TfL aren't responsible for the Southeastern services so you're looking at the wrong app. At Waterloo East trains to Lewisham/Eltham will leave from Platform A unless there is a problem.
On the National Rail journey planner all you need to do is enter Eltham to Abbey Wood (or Woolwich) and the trains will be shown.
TfL aren't responsible for the Southeastern services so you're looking at the wrong app. At Waterloo East trains to Lewisham/Eltham will leave from Platform A unless there is a problem.
On the National Rail journey planner all you need to do is enter Eltham to Abbey Wood (or Woolwich) and the trains will be shown.
Well that’s just great. An app called Transport for “London”…
Anyway I am actually going to take that train to get to the Valley given we can’t really drive and have to head into the centre for dinner after the game. Better than fannying around with buses. 13.56 from Eltham arrives Charlton 14.30, and with any luck I can watch Charlton TV en route.
So here I am in Eltham and I was up town for the day yesterday, and at Eltham station discovered something which, AFAIK doesn‘t seem widely known. There is a half hourly service from CannonStreet running up the BX line , swerving Dartford and back down the Woolwich line. This provides a direct connection to the Liz line at Abbey Wood. That takes 26 mins, down to 21 mins obvs if you get on at Welling. When my sister picked me up on Thursday at Abbey Wood that took us a good 20 mins to get back, so its competitive.
And here‘s the thing. The TFL app doesnt mention this option at all, even if you ask it about starting from Eltham station 2 mins before that train departs. Insted it recommends you routes involving buses taking 40mins +. Not iimpressed with that app.
Meanwhile last night at 20.00 Waterloo East had an info blackout. No info on the panelś, no tannoy system. Trouble with Waterloo is, you need to know which platform and if you chose wrong, you are stuffed. Tfl app useless. Before leaving the pub with mates I knew I was looking for a train leaving 20.17 to connect at Lewisham, but didnt know which platform. Tried Google. It instructed me to get across to platform C for a Hayes train to get to Lewisham at 20.25 Just as I started to head off of Platform A a train rolled with “Dartford” on the front. I thought it’s worth a punt, and when I got on, it was indeed a BX line train, completely missed by both TfL and Google.
Surely TfL should be leading the way in getting a grip on this info-chaos. I am wondering if there is some kind of tension between them and South-Eastern?
The info blackout at Waterloo East has been going on for at least a few days now. No info on the boards, no announcements and no staff on the platforms to ask.
Trains roll in and out again with no indication of where they are going, although sometimes one might say "Dartford" on the front, so you have to guess which line it's going down.
Most people don't seem too bothered as they were looking at train apps, but I was with my old man who's nearly 80 now and he doesn't have a smart phone, so if I wasn't there he would've had no idea what train to get on.
Oh, and as for the tfl app, it's OK but it has a tendency to steer you onto tfl services. So it will give you options to get three buses when actually if you hang on for 5 minutes you can get one train instead!
The "directions" facility on Google Maps is much better.
Yes just got that, thanks to a conversation at the bus stop. The guy could see it was worth waiting for the bus as he could track it live on the app✅ Meantime I also downloaded the South Eastern app which is nicely designed - and pretty good. But when I asked it about Eltham to St Pancras the first option at the time involved Thameslink and had full details but the next one involved the Tube and it just said that at London Bridge I should just “use the Underground”. FFS. The next Labour govt should say it will require all the biggest cities to have One App to Rule Them All which is operator neutral and any operator that doesnt comply gets a big fine. And instead of re-inventing the wheel they can ask Vienna if they would kindly share their experience of building just such an app.
ok transport rant over. I’m going to focus on the match and look forward to seeing Corey live tearing Derby a new one. What?…oh….
It’s not TfL data, and the national rail feed is to put it mildly, is shit
Well one thing I’ve learnt living on the Continent is that especially in urban areas *integration* is the key to a decent service that encourages people to leave their cars at home. The UK seems to have lost that concept. Privatisation is partly to blame but I think it goes back longer than that. A concrete national plan to fix this ought to be a vote-winner.
I don’t know how well they do this app-info stuff in Paris. During the Olympics that’ll be a test.
In terms off apps if I'm just getting the train I use the national rail app, if I want multi mode (train then tube or bus etc.) I'll use city mapper - although if there is a walking section I'll switch to google maps as the walking function on city mapper is shite.
We are so far from an integrated transport strategy. Example - the 65 bus (from TfL) stops outside South Ealing tube station (TfL). Yet there's no provision for an announcement to tell people that the service is messed up this morning and you might want to stop on the bus for a few more minutes and go to Ealing Broadway.
Real Time Trains is pretty good at guessing platforms and stuff like that. It's a website not an app.
We are so far from an integrated transport strategy. Example - the 65 bus (from TfL) stops outside South Ealing tube station (TfL). Yet there's no provision for an announcement to tell people that the service is messed up this morning and you might want to stop on the bus for a few more minutes and go to Ealing Broadway.
Real Time Trains is pretty good at guessing platforms and stuff like that. It's a website not an app.
Comments
On the National Rail journey planner all you need to do is enter Eltham to Abbey Wood (or Woolwich) and the trains will be shown.
Anyway I am actually going to take that train to get to the Valley given we can’t really drive and have to head into the centre for dinner after the game. Better than fannying around with buses. 13.56 from Eltham arrives Charlton 14.30, and with any luck I can watch Charlton TV en route.
Trains roll in and out again with no indication of where they are going, although sometimes one might say "Dartford" on the front, so you have to guess which line it's going down.
Most people don't seem too bothered as they were looking at train apps, but I was with my old man who's nearly 80 now and he doesn't have a smart phone, so if I wasn't there he would've had no idea what train to get on.
Very poor.
The "directions" facility on Google Maps is much better.
Meantime I also downloaded the South Eastern app which is nicely designed - and pretty good. But when I asked it about Eltham to St Pancras the first option at the time involved Thameslink and had full details but the next one involved the Tube and it just said that at London Bridge I should just “use the Underground”. FFS.
The next Labour govt should say it will require all the biggest cities to have One App to Rule Them All which is operator neutral and any operator that doesnt comply gets a big fine. And instead of re-inventing the wheel they can ask Vienna if they would kindly share their experience of building just such an app.
ok transport rant over. I’m going to focus on the match and look forward to seeing Corey live tearing Derby a new one. What?…oh….
Woolwich Elizabeth line station usage grows to 11.5 million trips in 2023
New data from Transport for London has revealed usage of Elizabeth line stations in Greenwich borough for 2023.
Abbey Wood was at 8.6 million journeys – though that station is also served by Southeastern and Thameslink.
https://www.fromthemurkydepths.co.uk/2024/03/05/woolwich-elizabeth-line-station-usage-grows-to-11-5-million-trips-in-2023/
Real Time Trains is pretty good at guessing platforms and stuff like that. It's a website not an app.
Though if I am specifically just looking for a train I use the national rail app.