Anger over SWR timetable

摘要

South Western Railway has been forced to issue an alternative version of its proposed December 2018 timetable midway through the consultation period, after its original proposals prompted an angry response from passengers. This follows a difficult start for the replacement franchise which has seen major engineering work at London Waterloo over-run and punctuality worsen since First MTR succeeded Stagecoach, now compounded by industrial action (p3). Particularly adversely affected by SWR's original timetable proposals were the Weymouth route, where the service was to be reduced to hourly, stations on the Portsmouth line including Peters-field, and the Basingstoke - London stopping service where the peak frequency was to be halved. Comments on the SWR Twitter account have indicated widespread dissatisfaction across the franchise.