Customers across south-east London, Kent and East Sussex will benefit from more frequent services, improved connections and extra capacity when Southeastern introduces its new timetable on 17 May.
The changes include additional capacity to London with the restoration of peak-time trains to London Blackfriars via the Medway towns and Maidstone East, as well as additional weekday services between Charing Cross and Maidstone East.
On highspeed, there will be additional services between Canterbury West and St Pancras on weekdays and Saturday mornings, providing a more consistent half-hourly service.
The improvements are intended to support the growing railway in south-east London, Kent and parts of East Sussex, provide customers with more choice and opportunity to travel and, in turn, reduce the taxpayer-funded subsidy.
This May timetable is the first step in a bigger transformation. In December, customers across south east London will see one of the biggest improvements to Metro services in years.
The timetable uplifts come as the rail industry starts to accelerate towards the establishment of Great British Railways next year. Improving services to customers and delivering better journeys now is a key priority of all publicly owned operators ahead of GBR.
Rail Minister, Lord Peter Hendy, said:
"Public ownership of our railways is improving reliability, driving economic growth, jobs and homes, and is making travel easier for passengers. These timetable changes mean people travelling on Southeastern will benefit from more frequent services and better connections across the area.
"As we move towards Great British Railways, we'll continue to shape timetables with passengers and communities in mind to drive more journeys, improve revenue and deliver better value for money for passengers and taxpayers."
Scott Brightwell, Safety, Planning & Performance Director at South Eastern Railway, added:
“We continually listen to our customers and monitor travel patterns to adjust and improve our timetable every May and December. In previous timetable updates we have added more services, more capacity where it is needed and more consistent departure times too.
“In May, we are introducing more space on our busiest routes, better connections into central London and more choice throughout the day.
“It is also the first step towards a major upgrade to Metro services this December, which will make it easier for customers to travel when they want, with more frequent and consistent services across south-east London on a turn-up-and-go railway.
“We aren’t sitting around waiting for Great British Railways to deliver a better railway. We are working together, today, to make changes that will build a simpler, more reliable and better-connected railway for our customers.”
In December, Southeastern will deliver one of the biggest improvements to Metro services in years – subject to final industry planning and approvals:
- A ‘turn up and go’ minimum of 4 trains per hour across all Metro routes on Monday to Saturday (except Bromley North), with more frequent services on some lines
- All day, half-hourly Greenwich and Sidcup line rounders Monday to Saturday – offering an all-day direct link from the Sidcup Line to Abbey Wood for the Elizabeth line
- Two trains per hour all day, seven days per week, between Charing Cross and the Bexleyheath line, improving the current service level of one train per hour off-peak and Saturday
- Orpington to Victoria services (via Herne Hill) increased from 2 to 4 tph on Saturdays
- Cannon Street services from the Bexleyheath line are redirected to Charing Cross on Sundays in response to customer demand.
- More trains on Sundays with the introduction of an hourly Charing Cross to Maidstone East service and 2 trains an hour on the Bromley North branch for the first time in many years.
- An increase in services on the Sheerness branch, providing two trains per hour all day, seven days per week
For all timetable updates, customers are advised to check their normal train times, as some services have been adjusted to support better punctuality and performance.
