via Barnham ticket for that journey. Just Any Permitted and Not London.

I don’t have to make my decision until coming into East Croydon, depending if we’re on time and the live tram departure board.

Thanks to everyone who’s helped in this thread.

It does from Fareham and Southampton. Not advances so nothing to stop you starting your journey at Chichester

Belperpete · 3 Jul 2019

Pluto said:
Well yes there might be lightening strikes, alians landing on the platform or any number of other unforseen dramas but I do Swanley to Brighton regularly by that very route and 99 times out of 100 it can be done comfortably within the advertised time.

If you travel that route regularly then you will know where best to sit on the train, exactly where to go at East Croydon, how to pay for the tram, where to go at B.Jcn, etc. It is not an "unforseen drama" that the OP might NOT know these things, and therefore may need longer than you do at the interchanges.

mm333 · 3 Jul 2019

Alfonso said:
It does from Fareham and Southampton. Not advances so nothing to stop you starting your journey at Chichester

Thanks for that. A Chichester-Canterbury off peak day single route Not London is £22.20. A Fareham-Canterbury off peak day single route Barnham is the same price.

Alfonso · 4 Jul 2019

mm333 said:
Thanks for that. A Chichester-Canterbury off peak day single route Not London is £22.20. A Fareham-Canterbury off peak day single route Barnham is the same price.

Sorry for the useless advice!

Is 41 minutes enough to get from East Croydon NR to Beckenham Junction NR?

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