Southeastern's "Olympic" timetable

[ainsworth74]

How many people are coming from Kent for the games? Surely the vast majority of the traffic is coming from the London direction?

 

[Bungle73]

How many people are coming from Kent for the games? Surely the vast majority of the traffic is coming from the London direction?

I don't have those figures, but like I said previously the train I caught there on late Monday morning was pretty full up (and this was a 12 coach train), and they're usually fairly quiet at that time and only six coaches.

 

[TheJRB]

"I know! We've got 80,000 people coming out of the Olympic Stadium, lets cancel one train service completely and force everyone to travel to St. Pancras, creating more congestion than there needed to be because people will be going there who didn't want to be. What a good idea."

Well it's not just one service is it? Dover and Margate have no HS1 services for the duration of the games.

How many people are coming from Kent for the games? Surely the vast majority of the traffic is coming from the London direction?

Exactly. It's a choice of running 12x395 on Ebbsfleet shuttles with occasional through services to Ashford and Faversham or continue with 6x395 on 2tph Faversham, 1tph Dover, 1tph Margate. It's obvious that for this very small period that the former must be chosen to accommodate a once in a lifetime event. Charing Cross, Cannon Street and Victoria haven't ceased to exist.

 

[Bungle73]

Oh, and another problem. Since I now need to collect my Games Travelcard it means I have to spend god knows how long in a ticket office queue, when I shouldn't really need it!

Well it's not just one service is it? Dover and Margate have no HS1 services for the duration of the games.

But they weren't told they could get there, and then left with no service to get home.

 

[user15681]

There's more demand for people to head to St. Pancras Int'l than there is to head to Kent.

Olympic timetables for SE were published 12th June, so that's 2 months we've had to plan alternatives. And, what's better, ~2 hours journey home or waiting 4 hours to then travel for 1 hour?

I can see your frustration and appreciate it, though.

 

[Bungle73]

But I didn't know I was going to go in June, and the big news was that SE were reducing the number of trains per hour. I didn't expect to have to study the timetable in minute detail, and didn't expect SE to be so stupid as to provide people with a way to get to the Olympics, but not one to get home.

 

[Southern]

There's more demand for people to head to St. Pancras Int'l than there is to head to Kent.

Is there, though? Out of 4 services arriving at St Pancras on Sunday night, only 1 (2108) deposited a considerable crowd, the other 3 (2115/2122/2129) a light load. The last train to Ashford (2139) had a decent crowd leave at it's destination and quite a big group had formed awaiting connections out of the incoming service from Charing Cross.

 

[6Gman]

Oh, and another problem. Since I now need to collect my Games Travelcard it means I have to spend god knows how long in a ticket office queue, when I shouldn't really need it!

I thought the Travelcards were sent out with event tickets.

Mine were!

 

[Bungle73]

I thought the Travelcards were sent out with event tickets.

Mine were!

If you bought them in advance they were, but I only purchased mine last night and chose a P@H ticket (so I wouldn't have to collect), which means I have to collect mine if I want one.

 

[John55]

But I didn't know I was going to go in June, and the big news was that SE were reducing the number of trains per hour. I didn't expect to have to study the timetable in minute detail, and didn't expect SE to be so stupid as to provide people with a way to get to the Olympics, but not one to get home.

According to Google Earth it is an 800m walk from Ebbsfleet international to Northfleet.

A ten minute walk and a half hour service from Northfleet. Whether it is a particularly nice walk at 10pm on a Saturday i don't know.

 

[Skimble19]

If you're that bothered about queuing then use your Oyster and pay!

 

[JamesRowden]

To account for the Faversham HS1 service not running, maybe 1tph could have run from St Pancras to Strood and connect with an additional service from Strood to Faversham/Ramsgate/Dover?

 

[Bungle73]

According to Google Earth it is an 800m walk from Ebbsfleet international to Northfleet.

A ten minute walk and a half hour service from Northfleet. Whether it is a particularly nice walk at 10pm on a Saturday i don't know.

Trains to Gillingham don't stop at Northfleet

If you're that bothered about queuing then use your Oyster and pay!

I don't have an Oyster.

 

[carriageline]

Little question!

How do the shuttles work?

