London to Sidcup

[parkender102]

There are a few options for London Stations to Sidcup (Waterloo East, Cannon Street, Charing Cross). I've to accompany my daughter and friend tomorrow night around 19:00 to Sidcup where they are staying for a Dance Audition at Bird College but I will be returning to London later on. I'd like the quickest route with least stops to Sidcup - any ideas?

 

[Antman]

There are a few options for London Stations to Sidcup (Waterloo East, Cannon Street, Charing Cross). I've to accompany my daughter and friend tomorrow night around 19:00 to Sidcup where they are staying for a Dance Audition at Bird College but I will be returning to London later on. I'd like the quickest route with least stops to Sidcup - any ideas?

It's pretty much the same time wise from the three stations you've mentioned

 

[nuneatonmark]

Isn't there a way of finding this sort of thing out on the new-fangled interweb?

 

[parkender102]

It's pretty much the same time wise from the three stations you've mentioned

Looking at London (All Stations) to Sidcup I get journey times of between 25 minutes and 1 Hour 8 minutes!

The number of stops also varies between 1 (Eltham) on the 18:04 from Waterloo East (25 min journey) and 16 stops on the 18:37 from Cannon Street (1 hour 8 minute journey)

 

[zuriblue]

It's pretty much the same time wise from the three stations you've mentioned

Waterloo East is about 2 minutes after Charing Cross as they're on the same line. London Bridge would normally be your best bet but of course there are works going on there, I'm not sure what's happening.

You basically have 2 options, calling at Lewisham and not calling at Lewisham (it splits off from the main Orpington line at Hither Green) but I think they are probably all stations at that time of night. Going out there are expresses but it just cuts the journey from 31 min to 28 min.

Check National Rail or Southeastern, that's the easiest way.

 

[telstarbox]

Are you arriving into Euston? If so then Northern line to London Bridge and picking up an ex-Cannon Street service from platforms 1/2 should be easiest.

 

[Antman]

Looking at London (All Stations) to Sidcup I get journey times of between 25 minutes and 1 Hour 8 minutes!

The number of stops also varies between 1 (Eltham) on the 18:04 from Waterloo East (25 min journey) and 16 stops on the 18:37 from Cannon Street (1 hour 8 minute journey)

Don't go via Eltham that's the long way round, just ensure your train is going via Hither Green and it's about half an hour or less. I think there are a few peak hour trains that are fast from Waterloo East or London Bridge to Sidcup which will obviously be a bit quicker

 

[parkender102]

Are you arriving into Euston? If so then Northern line to London Bridge and picking up an ex-Cannon Street service from platforms 1/2 should be easiest.

Yes - arriving a Euston - I'll have a look at London Bridge services.

 

[DynamicSpirit]

Looking at London (All Stations) to Sidcup I get journey times of between 25 minutes and 1 Hour 8 minutes!

The number of stops also varies between 1 (Eltham) on the 18:04 from Waterloo East (25 min journey) and 16 stops on the 18:37 from Cannon Street (1 hour 8 minute journey)

That will be because some trains through Sidcup/Eltham run a circular route out from London to Slade Green via Woolwich and then back in to London via either Sidcup or Eltham. The 18:37 >1 hour journey is an example of this. Obviously you wouldn't use that train to make a journey from London to Sidcup.

If you ignore trains that only go to Sidcup on the return journey, then as Antman says, it's roughly the same time from any of the main stations, so I'd just pick whichever station is most convenient for you to get to.

One other point - you're travelling in the rush hour so trains will be crowded. You'll be much more likely to get a seat if you go from Charing Cross or Cannon Street (not Waterloo East or London Bridge). (EDIT: And if at all possible I'd avoid London Bridge anyway - loads of rebuilding works there, and if you don't know your way around it might be harder to find your train).

 

[telstarbox]

National Rail Enquiries is a bit confusing regarding this.

From the London end, trains are advertised with a final destination at the outer London end and so the train will only be shown as calling at Sidcup if it calls there on the shorter outward route, not the longer return route.

However, some trains are shown on the NRE website as e.g. "London Cannon Street to London Cannon Street" where they run out via one branch and back via another.

This train would be shown on the boards at Cannon Street and London Bridge as a Slade Green train, but further down the line it would be shown as a Cannon Street train, if that makes sense.

 

[parkender102]

That will be because some trains through Sidcup/Eltham run a circular route out from London to Slade Green via Woolwich and then back in to London via either Sidcup or Eltham. The 18:37 >1 hour journey is an example of this. Obviously you wouldn't use that train to make a journey from London to Sidcup.

If you ignore trains that only go to Sidcup on the return journey, then as Antman says, it's roughly the same time from any of the main stations, so I'd just pick whichever station is most convenient for you to get to.

One other point - you're travelling in the rush hour so trains will be crowded. You'll be much more likely to get a seat if you go from Charing Cross or Cannon Street (not Waterloo East or London Bridge). (EDIT: And if at all possible I'd avoid London Bridge anyway - loads of rebuilding works there, and if you don't know your way around it might be harder to find your train).

Thanks - Charing Cross looking the best option - nearer to Euston too on the Northern Line. Also looking at the services from Charing Cross they also seem to have far fewer stops than a lot of the services from London Bridge, Waterloo etc - although the roughly half hour journey time remains the same.

 

[telstarbox]

One other point - you're travelling in the rush hour so trains will be crowded. You'll be much more likely to get a seat if you go from Charing Cross or Cannon Street (not Waterloo East or London Bridge). (EDIT: And if at all possible I'd avoid London Bridge anyway - loads of rebuilding works there, and if you don't know your way around it might be harder to find your train).

It's usually a bit quieter at London Bridge by 1900. From the tube just follow signs to the NR station, then at street level to "Platforms 1-3" (these are the Southeastern platforms).