New Timetable
The latest timetable took effect from 10 December. It is good news in that the number of trains to and from London overall has increased. However, the morning peak has lost one early service (the 06:31). More trains are now stopping at London Bridge both in the morning and evening. The changes in the number of services each weekday are shown in the table below.
| To London | Old | New | Change |
| Waterloo E & Charing Cross | 68 | 74 | 6 |
| Cannon Street | 12 | 12 | 0 |
| Total | 80 | 86 | 6 |
| Peak services | 18 | 17 | -1 |
| Stopping at London Bridge | 72 | 82 | 10 |
| From London | Old | New | Change |
| Waterloo E & Charing Cross | 69 | 70 | 1 |
| Cannon Street | 9 | 9 | 0 |
| Total | 78 | 79 | 1 |
| Peak services | 18 | 18 | 0 |
| Stopping at London Bridge | 71 | 75 | 4 |
Source: Southeastern Trains.
The morning peak is defined as trains leaving Sevenoaks after 6:30 and before 9:00. The evening peak is defined as trains leaving London from 16:30 and before 19:30. This definition differs from that of the Passenger’s Charter.
Members will be already be aware of some changes in train departure times and the (timetabled!) duration of journeys. It is difficult to summarise the net impact of these but the following charts, which compare scheduled journey times of each weekday service before and after the latest changes, may be helpful.
Source: Southeastern Trains
For journeys up to London, there has been a reduction in the number of the faster trains, and evening services are generally somewhat slower. But in most cases the differences are a matter of a couple of minutes.
Source: Southeastern Trains. Chart does not include the 00:10 from Charing Cross. This service’ scheduled journey time is 44 minutes, 2 minutes slower than the 00:08 in the previous timetable.
Trains from London during the morning peak are somewhat slower, while there are some slightly faster late morning and early afternoon trains. Some evening trains are now slower but the difference is not as marked as trains up to London at this time.
The latest alterations in the timetable are relatively minor. We can expect more radical changes with the introduction of fast commuter services from Ashford into St Pancras using the Channel Tunnel line in 2009. The Committee is determined that these changes will not lead to related adjustments to services through Ashford that might be to the disadvantage of Sevenoaks commuters. The timetable is also likely to be affected by the redevelopment of London Bridge and Blackfriars. Again, your Committee is keeping a close eye on this to ensure any disruption is minimised.