I've been in London every day this week including Saturday, except, the
law of Murphy and Sodde being very rigorous, for tomorrow.

So I decided to get in a last trip from St Pancras to Moorgate tonight. I
got the 18:20 from SPILL, intending to catch the 19:06 but in the end got
the 18:40 from Moorgate so I could catch my usual 19:15 train back to
Cambridge.

The first confusion was my ticket. I checked FCC and National Rail web
sites for Cambridge-Moorgate via SPILL fares and got a ludicrous £21.80
off peak return fare with Network Card discount. As the London Terminals
and the Cambridge-Zones 1-4 equivalents are £19.15 and £20.75 respectively
I had difficulty stacking that up.

So I asked at Cambridge yesterday morning, knowing from past experience of
a visit to the FCC lost property office that City Thameslink is accepted
as a London terminal by FCC whatever the discussions here have concluded
in the past. They confirmed that a London Terminals ticket would be valid
to and from Moorgate (I was only going one way of course).

I cycled from work to King's Cross as usual and locked up my bike there,
deciding that trying a bike before 19:00 wasn't worth arguing about. I
also decided against trying to use yesterday's outward ticket today and
made my first use of Oyster PAYG on National Rail to Moorgate.

Coming back the (LUL) barriers at Moorgate had no problems accepting my
London Terminals-Cambridge return half but at SPILL the gate rejected it.
The ticket barrier staff readily accepted it though.

The oddities I noticed at Moorgate included the countdown clock, last used
for the King's Cross Thameslink closure showing 1 day and 30 minutes to go
to the last train (19:06 tomorrow, though I gather a later ECS working
will carry passengers to SPILL).

There was also a sign, alongside that directing passengers to platforms 5
& 6 for Bedford, directing them there for Stevenage! Surely that sign is
actively confusing, the GNC platforms being more appropriate for such
passengers?

The other thing I'd not previously realised is the lack of down trains
calling at Barbican. The down platform looks long abandoned if not totally
demolished (hard to see in the dark). When did that happen?

After tomorrow the fares arguments become rather more academic, or do
they? Could one still change at Farringdon and use the Met to reach
Moorgate on such a ticket?

I took various pictures. Some will be at
www.rosenstiel.co.uk/trains/lastmoorgate.htm when I get round to it but
some were not very good. I savoured the irony of the 18:20 to Moorgate
being led by a Southern-liveried unit (with an FCC driver).

One picture I missed which others tomorrow might look out for was the
feather on the signal at Farringdon that will get its last passenger
outing tomorrow. I saw it but didn't get the camera out in time.

--
Colin Rosenstiel