East Dulwich to London Bridge trains - reduced service from 26 July

[exdulwicher]

Great start to the new timetable. At least 2 of the 'extra' trains were cancelled along with some others this morning. Others delayed.

Points failure somewhere around Streatham this morning.

It's not about training drivers, but by representing the area, some changes may not occur when they are proposed.

Given that the line through North / East Dulwich comes in from either Caterham or Beckenham Junction, which area would you like Southern to listen to with regards their service? Because the line goes through Surrey, Bromley, Croydon, Lambeth and Southwark...

It's nothing to do with the councils, it's between Southern, Network Rail and DfT and is largely dictated by the realities of staff shortages due to isolation / Covid.

It's not solely a Southern issue either; rail services nationally have been cut for the same reasons. It'll come back to normal in time but right now it's a reaction to situations entirely beyond anyone's control.

[Abe_froeman]

Southwark Council could lobby TFL, the Labour Mayor of London and the Labour London Assembly member for a rail replacement bus service in Southwark (it doesn't need to go into or have the backing of any other counties) to help constituents in Southwark travel on public transport.

Or they could just give up like you suggest.

Maybe get a cavalcade of high powered motor cars to take them on 4.5 mile journeys instead of trying to use non-existent trains and buses. Like this: www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2021/08/22/congestion-charge-hypocrite-sadiq-khan-takes-three-car-convoy/

[redpost]

Great idea abe, becauase as we all know bus crews are immune to covid and pingdemic whereas train crews are not

[bodsier]

ctovey Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> According to the Southern Rail website, the new

> timetable is in place until further notice and

> will be reviewed weekly and there may be further

> changes. I have been getting the early trains

> (between 7am - 8am) for a couple of weeks,

> accompanying my husband for daily treatment at

> Guys. We have noticed the trains are getting

> busier and this new timetable will make them more

> so. but people are still a bit 'precious' about

> having someone sat next to them and are reserving

> the adjacent seat with their bags. As a couple of

> 70+ year olds and my husband suffering from

> cancer, if we need a seat we are more than happy

> to sit next to another passenger as we are both

> double vaxxed.

Do be careful, vaccination doesn't stop you from getting covid, your husband is vulnerable whilst he is dealing with cancer, presumabley the treatment lowers his immunity. Also those vaccinated first are finding the vaccine protection is waining. Its true that you both should be seated on your own with no one seated next to you so that you are protected from others. Take care.

[ctovey]

Bodsier - not the easiest thing to do - sit in isolation on a peak time train! We were just happy to be able to get a seat. Thankfully, treatment is finished now, so no more early morning journeys. I feel sorry for those who have to travel on peak time trains all the time.

[Jim1234]

I have had what I interpret as confirmation from Southern that trains may never be increased. I urge you all to email Helen Hayes and Sidiq Khan about this (please suggest anyone else that can actually do something about this?).

[email protected]

[email protected]

Context is as follows- I sent a complaint about the current service to Southern Rail in which I asked, 'please tell me when we will have 6 trains per hour from ED to London Bridge', to which they replied (copy/paste):

'We?re currently unable to tell you precisely when, and which, services may increase'

[ab29]

And then they close the roads and tell people to use public transport more - it is beyond absurd.

[siousxiesue]

A cut and paste from my Helen Hayes email, she has forwarded the reply from train company

Thank you for your email.

As you are aware, with constraints on day to day crew availability, we are currently seeking to find the balance between offering as many services as possible, and ensuring that customers can rely on their timetable.

The London Bridge to London Victoria service group was previously running in peak-hours only. This group provides an 07:32 departure from West Norwood. These services were changed as of 6 September where a timetable change took place across the Thameslink, Great Northern and Southern network to prepare the network for the return of schools and colleges. While relative to August, approximately 180 more weekday services would run per day as a result of these changes. However, to achieve this change did involve the removal of this service group. This is because train crew are route and depot specific owing to training (e.g. a Brighton Southern driver cannot drive a Southern train in Crystal Palace), and at a time when day to day availability of qualified crew is limited by the effects of coronavirus, we have had to make difficult choices as to how crews are allocated.

