Louie French, Member of Parliament for Old Bexley and Sidcup, has welcomed the confirmation from Southeastern that there will be better spacing of trains on both the Sidcup and the Bexleyheath lines from June, as well as the restoration of four trains per hour to Albany Park station after a hard-fought campaign on the behalf of local passengers.
Southeastern’s retiming of services towards London Bridge will help reduce waiting times between trains during off-peak times and during peak times.
The announcement also confirms the doubling of off-peak trains to and from Albany Park, up from two trains per hour to four trains per hour, as well as the re-introduction of through services to and from Lewisham all day.
Whilst on the Bexleyheath line, late evening services on a Saturday will run from Charing Cross instead of Cannon Street to better reflect the demand from passengers for the West End.
The changes Southeastern has made follow extensive lobbying from local MP Louie French on the behalf of passengers and will help ensure that they will now see them operating a bigger and better timetable. The changes Louie has helped secure will mean better spacing of trains across routes to reduce waiting time between trains, better punctuality, as well as more carriages for the busiest trains on peak and off-peak services to reduce crowding.
Commenting, local MP Louie said:
“As someone who has used Southeastern services for many years, I am pleased that the wait for trains into central London will be reduced, more modern trains will be introduced and that the number of trains to and from Albany Park are being increased.
I know that the improvements to the timings of services on the Sidcup and Bexleyheath lines will be welcome news for many of my constituents, especially those who use Albany Park.
While we will have to wait for the next timetable to come into effect in June, we will see the full, detailed timetable published on 9 March and I look forward to seeing the improvements in action.
I am also continuing to campaign for better connections on the Sidcup line to Abbey Wood, which I know a number of constituents would like to use without having to change at Dartford. This is already in place for a handful of services we secured previously and on the Bexleyheath line throughout the day.
Finally, there is more good news for those passengers using Bexley station, which is nearing the completion of works to install two new lifts, as well as a new footbridge and CCTV to improve access and security on all platforms.
Alongside Louie, local Conservative Councillors Cllr Cameron Smith and Cllr Kurtis Christoforides were delighted to welcome the £6m in funding under the Government’s Access for all Scheme.
“Once opened, the new footbridge, lifts and platform layout will help transform journeys for many local passengers. As local commuters ourselves, we understand the importance of securing more train services from Southeastern as more people return to work after Covid. That is why we welcome additional services have been added to the latest timetable after extensive campaigning".
