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[email protected] · November 19th 15, 04:18 PM posted to uk.transport.london

On 18.11.15 21:32, wrote:
On Wednesday, 18 November 2015 09:36:16 UTC, wrote:
I took the ELL from Highbury this morning for the first time in about 6 months.
Even after the obligatory 7 minute wait for the train to leave it was still
only a 3rd full in the middle of the morning rush hour. Compared to last time
I used it this is virtually empty. I can only assume the poor service
frequency and slow journey times (25 mins to do the 4 miles to canada water
this morning) have put people off as they did me. What a waste of an asset.

--
Spud

I never use it in the morning peak, but do occasionally in the evening one, usually from Stratford to West Croydon. It's not terribly convenient having to change twice, but at least it's cross platform both times. Trains from West Croydon seem to arrive at platform 2 at Dalston Junction, but ones going there seem to depart from platform 3, so trains from Croydon presumably then go to New cross. It could do with speeding up a bit, but it's worth it to avoid central London. I don't know why, but I tend to go out via Canada Water and the Jubilee, and return all the way by Overground.

In my experience trains from Dalston in the evening peak become very heavily loaded by the time they leave Whitechapel; the few times I have boarded there I tend to have to wait a long time, sometimes over an hour, for a train where I can get a seat. I cannot stand for more than a few stops now due to bad legs. From Dalston to Shoreditch High Street it's not so crowded, but there's usually a net gain of passengers at each station.

I wonder if that is because a place like Dalston is ceasing to be the
"Centre of Cool" as before.