Rail Group
ACTION NEEDED
ACTION NEEDED
GTR 2018 Timetable Consultation - major timetable review following completion of Thameslink works
This important consultation is to be found at:
http://www.southernrailway.com/your-journey/timetable-consultation
There is an electronic survey to answer which is on the same page on Southern's website at Timetable Consultation response survey. This is an online survey and will influence the final timetable. It is therefore important that as many people as possible reply to the survey if Hassocks is to receive improved train services as the results will be analysed and acted upon according to how many replies are received.
To assist in answering this the Rail Group have summarised the questions relevant to Hassocks, and have made comments or suggestions in italics, as follows:
The questions to be answered on the survey are Q's 1 to 14 then specifically in relation to Hassocks:
Q.26 TL6 route - Brighton to Cambridge stopping at Hassocks every half hour off-peak. We support the stopping pattern of this train.
Q.65 Comments on the Southern Mainline Route SN1 - Brighton to London Victoria stopping at Hassocks every hour off-peak. We support the stopping pattern of this train.
Q.21 TL1 route - Brighton to Bedford every half hour stopping at Burgess Hill but not stopping at Hassocks.
Suggest one of these trains stops at Hassocks to provide 4 trains an hour off-peak if a stop cannot be made on the West Coastway SN8 route below due to congested train paths out of Brighton.
Q.72 Comments on the Southern Mainline Route SN8 (Coastway West) - London Victoria to Littlehampton every half hour off-peak stopping alternately at Preston Park and Burgess Hill but not stopping at Hassocks. Suggest one of these trains stops at Hassocks to provide 4 trains an hour off-peak.
Q.87 Final Comments - in view of significant increase in passengers using Hassocks station over the last 10 years that the off-peak service at Hassocks should be increased from 3 trains an hour to 4 trains an hour. If possible a stop on a West Coastway train to London Victoria would be ideal but if this is not possible due to train paths on the Brighton mainline then an additional stop on a Brighton to Bedford Thameslink train.
Request for good connections to East and West Coastway trains at Brighton and to West Coastway trains at Preston Park.
Request for more southbound trains to Brighton to stop at Hassocks between 0800 and 0900.
Request for later evening trains to stop at Hassocks from Brighton and London, particularly on Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings.
Other questions you might like to answer are:
Q.24 TL4 route - Bedford to Littlehampton in peak hours; this does not stop at Hassocks whereas present peak time trains from and to Littlehampton mornings and evenings presently do stop at Hassocks.
Q.74 Gatwick Express route London Victoria to Gatwick and Brighton - stopping at Hassocks in peak hours.
Ticket offices
There have been some dramatic developments regarding the continuing existence of ticket offices across the region. Hassocks is listed as one of the stations where GTR plans to have a ticket office open only during peak travel times. For the rest of the day (from the arrival of the first train to the departure of the last) there will be a member of staff on duty (a ‘station host’) who will be available on the concourse. He or she will be able to issue tickets using an upgraded hand-held device, answer queries, help with the automatic ticket machines, and be a general, friendly, human source of contact.
If the change is approved, Hassocks is likely to be in the third tranche of stations affected.
The Rail Group already has a number of concerns including how closely the service offered by the station host will resemble the service offered by a ticket office. For example, will the station host be able to provide the full range of tickets? Passengers who do not have internet access tend to call at the ticket office at off-peak times for help with journey planning, selecting the best value rail tickets and applying for rail cards. Will the station host provide this help? If the answer is ‘yes’, then a ‘real person’ constantly available for help and – now that trains are so often cancelled – for advice and reassurance has much to commend it.
Nevertheless, closing a ticket office is a serious undertaking and has to be approved by the Department for Transport. There also has to be public consultation including consultation with user groups. The consultation period started on February 5th and ended on Saturday 5th March. We have clearly expressed our feelings both to GTR and Transport Focus (the national body representing rail users). See Spring Newsletter for more details.
History
The Rail Group feared the worst when the December 2015 timetable was launched with minimum consultation. Events justified them. Delays and cancellations were so serious and so numerous that we contacted Yvonne Lesley, Customer Relations Manager, GTR. Her response included an undertaking that the consequences of the withdrawal of the 8.19 train for Downlands school children is to be monitored.
We have also been in touch with our MP Nick Herbert, describing what Hassocks passengers were having to endure, and made the following points:
Monitoring of the service
Thanks to some meticulous work by Peter Gibbons we are now monitoring the situation and details of the service can be found on the Monthly Train Statistics page of this site (please use the clickable link to get there).
It is worth noting that those train that failed to stop at Hassocks and other stations en-route rarely gained more than a few minutes, as ‘skip-stopping’ can cause 'bunching' - a term used when trains are caught behind other trains. On a number of occasions no time at all was gained by ‘skip-stopping.’
