A bad month, with 354 minutes delay on 19 days’ travel and continuing problems with failed lights at Bat & Ball. A nice new information display at Bat & Ball, although still problems putting up to date and accurate information onto it.

Keith is a SRTA member and a regular commuter from Bat & Ball to London via Sevenoaks. Each month he gives his personal experiences and views.

This month’s delays: Total 354; Southeastern 214, Thameslink 140.

Delay Repay Claims: total 1 January 2015 to 31 December 2015 inclusive = £73.95
Delay Repay Claims: total 1 January 2016 to 31 January 2016 inclusive = £12.30 two claims outstanding.

Week of 4 January 2016

Total lateness 110 minutes: Southeastern 93, Thameslink 17.

• Monday 4 January – One minute late arriving at Sevenoaks, on time at Waterloo East. The 06.30 from Sevenoaks was very busy this morning; probably the most people I have seen travelling on this service since I started to us it myself. There were a few seats available on departure from Orpington, mostly the unusable middle of three, but people chose to stand. No problems as we travelled through London Bridge over the new track across Borough Market on the viaduct that was built some time ago but not used until after the track alterations made over the Christmas/New Year period engineering works. Colleagues who travel from Tunbridge Wells were not so lucky; their journeys were disrupted by signalling problems on the Hastings line. My return journey ran to time throughout. The Bat & Ball Station lighting issue has not been resolved; four platform lights and three of the four lights on the footbridge are not working.
• Tuesday 5 January – No problems this morning; both services I used on time at Sevenoaks and Waterloo East. Two minute late arrival at Sevenoaks this evening on time at Bat & Ball.
• Wednesday 6 January – On time at Bat & Ball and arriving at Sevenoaks this morning. A slight delay to the departure from Sevenoaks and problems were experienced at London Bridge this morning. There was a signal failure at London Bridge which required train drivers to contact the signalman for permission to proceed. Accordingly the approach towards and progress through London Bridge was very slow resulting in an eighteen minute late arrival at Waterloo East. On departure from Orpington this morning there was not one middle of three seat occupied in the whole of my carriage ; many people preferred to stand rather than trying to squeeze in to the middle seat! My train from Waterloo East was five minutes late arriving at Sevenoaks this evening but I arrived on time at Bat & Ball.
• Thursday 7 January – One minute late arrival at Sevenoaks and two minutes late in to Waterloo East this morning. The 16.43 departure from Waterloo East was one minute late and arrived six minutes late at Sevenoaks. The 17.30 departure arrived on time at Bat & Ball.
• Friday 8 January – Not a good morning; I travelled on the 06.24 from Bat & Ball to Sevenoaks arriving two minutes late. At Sevenoaks there were cancellations and delays to early services to London Charing Cross and Cannon Street. No reason given but I understand this was due to problems on the Hastings line. My usual train the 06.30 to Waterloo East was shown as “Delayed”, (not a good sign, this usually means that the Signalman acknowledges the existence of the service somewhere on the network but has not decided what to do with it!), the 06.44 was cancelled and the 06.49 to Cannon Street and 06.53 to Charing Cross were shown running late. The first on time train was the 07.11 to Charing Cross. Due to the uncertainty about what services were running and when they would appear, plus the possibility that they would be very crowded on arrival at Sevenoaks, I decided that Blackfriars was looking an attractive destination this morning.
  

  Credit: @bettsontour

  A quick visit to the gent’s toilet where I discovered that the hand dryer was not working before commencing an hour’s journey to London. I boarded the train on platform four which formed the 06.42 service to Blackfriars that had brought me from Bat & Ball a few minutes earlier. This service is allowed six minutes for the journey from Sevenoaks to Bat & Ball; it usually waits at Bat & Ball until the due departure time there of 06.48. This is probably to free up platform four at Sevenoaks to receive a service due there at 06.45. Overall my journey to London was delayed by one hour this morning. The first Delay Repay claim of the year will soon be submitted! The16.43 from Waterloo East was cancelled this evening; due to staff shortages. The 16.46 departure was almost full on arrival at Waterloo East I only just got a seat. Due to not following the 16.43 departure tonight it arrived four minutes early at Sevenoaks. The 17.30 departure from Sevenoaks was late departing arriving five minutes late at Bat & Ball.

