Yet another poor month on Southeastern – 177 minutes of delay on only 14 days’ travel. Delay Repay Claims: total 1 January 2014 to 31 October 2014 inclusive = £59.95.

Keith is a SRTA member and a regular commuter from Bat & Ball to London via Sevenoaks.  

Week of 6 October

A total of 63 minutes lateness

• Monday – 07.10 was late this morning; on arrival at Sevenoaks due to two bicycles that were blocking the doors on the train I could not exit the train and cross the footbridge quickly enough to catch the 07.23.
• Tuesday – Bat & Ball Station information screen failed whilst I was waiting for the 07.10 to Sevenoaks this morning.  27 minutes total delay
• Wednesday – 07.23 from Sevenoaks running late therefore I travelled on the 07.27 to Cannon Street which was very crowded; this was not helped by there being two folded bicycles and one push chair with a young child in it taking up a lot of space. The bicycles and push chair also caused problems for those people wishing to detrain at London Bridge.
• Thursday – 17.24 departure from Cannon Street was only eight coaches rather than twelve and one four coach unit was 375/6 stock instead of the usual 375/9 high density stock. Much more comfortable but fewer seats which added to the overcrowding; first class was declassified.

Week of 13 Occtober

A total of 55 minutes delay.

• Monday – 18 minutes of delays
• Tuesday – 17 minutes of delays. The 17.24 from Cannon Street arrived in platform four at Sevenoaks this evening due to a Hastings service being held in platform three for some unadvertised reason. This caused chaos because those sitting on the floor in front of the doors adjacent to the platform at Sevenoaks had to move to allow other passengers to detrain.

Week of 20 October

A total of 46 minutes delay – and I only travelled on two days this week!

• Tuesday – 38 minutes delay on this day alone.  Bad weather was forecast due to the remnants of a hurricane passing over the UK; although there was only a slight breeze and moderate rainfall services were running very slowly this morning; especially down to Sevenoaks through Bat & Ball; poor rail conditions blamed. Services were also late in the evening peak again blamed on poor rail conditions. Thameslink trains were the worst. Is it that Class 319’s are now old technology and they cannot cope with poor rail conditions as well as more modern trains or are Network Rail not applying much in the way of resources to keep this route clear of leaf mulch?

Week of 27 October

A total of 13 minutes delay in two days’ travel.

Other issues

Bat & Ball station seems to have become a hotel for some.  Two people were sleeping rough on the station on 7, 8, 13, 20 and 21 October.