Regular readers will be pleased to know that clock at Bat & Ball is now working; Tuesday 13 May was the monumental day.
Delay repay claims total, 1 January to 31 May inclusive, is £28.40: My detailed travel experiences in May were as follows: –
Week of 5 May
A total 15 minutes of lateness; Tuesday and Wednesday both adding 6 minutes delay to the weekly total. On Tuesday 6 May the 18.02 from Sevenoaks to Bat & Ball was only four coaches rather than eight. The driver advised passengers that he had been unable to find out why!
Week of 12 May
The worst week this month: 32 minutes of delays to my journeys. 13 of these minutes were on my journey from Bat & Ball to Sevenoaks on Monday; between 3 and 6 minutes per day for the rest of the week.
Monday 12 May: the 7.10 from Bat & Ball arrived at Sevenoaks at 7.26 and 45 seconds at which time the 7.27 to Cannon Street was already departing: (I have a radio controlled watch therefore I consider that it is accurate at all times). Dispatching trains before time is all too common on SouthEastern; if the train departs before booked time how far in advance of the advertised departure time are the doors being closed?
Week of 19 May
Another 15 minutes of lateness. The journey to London on Tuesday contributed 6 minutes to this total.
Monday 19 May: It was hot this morning and the 7.23 from Sevenoaks to Charing Cross was very crowded therefore I decided to stand on the air conditioned 7.27 to Cannon Street rather than the 7.23 which does not have air conditioning which after calling at Chelsfield would be unbearably hot and overcrowded. I later established that the 7.23 was overcrowded due to the preceding train being delayed at Tonbridge whilst a passenger who had been taken ill received attention. In the evening the 18.00 departure from Sevenoaks to Bat & Ball was only four coaches rather than eight.
Week of 26 May
I only experienced 4 minutes of delay – but I travelled from Sevenoaks to London on Wednesday only this week!
Wednesday 28 May: I travelled on the 5.59 from Sevenoaks to London Bridge; arrival four minutes late even that early in the day! The carriage I was sitting in only had two thirds of the lights working; was this to aid sleep, an attempt at money saving or just a fault on the train. If sitting under one of the lighting strips that were not working it was difficult to read!
The travel diary for April is here.