Brighton trains will not stop at London Bridge station for more than three years due to major redevelopment (From The Argus)

This is really bad news for anyone who works at Canary Wharf as it's going to add on more time to an already long journey.

Is completely closing London Bridge really the only way of doing this?

This will force even more commuters into commuting into London Victoria instead. Trains to Victoria are already completely overloaded and entrances to Victoria's underground station have to be shut during rush hour because the underground simply can't cope with the number of people flooding in. The situation will become intolerable if London Bridge is shut. And four years? What the heck takes that long!

Perhaps they will now consider stopping the Gatwick Express services somewhere between gtw and vic for the benefit of the commuters from Brighton who do not want to go to Victoria. The current situation is a daily farce for those wishing to go elsewhere.

Oh great...first we lose the direct connection to King's Cross, now London Bridge, for FOUR years! "This project will mean more trains and better journeys for passengers': please explain that, First Crapital. Even for occasional travellers to London, this is going to be a total nightmare! >-(

It's not for over 25 months so plenty of time to look for a new position.

wendy-uk wrote:
This will force even more commuters into commuting into London Victoria instead. Trains to Victoria are already completely overloaded and entrances to Victoria's underground station have to be shut during rush hour because the underground simply can't cope with the number of people flooding in. The situation will become intolerable if London Bridge is shut. And four years? What the heck takes that long!

It takes as long as it takes and no longer!

Do you honestly think they want to disrupt their own services and hence income for longer than is absolutely necessary?

If you do, you are a complete numpty!

P W A wrote:
It's not for over 25 months so plenty of time to look for a new position.

Fine, so your solution is to find another job that does not entail travelling into London Bridge. If only is was that easy.

Just get the train to Blackfriars. If London Bridge is your final destination, it's not a million miles away, and if not, you'd have to get a connection anyway.

Annoying, yes, but not the disaster some are predicting.

According to Network Rail's website;

"While we transform the station, we will make sure it remains open for the millions of people who use it every day."

So it looks like London Bridge will be open throughout in some shape or form, but the through Brighton services look to be rerouted.

A fair bit of disruption, but on the plus side it will open up a lot of new destinations from Brighton, such as Cambridge and Peterborough.

You will still be able to change trains at East Croydon for London Bridge. The new London Overground service to Canada Water etc will be open then from Clapham Junction.

As someone said Blackfrairs is not a million miles away and I would imagine that the trains will also call at Elephant & Castle too.

Lot of people whinging for nothing!

In terms of the through trains to Kings Cross - FCC run normally 4 times an hour to St Pancras International with a short walk, and I mean short walk to Kings Cross via Subway. Or you can change at Farringdon for the Circle or Met line.

I amazed that some people are even able to put one foot in front of the other let alone commute!

Why would anyone want to go to Peterborough - it's a complete dump!

I dunno.. the railways are damned if they dont do something and now it seems they are damned if they do... for goodness sakes if the railway is to make improvements then they must be allowed the time to do it properly. The A23 is currently being upgraded at Handcross hill which is going to take some considerable time to do.. it always amazes me how people are happy to sit in a traffic jam knowing that in years to come that jam is being sorted by road improvements but people who use the railway expect it all on a plate by yesterday for the same fare price. Get real rail users and put up with a bit of inconvenience in turn for a much better railway in the future!

The Argus has (once again) not got this quite right.

London Bridge will be OPEN but some services will be diverted. It is also hoped that some off peak services will still call at London Bridge.

The rail companies are holding a roadshow at Brighton with ALL the details :
Thursday 1st November (18:00-19:00)
Friday 2nd November (07:00 – 09:30)
www.thameslinkprogra
mme.co.uk

www.thameslinkprogra
mme.co.uk

Yes its a pain (I commute to the Wharf) but if it becomes truly bad then its a case of heading to Victoria which only adds 10 or so mins to the journey time anyway.

Having commuted to LB for 16 years then I for one cant wait for the stations very long overdue makeover.

Both southern and First Capital operate delay repay schemes so these will be claimed at every opportunity whenever possible!

It will be an inconvenience but we desperately need increased rail capacity (and road capacity as well) in order to deal with the growing population in south east England.

