Senior Railcard Moments July 2019

Our Bat & Ball correspondent, Keith Alderman, has now retired. However, when Thameslink allow him, he’s making good use of his Senior Railcard!

Delay Repay Claims: total 1 January 2019 to 31 July 2019 inclusive = £47.60
(Southeastern £23.70, Southern £2.00, South Western Railway £6.62, Thameslink £4.90, Virgin £10.38). One claim outstanding.

This month’s delays: total 89 minutes, Southeastern 52, Thameslink 37

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Why should customers arrange their holidays to suit Network Rail?

There was a small eruption on 29-30 January when Southeastern announced that on August Bank Holiday and for four working days afterwards there will be no Southeastern trains at Charing Cross, London Bridge and Waterloo East – and said:

“If you’re planning a holiday, please consider these dates”

We’ve been investigating what’s happening, why it is happening in the days after the Bank Holiday rather than earlier in August, and how customers were consulted.

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Thameslink launch consultation on 2018 timetable

geograph-1888302-by-pam-frayThameslink have launched a consultation on their 2018 timetable, including the Bat & Ball service and the new service to Maidstone East. It’s open for 12 weeks until 8 December.

An initial read shows that Sevenoaks area services are largely as expected, but with some disappointments:

  • only hourly trains London Bridge to Maidstone East in the evenings.
  • non-peak Darenth Valley trains will not go beyond Blackfriars.

We’ll be studying the document carefully and responding fully. 

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Nice station, shame about the crowds

escalators-not-working-henry-dodds-licensedI went to London Bridge station last night to take a look round and was lucky enough to witness the chaos between six and seven pm. I wasn’t in any particular hurry to get home and wanted to observe how Southeastern managed the situation of signalling problems compounded by a failed train on platform 8. What I saw looked like an unimpressive response from Southeastern with lacklustre command and control and some puzzling decision making that left passengers fraught and frustrated.

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