On 16 Sep, 20:44, "Paul Scott" wrote:
Opening on Sunday 28th September according to the BBC, the article goes on
to mention that the station will be served by a (Southern) East Croydon -
Milton Keynes service (but see below...)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/7618263.stm

Funnily enough, the trainline shows that on 15th December, Southern will be
running to MK hourly, but only from Clapham Junction, as there no longer
appear to be any through trains from further south.

Was this change expected at this early stage - I thought the initial plan
from the RUS _was_ for EC to MK and the cut back to CJ was for a later
change...

Wasn't the RUS plan actually for a reversal at South Croydon - my
recollection is that the document certainly suggested South Croydon
would be served as well. Is this not one of the problems with this RUS
business - Network Rail's RUS can only recommend, and however strong
that recommendation nothing can be read into it until a decision is
made by DfT Rail - and they don't seem to operate in an atmosphere of
openness, so it's never quite clear what decisions the DfT actually
make as a result of the RUS until they actually happen.

All that said, the current Watford Junction to Brighton trains can
pause for ten or more minutes at Clapham Junction - perhaps the
Trainline planner is merely routing passengers via an interchange at
CJ onto another (and quite possibly faster) train that will reach East
Croydon earlier. I understand many Brighton Line commuters have known
this for ages, hence the mass exodus off these trains at CJ onto
faster alternatives.


PS - the trainline also shows the new 3 tph WCML timetable to BHM and MAN in
use on 15th December - has the big decision now been made...


See my comments above re the RUS and announcement of decisions!