East Croydon experiences the most delays out of all stations in London

[Ivor]

This is officially the worst train station in London

Over half of its services were delayed this year. Doh!

www.timeout.com

East Croydon has been officially named the ‘worst train station in London’ after data showed it has the most train delays in the capital. Over half of its services were delayed this year, also making it the seventh worst station in the country. Oh dear.

Out of those delays, 25 percent of them were considered lengthy, leaving Londoners waiting on platforms for three minutes or longer. London stations Gatwick, Blackfriars and St Albans City were also on the list for the most cancellations, all of which are on
the same Thameslink line from Bedford to Brighton.

I use East Croydon a lot, as bad as it is can’t say I’ve found it dramatically worse than other London stations although it’s not helped with both West & East Sussex Coastway often chaotic.

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

According to attached (sorry a technophobe) attached file but if anyone can put an easy link much appreciated.

I use East Croydon a lot, as bad as it is can’t say I’ve found it dramatically worse than other London stations although it’s not helped with both West & East Sussex Coastway often chaotic.

All I’ll say is, the author clearly hasn’t been to Brixton

 

[bramling]

According to attached (sorry a technophobe) attached file but if anyone can put an easy link much appreciated.

I use East Croydon a lot, as bad as it is can’t say I’ve found it dramatically worse than other London stations although it’s not helped with both West & East Sussex Coastway often chaotic.

No way is East Croydon the worst station, not by a long way. These sorts of things seem completely subjective.

 

[PGAT]

The title is clickbait. It is talking about stations ranked by number of delays, not by the quality of the actual station.

 

[GWVillager]

All I can say is that I don't think number of delays means that much when it comes to station quality. And East Croydon isn't that bad, in my limited experience.

 

[PGAT]

I live not too far from East Croydon, it definitely doesn't have the "Croydon bad", or "Croydon dodgy" stereotype people seem to think it has.

 

[Ivor]

No way is East Croydon the worst station, not by a long way. These sorts of things seem completely subjective.

No I’ve been bitterly disappointed at VIC & LB re cancellations/delays but then a lot of those routes also head through EC so to be expected.

The title is clickbait. It is talking about stations ranked by number of delays, not by the quality of the actual station.

The ‘data’ they refer to baffled me which I think they’ve piggy backed on a Guardian article on train delays in general published on Boxing Day.

 

[43066]

All I’ll say is, the author clearly hasn’t been to Brixton

Indeed. Or West Croydon !!!

 

[PGAT]

Also what a big shocker. A station with one of the most services also seems to have one of the most delays. Who knew?

 

[Mike99]

All I’ll say is, the author clearly hasn’t been to Brixton

What's wrong with Brixton?

 

[gazzaa2]

Whenever I get on a train on that route from Victoria into Sussex, it always gets delayed waiting for a platform at East Croydon.

 

[Ivor]

Whenever I get on a train on that route from Victoria into Sussex, it always gets delayed waiting for a platform at East Croydon.

Often boarding at Clapham Junction on a Sussex bound train a bit further on it’s not unusual to sit there in the Selhurst area waiting to get into EC

 

[WizCastro197]

I live not too far from East Croydon, it definitely doesn't have the "Croydon bad", or "Croydon dodgy" stereotype people seem to think it has.

I agree, East Croydon is a lot better than the stereotype suggests, but the further tour go west, the further the stereotype reaffirms itslef.

 

[Cricketer8for9]

Well it also has more than half the Thameslink services and their timeliness is poor.

 

[Techniquest]

I can't comment too much, I avoid the area whenever possible but I ended up there some months ago having cut a move I was doing short to return to Victoria ASAP. I did not enjoy the area around the mainline station, I couldn't get out of there fast enough!

That being said, Peckham Rye is my current most hated London station. It has a horrible feeling, in a less than amazing location (the whole area was in a huge mess when I was last there months ago) and I just didn't feel very secure there. It was a long 9 minutes waiting for a train, I can tell you that much!

 

[PGAT]

The platforms at Peckham Rye are quite scary. You can peek over into the abyss below.

 

[Nicholas Lewis]

Well it also has more than half the Thameslink services and their timeliness is poor.

Im a regular user of the 9J's/9R's and they run very well through East Croydon.

 

[Horizon22]

I think when it talks about delays, this includes 1-3 minute delays as well, which really isn't a huge deal considering the number of trains going through there. Indeed 75% of them weren't "lengthy". Also it's a known bottleneck anyway, and plans are being made to resolve it.

 

[PGAT]

And what percentage are 3-10 minutes, because I wouldn’t see those too lengthy either.

 

[Nicholas Lewis]

I think when it talks about delays, this includes 1-3 minute delays as well, which really isn't a huge deal considering the number of trains going through there. Indeed 75% of them weren't "lengthy". Also it's a known bottleneck anyway, and plans are being made to resolve it.

Those plans have been put on the top shelf with the downturn in traffic

 

[Horizon22]

Those plans have been put on the top shelf with the downturn in traffic

But they are still there, if needed.

