Direct Eastbourne to London Bridge back for commuters.

[465fan]

Article.

A rail link between two East Sussex towns and London discontinued during the pandemic is being brought back, a train company has announced.

Govia Thameslink Railway said from December a direct train will run in the morning between Eastbourne, Lewes and London Bridge and return in the evening, after calls by customers.

The service, which will run Monday to Thursday, is set to make commuting to the capital "much easier", the rail operator said.

Eastbourne MP Josh Babarinde - making the announcement alongside Thamelink - said he had campaigned for direct train service to be restored following its withdrawal in 2020.

Interesting that it runs Monday to Thursday. Is that the first such example of a proper change to timetabling principles to not be "SX" but instead to be pandering more to the ****s? (Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays).

 

[jfollows]

1H93 17:33 London Bridge to Littlehampton is already FX. And its up working (1H92 06:05 FX Littlehampton to London Bridge).
Also 1J92 07:02 FX Bognor to London Bridge via Horsham and 1J93 18:03 FX London Bridge to Bognor.

 

[Harlequinuk]

Why not a Friday as well? Is it replacing an EBN>VIC service?

 

[James H]

Isn't 17:03 a bit early for the evening departure?

 

[30907]

Why not a Friday as well? Is it replacing an EBN>VIC service?

It's an additional.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 16 Jul 2025 ==

Isn't 17:03 a bit early for the evening departure?

18.03 would be a bit late?

 

[JonathanH]

18.03 would be a bit late?

Already occupied by the Arun Valley extra as noted above.

 

[Harlequinuk]

It's an additional.

Do you have a copy of the new timetable?

 

[Kite159]

.

Isn't 17:03 a bit early for the evening departure?

It's designed so after one timetable period, Southern can come back to say "Usage between London Bridge & stations towards Eastbourne which isn't shared with Thameslink is low, can we discontinue it and use the units elsewhere?"

That news article makes it out like Eastbourne - London hasn't already got 2 trains an hour to London Victoria, with an easy change at East Croydon onto a Thameslink (or other Southern service) to take them into London Bridge.

 

[Sussex Ben]

If nothing else, this will be an opportunity to relieve overcrowded Thameslink services between London Bridge and Haywards Heath.

 

[trainmania100]

Won't be the same without 442s on it

 

[Bishopstone]

Won't be the same without 442s on it

Ah yes, the 18:23 London Bridge - Eastbourne worked by 442s, which was 10-20 minutes late into Lewes almost every evening. Thankfully, they’ve gone!

17:03 is indeed a bit early for the down run, though many office workers can now flex their hours around preferred trains, and will be merrily writing emails en route.

 

[PGAT]

.

It's designed so after one timetable period, Southern can come back to say "Usage between London Bridge & stations towards Eastbourne which isn't shared with Thameslink is low, can we discontinue it and use the units elsewhere?"

Or maybe because the busier slots at 1733 and 1803 are already taken. Although I think it’s unfair to suggest that this one will carry fresh air.

 

[OneOfThe48]

It's designed so after one timetable period, Southern can come back to say "Usage between London Bridge & stations towards Eastbourne which isn't shared with Thameslink is low, can we discontinue it and use the units elsewhere?"

Why would they introduce it if they did not think it was worth doing?

The next available path out of London Bridge would be at the 18:33 timeslot, if they went for that one I think people would be saying its too late for people leaving work but too early for people to leaving the pub/restaurant

 

[Kite159]

Why would they introduce it if they did not think it was worth doing?

The next available path out of London Bridge would be at the 18:33 timeslot, if they went for that one I think people would be saying its too late for people leaving work but too early for people to leaving the pub/restaurant

To keep the Eastbourne MP quiet?

 

[OneOfThe48]

To keep the Eastbourne MP quiet?

Aren't timetable changes planned a year and more in advance? Think he may be claiming more credit than he deserves for a change already planned. But he is a politician...

 

[Cricketer8for9]

Some comments feel like the timetabling version of “why can’t they have more coaches at the front”. Here it’s “why can’t they have a 24 coach train at 17:33?”

 

[Sad Sprinter]

It’s encouraging news. I’ve been going to the office on Monday too for the past few weeks and it’s only just behind Tuesday in busyness. 17:03 is a bit early though. Southern’s peak trains from London Bridge are a bit weird. The new Sutton via Brockley don’t run after six - I’m never able to catch them.

 

[London Trains]

On the discussion of Southern, why has the old 0801 Epsom to Victoria (ex-Horsham) been stealthily retimed to now wait at Epsom for 8 minutes and leave at 0809? It means it doesn't fit in with the standard timetable anymore, and is very poor for passengers travelling from further south (who already have a very raw deal) who now have an even longer journey.

This isn't publicised on any official timetables on Southern's website or anywhere else, and it appears as a variation in RTT, only being updated a couple of weeks in advance every week.

 

[Harlequinuk]

Why would they introduce it if they did not think it was worth doing?

The next available path out of London Bridge would be at the 18:33 timeslot, if they went for that one I think people would be saying its too late for people leaving work but too early for people to leaving the pub/restaurant

The 18.32 was the old slot it had from London Bridge to Eastbourne in 2019

 

[OneOfThe48]

The 18.32 was the old slot it had from London Bridge to Eastbourne in 2019

As well as a 17:32, which is taken up by a train to Bognor or Littlehampton now.

They could’ve done a big reshuffling of the trains to split the West Sussex coat ones further apart, but I can see why 17:03 might be better than 18:33 when those are your two options.

