Southeastern is to increase the number of train services that it runs from Sunday 10 December, but has admitted that this is not enough to address criticisms.
The increases will apply in the London area and on the Maidstone East line to Charing Cross, and will include reinstating the two-trains-per-hour high-speed service between Faversham, the Medway Towns and St Pancras. The main changes include:
In the Metro area:
- More City Beam trains in service on weekdays and at weekends, targeted to the busiest services, providing additional space where it is most required
- Extra morning peak time trains in the Metro area
On Mainline services:
- An additional fast service in the morning peak period from Maidstone East to London Charing Cross
- An additional service in the morning peak period from Ashford International to London Cannon Street
On High Speed services: Additional services to reinstate a half hourly service on weekdays between St Pancras and Faversham:
- from St Pancras to Faversham between 07:20 and 20:20
- from Faversham to St Pancras between 05.00 to 18.02
Southeastern is also extending its use of Class 707 ‘City Beam' trains, with twenty-eight of the full fleet of thirty to run on the Metro timetable from December.
City Beams are modern, air-conditioned, comfortable trains. The operator is targeting their use on the busiest services, including at weekends.
Trains on Southeastern's High Speed routes are being upgraded with interior refurbishment, and all trains on the Mainline routes will have LED lighting and at-seat power sockets by the end of this year.
Southeastern has acknowledged that these changes are not sufficient to address the negative feedback it has received. It is promising to monitor demand and listen to feedback while considering options for adding further services from June 2024, along with options to even out service intervals on some routes.
Full details of the changes are as follows:
Metro services
- Sidcup line: additional train in the morning peak: the 06:31 Crayford-Charing Cross service calling all stations via Sidcup and Lewisham, then London Bridge and Waterloo East
- 05:55 Gillingham to Charing Cross service will run non-stop from New Eltham to London Bridge, with intermediate stops covered by the train above
- early morning services from Crayford to Charing Cross will stop additionally at Albany Park – the 05:26, 05:55, 06:25 and 06:55 services.
‘Rounder' services
- An additional ‘rounder' service running at 08:04 from Cannon Street-Cannon Street via Greenwich and Sidcup, calling at all stations except Lewisham
- 07:26 New Cross-Cannon Street service via Sidcup and Greenwich will start back from Cannon Street at 07:15, calling at London Bridge, creating a full ‘rounder' service
Hayes line
- 07:44 Hayes-Charing Cross service will run later at 07:50 to better spread the departures from Hayes.
- Current departures around this time are at 07:30, 07:38, 07:44 and 08:00. From 10 December, these services will run at 07:30, 07:38, 07:50 and 08:00.
Mainline services
- Maidstone East line: additional fast service in the morning peak departing Maidstone East at 07:43 and arriving at Charing Cross at 08:47, calling at West Walling, Borough Green and Wrotham, Otford, Swanley, London Bridge and Waterloo East
- Paddock Wood line: additional service in the morning peak departing Ashford at 06:44 arriving at Cannon Street at 07:58, calling at Headcorn, Staplehurst, Paddock Wood, Tonbridge, Sevenoaks and London Bridge.
High speed services
Highspeed via Faversham: half-hourly service during weekday off peak reinstated between St Pancras and Faversham
The additional trains will run half hourly:
- from St Pancras-Faversham between 07:20 – 20:20.
- from Faversham-St Pancras between 05:00 – 18:02.
Class 707 City Beam introduction
- By the end of 2023, 28 out of 30 Class 707 City Beam trains will be in operation. The final two of these trains will enter service by June 2024.
- A number of 1990s ‘Networkers' have been removed from service and will be placed in storage.
Scott Brightwell, Southeastern's Operations and Safety Director said: “We're committed to providing a better, more reliable, and sustainable railway, and we're continuing to listen to your feedback about our services, as well as using journey data to assess travel patterns following the introduction of our December 2022 and May 2023 timetables.
“From 10 December, we'll be providing more train services as well as making several other targeted improvements in London, the Medway Towns, North and East Kent. We're asking our customers to check their timetable now on the Southeastern website or by using our online journey planner”.
But Southeastern does have enough rolling stocks that already serve Kent, East Sussex and Southeast London. Unless they are planning to replace the Class 465 and Class 466 Networkers with new trains and the rest of the Class 707s transferred from South Western Railway.