The train company Southern is initiating a comprehensive public consultation process to gather opinions from West Sussex and Hampshire travellers. The consultation revolves around proposed enhancements to the rail services across the counties.

The planned modifications, if implemented, would focus on several routes. Connections between Brighton and Southampton and the linkages between Hampshire ports and London through Gatwick Airport are among the targeted areas for improvement. The implementation of these changes would follow the launch of a newly structured timetable next year.

A central objective of these proposed alterations is to augment the reliability across all relevant routes. The changes also aim to accommodate the increasing number of passengers, ensuring more consistent departure schedules.

Among the significant proposals is the plan to double the frequency of trains from one to two per hour on both the Portsmouth to London route via Horsham and Gatwick Airport and the Southampton to Brighton route.

A summary of key proposed enhancements include:

• Extending London to Portsmouth services up to Portsmouth Harbour. This will offer improved connections to cross-Solent ferries and direct access to the Portsmouth docks area, rather than the current termination at Portsmouth & Southsea.
• Specially dedicating the two-per-hour trains from London Victoria via Horsham and Gatwick Airport to Portsmouth and allocating the two-per-hour trains from Brighton to Southampton. This division would enhance the consistency in train intervals, shift to new half-hourly frequencies, and improve overall reliability.
• Creating a seamless and convenient connection at Barnham for passengers travelling between Southampton and Gatwick Airport.
• Shortening travel times on the Southampton-Brighton route with an additional stop at Woolston. This allows passengers to connect easily with local bus networks to reach Southampton city centre.
• Introducing a new half-hourly service from Brighton to Chichester via Littlehampton. This will enhance local travel and add capacity to the busy Brighton-Worthing route.

These proposals follow the success of this year’s redesign of the East Coastway timetable, a collaboration with local communities that saw increased connections between Brighton and Eastbourne.

Public engagement is a critical aspect of the program, and Southern is encouraging feedback until Wednesday, September 27th. In-person events will be hosted at various stations across the West Coastway in August and September, allowing travellers to discuss these proposals with the Southern timetable team. The Southern website will maintain a regularly updated schedule of events as they are confirmed.

Complete information on the proposed changes can be found on the Southern website: www.southernrailway.com/westcoastway. Those wishing to share their thoughts can do so by emailing [email protected].

Jenny Saunders, Govia Thameslink Railway’s Customer Service Director, said: “We’re confident that the reliability and capacity improvements these proposals are designed to achieve would benefit passengers on local and longer-distance journeys across the West Coastway.

“It’s now important that we hear the views of the public so we can make sure these proposals improve services for our passengers.”