Cooksbridge rail users gain all-day Monday-Saturday service in Southern’s December timetable update

Extra station stops will give Cooksbridge campaigners an all-day service for the first time on Mondays to Saturdays, and more trains from London in the evening peak, starting on Monday 16 December.

Previously the village had only peak hour services, with no trains at all on Saturdays.

Southern’s Managing Director Angie Doll said: “We are delighted to be introducing this substantial improvement for our Cooksbridge passengers. The new services are the result of really effective collaboration with our local rail user groups.

“This change offers more opportunity for existing and potential new passengers to take advantage of Southern’s services, which we are now running at record levels of punctuality and reliability.”

Robert Baughan, of Cooksbridge Area Rail Action Group, said: “We are delighted to have secured these additional services for Cooksbridge. The breakthrough has been achieved by working closely with senior managers at Southern over many years to identify how additional stops could be added without adversely affecting the overall performance of the network.

“The action group would like to express its appreciation for the constructive approach adopted by Southern over the years.”

The other notable timetable change in the East Sussex and Kent area will be the earlier departure of what is currently the weekday 07:16 Rye to Ashford International service. At the request of local passengers, from 16 December this will leave at 07:06 to provide a connection to Southeastern’s high speed services.

Ends

Notes to editors:

On weekdays, Cooksbridge will enjoy an extra service each way (towards London Victoria and towards Eastbourne) almost every hour from the end of the morning peak onward, creating an all-day service for the first time and strengthening the evening peak.

Saturdays will see trains stopping at Cooksbridge for the first time, with one service almost every hour in both directions.

During 2019, Southern’s punctuality has reached its highest level for five years. Almost three-quarters of services have been within one minute of their scheduled time when stopping at stations – while nine in every ten trains have reached their destination within five minutes of schedule.