Southeastern’s annual December timetable change will feature some of the biggest amendments since the pandemic.

Running from Sunday 15th December 2024 to Saturday 17th May 2025, Southeastern’s Metro Network will see a huge increase in extra train services with some outer suburban trains also increasing in frequency during peak times.

The 44 extra services that will be introduced each week day accumulate to 220 services a week, with the extra trains running on the following routes.

The Cannon Street Rounder services, which run from Cannon Street to Slade Green via Sidcup before heading back to Cannon Street via Woolwich, will see an extra 12 trains per day in both directions.

These services will enable passengers to connect to the Elizabeth Line at Abbey Wood without travelling into the centre of London to access the Crossrail line.

For passengers on the Deptford to Maze Hill section of the Woolwich Line, these extra services will re-introduce the pre-COVID regular running of a train every 10 minutes in each direction, but only at peak times.

Passengers on the Charlton to Slade Green section of the Woolwich Line will see eight Southeastern trains and an hour at peak times. At Abbey Wood, there will be a regular 15-minute service on trains heading to and from Dartford.

These Rounder services help to relieve congestion on the many trains that pass along these lines which head out of the several south London terminal stations to a multitude of destinations in South East London and the Thames Estuary, increasing their frequency during the rush hours helps to prevent overcrowding on trains.

Other routes benefiting from additional services are Victoria to Orpington and stopping trains via Herne Hill.

The four trains an hour which currently only run at peak times will now be extended to run off peak during the day.

The evening Charing Cross to Maidstone East service will be extended to terminate at Ashford International in December, which will be a tremendous benefit for passengers that commute from Bearsted, Hollingborune, Harrietsham, Lenham and Charing.

The extra trains are available to view on Southeastern’s Journey Planners and on the Southeastern website.

These extra services not only prevent overcrowding, they also introduce a frequency in services and in some cases, quicker journey times.

“I’m really pleased that we are able to offer customers more services and more opportunities to travel with us in the December timetable.

Demand is rising and we recently set a record for post-pandemic journeys when over 400,000 passengers travelled through our London terminals. The extra 220 services we are adding each week will help us to meet this and future growth.

There have been a number of changes to accommodate the extra services, so please check before you travel either in online journey planners, in our app, or you can view the full timetables on our website.”

Scott Brightwell, Southeastern’s Operations and Safety Director