The reason this design of timetable was chosen is because it was very similar to the service that ran in the Spring and Summer terms of 2021. We therefore knew it would work for our schools and colleges across the network and could be reliably delivered. It was also a timetable that was familiar to those such as key workers who were commuting from February of this year. I have provided a little more background on our crew availability below for your reference, as unfortunately, we are needing to make choices over which services can run. This is driven by ensuring that customers can rely on the services that are in the timetable.

We are making progress on returning qualified crew to work. At present unavailability of qualified crew is around 15%, better than the 20% in August, but still slightly too high to run more services reliably. In the next timetable change from Monday 13 December, we are planning to reintroduce the London Bridge to London Victoria service group in peak hours, and increase the frequency of the Beckenham Junction to London Bridge group via Dulwich. This will mean an every 15 minute service at busy times which should resolve these concerns. Unfortunately we are not in a position to introduce these services immediately, but the next ten or so weeks provides the time to return more crew to work, to provide the confidence that they can be delivered reliably. As I am sure your constituents will appreciate, the current service is about trying to get the balance right between offering as many services as possible and ensuring that customers can rely on their timetabled services, but I do recognise that this will unfortunately mean less convenient journeys through until December.

[Lowlander]

siousxiesue Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> A cut and paste from my Helen Hayes email, she has

> forwarded the reply from train company

>

>

> Thank you for your email.

>

> As you are aware, with constraints on day to day

> crew availability, we are currently seeking to

> find the balance between offering as many services

> as possible, and ensuring that customers can rely

> on their timetable.

>

> The London Bridge to London Victoria service group

> was previously running in peak-hours only. This

> group provides an 07:32 departure from West

> Norwood. These services were changed as of 6

> September where a timetable change took place

> across the Thameslink, Great Northern and Southern

> network to prepare the network for the return of

> schools and colleges. While relative to August,

> approximately 180 more weekday services would run

> per day as a result of these changes. However, to

> achieve this change did involve the removal of

> this service group. This is because train crew are

> route and depot specific owing to training (e.g. a

> Brighton Southern driver cannot drive a Southern

> train in Crystal Palace), and at a time when day

> to day availability of qualified crew is limited

> by the effects of coronavirus, we have had to make

> difficult choices as to how crews are allocated.

>

> The reason this design of timetable was chosen is

> because it was very similar to the service that

> ran in the Spring and Summer terms of 2021. We

> therefore knew it would work for our schools and

> colleges across the network and could be reliably

> delivered. It was also a timetable that was

> familiar to those such as key workers who were

> commuting from February of this year. I have

> provided a little more background on our crew

> availability below for your reference, as

> unfortunately, we are needing to make choices over

> which services can run. This is driven by ensuring

> that customers can rely on the services that are

> in the timetable.

>

> We are making progress on returning qualified crew

> to work. At present unavailability of qualified

> crew is around 15%, better than the 20% in August,

> but still slightly too high to run more services

> reliably. In the next timetable change from Monday

> 13 December, we are planning to reintroduce the

> London Bridge to London Victoria service group in

> peak hours, and increase the frequency of the

> Beckenham Junction to London Bridge group via

> Dulwich. This will mean an every 15 minute service

> at busy times which should resolve these concerns.

> Unfortunately we are not in a position to

> introduce these services immediately, but the next

> ten or so weeks provides the time to return more

> crew to work, to provide the confidence that they

> can be delivered reliably. As I am sure your

> constituents will appreciate, the current service

> is about trying to get the balance right between

> offering as many services as possible and ensuring

> that customers can rely on their timetabled

> services, but I do recognise that this will

> unfortunately mean less convenient journeys

> through until December.

Good news, that's a handy link to Clapham Junction for us close to Forest Hill station I've used in the past.