Network SouthEast revival continues as £5 rail ticket offer announced
Southeastern have announced cheap rail tickets next month inspired by former Network Southeast promotions seen in decades past.
A total of 10,000 Advance tickets will be available at a cost of £5 to travel using Southeastern trains on the weekend of 5th and 6th April.
The promotion is alongside Visit Kent’s Big Weekend with hundreds of attractions and businesses offering free tickets for residents to get out and explore.
Tickets will be available through the Southeastern website and app from Saturday 22nd March to Friday 28th March.
Unfortunately it’s a bit too soon for using on direct trains on the Greenwich line to the Kent coast which begin in May. Perhaps Southeastern could time another promotion for then – and have the classic Networker operate the first journey.
Referencing the past
The rail company state that “The Network Weekend was inspired by the popular offers run by Network SouthEast in the 80s and 90s and comes as communities across the UK celebrate the history of the railway through Railway 200.”
Seeing that hit home as one of my very earliest memories is getting on a train to the coast during what would have been Network SouthEast’s prime. A very rare event for us.
It was one of the old slam-doors and sinking into those big seats they had which you sank into when barely bigger than a toddler and bouncing around at high speed lives long in the mind in being half-terrified way.
This reference to Network SouthEast also follows the recently painting of a Networker train into its original livery.
It all seems good PR and if this Great British Rail have any sense they’d keep these links going upon takeover.
It would’ve been great to plan this for a weekend without significant engineering work going on.
I’ve just gone to look for tickets out to the coast on Sunday, and seems you haven’t a hope of getting there without spending a good portion of the journey on a rail replacement bus.