Southeastern has issued an apology to customers who have expressed concern over travel disruptions as a result of the new timetable.

On December 11, 2022, Southeastern implemented a new timetable which included reductions in certain services and timetable alterations to a number of other lines.

However, over the past few weeks customers have been reporting issues with the new timetable including delays, cancelations and overcrowded carriages.

Commuter at Hither Green Station, Rosie Horton said: “It can all be traced back to the timetable changes they implemented in December.

“This isn’t a one-off occurrence; it happens every single day.

“Before then, it was hard to get on a train but nothing compared to what we are experiencing now”.

Twitter user @Cafc1984 shared a photo of a crowded platform at Hither Green Station with the caption: “Absolute chaos at Hither Green.

“Sidcup line down again @Se_Railway #sidcupline”.

 

Another described overcrowded carriages at some stations and fears that hotter weather may make the situation worse.

Twitter user @EmilyPearson6 wrote: "@Se_Railway rammed at Lee, no one can get on at Hither Green.

“In the summer people will be taken ill on overcrowded trains like this”.

Another criticised the train company claiming that their morning commute was full of delays and cancelations.

Twitter user @Anelace3 wrote: “@Se_Railway what a moveable feast your trains to hither green are proving, delayed, cancelled, further delayed.

“Timetable boards just wrong, staff no clue.

Absolute shambles”.

 

In a joint statement, Southeastern and Network Rail apologised to their customers for the issues commuters have been experiencing.

Their statement called their services “disrupted”, “overcrowded” and “unreliable” and acknowledged the issues had been ongoing for the past two weeks.

They also outlined that the issues have been a result of “infrastructure failures” causing disruptions to services.

Southeastern and Network Rail claim they remain optimistic in the new timetable and believe it will improve passengers’ experiences.

They claim that they have seen improvements to weekend and off-peak services.

However, the companies admitted failures during certain times of day and that they were listening to customer feedback.

Customers who experience over 15 minutes of delays are being advised to make a compensation claim on the Southeastern website.

The full Southeastern statement says: “We're sorry that our services have been disrupted, overcrowded or unreliable over the past two weeks.

“It isn't the service we planned and it isn't the service that you deserve.

“Teething issues with our new timetable have been made worse by too many infrastructure failures- today's multiple points failures have again caused disruption.

“We're still confident that the new timetable will make things better for you, and we are seeing improved weekend and off-peak performance than before, but we need strong performance all the time.

We are listening to customer feedback, monitoring how busy our trains are and taking action to improve punctuality and reliability.

“Both of our organisations are working together round the clock to drive up performance and improve your railway.

“If you have been delayed by 15 minutes or more, please make sure you claim Delay Repay by visiting southeasternrailway.co.uk/delayrepay”.