Old, Dirty & Late - Network SouthEast

[jopsuk]

I would be very tempted to offer the 321's to Anglia in exchange for 317's as it would certainly make life easier (well for me anyway )

Trouble is of course that the 321s are Great Eastern, the 317s West Aglia- and GA decided that they had pelnty of Great Eastern units when they sent the 317/7s off lease.

Wouldn't mind if the 317s that run to Cambridge were got rid of, if there was a corresponding increase in the 379 fleet (379s wouldn't really be suitable, configured as they are, for Enfield/Hertford/Chingford and Stratford-Stortford). That would probably release enough 317s to go to FCC I think?

 

[Statto]

I vaguely remember a documentary early 90s think it was on on BBC2 mainly following East Coast Main Line with the new trains just been put into service, which was filmed through the infamous Winter of 91, when BR came up with wrong kind of Snow excuse for late & cancelled trains.

 

[D365]

Trouble is of course that the 321s are Great Eastern, the 317s West Anglia- and GA decided that they had plenty of Great Eastern units when they sent the 317/7s off lease.

Wouldn't mind if the 317s that run to Cambridge were got rid of, if there was a corresponding increase in the 379 fleet (379s wouldn't really be suitable, configured as they are, for Enfield/Hertford/Chingford and Stratford-Stortford). That would probably release enough 317s to go to FCC I think?

GN can rid itself of the 317/1s and 321/4s when Thameslink comes into play. These could be merged into the GA fleets along with the ex-SX 317/7s and ex-Midland 321s, all refurbished alongside those existing, replacing the remaining 315s and possibly the 360s.

 

[W230]

Most people would (ignorantly) believe its still Kent - but thats because its what they read every day on their post.

Exactly! With the postcode on the letter it would still get to their house in Orpington if they put Cornwall down instead of Kent. Think it has more to do with postcode snobbery (or county snobbery). Like those in Southport or the majority of the Wirral who refuse to accept they live in Merseyside or those in Stockport who still say they live in Cheshire.

From seeing that film it's nice to see that even twenty years ago the commuters were still grumpy - don't think that'll ever change! Sort of makes you wonder why anyone does it. I especially like the bit where the Kent commuter in the meeting says "it was much better twenty years ago" but has nothing to back it up. Bet they would still say that today!

 

[Silv1983]

Exactly! With the postcode on the letter it would still get to their house in Orpington if they put Cornwall down instead of Kent. Think it has more to do with postcode snobbery (or county snobbery). Like those in Southport or the majority of the Wirral who refuse to accept they live in Merseyside or those in Stockport who still say they live in Cheshire.

From seeing that film it's nice to see that even twenty years ago the commuters were still grumpy - don't think that'll ever change! Sort of makes you wonder why anyone does it. I especially like the bit where the Kent commuter in the meeting says "it was much better twenty years ago" but has nothing to back it up. Bet they would still say that today!

My address in Stockport always ends 'Greater Manchester' when I write it

 

[A-driver]

If you told someone from Orpington or Bromley that they lived in London they would be quite offended! Most people consider them to be in Kent although I know it now comes under greater London along with other places in Kent, Surrey, Essex and middx.

 

[TheJRB]

If you told someone from Orpington or Bromley that they lived in London they would be quite offended! Most people consider them to be in Kent although I know it now comes under greater London along with other places in Kent, Surrey, Essex and middx.

I was born at Farnborough Hospital between Farnborough and Locksbottom and I quite like the idea of being able to say I was born in Greater London! To be honest I've always considered everything within the M25 as London even if that isn't quite true.

It always amuses me when I see "Middlesex" since it hasn't existed since 1965. There are quite a few inconsistencies caused by the confusion too such as Ashford (Surrey) station which is officially named such yet commonly announced as "Ashford (Middlesex)".

 

[Zoe]

There are quite a few inconsistencies caused by the confusion too such as Ashford (Surrey) station which is officially named such yet commonly announced as "Ashford (Middlesex)".

There's also Rainham (Essex) which is actually in Greater London.

 

[TheJRB]

There's also Rainham (Essex) which is actually in Greater London.

Also Sutton (Surrey) and Hayes (Kent) are in the same boat. But then if the latter was named correctly it wouldn't provide any differentiation from Hayes & Harlington (unless it became Hayes (Bromley)).

 

[Zoe]

Also Sutton (Surrey) and Hayes (Kent) are in the same boat. But then if the latter was named correctly it wouldn't provide any differentiation from Hayes & Harlington (unless it became Hayes (Bromley)).

Just calling the station Hayes could be sufficient to differentiate it from Hayes & Harlington, people seem to cope with Liverpool Street and Liverpool Lime Street (although the distance between them is much larger, you can get a train to either of them from Norwich). That said, I've heard the station in Hillingdon referred to as simply "Hayes" even in announcements although I would expect this is less common these days with automated annoucements.

Hayes was a reason given to me for once for using the former postal counties. They said that if a letter was addressed as Hayes, London then it could end up in either Hillingdon or Bromley but this ignores the fact that postcodes are used these days.

 

[Silv1983]

There are some places like Westerham where it is so far south on the tip of "Bromley" I would probably be inclined to call it Kent just to avoid confusing the "Darling Buds of May" types who've lived there a lifetime.

 

[Zoe]

There are some places like Westerham where it is so far south on the tip of "Bromley" I would probably be inclined to call it Kent just to avoid confusing the "Darling Buds of May" types who've lived there a lifetime.

The boundaries of Greater London do seem to be arbitrary in some cases. In the North East it takes in area of open countryside. Elsewhere it excludes areas that have continuous riband development from Central London like Watford, Staines and Dartford. What's interesting is that I've had some conversations with people from these areas and they say they'd prefer to not be in Greater London even though they may well have a much better public transport service and cheaper fares as a result.

 

[TheJRB]

Hayes was a reason given to me for once for using the former postal counties. They said that if a letter was addressed as Hayes, London then it could end up in either Hillingdon or Bromley but this ignores the fact that postcodes are used these days.

Exactly. Postcodes make using county names pretty much irrelevant.

There are some places like Westerham where it is so far south on the tip of "Bromley" I would probably be inclined to call it Kent just to avoid confusing the "Darling Buds of May" types who've lived there a lifetime.

I had to look it up to be sure but it turns out Westerham is actually in Kent.