Thursday 29th October 2009 – Royston to Redhill by bus, tube & train

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To precede my hospital stay, I decided to have a day out around London, for a number of reasons. We were both well enough (lurgy more or less gone) and C was working the morning, so I decided to do part of the trip by public transport, using a Travelcard from Royston, with full Zones 1-6 validity [plus train to/from Royston], in and around the capital. After purchasing the ticket (with Station Cat behind the ticket window on the chair!), it was onto…

First Capital Connect train Royston – London Kings Cross

Underground Victoria Line Kings Cross St Pancras – Victoria

London General Dart/Plaxton LDP4 C10 Victoria – Victoria Coach Station

Walk back via Greenline Coach Station and the back of the rail station

Arriva London Mercedes Citaro MA33 73 Victoria – Euston

Met Malc McD here to handover a couple of bags of timetables etc. as well as meeting for lunch at the restaurant in the Quaker’s building opposite Euston Station. This is a really different place – not as busy as some as the others in town at lunchtime, cheap enough etc. Anyway, after about an hour of talk, we both had to be on our ways…

Underground Victoria Line Euston – Vauxhall

First time changing here since Millennium Eve! Pictures of the new bus station snapped as I walked by, but not in the direction of the ambulances that were on scene.

South West Trains Vauxhall – Kingston

Transdev London United Trident/ALX400 TA318 Kingston Cromwell Rd Bus Stn – Kingston University & [Surrey County Council] County Hall

Quality Line [Epsom Buses] ALX400 DD10 418 Kingston University & County Hall – Kingston Cromwell Rd Bus Stn

Metrobus Scania [single deck] 538 X26 Kingston Cromwell Rd Bus Stn – Croydon, stop behind West Croydon bus station

Very busy journey on this recently doubled in service route, had to stand all the way from Kingston to Wallington Green, but did manage a seat for the last 10 mins or so!

Metrobus Scania [double deck] 947 405 West Croydon Bus Station – Redhill, Bus Station

This last journey took me down the A23 into Surrey, and is the limit to the TfL network on this direction. Caroline picked me up in the car, and we continued to Travelodge at Hickstead, where we spent the night. Even though I only travelled in one direction, this still remained the cheapest option of the day.

On the photo front, did really well – snaps of one of the new Oxford Tube coaches, the ex-Armchair Kingston University Tridents now working the KU routes with Tellings Golden Miller, a Mercedes Citaro bendi or two on the 38 (before the conversion back to double deckers, scheduled for mid-November now), and more besides. You can see all the pictures here.