As well as upgrading current stations I often wonder about the feasability of building a brand new terminal in East London. A potential destination for BML2?

wendy-uk wrote:
This will force even more commuters into commuting into London Victoria instead. Trains to Victoria are already completely overloaded and entrances to Victoria's underground station have to be shut during rush hour because the underground simply can't cope with the number of people flooding in. The situation will become intolerable if London Bridge is shut. And four years? What the heck takes that long!

One of the things about making a good comment is that you read and understand the story you're commenting on.

You clearly haven't done that.

Jimmy Stewart's Imaginary Rabbit wrote:
It will be an inconvenience but we desperately need increased rail capacity (and road capacity as well) in order to deal with the growing population in south east England.

As well as upgrading current stations I often wonder about the feasability of building a brand new terminal in East London. A potential destination for BML2?

Communting to London from Brighton is simply a living hell but if you cant get a job elsewhere what is the choice?
"Get a local job"...there are none!
"Take a pay cut"...oh, yeah and what about my kids and wife?

What we need is some sort of national strategy to wean us off the black hole- like dependancy on London. It's bad for the country and severely reduces the standard of living of all.
Sure, keep the city in place but what about the countless public sector central Gov roles that could easily be moved to other Cities? The BBC had the right idea.

If it means First Capital Connect will FINALLY upgrade their disgusting, 25 years old trains, which break down all the time then this is what needs to be done. People moan about the railways, dated trains, bad services and crowded stations. When something is being done then those people are still moaning. Take a diversion, I am sure an extra 15 minutes on your journey won't kill you - and I am sure if you look closely in the plans things will be done to try and make it as easy as possible.

Not a big deal as there are alternative options. Why not just change at East Croydon on to one of the many services that DO stop at London Bridge?

For those who work at Canary Wharf, by the time this work starts the Overground service from Clapham Junction to Canary Wharf will be in operation.

Failing that, Blackfriars isn't a million miles away from London Bridge.

steveP2009 wrote:
If it means First Capital Connect will FINALLY upgrade their disgusting, 25 years old trains, which break down all the time then this is what needs to be done. People moan about the railways, dated trains, bad services and crowded stations. When something is being done then those people are still moaning. Take a diversion, I am sure an extra 15 minutes on your journey won't kill you - and I am sure if you look closely in the plans things will be done to try and make it as easy as possible.

Totally agree about FCC's trains - they're a disgrace. But what genius thinks we'll go to Peterborough (willingly)?

Change at East Croydon? The only trains that stop at East Croydon in the rush hour are the slow, old, filthy and uncomfortable FCC trains and they are few and far between, all the rest are Gatwick Express which means an additional change at Haywards Heath onto an already crowded train. It is a real pain and surely some sort of compromise needs to be found for the hundreds of commuters who do not want to go to Victoria.

Whilst I appreciate that work needs to be done and this causes disruption I do not see how this work will help with the situation on the Brighton line which is full to capacity.

DSummers wrote:
Change at East Croydon? The only trains that stop at East Croydon in the rush hour are the slow, old, filthy and uncomfortable FCC trains and they are few and far between, all the rest are Gatwick Express which means an additional change at Haywards Heath onto an already crowded train. It is a real pain and surely some sort of compromise needs to be found for the hundreds of commuters who do not want to go to Victoria.

Whilst I appreciate that work needs to be done and this causes disruption I do not see how this work will help with the situation on the Brighton line which is full to capacity.

Few and far between? I don't think so. The following trains run direct from East Croydon to London Bridge during rush hour:

08:02, 08:03, 08:05, 08:10, 08:25, 08:27, 08:29, 08:32, 08:33, 08:42, 08:51, 08:54, 08:56, 08:59, 09:02, 09:05, 09:20, 09:30, 09:32, 09:33, 09:37, 09:47, 09:51, 09:55...

And return:

17:09, 17:15, 17:17, 17:23, 17:32, 17:42, 17:44, 17:47, 17:49, 17:57, 17:59, 18:08, 18:12, 18:16, 18:18, 18:23, 18:27, 18:30, 18:32, 18:47, 18:49, 18:57, 18:59...

