I recently decided that an alternative route to Luton Airport Parkway station - instead of my usual tube journey to St Pancras station - was to take the London Overground to West Hampstead, and then a Thameslink train to LAP.
If you use the standard journey planning websites or applications - they won't give you connections which assume normal walking pace between the West Hampstead Overgound and Thameslink stations! The sites/apps don't make it clear how long they estimate it will take you to walk the 200m - but whatever the number, it's way too long !
I timed the journey from the doors opening at the Overground station (I was at the front of the train - so I had to walk back down the platform a couple of carriage lengths to the exit) ... up the stairs ... exit through the ticket barrier ... turn left ... across a side road (I did get lucky with the traffic - although it's not a big junction, so it should never be too bad) ... across the mainline rails (which gives you a nice view of the Thameslink station below street level) ... left at the Mainline sign ... left through the ticket barriers ... across one platform ... and down the stairs to the platform I wanted.
Admittedly I had looked at the map beforehand, so I knew the route ... but the walk from the Overground platform to the Thameslink platform took me all of THREE minutes, and I was carrying a medium sized backpack. I reckon the travel planning sites/apps are using a minimum connection time of something like 15 minutes - even if you're unlucky with the traffic, you really don't need that long !
Update: I travelled the route again recently, this time during rush hour, and despite being slowed down by the volume of people, it still only took 3 minutes 10 seconds! This was helped by the extra exit that's open during peak hours at West Hampstead Overground station. My transfer would have been even faster if I had been at the optimum door on the Overground train - which I reckon is the rear door on the fourth carriage if you're travelling eastbound.
The upshot of this is that to plan your journey, you really need to first figure out which train you want to get from West Hampstead Thameslink - and then work back to decide which Overground train is best for you. In my example the Overground train I took wasn't even showing as a connecting option !
I suspect the same issue arises if you are connecting from the West Hampstead underground station - which is about a further minute away from the Thameslink station.
The reason why I chose this alternative routing was because I realised that with the 13 gbp minimum fare on weekday train tickets using Network Railcard discount (a full one third discount only applies to higher priced tickets) - it cost the same price to travel from my nearest London Overground station as it did from St Pancras. That meant I saved the tube fare from home to St Pancras. Obviously not a massive saving - but better in my pocket than TfL's !
Update: Arriving at Luton Airport Parkway from London, the optimum exit for the stairs (as opposed to the lift) if you're on a 12 car train is the back of carriage 10. Not all Thameslink trains are 12 car trains - ymmv!
If you use the standard journey planning websites or applications - they won't give you connections which assume normal walking pace between the West Hampstead Overgound and Thameslink stations! The sites/apps don't make it clear how long they estimate it will take you to walk the 200m - but whatever the number, it's way too long !
I timed the journey from the doors opening at the Overground station (I was at the front of the train - so I had to walk back down the platform a couple of carriage lengths to the exit) ... up the stairs ... exit through the ticket barrier ... turn left ... across a side road (I did get lucky with the traffic - although it's not a big junction, so it should never be too bad) ... across the mainline rails (which gives you a nice view of the Thameslink station below street level) ... left at the Mainline sign ... left through the ticket barriers ... across one platform ... and down the stairs to the platform I wanted.
Admittedly I had looked at the map beforehand, so I knew the route ... but the walk from the Overground platform to the Thameslink platform took me all of THREE minutes, and I was carrying a medium sized backpack. I reckon the travel planning sites/apps are using a minimum connection time of something like 15 minutes - even if you're unlucky with the traffic, you really don't need that long !
Update: I travelled the route again recently, this time during rush hour, and despite being slowed down by the volume of people, it still only took 3 minutes 10 seconds! This was helped by the extra exit that's open during peak hours at West Hampstead Overground station. My transfer would have been even faster if I had been at the optimum door on the Overground train - which I reckon is the rear door on the fourth carriage if you're travelling eastbound.
The upshot of this is that to plan your journey, you really need to first figure out which train you want to get from West Hampstead Thameslink - and then work back to decide which Overground train is best for you. In my example the Overground train I took wasn't even showing as a connecting option !
I suspect the same issue arises if you are connecting from the West Hampstead underground station - which is about a further minute away from the Thameslink station.
The reason why I chose this alternative routing was because I realised that with the 13 gbp minimum fare on weekday train tickets using Network Railcard discount (a full one third discount only applies to higher priced tickets) - it cost the same price to travel from my nearest London Overground station as it did from St Pancras. That meant I saved the tube fare from home to St Pancras. Obviously not a massive saving - but better in my pocket than TfL's !
Update: Arriving at Luton Airport Parkway from London, the optimum exit for the stairs (as opposed to the lift) if you're on a 12 car train is the back of carriage 10. Not all Thameslink trains are 12 car trains - ymmv!
