Commuters annoyed over 'disastrous' Southeastern timetable change

A new timetable by Southeastern Railway came into effect on Sunday, December 11, after first being revealed last September.

The changes mean all trains on the Woolwich line will terminate at London Cannon Street, instead of Charing Cross.

• READ MORE: Southeastern Railway timetable changes: All you need to know 

Trains on the Bexleyheath line will only go to Charing Cross during peak times, with passengers otherwise being told to change at London Bridge if they wish to go to Waterloo or Charing Cross stations.

Peter Hazel, 71, from Blackheath said he was “annoyed” by the timetable changes when extra investment had been put into the junction at Lewisham station in recent years.

He said: “It’s a slower service, it forces me to change or go to a place I don’t want to go to, so I’m not best happy.”

Mr Hazel said that Charing Cross being removed as a destination affects him as he often goes to restaurants and the theatre in central London.

He said: “I have to change here or go into Cannon Street and why people want to go into Cannon Street off peak escapes me because it’s basically a commuter station.”

The commuter said he was told by Southeastern that the route from Blackheath to Cannon Street was a “natural train path”.

He said: “Well, I’ve been travelling into Charing Cross from Blackheath the last 30 years. It didn’t feel that unnatural to me.”

A Southeastern spokesperson told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that the changes had been made to reduce congestion at Lewisham station, which they called a “notorious” bottleneck.

They said: “This structural change will help reduce a ‘ripple effect’ where delays on one line quickly impact others.

"We have simplified our railway by reducing the number of routes that trains operate over to contain any delays to a single line and not spread delays to multiple lines thereby impacting the journey of many more customers.”

Roy Phillips, 67, and Sue Taylor, 71, said they have been using Southeastern trains to get to Charing Cross since they first started working in London.

Roy Phillips and Sue Taylor at London Bridge station

While waiting for the next Woolwich line train at London Bridge, Ms Taylor said: “I don’t understand why they’ve done it because people use these lines as much as they did before. I wouldn’t go on the Elizabeth Line because it goes in a tunnel and I don’t like tunnels.”

While Mr Phillips said he understands the changes are being done to fix the “bottleneck” at stations like Lewisham, Ms Taylor said she feels poorer areas of Bexley and Greenwich are being affected more by the changes.

She said: “They seem to be putting all of their money into the Elizabeth line and cutting the [Woolwich line], and people of my age like this line.”

Ms Taylor said that along with the new timetable and snow, the planned train strikes will also affect her journeys into London.

She said: “We’ve got to come up here on Wednesday, but because there’s no trains it’s going to cost us £71 for an Uber.”

Dave and Pauline Huddle, both 66, only found out about the new timetable today.

The couple often use the Woolwich line to get into central London, as the couple live in Gravesend.

Aside from the new timetable, the couple said the snow had affected their plans to go to the theatre this afternoon, after having to wait 40 minutes for a train at Blackheath station.

Ms Huddle said: “I was thinking maybe that the train lines aren’t that bad today, but there’s nothing coming through even to take us into Lewisham.”

On the new timetable, Councillor Matt Hartley, leader of the Conservative opposition on Greenwich Council, said: “Southeastern has told me their disastrous December changes are now ‘hard wired in’ to the timetable, but it is clear that public anger in recent weeks have taken them by surprise.”

The councillor said it was “outrageous” that Southeastern did not consult the public on their new timetable, after being given permission not to by the Department for Transport.

A Southeastern spokesperson told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that they apologise for the lack of a formal consultation before announcing the changes.

They said: “Our plans were developed earlier this year and the Department for Transport allowed us to proceed without a formal consultation programme given fluctuating customer demand and to deliver changes as quickly as possible to help build back services to facilitate recovery”.

The spokesperson said the Woolwich and Bexleyheath lines were operating on special timetables on December 12, given the disruption caused by snow and ice.

They said that more trains for the service would be on time once the normal December timetable returns.

They said: “The changes also mean that our customers will have a more consistent timetable throughout the day, where trains leave the station at around the same time each hour, making journey planning easier.

“Our simpler timetable is designed so that as more customers travel with us in future, it’s possible to add more trains, and takes other factors, such as future housing developments, into consideration.

"We invite feedback on our December timetable, and we’d ask that people use the contact form on our website.”