Back in pre-pandemic days, train timetables used to change twice a year, in May and December. Over the last 18 months we’ve seen much more frequent changes, and the rail industry has now settled on having four changes a year. This means that Southeastern started a new timetable on Sunday 12 September.
For some time, we’ve been pressing for more trains. Demand for rail travel has now recovered to the point where some services have become uncomfortably busy, making things very difficult for those who would still prefer to socially distance. This is particularly true outside the rush hour, with mid-morning and late evening trains carrying quite heavy passenger loads. Given that we’re still encouraged to keep physically distant from others, it is ironic that many trains are much busier than they ever were before the pandemic.
What does the new timetable offer for passengers from our stations? There are certainly some wins for us:
- Services between Ashford and Charing Cross via Paddock Wood are now half hourly throughout the day on weekdays. This rectifies the annoying dip in service between around 10:00 and 15:00 and in the late evening, at which times trains were running only hourly. Increasing the service back to two an hour all day was one the key demands we put to Southeastern.
- There are more shoulder peak services between 09:00 and 10:30, providing extra capacity at Tonbridge and Hildenborough for passengers travelling in to London. This should help to relieve crowding around this time, when many passengers travel to take advantage of off-peak fares.
- More direct services to and from Cannon Street are restored. This includes four trains from Tonbridge to Cannon Street between 07:00 and 08:30 (three serving Paddock Wood but only one serving Hildenborough) and four trains from Cannon Street to Tonbridge between 17:00 and 18:30 (again, three serving Paddock Wood but only one serving Hildenborough).
- In the morning only, there two “fast” trains which run non-stop from Tonbridge to London Bridge. These are the 08:16 to Cannon Street and the 08:20 to Charing Cross.
So, what are the downsides? Unfortunately, there are a few. Our plea for more services at weekends has fallen on deaf ears. This is despite weekends being much busier for leisure travel than weekdays, and often seeing the greatest amount of crowding. Specifically, services between Ashford and Charing Cross via Paddock Wood remain hourly on Saturday afternoons (between around 13:00 and 16:00) and all day on Sundays. This gives an irregular three trains an hour at Tonbridge at these times, which is inconvenient and can lead to overcrowding (particularly on Sundays).
Late evening services remain too sparse, both in the week and at weekends. On weekdays there are now four trains an hour from Charing Cross to Tonbridge after 21:00, but these are poorly spaced with 25 minutes gaps. Worse still, there are fewer trains on Saturday evenings than on weekdays, with gaps of up to 30 minutes. On Sundays there are just two trains an hour with gaps of 45 minutes!
Hildenborough still gets a bad deal, with hourly services only outside weekday peak periods. Even in the rush hour the service is poor, with very few direct trains to and from Cannon Street.
Meanwhile Southern started a new timetable on 6 September. There are no changes to trains on the Tonbridge-Redhill line, in contrast to the Uckfield line where there are some cuts to services. The retention of half hourly services between Tonbridge and Redhill at school travel times is a relief given the numbers of children using the line.
We will continue to offer feedback to rail companies about the timetables, so please let us know you if are affected by any of the changes.