Week of 11 January 2016

Total lateness 115 minutes: Southeastern 87, Thameslink 28

• Monday 11 January – To start the week an update on the lighting at Bat & Ball; four lights on the platform, two out of four on the footbridge and one in the car park are not working. Thameslink obviously do not like the heavy rain. When I arrived at Bat & Ball this morning the 06.24 was shown as being on time. Over the next few minutes this changed and we departed at 06.28 and after a slow journey to Sevenoaks arrived five minutes late at 06.32; just seeing the 06.30 disappearing towards London. The 06.44 to Waterloo East was on time but one minute late arriving in London. Thameslink effectively delayed my journey to London this morning by 16 minutes. Slight delays to my return journey due to slow running between London and Hither Green, the 16.43 from Waterloo East was three minutes late arriving at Sevenoaks and the 17.30 departure to Bat and Ball was two minutes late arriving there.
• Tuesday 12 January – Southeastern had some problems today. The 06.30 was five minutes late departing Sevenoaks due to the need to deal with a problem with safety equipment on the train at Tunbridge Wells and it arrived thirteen minutes late at Waterloo East. The increase in the lateness was attributed to a delay at Orpington due to problems with the points and signals there. My return journey this evening was even worse; when I arrived at Waterloo East there were obvious major problems due to the number of delays and cancellations shown on the departure boards. The 16.43 was shown as being delayed by fifteen minutes, due 16.58 and the next service to Sevenoaks at 17.00 was currently on time. An announcement over the PA system, which was difficult to understand, advised passengers that the 16.43 was delayed due to sickness on the train. Eventually the 17.00 departure arrived before the delayed 16.43 and departed one minute late. Surprisingly this six coach train was very empty: perhaps people were sitting on the delayed 16.43 at Charing Cross expecting it to depart first? The arrival at Sevenoaks was four minutes late at 17.32. As the train came to a stand the 17.30 to Bat & Ball was dispatched. The train was already late so surely holding it from another minute would not have made much difference to the overall journey time and it would have prevented about thirty people incurring a half hour delay to their journey? My second Delay Repay claim of the new season ticket year has been submitted! The problems this evening were attributed to needing to remove a body from the line in the Hildenborough area.
• Thursday 14 January – Slight delays this morning, one minute late arriving at Sevenoaks and two minutes late when I alighted at Waterloo East. Major delays this evening due to signalling problems between New Cross and St Johns. The 16.43 from Waterloo East did not arrive at Sevenoaks until 17.31 when the 17.30 to Bat & Ball could be seen departing from platform four. The next service to Bat & Ball was at 18.00 but it did not depart until 18.03 and was three minutes late arriving at Bat & Ball. Another Delay Repay claim submitted!
• Friday 15 January – I did not travel today.

Week of 18 January 2016

Total lateness 29 minutes: Southeastern 7, Thameslink 22

• Monday 18 January – To start the week an update on the lighting at Bat & Ball; five lights on the platform and two out of four on the footbridge are not working. The 06.24 was only one minute late at Sevenoaks this morning. The 06.30 departure to Waterloo East was two minutes late leaving Sevenoaks and three minutes behind time arriving at Waterloo East. This train was busy today but seats were available at Sevenoaks and at Orpington. However on departure from Orpington in the coach I was travelling in none of the unusable middle of three seats were occupied; many people were standing and a few were sitting on the floor!
• Wednesday 20 January – The 06.24 was two minutes late arriving at Sevenoaks at 06.29 again this morning. The 06.30 departure to Waterloo East was on time arriving at Sevenoaks this morning therefore I only just managed to board it. This train was very busy today and there were only a few seats available, mainly unusable middle of three seats, for those boarding at Orpington. Waterloo East was reached one minute early. My usual trains were both on time this evening.
• Thursday 21 January – I did not go to work today but travelled to Manchester instead. I travelled on the 06.16 to Bromley South due 06.42 intending to catch the 06.50 to Victoria due in at 07.09 then the Victoria Underground line to Euston. However, the 06.16 was running late and missed my intended connection at Bromley South which delayed my arrival at Victoria by sixteen minutes. Virgin Trains service was about a minute early arriving at Manchester Piccadilly and the same at Euston on the return journey. I travelled back to Bat & Ball from Victoria on the 19.22 departure which was only four coaches and was very crowded as far as Bromley South, one of two people were still standing when I detrained on time at Otford. The 20.07 from Otford to Bat & Ball was on time.
• Friday 22 January – The 06.24 from Bat & Ball was one minute late arriving at Sevenoaks this morning. The 06.30 departure to Waterloo East was on time at Sevenoaks and arrived one minute early at Waterloo East. This train was composed of all low density stock today and was busy, there were very few seats available when we arrived at Orpington. On departure from Orpington in the coach I was travelling was full.