Are they literally stopping at Stratford then turning back round?

 

[John55]

I have managed to avoid commuting to work in London recently in general, but have seen various entry/exit only arrangements and odd diversions.

The best example of this has to be London Bridge. Platform 1-6 to the Underground, you are diverted all the way round the outside of the station in a huge loop. The station is not even that busy, even with various events on the routes of London Bridge. I'd say peak time during normal term time is in fact considerably busier.

I note you've not replied in regard to who is paying the bill for the Olympics.

“Your life should be put on hold, your plans canceled, postponed or disrupted all for the benefit of the aforementioned people.” seems to boil down to an extra 200m walk at London Bridge and some pedestrian one way systems at other stations?

I am sure some people will be very happy when things get back to normal but my perception is that most people, even in London, like me have little interaction except via the television if they are interested to watch.

I thought your “who pays” question was rhetorical but the answer appears to be £7.3bn (~65%) of the £11.3 billion cost is met by the British Taxpayer according to a rather nice analysis on the Guardian’s website.

If you are a user of London Bridge I expect you realise that the last 2 weeks is only a warm up for what is to come over the next 5 years?
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Little question!

How do the shuttles work?

Are they literally stopping at Stratford then turning back round?

St Pancras - Stratford Int - Ebbsfleet and back with the same stop. Twenty minute running time with long stop (3 mins) at Stratford Int.

 

[carriageline]

Thanks a lot for your answer! Another one, how does that work with signalling/points? What I mean is I take it they don't run on the wrong side, where do they switch back to the correct side? I presume points just after ebsfleet?

So Pancreas - Stratford - ebsfleet

Driver changes ends

Leaves ebsfleet on the wrong side, changes over to "right side" just after ebsfleet, - Stratford - St P

Another question, which 'box controls the HS1 route?

 

[D1009]

If you bought them in advance they were, but I only purchased mine last night and chose a P@H ticket (so I wouldn't have to collect), which means I have to collect mine if I want one.

With the greatest of respect, if I had a ticket for the athletics in the Olympic Stadium on the final night of the Games I'd consider myself very lucky, and certainly wouldn't have spent the day complaining on an internet forum about how long it was going to take me to get home.

I'm sure the avaiability of world class public transport links into London played a part in the Games being awarded to London in the first place.

 

[6Gman]

With the greatest of respect, if I had a ticket for the athletics in the Olympic Stadium on the final night of the Games I'd consider myself very lucky, and certainly wouldn't have spent the day complaining on an internet forum about how long it was going to take me to get home.

I'm sure the avaiability of world class public transport links into London played a part in the Games being awarded to London in the first place.

I agree with D1009 !

 

[ChiefPlanner]

Signalling controlled from Ashford ...

 

[Bungle73]

With the greatest of respect, if I had a ticket for the athletics in the Olympic Stadium on the final night of the Games I'd consider myself very lucky, and certainly wouldn't have spent the day complaining on an internet forum about how long it was going to take me to get home.

With the greatest of respect I haven't spent the day complaining. I posted one complaint this morning because I found out late last night (after checking the times of the trains) that what I thought would be an easy ride home had turned into a lot of hassle (which seriously ****ed me off), and then spent the day replying to other people's comments.

 

[DarloRich]

Err perhaps I'm missing something but why can't you go to St Pancras, tube to Victoria and then catch a service to Faversham from there?

because that would create a small bit of personal inconvenience rather than having a personal train service direct to your local station!

It is the Olympics - people have been warned about them often enough. The focus is on shifting as many people, as quickly as possible, back to central London so they may use their "local" terminus station to return home. Is this helpful for the small number of people heading to north Kent? No. But guess what - Tough.

And yes the focus is on impressing the tourists and the media? Why? Because they will say nice things and come back and bring their friends and spend some money.

Yes it is a chew on but it wont kill you. Just deal with it and enjoy the fact that you have tickets for a great event!

(if the train journey is too arduous or stressful for you i will take your tickets off your hands)

 

[Bungle73]

Yes, silly me. Fancy expecting a train service that's there one minute to be there the next. :roll:

Tons of people want to go to the Olympics, but SE seem to think no one wants to go home.