 

[Bikeman78]

Ah yes, the 18:23 London Bridge - Eastbourne worked by 442s, which was 10-20 minutes late into Lewes almost every evening. Thankfully, they’ve gone!

17:03 is indeed a bit early for the down run, though many office workers can now flex their hours around preferred trains, and will be merrily writing emails en route.

The morning train was no better. If I recall correctly, they both stopped everywhere south of Haywards Heath. The class 442s were definitely not designed for such workings.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 16 Jul 2025 ==

On the discussion of Southern, why has the old 0801 Epsom to Victoria (ex-Horsham) been stealthily retimed to now wait at Epsom for 8 minutes and leave at 0809? It means it doesn't fit in with the standard timetable anymore, and is very poor for passengers travelling from further south (who already have a very raw deal) who now have an even longer journey.

This isn't publicised on any official timetables on Southern's website or anywhere else, and it appears as a variation in RTT, only being updated a couple of weeks in advance every week.

That is really bizarre. Is there a flow of school kids somewhere north of Epsom? They also have to retime 2F09 and 2B21 through Clapham to make it work.

 

[Hophead]

The 2018 timetable set these departure times - when the 17:03 & 18:03 departures went via the Arun Valley. The former did indeed run largely empty, especially as it was formed of 12 coaches as far as Horsham (where it split).

 

[devon_belle]

On the discussion of Southern, why has the old 0801 Epsom to Victoria (ex-Horsham) been stealthily retimed to now wait at Epsom for 8 minutes and leave at 0809? It means it doesn't fit in with the standard timetable anymore, and is very poor for passengers travelling from further south (who already have a very raw deal) who now have an even longer journey.

I too noticed this recently. It seems to be to do with 3I96 London Victoria to Sutton via Epsom (link). I just get the train an hour later instead, but that has its own unneeded 4 minute wait (in reality, 7 minutes as it is always early) outside of Victoria! I used Southern's feedback form through their WiFi page but I doubt that is actually monitored.

Great news about the added peak extra to Eastbourne. I don't expect to see any improvements/peak extras on the Mole Valley next timetable, despite our shiny new MPs, but at least it shows that Southern aren't as short of units in the peak as it might at first appear...

 

[London Trains]

I too noticed this recently. It seems to be to do with 3I96 London Victoria to Sutton via Epsom (link). I just get the train an hour later instead, but that has its own unneeded 4 minute wait (in reality, 7 minutes as it is always early) outside of Victoria! I used Southern's feedback form through their WiFi page but I doubt that is actually monitored.

Interesting, the WTT for 3I96 has it sitting at one of the stops between Mitcham Junction and Sutton for 10 minutes, arriving into Platform 2 at Sutton just after the 0758 departs, and then departing as 2W96 to London Bridge via Streatham as it does now (but from P2 instead of P1).

Just speculating here, but considering it doesn't appear to be a permanent alteration, could there possibly be an issue preventing use of the crossover from the down to up line outside Sutton (given it is the only service normally timetabled to use this crossover), meaning it needs to start from Platform 1, which would explain the need for it to temporarily run down to Epsom to turn around. Platform 4 is also occupied during this time so the use of P4 wouldn't be an option either.

Edit - A better use of 3I96 might be to send it around the Wimbledon loop (it wouldn't conflict with anything at Streatham Junction or on the single line through Wimbledon), and possibly start 2W96 further back at Sutton Common, which I imagine would be a useful extra service for Sutton Common and West Sutton! It wouldn't be able to start at Tooting or Wimbledon and serve all stops as it wouldn't be able to get back to Sutton in time to meet the path of 2W96, although maybe an option is to have it start at Wimbledon and run non-stop to Sutton Common, which would provide a potentially very useful fast service from Wimbledon to Sutton right in the middle of the peak time, and could be particularly useful for some of the many schools in the area.

 

[aleggatta]

Just read this article on the bbc - and I found it quite confusing

Whilst they refer to GTR as thameslink multiple times, it doesn’t actually specify if it’s a southern or thameslink service?

An exceptionally poor read from the beeb this time - especially the ‘thamelink’ error. Does no one do only proof reading any more?

 

[Bishopstone]

Just read this article on the bbc - and I found it quite confusing

Whilst they refer to GTR as thameslink multiple times, it doesn’t actually specify if it’s a southern or thameslink service?

It will be a Southern branded service.

 

[Harlequinuk]

The lack of the Friday running is unusual tbh

 

[30907]

Do you have a copy of the new timetable?

No, but I can extrapolate from the existing one

The lack of the Friday running is unusual tbh

As post 2 states, the equivalent Arun Valley and West Coast trains are FX. long before WFH people were finishing early on a Friday

 

[Bishopstone]

It will be interesting to see the stopping pattern of these services - specifically, whether they get Plumpton, Cooksbridge, Glynde and Berwick calls. As noted up thread, the old 18:23 to Eastbourne was all shacks after Haywards Heath, which made it a slow grind and hit performance. On the other hand, once the new services are established, any station 'left out' is bound to see a campaign formed by the villagers.

Also of interest is the question of whether these will be fast through Gatwick Airport.

 

[NSE]

I’d imagine it’ll be similar to the current Vic services. I doubt it’ll stop at Berwick or Glynde, and one of Cooksbridge or Plumpton, maybe both. I can’t see it skipping Gatwick as I don’t think anything does now in the peaks does it? I’d back skipping Gatwick tho on some peak Vic services.