Unemployed and homeless: Courtesy of Southeastern

[lenhamite]

Well it might come to that after they change the timetable in December..................

Just trying to work out how I'm supposed to get to work in Dover by the start of my 7am to 7pm shift. I already had a concession of 15 minutes because the first morning train out of Lenham at 6.12 am doesn't get me there until 7:09am. In December that train is no more and the new first train at 6:35am misses the connection to Dover by two minutes (do they do do these things on purpose, because I'm starting to wonder?). Ergo I can no longer get to work before 8:21am. Somehow I don't think that my employer will give me 90 minutes concession.

Calculates: No early train + no concession = no job. Maybe I could get another job elsewhere that pays a living wage and shift allowance. Everyone will want a deaf 54 year old who has worked for the same government department for 36 years and isn't trained for anything else. Further calculations: No wage or lower wage = not enough money to pay the mortgage and bills and the loss of my home.

Yes it could easily happen.....................

[moggycat]

Yes I do sympathise and it's a pity you can't sue them. They have (or should have) a duty to provide a reasonable service to their 'customers' and that should include proper consultation BEFORE they are allowed to axe services that people depend on. I expect they will say your service was not well used, so perhaps it should be subsidised by KCC, as I believe is the case on rural bus routes.

I am sorry I do not have a solution for you and hope you will be okay. I care about these things even if SE does not.

[Richard Trevithick]

I'm sorry to hear of your problem. Short of moving to Dover (I wouldn't want to live there!) or trying to get some support from your MP, I don't think there is much you can do. Definitely write a letter of complaint to the customer services department though. Consider contacting the media too, they tend to love anti-railway stories.

One other option, do you own a car and can you drive? If the figures my medium have supplied are correct, you are currently paying in the region of £2100 for an annual season ticket. Based on a 48 week working year / 5 days work per week, a £5 gallon and a car that does 30mpg, it would cost you £2400 - probably not a great deal more than you'll be paying with the new hike in train fares in January. Get a car with a diesel engine or an efficient petrol engine, either of which does 45-50mpg plus, and you'll actually be saving on what you're currently paying. My medium also advised you'd also be surprised at how many more miles you can get out of a tank by just knocking 10mph off of your typical cruising speed.

Another thought, will your employer let you work from home? If so, see how this suits you. Or do they let you build up flexi-days? If so, do the drive in and work an extra hour or two each day, and then have a 4 day week every other week. Not only will you benefit from a long weekend, but you'll be saving £10 in fuel.

RT

[O.V.S.Bulleid]

Dear lenhamite

For the short term I expect that there is little that can be done to change the timetable.

Would you go into the media as that is one course of action that would certainly add to the difficulties that GoVex are going to facing from more cases such as yours.

How to do this and maintain anonimity is not easy but your view would be of value. It isn't easy but if things are as difficult as you say then both GoVex and the wider public might be interested and together we can explore possible ways of raising your position to the shame of the train operator.

Yours sincerely
O.V.S.Bulleid

[chapelwood]

I've been having a look at the new timetable and wonder if there's been a mistake - the first train from Maidstone East is booked into Ashford at 0702. Wy was this not made a connection into the 0700 to Dover and Ramsgate? Are there other passengers who change from the Maidstone Line to the Dover line at that time of the morning? If there are, a concerted approach to Southeastern may possibly get them to 'tweak' the timetable - after all, the 0700 Ashford to Ramsgate stands at Dover for 18 minutes, so holding it an extra few minutes at Ashford shouldn't cause major problems, though it still won't get a Maidstone line passenger into Dover before 0731.
How many passengers currently use the earlier train (0556 from Maidstone)? I suspect that it may be very few, in which case it is difficult to make a case for retaining it. But is it possible to check the Franchise Specification? This may have something to say about the time of the first train from Maidstone to Ashford.