No trains from Victoria to Horsham today.

[al78]

I have just come back to Horsham from Manchester, and on the approach to Euston checked the train app on my phone for Victoria to Horsham train times. I was surprised to find no such trains existed, I double checked on the national rail site and same thing, no direct trains, have to change at Norwood Junction. I decided to go to London Bridge as any train from Norwood Junction to Horsham would be coming from there, and after a fairly long wait (only one train an hour), managed to get a direct train (unfortunately the slow one). The net result was it took me longer to get from Euston to Horsham than to get from Manchester to Euston, despite the latter stations being at least four times further apart. Why were direct trains to Horsham from Victoria cancelled today?

 

[Surreytraveller]

Probably engineering works. Are they going from London Bridge? There's been works going on at Victoria at weekends for a while.
There should be two trains an hour - the Bognor train and the Thameslink one
If you're travelling at the weekend check before you travel
There's only one train an hour from Victoria to Horsham on a Sunday anyway, so to have both trains going from the same London terminal is surely easier, as would avoid needing to change at East Croydon if you get there in the wrong half of the hour

 

[al78]

Yes they were going from London Bridge, but on the departure boards there was only one per hour that I could see. The train I missed by 15 minutes was the Bognor train and I had about a 35 minute wait for the stopping train which terminates at Horsham.

I thought the trains were more frequent than that in normal conditions, although I very rarely need to travel from Victoria to Horsham on Sunday.

 

[Surreytraveller]

Just two an hour on a Sunday - under normal circumstances one from Victoria, the other from London Bridge
If you missed one by 15 minutes and the next was in 35 minutes, that's two an hour. They might not be at an even 30 minute frequency, but its still two an hour. Because the Bognor train has fewer stops, the frequency probably evens out at Three Bridges

 

[30907]

Yes they were going from London Bridge, but on the departure boards there was only one per hour that I could see. The train I missed by 15 minutes was the Bognor train and I had about a 35 minute wait for the stopping train which terminates at Horsham.

I thought the trains were more frequent than that in normal conditions, although I very rarely need to travel from Victoria to Horsham on Sunday.

No, 1 per hour is what the timetable says (though IIRC the Thameslink stopper will one day become 2 per hour?).
Sorry, beaten to it!

 

[al78]

Just two an hour on a Sunday - under normal circumstances one from Victoria, the other from London Bridge
If you missed one by 15 minutes and the next was in 35 minutes, that's two an hour. They might not be at an even 30 minute frequency, but its still two an hour. Because the Bognor train has fewer stops, the frequency probably evens out at Three Bridges

Ok fair enough. Whenever I've caught trains on a Sunday I've caught one from Three Bridges, where there have been two an hour to Horsham. It makes sense that there would be one per hour from Victoria and London Bridge.

 

[yorkie]

I have just come back to Horsham from Manchester, and on the approach to Euston checked the train app on my phone for Victoria to Horsham train times. I was surprised to find no such trains existed, I double checked on the national rail site and same thing, no direct trains, have to change at Norwood Junction. I decided to go to London Bridge as any train from Norwood Junction to Horsham would be coming from there, and after a fairly long wait (only one train an hour), managed to get a direct train (unfortunately the slow one). The net result was it took me longer to get from Euston to Horsham than to get from Manchester to Euston, despite the latter stations being at least four times further apart. Why were direct trains to Horsham from Victoria cancelled today?

Journey planners show 2 trains per hour from London Bridge to Horsham, though the arrivals are close together, so only one non-overtaken itinerary per hour from Manchester to Horsham, with a typical itinerary as follows:

Manchester Picc 1115
London Euston 1128
London Bridge 1419
Horsham 1528​

(in practice, the xx35 from Euston would usually make the Horsham train at xx19, if the customer knew where they were going for the cross-London transfer and had no mobility issues, but of course that would not be an official connection)

I would always recommend putting your journey into a journey planner at the time of planning the journey, and if you want an itinerary for contractual purposes, obtain any such itinerary as part of your booking confirmation for your entire journey at the time of booking.

 

[LAX54]

xx19 ex LB arrived Horsham at xx28
xx31 ex LB arrived Horsham at xx32 (forward to Bognor)

 

[Surreytraveller]

xx19 ex LB arrived Horsham at xx28
xx31 ex LB arrived Horsham at xx32 (forward to Bognor)

They certainly used to be better spaced apart before the stopper was rebranded Thameslink!