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News Central Line - Service Reductions north of Loughton from January 2020
15 February 2020 The new timetable started on 26th January, although there are reports of trains on the timetable not appearing.
TfL have not stated when the timetable will return to what we had before, but it has been reported that the upgrades that require this service reduction may not be completed until 2023.
18 January 2020
Changes to the Central Line timetable take effect soon.
TfL are now showing the revised times on their Journey Planner, if you change your travel date to 26 January or later.
When taking the tube on Monday to Friday going into London:
Empty
trains will start at Debden at 7:41am and 8:17am. The rest (about every
6 minutes) will come through from Epping,and these will of course go on
to call at Loughton.
Empty trains will start at Loughton at: 7:09am, 7:28am, 7:37am, 7:52am 8:07am, 8:15am, 8:28am, 8:37am, 8:46am, 8:55am 9:05am, 9:14am, 9:25am and then every 10 minutes
There
has apparently been some problem with operating short test trains at
Hainault, but this won't affect the Loughton service.
14 January 2020
TfL have provided further information on the changes - see the email below.
14 December 2019 The Mayor of London has replied to the petition organised on change.org,
signed by nearly 10,000 people. He admits that 15,000 people will
experience a reduction in train frequency, or will be required to
change trains at Hainault (out of the over-100,000 passengers each day).
Further details on the changes have emerged:
For
Monday to Friday peak services, trains terminating at Loughton will
alternate with those terminating at Epping. No trains will terminate at
Debden. This will mean a far better service to Loughton with more empty
trains in the morning peak. However those travelling from Debden in the
morning peak will not have empty trains to get on, and fewer trains.
Trains terminating at the centre platform at Loughton will come in and then head back into central London almost immediately.
Additional trains have been scheduled at other times in the morning and evening:
Early morning train services have been improved with 3 additional trains in both directions through before 7am.
An
additional eastbound train has been scheduled in the morning peak
providing a period of 30tph (trains per hour) between 0830-9am.
One additional westbound train has been scheduled in the evening peak providing a period of 30tph between 5-5:30pm.
Late
evening train services have been improved by extending the 24tph
central area pattern until 11pm, providing 4 extra trains in both
directions between 10-11pm.
One additional train will stable between the peaks at Hainault Depot with one fewer train stabling at Ruislip Depot.
Additional trains have been scheduled at other times in the morning and evening, and on Saturdays and Sundays.
Saturdays:
Late evening train services have been improved by extending the 24tph
central area pattern until 2300, providing 4 extra trains in both
directions between 10-11pm.
Sundays: Afternoon train services have been increased from 21 to 24tph (central area) between 4:30-6pm.
The
Hainault-Woodford shuttle service (formed of 4 cars) has been
introduced replacing through trains to/from Woodford via Hainault. This
service will reverse via platform 1 at Hainault with most London-bound
trains departing from platforms 2 and 3. This will mean those at
Chigwell having to use the stairs rather than the cross platform
interchange. This in turn will mean Woodford Station will be
busier.
We have also been told:
There'll be meet-the-manager sessions at Debden. We’ll let residents know when we know when.
There’s
no indication of when the Debden service will be restored to present
levels but the upgrade work is expected to continue till 2023.
The three Grange Hill - central London via Woodford morning peak trains will continue.
It doesn't look as if the present 1992 stock trains will be replaced till about 2033.
15 November 2019 Central Line - Service Reductions from January 2020
Transport
for London (TfL) has announced changes (see the below email) to the Central Line service,
which for our town will mean fewer Loughton-Epping peak hour
services - more on the District Council website.
TfL
will take some trains out of service, a few at a time, to replace
life-expired motors (meaning fewer future defective trains) and will
make adaptations to provide more space for wheelchair users, as well as
improving audio and visual passenger information. We understand that
this work will take 'a number of years'.
Morning and evening
peak services at Debden, Theydon Bois and Epping stations will be
reduced (at Debden from 11 trains per hour to 9 and at Epping
from 10 trains down to 8 per hour).
TfL did not do any prior
consultations on these changes, which will affect many people. Peak
time Loughton commuters may benefit from more trains starting at
Loughton, but Debden commuters will have to choose between overcrowded
journeys straight through, or changing trains at Loughton in the hope
of getting seats.
Travelling on the Central Line can be
frustrating and uncomfortable, and new trains are many years away. TfL
presumably needs to do this work, but we question why these changes
only impact our end of the line, and how TfL decided on this plan?
There
will also be changes adversely affecting residents using the services
between Woodford and Hainault, which LRA Cllr Chris Pond raised with
senior Conservatives at Epping Forest District Council in spring 2019,
when he first heard of some of them, but nothing was done.
15 February 2020
