On Saturday, 22 November 2014 11:01:54 UTC, wrote:
Punctuality and reliability are highly valued by passengers even if

Its supposed to be a turn up and go metro service. I doubt anyone seriously
checks the timetable beforehand. So long as trains turn up every 3 or 4
minutes thats all that matters.

It isn't though, passengers to/from the southern branches seem to treat it as a timetabled
service on the whole - at my local station (Norwood Junction) the bulk of passengers in the
morning peak turn up just before the train. It might be only 4tph but equally spaced at the
same times all day so it's easy for people to get used to the times, which helps.

The final point to make is that the slowish running speed doesn't seem
to deter passengers given how overloaded the trains are. If they were

Well its detered me. If I continue on the victoria and change at green
park to the jubilee it almost always gets me to canada water quicker than
the ELL even though its a much longer distance.

But with the inconvenience of the not very convenient change at Green Park.

Personally I think the ELL should have remained a tube line and stayed on
its own tracks. Running over NR lines is just asking for delays plus the
longer the route is the more than can go wrong.

I thought that too and that the ELL "extensions" were a white elephant -
creating a fake "new" service. I was wrong though, and the passenger
numbers seem to prove there was a latent demand there. I rarely use it
myself but the trains are standing only at Norwood Junction in the mornings,
and rammed by the time they get to the old ELL.

On that route it's also had the side-effect of a far better service to London
Bridge on the Croydon route, which surprised me - the reduced London Bridge
service has less crowding. The downside is stations between New Cross Gate
and Anerley have a far worse service to East Croydon and beyond than previously;
as a result Norwood Junction is actually used as an interchange these days.

Despite all the NR line running it's remarkably reliable!