East London Line - your reactions
The East London Line opened today with a limited service ahead of going fully operational on May 23rd. Here's some of the initial feedback from BC readers:
Paul said:
Just got the ELL from nxg to shoreditch high street. It took 15 mins. A couple of early observations for what they're worth. The trains feel very spacious, wider than a tube train inside but with the unmistakable feel of a tube. Canada water felt ridiculously close, we'd barely got going and we were there. Shoreditch felt ridiculously close. This is now brockleys back yard. If i worked in in city i'd be rubbing my hands in glee. That is now one seriously easy commute. For the record the last time i got a bus from "ondon bridge to liverpool street it took 35 minutes because of the traffic. The other thing that struck me was how other Londoners will end up coming across the ELL because they'll not be able to ignore it. The station at shoreditch is huge, and in giant letters spell out shoreditch high street. I don't know of another station in london quite as well advertised. For those who want brockley to get noticed, i think it's a certainty. People with see the new stations, the roundels (that look like tube roundels), and they be accepted as part of the network. I was very impressed.
Node said:
I was on the first train to leave NXG today and I was impressed. Like the above post, the trains are very spacious and do not feel like four carriages. The colour scheme of orange and brown is a nice mix of retro and modern and not too garish.The advertising inside is actually fairly muted compared to the normal tubes. The floor being a light grey picks up marks very easily and on my return was already looking fairly used, so it'll be interesting to see how this ages.The train doesn't actually seem to go that fast, I guess doing 10 stops in 20 minutes means there's no real stretch to speed up. The change onto the Jubilee line at Canada Water is literally 30 seconds. I've heard that from the 15th of May there will be a weekend service too. It does feel like a tube and not a train so even if it's not official people will still think of it as one, most people call it the East London Line still rather than the Overground, and hopefully the mixed branding might deter and confuse some from wanting to buy up half the area.
And here are some comments from Twitter:
StellaMagazine Just tried the ELL exciting! Dalston&Crystal Palace awaiting exploration. Nice orange/brown graphic upholstery too.
pradprathivi: Rotherhithe to Shoreditch in 8 MINUTES! Gawd Bless the ELL.
binny_uk: Stations are all very light and airy http://yfrog.com/jkw01wj
mpk: eh, this is some kind of n00b gentrified ELL. I used to ride the real deal - A stock, Shoreditch and all. Kids today
DaveHollander: Sitting on a spanking new ELL train -live tests started today!
kylife: ELL saving my social life!
ianvisits: The train is packed for its first run through.
