Busy and easy train station to navigate Quickest way to…read morecentral London from here Trains can be delayed on and off Clean and enough food stalls and shops for the size

I won't say that this station is huge, but compared to a lot of other stations that I've visited,…read moreit is still pretty massive. Well, that probably should be surprising considering that Croydon is a pretty major metropolitan hub, so of course there is going to be a pretty large station here. Like a lot of stations, it's not bad at all, and reasonably easy to get around. Oh, and there are lots of shops there as well.

Southern Railway are the train company who operate most of the services from London Victoria,…read moretowards Croydon and onwards to Brighton and the South Coast, serving the area once covered by the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway from Hastings to Chichester. Since last July they have also operated the Gatwick Express service to the airport. They are part of Govia, itself a the partnership of Go-Ahead, one of the UK's leading transport groups, and Keolis, a European leader in public transport. The distinctive white, pale and dark green livery has now become a feature of south London services. My general experience of them has been pretty good, as since taking over the franchise they have certainly improved punctuality and reliability, as well as modernising a number of stations. When they started, they introduced new rolling stock on the long-distance services, which were a big improvement, although it took them a while to sort out teething troubles that kept many toilets 'out of order'. But they seem to keep them pretty clean. That said, the new timetable introduced in December has a number of features I don't like: the through Watford Junction to Brighton services have been truncated at East Croydon, meaning I (and my other half) have to change trains at Clapham Junction, which we didn't have to do before. Another major feature since December has been the extension of Gatwick Express services to Brighton in the rush hours to provide more trains: this is great for those going from Brighton to Victoria, but less good for those who used to alight at East Croydon and Clapham Junction, who now have fewer than half the services they had before (the new service stops only at Gatwick Airport). Teething troubles with the 'new' stock for this service has also led to some service disruption, but hopefully this is now being sorted out. My biggest complaint is the habit of their trains leaving early: posters announce the possibility that the doors may close up to 30 seconds before departure, but some over-zealous platform staff sometimes wave away the train even earlier than this. It's terribly frustrating to arrive with half a minute to spare, to see the train disappearing in the distance. Overall, though, it's not a bad service, but things do sometimes go wrong, so I realise that the 4-star rating may be controversial!

Went to a teller. Told them where I was going. They told me what train to go on and how to…read moretransfer. Got on the train and still owed more money?

Good location for HSBC's Sports and Social Grounds, and access to the Crystal Palace Training…read moreGround, Goals - Beckenham, Gambado Childrens Soft Play Centre. There are no toilet, waiting room or cafe facilities at this station. During peak M-F morning rush, there is a small tea/coffee stand which sells daily newspapers and snacks. The ticket desk is only open at certain times, all other times you need to use the 1 ticket machine which is located outside the main entrance (HSBC side). You can queue to use this machine, so don't expect to buy a ticket for a train due in 2-3 minutes!

I rather like this station! It is small, yet perfectly formed and offers both the orange…read more(overground) line and a normal train service up to London Bridge or down to Caterham. If you enter on the station approach side, you will emerge at platform 2 - the southbound platform, and there is a footbridge over to the northbound platform 1 (if you want to up into London). The station staff seem very friendly, but I suspect that they don;t get much appreciation. I smiled and said hello to one, and almost missed my train because he so wanted to chat! The delicious "On the Hoof" coffee serves monmouth coffee and small eats for breakfast during the week. It's clean and well presented, and the platforms are wide enough so that I don't feel like I am taking my life into my own hands when walking along them (take note Wapping!). There are good electronic boards that clearly tell you where and when the next three trains are going. It's a great station really!