I've been looking at timetableworld.com and found something with IMO is a goldmine: the ABC timetable for Southern England for November 1981 (so presumably May 1981-May 1982).
This is a welcome addition as timetables from this era (late 1970s and 1980s) are hard to track down but very interesting to me personally.
This was one year before I started using the railways (late 1982); it reveals that the South Western Division (Waterloo lines) timetable was pretty much exactly as I remember it from 1982/3 and 1983/4. The timetables for the Central and South Eastern Division are very interesting to look at though.
One thing that strikes me about the 1981 timetable was the tightness of the headways out of Waterloo on the main line through Surbiton. They appeared to pack 26 trains an hour on the fast lines with two-minute headways for much of the hour, with only a few gaps. Between 1700-1815, the busiest part of the peak, we had the following. All these were fast to at least Surbiton so were presumably on the main line.
1700 Salisbury (possibly beyond)
1702 Guildford via Cobham
1704 Eastleigh semi-fast1
1706 Guildford via Woking stopper
1710 Portsmouth via Guildford semi-fast
1712 Basingstoke, fast to Woking then all stations
1714 Farnham via Woking stopper
1716 Alton (fast to Woking)
1720 Portsmouth via Guildford (82, Woking, Guildford then stopping)
1722 Guildford via Cobham
1724 Eastleigh semi fast
1726 Woking stopper
1730 Weymouth express (91)
1732 Portsmouth via Guildford semi-fast
1734 Basingstoke, fast to Woking then all stations
1736 Farnham via Woking stopper
1738 Alton (fast to Woking)
1740 Portsmouth via Guildford (as 1720)
1742 Guildford via Cobham
1744 Bournemouth semi-fast (92)
1746 Guildford via Woking stopper
1750 Portsmouth via Guildford semi-fast
1752 Guildford via Cobham
1754 Eastleigh, fast to Woking then all stations
1756 Farnham via Woking stopper
1758 Alton (fast to Woking)
1800 Portsmouth stopper (fast to Woking then all stations)
1802 Guildford via Cobham
1804 Bournemouth stopping (interestingly fast to West Byfleet, then express through Woking, semi fast to Basingstoke then all stations)
1806 Woking stopper
1810 Salisbury (possibly beyond)
1812 Basingstoke
1814 Guildford via Cobham
It thins out a little after that, but there was a pretty consistent two-minute headway with only a few gaps (generally in the xxx8 slots) and note how there was a continuous two minute headway between 1730-46 and again between 1750-1806.
Contrast that to the SWR 2018 timetable which is the most recent I've been able to find (it appears they are still running a reduced timetable out of Waterloo at the moment so the current timetable can be dismissed as atypical) and we have these on the main line:
1700 Portsmouth direct
1702 Woking (fast to Surbiton then all)
1705 Weymouth
1709 Portsmouth via Eastleigh
1711 Basingstoke (fast to Brookwood then all)
1715 Portsmouth direct
1718 Haslemere (fast to Woking). Not sure if that was present in 2018 but I do remember it being added recently
1720 Salisbury (possibly beyond)
1723 Basingstoke (fast to Woking then all)
1725 Alton
The pattern then repeats for the other half-hour, but the xx48 is a Southampton semi-fast rather than a Haslemere. This gives just 20 an hour and there are significantly less two minute headways.
One definite observation is that while the service to some of the longer-distance destinations has improved (notably the Salisbury line, Winchester and beyond, and the Fareham route thanks to electrification) the destinations closer to London seem to have had quite a dramatic drop in service frequency and speed since the early 80s. In particular West Byfleet to Esher inclusive used to have a regular 10-min service from London in the peaks, now it's basically half-hourly (there are four an hour, but two of those four get overtaken). Likewise the Portsmouth Direct out to Haslemere, the Alton line, and the Cobham line have also had frequency drops (Cobham is now only half hourly, down from about four an hour).
So the question is: why were they able to have two-minute headways in the early 80s, but not now? I am guessing that this pattern caused performance issues, with trains frequently late, so they decided to cut back to improve timekeeping. I do know that in the slightly-later 1983/4 timetable, while the basic pattern was the same, they combined the 1700 and 1704 into one train (splitting at Basingstoke) and similarly combined the 1734 and 1738 into one train (splitting at Woking), but at 24 trains an hour that's still an improvement on now. I do also remember the May 1985 timetable was a time of noticeable cuts across the Southern Region (the mid-late 1980s, for instance, was a thankfully temporary period when Amberley station received an off-peak service more akin to a rural branch in mid-Wales than somewhere in Sussex; in 1981 it had an hourly service which was restored, thankfully, in 1990 IIRC).
