Winter Rail Timetable Fun

I am very pleased to see that my last post has provoked some discussion on Facebook, and I shall get around to responding in due course.

In the meantime, however, I need an outlet for my latest rant against the railways – and blogging is as good a way as any.

As a non-driver, the current Sunday timetable frustrates me because the hourly service from my folks’ place down the Arun Valley doesn’t connect too well with the hourly service along the coast from Barnham.  This means that a journey which would take just over an hour by car takes about two and a half by train.  On the positive side, Barnham station is one of the better places one could spend 46 minutes.  The guy in one of the two excellent cafes knows me quite well now and serves my latte just how I like it.

Anyway, there are occasions – even on a Sunday – when one can’t really spare the time for a long latte break, and the news that Southern had applied for a new Brighton to Southampton slot from December was pleasing news.  Surely this would mean an improvement to my journey time….

Well, you would have thought.  But clearly I am the only person who ever considers travelling down the Arun Valley and along towards Southampton at weekends.  That and the planners must hate me.  The new timetable is now online, and the apparent improvements mean that I can now look forward to a 54 minute wait.  At Ford, which doesn’t even have one cafe.

Dr Stark, this is your cue to wander through the office until you find the man responsible for this ‘planning’ and give him a good kicking.

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