Anyone else getting concerned about the reliability of our railway system in Eastbourne?

OPINION – Why our trains continue to let us down

EurIng Prof. David. A. Cooper MBE is an Eastbourne resident. Here’s his view on our train services.

Anyone else getting concerned about the reliability of our railway system in Eastbourne? 

I forever seem to wake up to messages from Trainline (other ticket providers are available) telling me that my train is cancelled and I am forever getting stuck at East Croydon station on the way back. 

It has to stop as I can’t afford the continual purchases of bottles of water and sausage rolls while I wait for my next train after one is cancelled which is then inevitably full because it has double the passengers to cope with. 

It is also very sad to see, that after all the campaigning, that the direct trains from Eastbourne to London Bridge in the morning and evening return seem to be cancelled more often than they run. 

We went through so much to achieve this train which, I have to say, is well used when it runs. For it to be at the top of the list for cancellation when there is a shortage of crews is disappointing. 

This inevitably means that you stand all the way to London if you change trains to get to London Bridge so I generally stay on the Victoria train as far as East Croydon where fortunately the waiting time isn’t sufficient to get fleeced in the buffet. 

What is also disappointing is to see that over 60% of the automatic ticket machines in Eastbourne Station are covered up, causing passengers to have to queue and in one case whilst I was waiting, a passenger actually missed their train due to the queue. 

In recent months I have had to drive to Battle, Seaford and Uckfield to pick up my wife as getting back to Eastbourne has been hampered by some defect or another. 

Not wishing to moan eternally but the track geometry between Polegate and Lewes also seems to have turned the journey into a roller coaster ride and on a number of occasions I have seen people being hit by falling bags from the overhead racks that seem to have been designed to take nothing more than an envelope rather than somebody’s bag.  

It seems that there needs to be an investment of a bit of management time into what is going on with our local railway system and the railway system nationally for that matter. 

Share your experiences with Dave at dave.cooper@lecsuk.co.uk