 17:38 Victoria - Eastbourne
Requiring a service to Lewes this evening, I arrived at Victoria in good
time for the 17:47 to Ore.
Walking over to the high numbered platforms, however, I noticed a 17:38 to
Eastbourne was advertised, calling (very unusually) at Lewes only. Without
investigating further (it was about 17:36) I got on.
The train was formed 3x 4-car 377, and apart from the two coaches nearest
the barrier, only had a very light scattering of customers - perhaps four or
five per carriage.
Once underway, the Conductor announced an estimated arrival time of 19:03
into Lewes - ten minutes after the arrival time of the 17:47, which
consequently broke my connection with the Seaford branch train. No
particular issue with that - I wasn't pressed for time, and could have asked
someone before boarding if I had been.
We were obviously timetabled directly behind the 17:36 Brighton, and were
consequently held before Clapham Junction and East Croydon, and then crossed
onto the Redhill lines at Stoats Nest Junction, where we followed what I
imagine was a Horsham stopper all the way to Three Bridges, at no more than
40 mph. After being held again, awaiting further movements, at Balcombe
Tunnel Junction, the rest of the journey was accomplished at something
approaching line speed.
There's no 17:38 in my East Coastway summer timetable, and anyone 'in the
know' would have caught the 17:47, for an earlier arrival at Lewes or
Eastbourne. So was this some kind of summer relief working, or did stock
need to be moved to the South Coast, which Southern decided to run in
service, rather than ECS? Had the Conductor gone through the train, I would
have asked. The summer language schools in Eastbourne attract a fair bit of
rail custom at the weekends, but even so, timetabled services normally cope
reasonably well.
Chris
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