Train Amsterdam to Kingston Central in London

[Wayfairers]

After our cruise to Amsterdam we are on land for a while with our first stop in London. We are meeting friends at Kingston Central station in the London area. Is anyone familiar with the public transportation system enough to tell me if this is the best way to get to that station? We arrive in London on the Eurostar at 18:06 after taking the Thalys train from Amsterdam to Brussels then the Eurostar from Brussels to London St Pancreas.

 

King’s Cross St Pancreas Underground Station to Vauxhall on Victoria Tube (blue line going south or east) 11min ride every 5 minutes

Train Vauxhall to Kingston Central going east 22min ride every 10 min

[Cotswold Eagle]

Subject to the caveats below, yes, that's the best route from St Pancras to Kingston station.

 

But your post has some inaccuracies, so best to check that's where you mean:

 

- there is no such station as Kingston Central. By your suggested route, I assume you mean Kingston station, which is in Kingston-upon-Thames

- Kingston is west of London. I think you have your easts and wests mixed up - Vauxhall is South-west of St Pancras and if you took a train east from Vauxhall you could only go to Waterloo.

- St Pancras, not Pancreas (but that's probably autocorrect!)

Edited June 18, 2015 by Cotswold Eagle

[Cotswold Eagle]

At the Vauxhall interchange you need to exit the tube to ground level before entering the rail station - I believe there is no lift until later this year, so there are steps to negotiate. There are lifts in the rail station to the elevated platforms.

 

If that's a problem with luggage, I'd suggest going from King's Cross to Waterloo, changing from the Victoria line to the Bakerloo at Oxford Circus) and taking the Kingston train from there (same train, it will pass through Vauxhall a few minutes after departure). In fact, that has some advantages anyway - it is the origin of the service to Kingston, so you would have longer to board and get settled with luggage than joining at an intermediate stop.

Edited June 18, 2015 by Cotswold Eagle

[Bob++]

My first thought was that "Kingston Central station" was meant to be Kings Cross. Kingston Station is, of course, the station for Hampton Court and is at the end of a small branch line.

Edited June 18, 2015 by Bob++

[Cotswold Eagle]

Not quite, Bob - Kingston is on the Kingston Loop, which enables Waterloo-to-Waterloo round service running (so oddly the Kingston-bound train from Vauxhall may be timetabled as Waterloo (round service)) or trains ultimately running down the Shepperton branch line call at Kingston.

[marylizcat]

Also, although Kingston is near Hampton Court, it is not the station for Hampton Court. Surprisingly enough, for that you want Hampton Court Station! And that is indeed at the end of a branch line.

Edited June 18, 2015 by marylizcat

[Wayfairers]

Subject to the caveats below, yes, that's the best route from St Pancras to Kingston station.

 

But your post has some inaccuracies, so best to check that's where you mean:

 

- there is no such station as Kingston Central. By your suggested route, I assume you mean Kingston station, which is in Kingston-upon-Thames

- Kingston is west of London. I think you have your easts and wests mixed up - Vauxhall is South-west of St Pancras and if you took a train east from Vauxhall you could only go to Waterloo.

- St Pancras, not Pancreas (but that's probably autocorrect!)

 

At the Vauxhall interchange you need to exit the tube to ground level before entering the rail station - I believe there is no lift until later this year, so there are steps to negotiate. There are lifts in the rail station to the elevated platforms.

 

If that's a problem with luggage, I'd suggest going from King's Cross to Waterloo, changing from the Victoria line to the Bakerloo at Oxford Circus) and taking the Kingston train from there (same train, it will pass through Vauxhall a few minutes after departure). In fact, that has some advantages anyway - it is the origin of the service to Kingston, so you would have longer to board and get settled with luggage than joining at an intermediate stop.

 

Thank you so much for the great information. I really appreciate knowing that route is the best. And, yes, I had confused my directions. I appreciate the correction. Also, thanks for the info about needing the exit to tube to ground level at Vauxhall interchange....I'm sure we would have eventually figured it out, but knowing about it ahead of time will save some time and keep the stress level lower!

 

Yes, I meant Kingston-upon-Thames, the hotel we are staying at is labeled as Kingston Central and I got the two confused. Thanks for the Pancras correction....I copied the info from a word file and hadn't realized it had made that auto-correct! LOL....doesn't everyone have train stations named after body organs??!!

Edited June 18, 2015 by Wayfairers

[Cotswold Eagle]

Great. As you exit the barriers at ticket hall level at Vauxhall (having come up the escalators from the deep level platforms), you basically carry on straight for the railway station exit, along a passageway and up a flight of stairs to the street level. It's well signposted, but taking one of the other exits puts you in a slightly awkward spot for getting to the station entrance at street level. The railway station is in the arches supporting the elevated tracks.

[Wayfairers]

Thanks for the help. We made the trip from Amsterdam to Kingston-upon-Thames with no problems. It helped that we met a couple of people on board the train from Brussels to London that told us how to get Oyster Cards and used those instead of having to buy individual tickets.