New Southeastern timetable to soon start with service improvements

It’s now little more than a week until Southeastern’s rail timetable changes are made on 14 December.

The December timetable runs until May 2026 with most improvements focused on mainline and long distance routes, with Metro lines mostly missing out.

High Speed 1 services will be increased by 29 per week between St Pancras International and Faversham.

Services between Charing Cross to Maidstone East will be increased during peak times with extra services off-peak and weekday evenings between London Victoria and Ashford International via Maidstone East.

Metro

As for Metro routes many cuts made in 2022 remain. One improvement is two extra evening trains from Charing Cross via the Eltham line to Dartford (with return services back to London) and that’s about it for additional services.

Cuts remaining due to a lack of government funding support include no Sunday services on the Woolwich line via Blackheath and Lewisham (the 180 bus linking Charlton to Lewisham was removed in recent years with buses instead diverted to north Greenwich) while daytime services on the Kidbrooke line to Charing Cross remain at half the pre-2022 level.

Trains through Greenwich off-peak from Southeastern remain at two per hour rather than four as seen before 2022.

The cut semi-fasts on the Sidcup line which ran non-stop from New Eltham to London Bridge are also still absent. Saturday trains from Victoria to Orpington remain every half an hour rather than the previous four trains per hour.

Housing

All lines serve major areas of housing growth. Examples include 2,600 new homes in the vicinity of Plumstead station and 800 homes near Woolwich Dockyard.

There are however some timetable changes and additional carriages. Hayes line trains will be re-timed from current 9/21-minute intervals to a 13/17-minute interval.

There is one extra train on the Hayes line though it’s against the flow in the morning peak so likely to be carrying a lot of fresh air.

On weekends the Victoria and Dartford/Gravesend service will be lengthened to eight carriages.

Some welcome changes then but few extra services on Metro routes and many cuts remain. Despite opposing those very cuts in opposition, this government are keeping Conservative service reductions now they’re in power. While claiming to support new housebuilding, Metro lines serving many thousands of new and proposed housing must wait for improvements.

With this timetable set to run until May 2026, at the earliest any improvements will be made almost two years into this government being in office.