This is a welcome addition as timetables from this era (late 1970s and 1980s) are hard to track down but very interesting to me personally.
This was one year before I started using the railways (late 1982); it reveals that the South Western Division (Waterloo lines) timetable was pretty much exactly as I remember it from 1982/3 and 1983/4. The timetables for the Central and South Eastern Division are very interesting to look at though.
One thing that strikes me about the 1981 timetable was the tightness of the headways out of Waterloo on the main line through Surbiton. They appeared to pack 26 trains an hour on the fast lines with two-minute headways for much of the hour, with only a few gaps. Between 1700-1815, the busiest part of the peak, we had the following. All these were fast to at least Surbiton so were presumably on the main line.
1700 Salisbury (possibly beyond)
1702 Guildford via Cobham
1704 Eastleigh semi-fast1
1706 Guildford via Woking stopper
1710 Portsmouth via Guildford semi-fast
1712 Basingstoke, fast to Woking then all stations
1714 Farnham via Woking stopper
1716 Alton (fast to Woking)
1720 Portsmouth via Guildford (82, Woking, Guildford then stopping)
1722 Guildford via Cobham
1724 Eastleigh semi fast
1726 Woking stopper
1730 Weymouth express (91)
1732 Portsmouth via Guildford semi-fast
1734 Basingstoke, fast to Woking then all stations
1736 Farnham via Woking stopper
1738 Alton (fast to Woking)
1740 Portsmouth via Guildford (as 1720)
1742 Guildford via Cobham
1744 Bournemouth semi-fast (92)
1746 Guildford via Woking stopper
1750 Portsmouth via Guildford semi-fast
1752 Guildford via Cobham
1754 Eastleigh, fast to Woking then all stations
1756 Farnham via Woking stopper
1758 Alton (fast to Woking)
1800 Portsmouth stopper (fast to Woking then all stations)
1802 Guildford via Cobham
1804 Bournemouth stopping (interestingly fast to West Byfleet, then express through Woking, semi fast to Basingstoke then all stations)
1806 Woking stopper
1810 Salisbury (possibly beyond)
1812 Basingstoke
1814 Guildford via Cobham
It thins out a little after that, but there was a pretty consistent two-minute headway with only a few gaps (generally in the xxx8 slots) and note how there was a continuous two minute headway between 1730-46 and again between 1750-1806.
Contrast that to the SWR 2018 timetable which is the most recent I've been able to find (it appears they are still running a reduced timetable out of Waterloo at the moment so the current timetable can be dismissed as atypical) and we have these on the main line:
1700 Portsmouth direct
1702 Woking (fast to Surbiton then all)
1705 Weymouth
1709 Portsmouth via Eastleigh
1711 Basingstoke (fast to Brookwood then all)
1715 Portsmouth direct
1718 Haslemere (fast to Woking). Not sure if that was present in 2018 but I do remember it being added recently
1720 Salisbury (possibly beyond)
1723 Basingstoke (fast to Woking then all)
1725 Alton
The pattern then repeats for the other half-hour, but the xx48 is a Southampton semi-fast rather than a Haslemere. This gives just 20 an hour and there are significantly less two minute headways.
One definite observation is that while the service to some of the longer-distance destinations has improved (notably the Salisbury line, Winchester and beyond, and the Fareham route thanks to electrification) the destinations closer to London seem to have had quite a dramatic drop in service frequency and speed since the early 80s. In particular West Byfleet to Esher inclusive used to have a regular 10-min service from London in the peaks, now it's basically half-hourly (there are four an hour, but two of those four get overtaken). Likewise the Portsmouth Direct out to Haslemere, the Alton line, and the Cobham line have also had frequency drops (Cobham is now only half hourly, down from about four an hour).
So the question is: why were they able to have two-minute headways in the early 80s, but not now? I am guessing that this pattern caused performance issues, with trains frequently late, so they decided to cut back to improve timekeeping. I do know that in the slightly-later 1983/4 timetable, while the basic pattern was the same, they combined the 1700 and 1704 into one train (splitting at Basingstoke) and similarly combined the 1734 and 1738 into one train (splitting at Woking), but at 24 trains an hour that's still an improvement on now. I do also remember the May 1985 timetable was a time of noticeable cuts across the Southern Region (the mid-late 1980s, for instance, was a thankfully temporary period when Amberley station received an off-peak service more akin to a rural branch in mid-Wales than somewhere in Sussex; in 1981 it had an hourly service which was restored, thankfully, in 1990 IIRC).
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