 

[Metal_gee_man]

The thing is a station like ECR has multiple services that go through there hourly, if for any reason one is late the next one would have almost arrived and will take you to the intended destination, its not turn up and go like LBG but its pretty damn close in peak.
The main issue I have at ECR is when a train gets delayed and the next TL or SN train isn't timetabled or planned into the same platform so you have to hurry over the bridge at the drop of a hat

 

[PGAT]

Yeah changing at East Croydon can be a bit of a challenge. When travelling from Victoria to Selhurst it’s mostly quicker to change at East Croydon and go back north but the transfer time is very tight.

 

[Minstral25]

Some of the services along the Redhill Route are showing as only around 80% running on Recent Train Times, especially as 1R (Reigate to Victoria) and 9R (Bedford to Three Bridges) services are regularly canned in disruption. With constant delays on the 9J's too (Peterborough to Horsham) the route has a very poor performance. All these trains go through East Croydon so no surprise that East Croydon has a poor record.

 

[Richardr]

Surely for most people East Croydon is a turn up and go service. Just looking at the departures now - in the next hour there are 14 trains to London Bridge, and we are on New Years Day and a Sunday. Going to a few destinations there might be more of an issue, but it is hardly an issue for most who go into the City or the West End.

 

[jfollows]

Surely for most people East Croydon is a turn up and go service. Just looking at the departures now - in the next hour there are 14 trains to London Bridge, and we are on New Years Day and a Sunday. Going to a few destinations there might be more of an issue, but it is hardly an issue for most who go into the City or the West End.

I agree.
Even in summer 1983, which was when I had a job as a computer operator at Philips in West Croydon, it was a "turn up and go" service at East Croydon as far as I was concerned. I'd finish my shift, walk to East Croydon if I wanted to go to central London after a night shift, and catch the first train. The timetable was pretty irrelevant.

These sorts of reports are misleading. The figure don't lie, but they need to be considered in the light of the use to which the train timetable is put. At East Croydon towards London in particular the timetable is something the operators use but surely most passengers don't?

 

[that1pepfan]

Some of the services along the Redhill Route are showing as only around 80% running on Recent Train Times, especially as 1R (Reigate to Victoria) and 9R (Bedford to Three Bridges) services are regularly canned in disruption. With constant delays on the 9J's too (Peterborough to Horsham) the route has a very poor performance. All these trains go through East Croydon so no surprise that East Croydon has a poor record.

What's 9Txx's performance I know it's fairly rubbish knowing I live next to a station which has its main trains served By 9Txx services
1Hxx services are bad too (Littlehampton - London)

 

[PGAT]

It seems that in the current WTT the services aren’t distributed very well. Here are the off-peak Victoria departures:
1300
1312
1319
1328
1342
1345
1349
1358

As you can see, most of the departures are either very close to each other or very far. The 1300 picks up barely anyone as it is right behind the 1258. The 1300 does run on the slow line at East Croydon but can’t overtake the 1258 since it joins the fast lines at Selhurst Junction. It is a wasteful path. Then you have 3 trains in 7 minutes sharing a line for the rest of their journey with one of them needing to use a slow crossover.

Throw in some services from London Bridge into the mix and you can see how delays and congestion are issues.

 

[Minstral25]

What's 9Txx's performance I know it's fairly rubbish knowing I live next to a station which has its main trains served By 9Txx services
1Hxx services are bad too (Littlehampton - London)

The 9T (BED-BTN) interwork with the 9R (BED-TBD) services (i.e. a 9R arrives at Bedford and departs as a 9T) - when there is disruption the 9R's are removed and only the 9T operate to halve the trains running. So I would expect the 9R to have worse performance than the 9T services.

I don't have numbers to compare 1R with 1H, 1R's are removed quickly in disruption as they are only 4 coach trains most of the day between VIC and ECR

It seems that in the current WTT the services aren’t distributed very well. Here are the off-peak Victoria departures:
1300
1312
1319
1328
1342
1345
1349
1358

As you can see, most of the departures are either very close to each other or very far. The 1300 picks up barely anyone as it is right behind the 1258. The 1300 does run on the slow line at East Croydon but can’t overtake the 1258 since it joins the fast lines at Selhurst Junction. It is a wasteful path. Then you have 3 trains in 7 minutes sharing a line for the rest of their journey with one of them needing to use a slow crossover.

Throw in some services from London Bridge into the mix and you can see how delays and congestion are issues.

The 13:00 and 13:30 (missing from your list) are both ex-Reigate hence run close behind another service due to being 4 car - but do tend to get crowded as they depart from platform 4 and a few people change onto them on same platform off the previous Caterham to London Bridge.

 

[that1pepfan]

The 9T (BED-BTN) interwork with the 9R (BED-TBD) services (i.e. a 9R arrives at Bedford and departs as a 9T) - when there is disruption the 9R's are removed and only the 9T operate to halve the trains running. So I would expect the 9R to have worse performance than the 9T services.

I don't have numbers to compare 1R with 1H, 1R's are removed quickly in disruption as they are only 4 coach trains most of the day between VIC and ECR

Thanks