That's quite a choice.

harrisimo wrote:

DSummers wrote:
Change at East Croydon? The only trains that stop at East Croydon in the rush hour are the slow, old, filthy and uncomfortable FCC trains and they are few and far between, all the rest are Gatwick Express which means an additional change at Haywards Heath onto an already crowded train. It is a real pain and surely some sort of compromise needs to be found for the hundreds of commuters who do not want to go to Victoria.

Whilst I appreciate that work needs to be done and this causes disruption I do not see how this work will help with the situation on the Brighton line which is full to capacity.

Few and far between? I don't think so. The following trains run direct from East Croydon to London Bridge during rush hour:

08:02, 08:03, 08:05, 08:10, 08:25, 08:27, 08:29, 08:32, 08:33, 08:42, 08:51, 08:54, 08:56, 08:59, 09:02, 09:05, 09:20, 09:30, 09:32, 09:33, 09:37, 09:47, 09:51, 09:55...

And return:

17:09, 17:15, 17:17, 17:23, 17:32, 17:42, 17:44, 17:47, 17:49, 17:57, 17:59, 18:08, 18:12, 18:16, 18:18, 18:23, 18:27, 18:30, 18:32, 18:47, 18:49, 18:57, 18:59...

That's quite a choice.

Errr.. How many go from BRIGHTON to EAST CROYDON?

I don't think anyone would claim that there is a shortage of trains from East Croydon To London Bridge.

Fairfax Sakes wrote:

Jimmy Stewart's Imaginary Rabbit wrote:
It will be an inconvenience but we desperately need increased rail capacity (and road capacity as well) in order to deal with the growing population in south east England.

As well as upgrading current stations I often wonder about the feasability of building a brand new terminal in East London. A potential destination for BML2?

Communting to London from Brighton is simply a living hell but if you cant get a job elsewhere what is the choice?
"Get a local job"...there are none!
"Take a pay cut"...oh, yeah and what about my kids and wife?

What we need is some sort of national strategy to wean us off the black hole- like dependancy on London. It's bad for the country and severely reduces the standard of living of all.
Sure, keep the city in place but what about the countless public sector central Gov roles that could easily be moved to other Cities? The BBC had the right idea.

You are correct that perhaps we shouldn't be so London-centric, but people are still going to need to travel. Two other projects that need attention are the Brighton to Ashford rail link and the A27 - and neither of them go anywhere near London.

All transport development is good, and the short-term pain is usually worth it in the end. Having said that I'm glad my current contract means I'm based in Brighton!

Elroyo wrote:

harrisimo wrote:

DSummers wrote:
Change at East Croydon? The only trains that stop at East Croydon in the rush hour are the slow, old, filthy and uncomfortable FCC trains and they are few and far between, all the rest are Gatwick Express which means an additional change at Haywards Heath onto an already crowded train. It is a real pain and surely some sort of compromise needs to be found for the hundreds of commuters who do not want to go to Victoria.

Whilst I appreciate that work needs to be done and this causes disruption I do not see how this work will help with the situation on the Brighton line which is full to capacity.

Few and far between? I don't think so. The following trains run direct from East Croydon to London Bridge during rush hour:

08:02, 08:03, 08:05, 08:10, 08:25, 08:27, 08:29, 08:32, 08:33, 08:42, 08:51, 08:54, 08:56, 08:59, 09:02, 09:05, 09:20, 09:30, 09:32, 09:33, 09:37, 09:47, 09:51, 09:55...

And return:

17:09, 17:15, 17:17, 17:23, 17:32, 17:42, 17:44, 17:47, 17:49, 17:57, 17:59, 18:08, 18:12, 18:16, 18:18, 18:23, 18:27, 18:30, 18:32, 18:47, 18:49, 18:57, 18:59...

That's quite a choice.

Errr.. How many go from BRIGHTON to EAST CROYDON?

I don't think anyone would claim that there is a shortage of trains from East Croydon To London Bridge.

06.37 06.51 07.02 07.06 07.15 07.24 07.32 07.50 08.02 08.03 08.16 08.34 08.45 ...... There are actually plenty of rush hour trains to East Croydon from Brighton, although a fast train around 8.30 would be useful.

Good Lord, talk about whingeing for England. As anyone who uses London Bridge knows only too well, it is like something out of the nineteenth century (which it probably is). It badly needs a rebuild. No pain, no gain.