Now that the summer holidays are here, Southeastern is running extra trains every day from London to the south coast.
Parents travelling with their children, beach towels, buckets, spades, inflatables, and a picnic find that having to change trains can be tricky, so each weekday there is an extra train from London Victoria that calls at selected stations in southeast London and Kent on its way to the Kent coast.
At the end of the day, there is a choice of trains for returning to London. At the weekend extra trains run from London Cannon Street, with direct journeys back at the end of the day.
The extra train will run on weekdays from Monday, 24th July until Friday, 1st September and will depart from London Victoria at 09:22 calling at Lewisham, Blackheath, Charlton, Woolwich Arsenal, Plumstead, Abbey Wood, Slade Green, Dartford, Greenhithe for Bluewater, Gravesend, Strood, Rochester, Chatham, Gillingham, Faversham then onto Whitstable, Herne Bay, Margate, Broadstairs, and Ramsgate.
At weekends extra trains leave London Victoria every half an hour until Friday, 1st September, and there are also extra trains at weekends from Cannon Street and London Bridge, as well as extra trains for the return journey.
Southeastern's station manager for Margate, Edward Goddard, said: “With so many fantastic beaches and seaside destinations on our doorstep we're pleased once again to have been able to add extra trains over the summer holidays to help our customers get to the coast.
“It means many people won't have to change trains but can hop on a train from a station close to them, sit back and look forward to being the first to see the sea!
“What's more, travelling by train is a lot less stressful than driving, with no traffic jams on the busy coastal roads and no searching for parking spaces – which means it's better for the environment too.”
When is Southeastern going to inherit the rest of the Class 707 Desiro City from South Western Railway and the Class 701 Arterios to enter service later this year. Might as well transfer the rest of the Class 707 to Southeastern so that they can use them on the metro and inner suburban services in Southeast London and parts of Kent.