Week of 25 January 2016

Total lateness 100 minutes: Southeastern 27, Thameslink 73

• Monday 25 January – The hand dryer in the gents’ toilet at Sevenoaks is still not working. I travelled on the late running 08.50 departure to Waterloo East which arrived there eight minutes behind time. This train was busy today but seats were available at Sevenoaks and at Orpington. Services were being disrupted this morning due to a signal failure between Tunbridge Wells and Tonbridge which caused platform one at Tunbridge Wells to be closed reducing capacity there.
• Tuesday 26 January – This week’s report on the lighting at Bat & Ball is as follows; five lights on the platform and two out of four on the footbridge are not working. No change since last week! The 06.24 was two minutes late at Sevenoaks this morning. The 06.30 departure to Waterloo East was on time at Sevenoaks and Waterloo East. This train was busy today and there were very few seats available when we arrived at Orpington. On departure from Orpington the coach I was travelling in was full and standing. My return journey was fortunately slightly earlier than usual at 16.13 from Waterloo East, arriving three minutes late at Sevenoaks. This is when things started to go wrong. The stock to form the 17.00 departure to Bat & Ball did not arrive at Sevenoaks until 16.55. The driver could be heard conversing with a member of platform staff and he advised them he would be departing late. The left at 17.05 arriving at Bat & Ball at 17.08. The stock to form the next service was shown as arriving considerably after the due departure time on the information screen; I understand that the service deteriorated as time progressed in to the evening.
• Wednesday 27 January – I did not make my usual journey to work today but with passport in my pocket headed North for Colchester in darkest Essex. I intended catching either the 07.56 to Blackfriars or the 08.00 to Sevenoaks services from Bat & Ball to ensure that I connected with the 10.00 departure from London Liverpool Street Station. My preferred route was via Sevenoaks and Cannon Street. However there were indications of possible delays to services therefore I decided to take the first train that arrived at Bat & Ball. Accordingly I crossed to platform one and watched the information screen change from a minute to two minutes late and then “Delayed” which is not a good sign, usually meaning the train will run but the signalman has not decided when. When this happened the 08.00 departure on platform one started to show a minute or two delay accruing. Eventually both services arrived simultaneously at 08.05, I travelled to Sevenoaks changing there and arrived at Cannon Street at 09.12, 30 minutes later than I should have. My journey to Colchester was also delayed, missing the connecting service to Colchester Town. The next train was cancelled and the following one ran slightly late. At Colchester Town I asked for an Anglian Delay Repay claim form. The lady I spoke to replied how many did I want! The return journey to London was uneventful and to time.
• Thursday 28 January – Not a good start to the day. On arrival at Bat & Ball the 06.24 was shown as being cancelled, this later changed to delayed, then expected at 06.29 but at this time it was 06.32! I caught the late running 06.42 to Sevenoaks arriving at 06.48. I just managed to board the 06.49 to Waterloo East at 06.50. This service arrived in London eight minutes late.

Other notes

• Delay Repay Delayed? I received another Delay Repay voucher through the post today; valid for twelve months from 30 December 2015. However the validity at the internal processing office is stated as expiring by 27 January 2016! I wonder if it will be accepted when I try to use it.
• Wrong type of sun? The media made a lot about the fact that Southeastern blamed delays during 12 January on “the wrong type of sun” for delays to their services. The low in the sky winter sun caused problems whereby drivers could not determine which aspect of the signal was showing therefore they needed to confirm this by either leaving their cab and checking the signal up close or contacting the signalman for permission to proceed. Similarly some platform monitors could not be seen clearly and drivers on one man operated trains could not see if the doors were closed therefore they needed to leave their cabs and look along the length of their train from the platform to confirm that all doors were shut before departing the station. Obviously these additional tasks took time and resulted in delays to train services.
• Better information display at Bat & Ball! Regular readers may recall that I commented on the information screen that was installed on platform one at Bat & Ball last year. This one sided display was facing the wrong way, away from where most people waited for their train. I suggested that it should be replaced with a two sided display or rotated through a hundred and eighty degrees, and it was subsequently turned to face the main area where passengers congregate. However this month it was replaced with a new two sided display. Much appreciated by all!
• Want a timetable? You need to catch a train to London first! In a previous diary I mentioned that at Sevenoaks it was not possible to obtain a copy of Southeastern Timetable number 6 (the main Sevenoaks via Orpington to London timetable). On my travels this month I noticed that both Cannon Street and Charing Cross stations had copies available. Perhaps a box of them could be put on a train heading for Sevenoaks!