Southeastern Timetable Change - 12th September

[DA1]

More trains back in Southeastern’s timetable from 12 September

Additional trains throughout the day on some routes in the London area, with more carriages on some routes at peak times More trains on the Hastings-Charing Cross route at peak times Class 707 trains new to Southeastern introduced on some routes in the London area

newsroom.southeasternrailway.co.uk

Southeastern is introducing a new timetable with more frequent services and longer trains on many routes from 12 September.

The changes will see the frequency of trains increased on some routes, meaning that there’s more space for available on-board particularly at peak times as people return to the railway.

Changes include:

Eight trains per hour on the Bexleyheath and Sidcup lines at the busiest times, with six trains per hour on the Sidcup line either side of peak times
Additional off-peak trains reintroduced between Hayes-Charing Cross, with longer trains in the morning peak
Longer trains introduced on the Bexleyheath line in the evening peak
Ashford-Headcorn-Cannon Street trains reintroduced at peak times with the reintroduction of two trains per hour during off-peak times
Hastings-Cannon Street peak time trains reinstated, as well as trains either side of peak times.
Class 707 trains, new to Southeastern, introduced on some routes in the London area

Increase in services including the return of 12 cars and an introduction of 707s.

 

[Kite159]

Good news with service levels increasing.

Looks like they are making use of the 707s to create more 12 coach networker services towards Dartford/Hayes reading the information.

 

[Nicholas Lewis]

Good to see at least one operator going in a positive direction unlike its near neighbour GTR.

 

[Paul Jones 88]

Will Charing Cross / Tonbridge / Ashford become twice hourly again?
These services are artificially busy at the moment, today I departed from Paddock Wood at 11 o'clock and there were no seats available and people standing by the doors, because of my bad knee I thought sod it and just sat in first class.

 

[DA1]

Will Charing Cross / Tonbridge / Ashford become twice hourly again?
These services are artificially busy at the moment, today I departed from Paddock Wood at 11 o'clock and there were no seats available and people standing by the doors, because of my bad knee I thought sod it and just sat in first class.

They will indeed at :10 and :40 it seems.

 

[Andy1673]

Out of curiosity how many diagrams of 707s they intend to introduce? One or two? SE now has only 8 707s (4 pairs).

 

[alex397]

Since I’ve been travelling about a bit more recently, I’ve noticed there are now poor connections with the Canterbury West line and the Marshlink line at Ashford ‘International’.
There were 3 tph between Canterbury West (CBW) and Ashford. The Highspeed (which remains the same), a ‘fast stopper’ from Ramsgate to London stopping at Wye, and a train which started at CBW stopping at all stops to Ashford, then to Maidstone East and London, which is the train which has been removed, with the Ramsgate train now stopping at all stops.

Southbound it is a 44 minute wait, and northbound it is 42 mins. So, 86 minutes wasted waiting in total if on a day trip somewhere. It now makes travelling from that area of Kent down to Rye/Hastings/Eastbourne much longer, and car now a more attractive option. Previously, journey times were definitely competitive against the car, with traffic in Ashford being the most unappealing.

Obviously, the Marshlink train times can’t really be changed much, and I can understand why Southeastern have reduced trains on the CBW line. It was quiet on those services (except the High Speed) even before Covid, and 3 tph was perhaps excessive. I just hope the connections at Ashford will somehow improve soon.

 

[Chiltern006]

will the Tunbridge wells stoppers be returning off peak aswell?

 

[brad465]

will the Tunbridge wells stoppers be returning off peak aswell?

Either NRE hasn't yet updated the changes or they're not returning as yet.

 

[DA1]

will the Tunbridge wells stoppers be returning off peak aswell?

As Brad465 says, definitely not returning yet. Peak times only still.

 

[eastwestdivide]

Caught the 1130-odd Javelin from Medway to St Pancras this morning. Full and standing, only 6 cars, when the previous coastbound one was 12. Mostly football/shopping. With only one train an hour HS1 to N Kent at the moment, they could surely use all 12-car sets without any more staff being needed.
The platform screens said something like “this service is usually standing room only”, which I’d never seen before.