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NEWS ARCHIVE 2007
WSRUA Newsletters
WSRUA News Headlines
See below for the full article under each of these headlines:
Timetable changes!
In December there were radical changes in the timetable for the Arun Valley line for all but a few peak hour services.
The news is good for passengers travelling only to and from Horsham and points north who can expect faster services, especially off peak, although there will be only two trains each hour instead of three as the service via Worthing is being withdrawn. For Bognor Regis and Littlehampton passengers there is also good news as they will have two through trains to Victoria every hour in the off-peak instead of one.
Passengers travelling to and from Ford, Arundel, Amberley, Pulborough, Billingshurst, and Christ’s Hospital will have longer journeys in both directions (except for key “high” peak hour services).
From Horsham travelling northwards there will be no effect on current journey times.
Why is this happening?
Southern want to speed up the journey time from Chichester in a bid to attract more passengers onto the line. Currently many passengers from the Chichester area use SWT services from Havant. As Southern have been required to replace services between Brighton and Basingstoke/Reading currently being operated by SWT, one of our off-peak trains will run through to Southampton with the other terminating at Portsmouth.
What will the effect be?
Trains in both directions will split or join at Horsham rather than Barnham. One peak hour train in each direction will split/join at Three Bridges.
Key peak services will be unaffected, please see the timetable included with this communication. However there are some services popular with commuters which will be affected.
Travelling north, a stopping train will leave Bognor at the current time but, without the current 6 minute wait at Barnham, it will run up to 10 minutes earlier than at present and wait at Horsham to be joined by a fast train from Chichester that stops only at Barnham.
Southwards, trains will split at Horsham with the front portion speeding off to Chichester after a 4 minute wait, stopping only at Barnham.
The rear portion will wait up for up to a further 4 minutes for a signal to proceed so arrival times at stations south of Horsham to Ford will be up to 10 minutes later than now. Arrival times at Bognor will be unchanged.
The net effect, for anyone travelling off-peak, and for some commuter services, from Ford, Arundel, Amberley, Pulborough, Billingshurst, and Christ’s Hospital is a longer journey in both directions.
We discussed these changes with Southern on several occasions and, whilst they acknowledge that many Arun Valley passengers will have a less convenient journey, they maintain that the new timetable will benefit the majority of passengers. Time will tell. Southern have agreed to monitor the effect of the changes but the timetable is now set until December 2008.
See an extract of the new timetable.
What can you do?
If the revised timetable affects your journey for better or for worse, please email/write to Southern and copy your correspondence to us. We will be compiling evidence of the effects and need your view. The contact details for Southern are:
Email - comments@southernrailway.com
By post – Southern Customer Services, PO Box 277, Tonbridge, TN29 2ZP
Meet the managers
Southern will be holding a “meet the manager” session at Horsham, Pulborough, Billingshurst and Chichester during November. Please take a few moments to speak to the Southern managers and make your views count!
Brighton Main Line Route Utilisation Strategy
The Brighton main line suffers from too many trains. The lowest occupancy is on Gatwick Express with a high of 50%, whereas overcrowded Southern and First Capital Connect trains regularly exceed 100%. The fact that GEx is a non-stop service and has dedicated platforms uses track capacity. The RUS will convert the half hourly service on the Arun Valley into GEx trains. This will reduce journey times to London by 10 mins, provide more carriages to reduce overcrowding and improve punctuality. Faster trains, more seats and better reliability will be achieved by extending GEx trains to the south coast. That's the good news. But the RUS is stuck in the mud at the DfT. The draft proposals were published in September 2004 with a promise to implement in 2005. However, BAA objected to the loss of a dedicated non-stop airport service which has delayed things. The final RUS was published in February 2006 but little has happened since then. We are hopeful that the RUS will be implemented next year and that an announcement from DfT will come out in the autumn. In the meantime we sit and wait.