please empty your brain below
How does the per day number work?
And the number in the post doesn't match that in the list at the bottom?

AC | 19.02.12 - 12:27 a.m. | #

Birkbeck has no trains on Sundays, so I divided the total by 313 rather than 365.
And I believe the numbers do match...

diamond geezer | Homepage | 19.02.12 - 12:37 a.m. | #

Never mind Birkbeck (which is in Malet Street to my way of thinking - how many points for that?) how have you got through 7 bottles of Becks since Wednesday? Party was it? Research for a post on binge drinking? ;)

Blue Witch | Homepage | 19.02.12 - 7:27 a.m. | #

Birkbeck's possibly the only station in London under active consideration for closure (at least no others spring to mind, though I may be wrong). Both Boris and Ken have been talking up the extension of tramlink to Crystal Palace; the most likely version of that scheme entails taking over both tracks and platforms here, with trams running between Crystal Palace and Beckenham as well as Croydon. The Southern service would divert to, and terminate at, Norwood Junction.

SELondoner | Homepage | 19.02.12 - 8:46 a.m. | #

Its not busy because there are plenty of stations nearby with better services, so if you are going to get to the station by bus, or be dropped off, then those are preferable. This station effectively has a easy-walking-distance catchment area only.

A train every 30 minutes is pretty rubbish in this day and age, either dig out the timetable, memorise the trains, or risk a 29 minute wait. London Bridge is not such a useless destination as it used to be, but nearby stations offer better ones.

Max Roberts | Homepage | 19.02.12 - 8:46 a.m. | #

Five points for me.

Why are numbers so low ? Well being next to a large cemetery doesn't help and being close to the disused sewage works (sorry, Norwood Countryside Park) doesn't improve things. The service to London is slow and indirect. The journey to Beckenham Junction is almost certainly quicker if you catch a tram. With good services from Beckenham Junction and Penge East to Victoria and also Elmers End station a few minutes walk away (direct services to London Bridge, Cannon Street and Charing Cross) I think that instead of asking why numbers are so low one should ask why anyone would ever use it ?

There have been proposals to not only extend Tramlink to Crystal Palace but take over the remaining heavy rail track to Beckenham Junction and provide a tram service between Crystal Palace and Beckenham Junction though this is as much to rid National Rail of an unwanted line as to improve the service to passengers.

The reason there was a pub here called the the Dr W G Grace and not in Sydenham (where he lived and on which you have previously written about) is that he was buried in the cemetery. The other famous "resident" is Thomas Crapper who created the first mass-produced flushing toilet.

Pedantic of Purley | 19.02.12 - 8:48 a.m. | #

Three comments in two minutes - and on a Sunday morning too! All basically saying much the same thing. Is this a record ? One for the count ?

Pedantic of Purley | 19.02.12 - 8:51 a.m. | #

If you're ever in Manchester you can find a station very similar to this. It's Navigation Road and is almost identical in concept except there's no fence in the middle.

It actually causes a bit of a bottleneck, mainly for National Rail - Metrolink manage to stop 24 trains an hour there (12 in each direction) but obviously it would be harder for them to increase it further.

Andrew Bowden | Homepage | 19.02.12 - 9:11 a.m. | #

Great stuff, as usual, DG. I particularly liked the link to Emma and Debbie. The article about them is full of wonderful HR-speak: "In her time on the railway, she has held a variety of customer facing posts".
I hope the comments stats are better now -- yesterday's post with its link to five great blogs was also really interesting.

Charles | Homepage | 19.02.12 - 10:53 a.m. | #

Is the the Final Countdown?

B | 19.02.12 - 11:05 a.m. | #

Do we get a post on the others? I have a feeling you may have already written about Angel Road, but its uselessness still impresses me.

dg writes: I've blogged about 1 and 4, taken a photo of 2, and walked past 5, but never been to 3. Yet.

martin | 19.02.12 - 1:39 p.m. | #

A station from my childhood - I remember 4SUB and 4EPB green electric compartment stock - some of which was marked "Ladies only" with a green window label. One of the reasons the usage is so low is that at the other side of the cemetery is Elmers End station on the Hayes branch (and also a Tramlink terminus) with connections to Cannon Street and Charing Cross. The nearby residents if not interred are just spoilt for choice.

Mwmbwls | Homepage | 19.02.12 - 2:10 p.m. | #

I suppose ½ a point for me seeing as I only knew it was in South East London, but I did idly wonder when I came across it, if there was any link to the University, and asked my colleague who was studying there at the time (and who lived in the wonderfully named Belvedere, also in S.E London). He didn't know, so I can now tell him.

s | 19.02.12 - 4:59 p.m. | #

My first thought was a station serving Birkbeck College, so no points for me!

James | 19.02.12 - 8:00 p.m. | #

Ah, Sundays... understood.
I tried to go to Angel Road once. Failed to find the way into the station as they've closed the way from the North Circular and then realised there were no stopping trains anyway as it was a weekend (and not between 0654 and 0658 with a new moon) so got the bus to Tottenham Hale instead...

AC | 20.02.12 - 1:36 a.m. | #

And still, Southwark has nothing even in the proposal stage south of E&C.

imajoebob | 20.02.12 - 4:28 a.m. | #

Birkbeck station in my closest station, (3mins walk from my house!) but I still find myself walking 10mins to either Anerley or Elmers end. The trains from these two stations are more frequent and quicker into London Bridge. Also, last train from London Bridge is around 22.30, which is far to early if I've been out in central London. I do however use the Birkbeck to get to Crystal Place or East Dulwich, and will miss this link if the plans to extend tramlink mean that these services will be replaced.

Michael Hajioannou | 21.02.12 - 4:27 p.m. | #

I remember going there in my youth and coming out the station and having no idea where I was as it semed to be in the middle of nowhere.
Later on it became my closest station but I have now moved a little bit away.
It does have one merit and that it is near one of the best fish and chips shops in South London - the Marlow Fish Bar in Marlow Road, SE20

Brian | 24.02.12 - 9:33 a.m. | #

Nobody in their right mind would use Angel Road if they could find an alternative. It's a mugger's paradise. The road is higher than the station so you wind down lonely stairs, and then walk along a wire-fence alley under a bridge until you get to the platforms, which are totally isolated from people. I think it's a self-service station too, so no officials around either. I've been there once and was so glad when the train came a few minutes later. Definitely not a place to linger (or go again, ever.)

Jayne | Homepage | 25.02.12 - 6:37 p.m. | #











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