Southeastern: Majority of users want timetable changes - survey

The most recent timetable changes meant fewer Southeastern services stop at Abbey Wood

Almost two-thirds of Southeastern's passengers want its timetable changed, a London TravelWatch survey has found.

Although 48% of passengers said the last timetable changes had a positive impact, one in four believed levels of crowding and disruption had worsened.

Of 528 respondents across one week in March, 42% said their journey took longer. Just 17% said it was quicker.

Southeastern, whose services link London with Kent and East Sussex, said it "welcomes the feedback".

Some 17% of passengers want major timetables changes and 47% want minor tweaks, according to the capital's independent watchdog, which spoke to passengers in south-east London.

In December, rush-hour services were scrapped along with direct trains from the Bexleyheath and Sidcup lines to Abbey Wood, just months after the Elizabeth line opened.

There have been also moments of severe overcrowding at London Bridge, where many commuters now have to change trains due to the timetable tweaks, although Southeastern says this is due to trespassers and infrastructure failures.

London Bridge station has sometimes become a bottleneck

More than half of respondents who need to change trains (51%) said the journey quality was worse overall.

Direct trains to Charing Cross have been reinstated on the Bexleyheath line from Monday, Southeastern said.

In an open letter, Michael Roberts, chief executive of London TravelWatch, said: "When we met, we also discussed two other related issues which have been causes of concern in recent months: incidents which cause disruption to services, and crowd management at London Bridge, particularly at times of disruption.

"Although it was good to hear that performance had improved since January, we noted your recognition that at the time there were still too many disruptive incidents, particularly those arising from infrastructure and fleet failure as well as trespass."

Scott Brightwell, operations and safety director at Southeastern said: "Southeastern strives to be a reliable and punctual railway, and as we reflect on this survey we are pleased cancellation levels have just recorded the lowest level in 6 years at 1.1% (excluding the early months of Covid) compared to the industry average of 3.1%.

"Punctuality continues to improve with 73% of our trains stopping at each station within 59 seconds of the time they were meant to."

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