travelling from East Dulwich to East Croydon in the rush hour

[sleepy-li]

My son is about to start doing this journey for sixth form, there are so many options (ED station, HO station, 197 bus) I wondered if anyone currently does this and what they'd recommend - ie are the trains super busy in that direction at 7.30/8am, does the bus take forever etc... or is it all much of a muchness?

[KidKruger]

isn't there still a direct train (albeit infrequently) direct train from ED stn to East Croydon ?

[exdulwicher]

23 minutes from north Dulwich, direct train twice per hour.

Current timetable is at 00 and 30 mins past each hour.

If you go from ED, it's obviously one stop further, it adds about 3 minutes to the journey.

It's not a journey I make that frequently but I know the train times for when I go - it's always been very reliable and never particularly busy. Most of the traffic at that time in the morning is coming into town from Croydon so you're going against the flow which means quiet(ish) trains.

ND can get busy with kids coming in from both Croydon and Peckham directions for the schools; ED is the quieter station at that time in the morning.

[ruffers]

Or it's twenty minutes or so from Forest Hill and frequent. Depends where your starting from really.

[sleepy-li]

Thanks ruffers and exdulwicher

Ever risked it by bus!!?

[Sephiroth]

I used to get the 197 from Dulwich Library (so a fair bit closer than say, ED station) to East Croydon station - off-peak

And if peak is longer than that (and one would imagine it is significantly busier) I would say avoid. It's a long dull schlep which I was happy enough with on an idle Saturday morning but if I had to do daily? Hard no

No harm trying all options and seeing which works best for you tho

[JL Dulwich]

I do this journey at least once a week, though generally not in rush hour. There's a direct train from East Dulwich which takes about 25mins. It's pretty reliable and I've never seen the trains packed going that direction in the morning.

If there's an issue with trains (usually only happens on a weekend), there's always the option of getting the bus to Forest Hill and the overground from Forest Hill to West Croydon, which is about 15-20mins.

My friend regularly caught the bus the other way (from East Croydon to East Dulwich) and it took anywhere from 1.5 - 2hrs. Personally I'd avoid that option, if you can.

[sleepy-li]

Thank you thats really helpful.

Its a big commitment at 16 and its hard to know how to advise when there are lots of options.

I'm guessing its a big no to the bus :)

[ed26]

The 197 is a ghastly service. The buses are filthy and covered with litter, and it's one of those where it's packed downstairs and everyone seems to get on and off at every stop so it seems to spend 10 mins at every stop and takes 2 hours to get to Croydon. And it's rammed by the time it gets to Barry Road. Avoid.

[sleepy-li]

Thanks ed26 thats exactly the feedback I needed...

[Adidas_guy]

I used the 197 bus the other day and it was absolutely fine.

I chose to use the bus because it was one of the options suggested by googlemsps.

[OutOfFocus]

Honor oak park has both through trains and change at Norward junction

[Bic Basher]

Personally I use the Forest Hill option where 2 trains per hour go direct to East Croydon or use the Overground to West Croydon and then use the tram to East Croydon over the 197.

I normally use the 197 to get to Penge and that's a drag in itself and would only contemplate using the 197 during early mornings or late nights to and from Croydon.

[sleepy-li]

Thank you for all your feedback, he's trying out the Honor Oak/Forest Hill option next week and probably knocking the 197 on the head.