New train timetables are causing a nightmare for commuters travelling to work.
The new service introduced by Southern Trains on December 9 follows the withdrawal of the South West Trains (SWT) Basingstoke to Brighton service.
It aims to streamline and improve services to Southampton and Portsmouth and only reduce those used by a small number of people.
But people travelling towards Brighton from smaller stations between Chichester and Worthing say they are suffering from reduced service at peak commuting times.
Many of those who use the train daily from villages such as Goring, Fishbourne, Bosham, Nutbourne and Amberley say the changes mean their trains are less frequent, they have to wait up to an hour-and-a-half for a connecting train on some services and some stations are being missed out altogether.
Angry train users said that the changes are making travelling to work by train almost impossible. Some have even said they are considering moving home to cope with the timetable changes.
Anne Hill, who lives in Bury, near Amberley, does not drive and says commuting to Brighton has been hell since the new timetables were introduced.
She said the journey used to take her an hour in the morning and in the evening but now she had nearly an extra half hour added onto her inward journey and to wait an hour and a half for the connecting service home.
She said she had been getting lifts home so far but would not be able to rely on them all the time so did not know how she was going to cope.
Ms Hill said: "They are trying to get people to Southampton quicker but not considering people in the Arun Valley.
"How many go all the way from Brighton to Southampton on a daily basis? They need to be looking after their commuters as well.
"We have less trains and the connection times are terrible and so many of us are having problems. One woman I spoke to the other day said the train no longer stopped where she lives at Fishbourne so she was going to have to move.
"It is putting people's jobs on the line.
"When I first saw the timetables it ruined my weekend thinking about how I was going to survive and I am still unsure how I am going to be able to continue doing my job."
Chris Burchell, managing director of Southern Trains, maintained the cuts only affect a small number of people.
He said: "Overall this is great news for Brighton.
ìCommuters and leisure travellers will see big improvements in journey time and frequency.î "A lot of time and thought has gone into re-designing our services and rail users in Brighton will clearly benefit.
"There have been some reductions but these are on services used by smaller numbers of passengers. We sympathise with passengers on these routes but have done our best to ensure an improved or equal service for the vast majority. We hope the changes will encourage people who may not previously have used the railway to give our trains a try."
Are you affected by the new timetables? Call Katya Mira on 01273 544545 or leave your comments below.
3 comments:
The Argus 'censors' comments because otherwise they can get sued for libel you flaming bellend.
all they need to do is write a disclaimer saying "The comments expressed within this website are not those represented by The Argus itself. The Argus is not responsible BLAH BLAH BLAH"
The amount of website I've built with forums that have disclaimers on...
Sadly, British libel laws are so fucking broken that such disclaimers don't actually provide any legal protection - The Argus are still acting as publishers for the somments. UK-hosted forums with these type of disclaimers are typically not targetted by Carter-Ruck and co because the 'publishers' don't have any money and are thus not worthwhile targets for lawsuits. Believe me, The Argus would love to not have to moderate/censor comments - it takes time and costs them money to do it. If you want to make a difference, stop bitching about lame local newspapers and start a campaign to drag the UK's stupid libel laws out of the 18th century. Maybe get some of that crunchy Free Speech goodness they have over in the colonies.
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