SE are running trains to and from Faversham all day so I don't see why they feel the need to have a four hour gap just when 80,000 people are coming out of the Olympic Stadium.

Would it have been beyond the realms of wisdom to make the 9:28pm train a little later to enable people coming out of the Stadium to catch it? No of course not, that would have been too easy.

SE can expect a strongly worded letter of complaint from me.

 

[DarloRich]

Yes, silly me. Fancy expecting a train service that's there one minute to be there the next. :roll:

Tons of people want to go to the Olympics, but SE seem to think no one wants to go home.

SE are running trains to and from Faversham all day so I don't see why they feel the need to have a four hour gap just when 80,000 people are coming out of the Olympic Stadium.

Would it have been beyond the realms of wisdom to make the 9:28pm train a little later to enable people coming out of the Stadium to catch it? No of course not, that would have been too easy.

SE can expect a strongly worded letter of complaint from me.

Do you think they will care? They will be judged on how well they shift any crowds (and how quickly) from Stratford to St Pancras and from thier terminus stations in London not on a service to north Kent for the benefit of a handful (speaking comparatively) of passengers. Sorry.

 

[Barclay]

Anyone noticed that you can now walk to the Southeastern lines at plaform level in St Pancras now, from outside the Betjemen Arms? There is a screen alongside the Eurostar tracks, with a glazed element at upper levels. You get a great view of the Eastern side of the Barlow Shed that hasn't been possible before. Hope it stays post-Olympics.

 

[Mintona]

The Javelin service has been hugely busy, particularly between 11.00-14.00, 16.00-19.00 and 21.30 onwards. The lack of Kent services in the evening is most likely due to lack of trains, and drivers. Around 90% of the people in the Olympic Park want to get back to London for various connections, and the majority rules.

I'm currently stood on platform 1 at Stratford Int'l, where the last 12 car train to St. Pancras departed 2 minutes ago. Looking over on platform 2 and there are around 500 people waiting for the next one and more coming down the escalator and stairs constantly. So yes, I'd say the high frequency service has been completely justified.

 

[jopsuk]

Thanks a lot for your answer! Another one, how does that work with signalling/points? What I mean is I take it they don't run on the wrong side, where do they switch back to the correct side? I presume points just after ebsfleet?

So Pancreas - Stratford - ebsfleet

Driver changes ends

Leaves ebsfleet on the wrong side, changes over to "right side" just after ebsfleet, - Stratford - St P

Another question, which 'box controls the HS1 route?

There's points at Ebbsfleet that give trains from London access to either low-level domestic platform/allow trains from either low level platform to depart towards London

 

[Harbon 1]

My take: Kent doesn't matter, the whole world is visiting and they are the people that need to get from Stratford to St. Pancras, I doubt many of the world teams and visitors will want to get to Kent

 

[Bungle73]

If I go onto the Games travel planner it tells me to take a train to Ashford, then a train to Dover, then one to Sittingbourne. Is that even a permitted route on a London Games to Kemsley +HS ticket??

 

[156402]

As pointed out earlier, a strongly worded email to SE will do nothing!

SE have had the 'Olympic timetable' forced upon them by the ODA, DFT and ORR. If it were not for the fact 395's stable at Ashford and Faversham then I doubt there would be any late services serving Kent at all!

 

[mole90]

Thanks a lot for your answer! Another one, how does that work with signalling/points? What I mean is I take it they don't run on the wrong side, where do they switch back to the correct side? I presume points just after ebsfleet?

So Pancreas - Stratford - ebsfleet

Driver changes ends

Leaves ebsfleet on the wrong side, changes over to "right side" just after ebsfleet, - Stratford - St P

Another question, which 'box controls the HS1 route?

Its all bi-directional with plenty of cross-overs. A couple of times when there's been a power problem or a failed train, I've been through the 'wrong' tunnel heading from Stratford Intl to St Pancras.

Unfortunately I think any complaints about the Olympic timetables are likely to fall on deaf ears at SouthEastern- the "Javelin" service was always about getting as many people on the 7 minute run between the Olympic park and St Pancras....sod the rest of us just trying to get around.

OP- I know its not ideal, but if its possible, what about driving to Ebbsfleet? Probably be home within the hour and heading the opposite way to the crowds.