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Rail Timetable Change Adds 40 minutes a Week for Long Distance Commuters
October 25, 2004 11:01 AM
Rail Timetable Change Will Add 40 minutes a Week for Eastleigh Commuters
The new South West Trains timetable that comes into effect on 12 December will mean an extra 40 minutes a week of travelling for Eastleigh commuters who work in London, according to calculations by the Liberal Democrats.
"These changes have been billed by South West Trains as the most radical timetable change on the network since electrification in 1967" said Hampshire MEP Chris Huhne, the Liberal Democrat prospective parliamentary candidate for Eastleigh. "But not all these changes are for the better even though services to Southampton do improve".
The average train time from Eastleigh to Waterloo will increase from 1 hour and 22 minutes on the existing timetable to 1 hour and 26 minutes when the revision - billed as the most substantial in years by South West trains - begins. One train a day will be dropped, so that 37 direct trains to London Waterloo will run each day.
Mr Huhne, the Liberal Democrat prospective parliamentary candidate for Eastleigh, said that the service would continue to be regular with trains each half hour throughout the day. But he pointed out that the longer average journey time will add up to nearly three quarters of an hour extra each week for commuters to London. Journey times on other routes within the region also seem to have been lengthened in an apparent attempt to avoid penalties for lateness, said Mr Huhne.
"This will add up to more than 31 hours of extra travelling each year for an Eastleigh to London commuter, or nearly a week of extra work" said Mr Huhne.
"There is no reason why journey times should be lengthening. They should be getting shorter as the new Desiro units are introduced to undertake Eastleigh services" said Mr Huhne. "This is a great shame as it brings to an end a steady reduction in journey times on the main line over many decades.
"I very much hope that South West Trains will look at the new timetable again and see if it can tighten up journey times, especially as it is still in draft form. More and more people are travelling further and further for work, and a fast train service has been a key advantage of the area" said Mr Huhne. "I will take this up with South West Trains and the Strategic Rail Authority".
Mr Huhne said he had to declare an interest since he hoped to be using the line even more often if elected as Eastleigh's MP at the general election, but he pointed out that the Liberal Democrats' rail survey last year showed that many people now commute long distances to work.
In the latest South West Trains passenger magazine, E-motion, the train company says: "Our current timetable is nearly 40 years old. Since it was introduced, populations and travel patterns have changed, and to ensure we better meet your needs we have gone back to the drawing board and rescheduled every train on every route.
E-Motion continues: "The review has involved the rescheduling of 1,635 trains a day. The result is a timetable as closely in tune with the travel needs of passengers as possible, with more peak time services and more frequent departures at some of our busiest stations…it also accommodates different point to point timings on our state of the art Desiro trains".
Mr Huhne pointed out that the services from Eastleigh to Southampton would take the same time, and were if anything better spaced with a more regular service late at night. "The service if anything will be better as the early morning bus service is replaced by a quicker train and there are better spaced late evening trains" said Mr Huhne. The train times are calculated from taking the times on the National Rail Enquiries website, where the draft South West trains timetable has been placed for journeys after 12th December.
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