Lewes Forum thread

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overcrowding lewes trains

On 3 Jul 2019 at 9:54am BN26 wrote:

I few weeks ago I posted about Southern reducing the morning off peak trains from Lewes down from 8 coaches to 4 coaches since May 2018. Were you on the train yesterday 02/07/19 ?. Full and standing from Eastbourne. More joined at Hampden Park and Polegate. At Lewes people struggled to even get on.Full and standing in gangways and doorways. It goes on and on and nothing is done about it

On 3 Jul 2019 at 12:26pm The Tooth Fairy wrote:

That will be fun when the foreign students take their day trips from Eastbourne to the capital
Kill me now �

On 3 Jul 2019 at 5:23pm Rookie wrote:

Something will be done about it. Southern will keep raising their fares pricing more and more people off the trains. Overcrowding problem solved! Not to everyone's satisfaction of course but I don't think Southern will worry too much about that.

On 3 Jul 2019 at 10:58pm Basil wrote:

The beauty of the capitalist market: demand and supply. Reduce supply but demand stays the same and you can increase prices.

On 4 Jul 2019 at 3:45pm Toad wrote:

There is plenty of stock to make East Coast trains 8 cars but Southern will not use them. Probably to ensure that their profits increase. Overcrowding is a disgrace but the government is not the slightest bit interested. It is intensely annoying to pass a depot when squashed onto a 4 car to see stock lying idle.

On 4 Jul 2019 at 7:26pm Bert wrote:

Why can't a 8 coach train travel direct from Eastbourne to Victoria? With passengers for the shorter platform stations in the front or rear section ( obviously as the mood takes them, never set one or the other, that's too straightforward )

On 5 Jul 2019 at 11:07am all-too-clear wrote:

The real problem is the lack of both track and platform space as the trains get closer to London.
After the trains from Lewes connect with the trains from Worthing at Haywards Heath if both are 8 coach i doubt there is space for such long trains all the way to Victoria.
This could be remedied by major work to both line and stations causing the imagined amount of chaos of months if not years.

On 5 Jul 2019 at 12:59pm Bert wrote:

Why DO Eastbourne and Worthing trains HAVE to join at Haywards Heath, both are busy in their own right.

On 5 Jul 2019 at 7:41pm Sussex Jim wrote:

Trains from Eastbourne to London, and Littlehampton to London (via Worthing) used to run hourly; and pass Haywards Heath at opposite sides or the hour. Thus, they had two slots (or path in railway speak) per hour to occupy the line into London.
Then the privatised Southern decided to improve the service by running half-hourly from EB and L'hampton. Both joining at HH. But they cannot run 2 8-car trains joined together every half hour due to platform lengths and power supply limitations.
Therefore, you now have a half-hourly service of 4 car trains to London via Lewes or Worthing.
Would you like to go back to the days of state-owned BR and only one London train per hour on the east and west coast lines?

On 5 Jul 2019 at 10:34pm BN26 wrote:

Trains can only be a maximum of 12 coaches but prior to the May 2018 timetable the departures from Eastbourne at 08 55, 09 30 and 09 55 were 8 coaches with another 4 coaches attached at Haywards Heath which came from Littlehampton. From May 20 18 the revised times at 09 00,
09 24 and 10 00 from Eastbourne are only 4 coaches with 4 attached at Haywards Heath going forward 8 instead of the previous 12 coaches. Responding to Sussex Jim we don't want to go back to hourly interval but want to go back to the number of coaches prior to the May 2018 alterations. The train I was travelling on was the 09 24 from Eastbourne and with the portion from Littlehampton was 8 instead of the previous 12 forward from Haywards Heath. The departures from Lewes at 09 21, 09 45 and 10 21 are now only 4 coaches but used to be 8 coaches. They should look at their rolling stock holdings and use 700 (Thameslink) type trains on the peak Eastbourne/Lndon Bridge trains releasing type 377 trains to ensure maximum seating capacity is available on the Victoria route not the chaos I saw the other day and that often occurs and as stated by a previous subscriber will happen again when groups of students travel on a day trip to London