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Hello

I'd like to travel with a friend and their 6 year old to Brighton on a Friday in December. I'm minded to take the bus to Forest Hill, then the Overground to West Croydon and then to East Croydon to pick up the train to Brighton. I don't fancy schlepping all the way in to Victoria from up near the Goodrich School, hence my southern trajectory. Good idea? How is the interchange from W to E Croydon? Or is it best to go to London Bridge and do it that way? Any tips welcome. Thanks.

When I lived near you Nero, I sometimes used to get the 197 bus from the library to East Croydon - it does drag, and isn't pretty but has the benefit of being close to home and avoiding schleppage


But usually just went to London Bridge and then changed - ultmately it's just easiest. Travelling to Forest Hill, Change, West Croydon, Change, East Croydon, Change and the Brighton has too many steps that can go wrong for me

Goodrich? Get a 197 all the way to East Croydon station where you hop onto the Brighton train.


Once you've faffed at Forest Hill station with tickets and changing platforms there, and then W>E Croydon again, you're no faster going by train than by bus. And if the 197 is the first Forest Hill-bound bus that comes along, all the better.

coopsy76 Wrote:

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> Bus to forest hill takes 5 mins.


Doubt it v. much. Maybe 5 mins actually on the bus from southern end of LL to FH. But that's not end to end journey time.


Train to new

> cross takes 5 mins


No it doesn't! New X is on the other branch of the ELL so you'd have to go to S Quays and change. If you mean New X Gate it still doesn't - and again this is on the train timing, not inc the time you've had to wait for it.


and u pick up the train to

> Brighton that left LB. I find it quicker than

> either ED to LB or bus to Denmark Hill then train

> to Victoria as I live near the Plough.


I'm not surprised as both those options have you heading north when Brighton is due south!

mlteenie Wrote:

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> Train to London Bridge 12 mins


on the train, yes, but that's only one portion of your journey time.


- train from London

> Bridge to Brighton 1 hour.


same point. and they generally take 1h10 or 1h15.

I really think London Bridge is quickest. Although having said that, my closest station is Queen's Road Peckham which is 6 mins to London Bridge.


Or you could just ignore everyone and go to the nationalrail.co.uk website. They also have a good, but expensive iphone app.

With me it is more to do with the lack of faffage than speed, especially when I have an out-of-towner and their child with me. Something in me can't avoid the feeling that going south (ie to Croydon) is the logical thing to do rather than getting a bus and then a train to London Bridge. Anyway, we shall see...Thanks to all.
  • 2 weeks later...
I travel to Uni in Brighton every day from Dulwich, and the way I go is the quickest I think. I get a lift to Clapham Junction or take the 37 and then catch the Southern Express Service which calls at East Croydon and then goes straight to Brighton. It takes about 45 mins, so very fast.

rubsley Wrote:

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> Can somebody summarise this? Seems remarkably

> complex for something so straightforward...



Sure man, no worries...


1. Forget about changing from West to East Croydon - no need.


2. Bus to Forest Hill and then train to Brighton changing at either East Croydon (19 or 49 past the hour) or Norwood Junction and East Croydon (25 or 55 past the hour) seems easiest. It's ?19.50 for an adult day return and - according to nationalrail.co.uk (which may be an online only thing) - ?1 for a child and takes either an hour and five minutes or an hour and twenty.


3. If you're going to travel by train more than three times a year you might want to have a look at buying either a family & friends railcard or a network railcard, which'll cost you ?26/25 and save ?10.60/?13 on this journey alone.


4. If you want to be really smart, go to southernrailway.com and buy your tickets there: you can go Forest Hill-Brighton-Forest Hill for ?3.75 each way.


5. Going to Clapham Junction isn't the worst idea in the world - but it does take 35-40 minutes by bus to get there, and only cuts the train travel time down by 20 minutes.


6. Going to London Bridge/Victoria isn't the world's worst idea either - but it is longer and possibly more expensive so why would you?


7. Finally, you can go East Dulwich-Streatham Common-East Croydon-Brighton, which takes about an hour and a half all in and costs from ?3.75 at southernrailway.com. No idea how convenient/inconvenient the changes are though.


In a nutshell: go to southernrailway.com, buy some tickets from Forest Hill to Brighton and back, and go and have a jolly nice time.


Cheers!

Rory

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