This important consultation is to be found at:
http://www.southernrailway.com/your-journey/timetable-consultation
There is an electronic survey to answer which is on the same page on Southern's website at Timetable Consultation response survey. This is an online survey and will influence the final timetable. It is therefore important that as many people as possible reply to the survey if Hassocks is to receive improved train services as the results will be analysed and acted upon according to how many replies are received.
To assist in answering this the Rail Group have summarised the questions relevant to Hassocks, and have made comments or suggestions in italics, as follows:
The questions to be answered on the survey are Q's 1 to 14 then specifically in relation to Hassocks:
Q.26 TL6 route - Brighton to Cambridge stopping at Hassocks every half hour off-peak. We support the stopping pattern of this train.
Q.65 Comments on the Southern Mainline Route SN1 - Brighton to London Victoria stopping at Hassocks every hour off-peak. We support the stopping pattern of this train.
Q.21 TL1 route - Brighton to Bedford every half hour stopping at Burgess Hill but not stopping at Hassocks.
Suggest one of these trains stops at Hassocks to provide 4 trains an hour off-peak if a stop cannot be made on the West Coastway SN8 route below due to congested train paths out of Brighton.
Q.72 Comments on the Southern Mainline Route SN8 (Coastway West) - London Victoria to Littlehampton every half hour off-peak stopping alternately at Preston Park and Burgess Hill but not stopping at Hassocks. Suggest one of these trains stops at Hassocks to provide 4 trains an hour off-peak.
Q.87 Final Comments - in view of significant increase in passengers using Hassocks station over the last 10 years that the off-peak service at Hassocks should be increased from 3 trains an hour to 4 trains an hour. If possible a stop on a West Coastway train to London Victoria would be ideal but if this is not possible due to train paths on the Brighton mainline then an additional stop on a Brighton to Bedford Thameslink train.
Request for good connections to East and West Coastway trains at Brighton and to West Coastway trains at Preston Park.
Request for more southbound trains to Brighton to stop at Hassocks between 0800 and 0900.
Request for later evening trains to stop at Hassocks from Brighton and London, particularly on Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings.
Other questions you might like to answer are:
Q.24 TL4 route - Bedford to Littlehampton in peak hours; this does not stop at Hassocks whereas present peak time trains from and to Littlehampton mornings and evenings presently do stop at Hassocks.
Q.74 Gatwick Express route London Victoria to Gatwick and Brighton - stopping at Hassocks in peak hours.
Ticket offices
There have been some dramatic developments regarding the continuing existence of ticket offices across the region. Hassocks is listed as one of the stations where GTR plans to have a ticket office open only during peak travel times. For the rest of the day (from the arrival of the first train to the departure of the last) there will be a member of staff on duty (a ‘station host’) who will be available on the concourse. He or she will be able to issue tickets using an upgraded hand-held device, answer queries, help with the automatic ticket machines, and be a general, friendly, human source of contact.
If the change is approved, Hassocks is likely to be in the third tranche of stations affected.
The Rail Group already has a number of concerns including how closely the service offered by the station host will resemble the service offered by a ticket office. For example, will the station host be able to provide the full range of tickets? Passengers who do not have internet access tend to call at the ticket office at off-peak times for help with journey planning, selecting the best value rail tickets and applying for rail cards. Will the station host provide this help? If the answer is ‘yes’, then a ‘real person’ constantly available for help and – now that trains are so often cancelled – for advice and reassurance has much to commend it.
Nevertheless, closing a ticket office is a serious undertaking and has to be approved by the Department for Transport. There also has to be public consultation including consultation with user groups. The consultation period started on February 5th and ended on Saturday 5th March. We have clearly expressed our feelings both to GTR and Transport Focus (the national body representing rail users). See Spring Newsletter for more details.
History
The Rail Group feared the worst when the December 2015 timetable was launched with minimum consultation. Events justified them. Delays and cancellations were so serious and so numerous that we contacted Yvonne Lesley, Customer Relations Manager, GTR. Her response included an undertaking that the consequences of the withdrawal of the 8.19 train for Downlands school children is to be monitored.
We have also been in touch with our MP Nick Herbert, describing what Hassocks passengers were having to endure, and made the following points:
- The unreliability of the Brighton mainline service
- The problems of passengers travelling to Brighton between 8.00 am and 9.00 am due to timetable changes
- The refusal to consider a Hassocks stop to provide a direct link to the West Coastway service.
Monitoring of the service
Thanks to some meticulous work by Peter Gibbons we are now monitoring the situation and details of the service can be found on the Monthly Train Statistics page of this site (please use the clickable link to get there).
It is worth noting that those train that failed to stop at Hassocks and other stations en-route rarely gained more than a few minutes, as ‘skip-stopping’ can cause 'bunching' - a term used when trains are caught behind other trains. On a number of occasions no time at all was gained by ‘skip-stopping.’