Exeter trains won't stop at Clapham Junction at peak times

More trains will stop at Whimple and Feniton, but Exeter to Waterloo trains won't stop at Clapham Junction at peak times

South Western Railway trains from Exeter St Davids to London Waterloo will not stop at Clapham Junction in peak times as part of changes to the timetable, but more trains will stop at Whimple and Feniton.

Last year, the rail operator announced that they were consulting about the removal of the stop at Clapham Junction for some weekday services on the line.

There was opposition from Devon County Council, as well as Exeter MP Ben Bradshaw, to the planned changes, and South Western Railway have said that it was clear from the feedback from the consultation that customers clearly wanted the connectivity attained by having a Clapham Junction call.

Therefore, they have announced that the plans for the West of England line will be amended to ensure that both Clapham Junction and Woking calls are maintained in off-peak services and at weekends, but it will see an impact on the proposed journey time reductions.

But South Western Railway resisted calls to provide more stops at Clapham Junction, and said: “We are looking at every option to achieve our customer requirements and appreciate the reduction in calls in the peaks is frustrating. However, we need to achieve significant capacity improvement across our services into London Waterloo.

More stops will be provided at Whimple and Feniton as well as part of the timetable changes, and the pathing of certain trains in the evening will be reviewed to improve performance the single line section between Honiton and Pinhoe.

“Therefore, we will continue with our original plans to reduce the services calling at Clapham Junction in the peak and shoulder peak periods. We are aware that the ability to interchange at this station is used by many, but we maintain that the benefits to the majority of passengers is to provide the extra overall capacity and faster journeys to and from Waterloo by not stopping as many services at Clapham Junction in the peaks."

South Western Railway say that the proposed changes would provide 21 per cent additional capacity into London Waterloo during the morning peak, and 32 per cent increase capacity out from Waterloo in the evening peak.

The proposed changes though do include a new early morning commuter train and trains later in the evening from Exeter and London Waterloo, and the 5.50am Exeter to Waterloo will serve all stations between Exeter and Honiton and stop additionally at Woking.

A final decision of the timetable will be produced and reviewed by Network Rail in the autumn of 2018.