Clive Page wrote:

On 16/07/2016 16:26, burfordTjustice wrote:
On Sat, 16 Jul 2016 11:49:30 +0100
Clive Page wrote:

So for this rather simple cross-London journey both main journey
planners failed badly

Why would anyone need a machine to plan their trip?

You must be pretty stupid if you can not plan
your own route.

Thank you for those kind and perceptive comments.

As I explained, there are (at least) three routes with similar
timings, and it required detailed study of timetables for Thameslink,
EMT, and SE trains, plus getting estimates of times on Northern,
Jubilee, and Circle/District lines, as well as checking for the
effects of weekend engineering works, to work out the best route for
any given departure time. This is the sort of job that ought to be
ideally suited to computers. We have had on-line journey planners
for at least 15 years now, but it seems to me that they are still
stuck in the 20th Century, and have hardly advanced in all that time.

I think you are being somewhat harsh on the TfL Planner, it gave you a
perfectly reasonable route. Exactly which option is quickest will
largely depend on how much time you allow for the interchanges.

It is very likely all three options would have ended up on the same
train out of London Bridge.

Peter Smyth