Passengers across South East London, East Sussex and Kent are set to benefit from further improvements to their services following the introduction of a new timetable this weekend.
The enhancements are a response to customer feedback and will help to meet growing demand. Thursday 4 December was the operator’s busiest single day since the Covid pandemic, with 436,000 entries and exits at the London terminals.
From Sunday 14 December there will be a number of changes to deliver better journeys, including:
- An extra 29 highspeed St Pancras to Faversham services per week. These will run on weekday evenings departing from St Pancras to provide a half-hourly frequency. There will also be more trains between St Pancras and Faversham on Saturdays at the busiest times of the day.
- More services on weekday evenings from Charing Cross to Dartford via Bexleyheath to provide a half-hourly frequency.
- Additional trains at peak times on weekdays from Charing Cross to Maidstone East to also provide a half-hourly frequency.
- Extra services off-peak and evenings on weekdays from London Victoria to Ashford International via Maidstone East.
For increased customer comfort there will be longer trains on some of the busier services, including:
- The 07.15 from Hastings to Charing cross goes up from eight to twelve carriages.
- The 17.15 Cannon Street to Hasting service will also be twelve carriages rather than eight.
- Weekend services between Victoria and Dartford / Gravesend via Bexleyheath are lengthened from four to eight carriages.
Scott Brightwell, Safety, Planning and Performance Director, for South Eastern Railway said:
“These latest changes help us to meet rising demand by increasing services where they are needed most and adds extra space for more comfort at the busiest times.
“The modern, air-conditioned Class 377s we are bringing in to deliver better journeys is part of our wider train improvement programme, which also includes the ongoing procurement to replace our Metro fleet.
“Customers can check their amended services in journey planners, and the full timetables are also available on our website.”
The changes this weekend form part of the national rail timetable update that happens twice a year, usually in May and December.
