A new timetable is to be introduced by Southeastern this December which has been designed to provide a simpler service for passengers across Kent, East Sussex and South-East London.

Southeastern says that people have changed the way they travel and the changes reflect this.

A new ‘standard hour’ timetable means a more consistent service throughout the day and sees most trains leaving stations at nearly the same time each hour.

The changes from December include:

• A new ‘all day’ service from Maidstone East to Charing Cross via London Bridge
• Reinstated peak services to and from Beckenham Junction from London Blackfriars
• More peak services on the Ashford line.

A number of changes are also being made to the Metro service within London:

• Passengers for some stations will need to change at London Bridge, which will involve a platform change.
• All trains on the Hayes line will now terminate at London Charing Cross
• Trains on the Woolwich Line will now terminate at London Cannon Street.

The above changes to the Metro service will reduce congestion at junctions and reflects the shift of passengers now using The Elizabeth Line.

The operator is also removing First Class on all of its Mainline trains, freeing up as many as 60 seats on a 12-car train – or 4 million seats a year.

The new timetable starts on Sunday 11 December – with the changes viewable now on southeasternrailway.co.uk

Scott Brightwell, Operations and Safety Director for Southeastern, said: “The way we all travel has changed post-pandemic, and many of our customers are now using our services differently and at varying times of the day.

“This new and improved timetable delivers a more consistent all-day service and means we’re providing trains, and space, where it’s needed most – which reflects the way people now travel.

“Our customers tell us that reliability and punctuality are their highest priorities. So, we’ve simplified routes to remove bottlenecks which will see more trains running on time, fewer cancellations, and a more reliable service.

“The simpler structure of the timetable, with most trains leaving stations at broadly the same time each hour, means we can more add more trains into the timetable as demand changes.

“As we continue to recover from the pandemic, our focus remains on providing the most convenient and reliable railway for everyone who uses it,”