Are the trains running on Sunday?

I'm seriously considering running a Chocolate Teapot 2009 award for companies working in the Charlton area and I think I've found my first nomination.

I've been helping a friend make some travel arrangements for the coming weekend and had heard that the Southeastern train service through Charlton wasn't running due to engineering. I thought I'd better check up on it.

So to Southeastern's web site I go where there's a nice bold link claiming Southeastern helps visitors get to The O2 on Jan 3 & 11, seeing how the 11th is this Sunday I thought I'd have a look at it as it could give me some clues as to what's going on.

That page all sounds good, the train line must be up and they've even laid on a special bus service from Charlton to connect to the O2.

However my friend had said that the line was definitely down, so to double check I dig down into the Southeastern site to find out. Now that's not so easy, unlike the O2 news there's no helpful link on the front page.

You have to click on the Plan my journey link, then on the Engineering Work link before finally clicking on Sunday 11 January.

When you finally get there you discover that There are no train services calling at Abbey Wood, Belvedere, Charlton, Deptford, Erith, Greenwich, Maze Hill, Plumstead, Slade Green, Westcombe Park or Woolwich Dockyard.

Oh. Right. Ok.

I thought that "Southeastern has teamed up with the O2 to help people going to see Chris Brown at The 02" on Sunday. They even told me that "one of the easiest ways to get to The 02 is to get a train to Charlton and then catch a special free bus service to the venue."

The O2 themselves are even talking about this on their web site. They make it sound like TFL stitched them up when "recently announced" that the Jubilee line would be closed.

They've got a document here that says that in association with Southeastern trains they've laid on special buses from Charlton.

Well it appears that Southeastern have stabbed the O2 in the back as well and have now turned the trains off.

Or have they? Which page is right? The nice obvious link on the front page or the engineering information that's buried deeper in the site.

I'll try and find out, well to be more accurate I need to find out so as to help my friend out.

Anyway don't you just love Londons's coordinated and linked up transport policy!

Updated: I've just called Southeastern and there are engineering works so Charlton station will be shut. I asked about the special free bus service to the O2 from Charlton and apparently it is still running.

To use it though you'll have to get on the wonky replacement bus service running from Deptford to Slade Green.

Blackheath station will be open however and I'll probably route my friend through it, why they don't divert the special O2 bus to there is a bit of a mystery...

So will there be a lot of Chris Brown fans who have read the news on the O2 and Southeastern's web sites expecting Charlton Station to be open?

Do I do the decent thing and phone the O2 to ask if they know?

Anyhow I've certainly got my first Chocolate Teapot 2009 nomination, Southeastern trains for running and boasting about a special free bus link to the O2 from a station that they then go and close.

Dramatic Change at the Station!

Well it's pretty dramatic if you've ever tried to buy a ticket from the ticket machine at Charlton Station when it's raining. It's a touch screen machine and one it's got wet it's really unreliable. I've tried various tactics from the "stab it until your finger hurts" to "rub it gently" to try and buy tickets, it either takes a long time or it just plain wouldn't work.

The new cover seems to work pretty well. Unfortunately it went about about a day late last week. On the Wednesday there was travel chaos around here as the tunnel was shut. The roads jammed up and buses were going nowhere, so many people were trying to catch the train to get where they needed to be. So a lot of people needed tickets. And it was raining. Lo and behold there was a massive queue inside the station as people tried the machine without any luck.

Thankfully the ticket office was actually open, all too often the staff seem to nip off home at about 5pm (they're meant to be open until about half 7, see here, I should chase that up), leaving the machine the only hope.

Did the huge queues last Wednesday prompt the hasty order for a shelter? Or was it SE Trains finally pulling their finger out and trying to offer a genuine service to us poor "customers"?