Silverlink Metro train in London, the worst train service in the UK?

Question

Anyone agree? I have only been commuting on the Silverlink (Stratford to Kentish Town West) for a week and i believe it to be the shittiest service i have ever been on. Dirty and dated carriages, over crowding (especially at Highbury)...On some days trains just vanish when the platform monitor says it's 'on time'...yeah ok...

I have no idea how **** this service before and lord help me as i have to continue using it for the forseeable future....god bless the modern age of rail travel in 2007...

Answer 1

I can't cooment on the current service, as it's many years since I was unfortunate enough to be a London commuter. I can iffer htis crumb of comfort however. Silverlink Metro services are shortly to be taken over by Transport for London as part of the new 'Overground' (as opposed to Underground)  and new trains are on order. For more detail see the TfL website/

Answer 2

I frequently use the Silverlink Metro Watford-Euston line. With only 3 coaches per train, it can be very crowded at times. The timekeeping is generally good, although the public Dot Matrix timetable displays are seldom accurate (e.g., Queens Park). Dirty trains are caused by dirty people: similarly, scratched graffiti on almost all windows is put there by vandals, not the train company. The Alstom maintenance facility at Willesden Junction for the Class 313 and the diesel trains on the Gospel Oak-Barking branch has been closed, with trains having to go either to Ilford or Bletchley.

Transport for London will be taking over the line next November. There is a long-term plan to extend the fourth rail from Harrow to Watford for the Bakerloo Line (as it was in the 1960s) once the power supply problems have been resolved. Another scheme is to rebuild the viaduct at Croxley Green to divert the Metropolitan Line trains into Watford High Street station.