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Timetable changes are set to take effect this Sunday.

The UK’s rail watchdog today repeated demands for a “timetable czar.” It has been revealed no one is in charge of overseeing timetable changes.

Anthony Smith, chief executive of watchdog Transport Focus, has made the call. This is just days before major rail timetable changes come into force.

Last year in May, changes to the summer timetable resulted in disaster. Hundreds of trains a day were cancelled for months.

This Sunday, there will be more changes when the new summer timetable begins. This will mean 1,000 additional train services will be brought in.

The largest impact will be on South Western Railway. They operate out of Waterloo Station. However, Waterloo, Britain’s biggest station, is already at capacity.

Mr Smith first called for a “timetable czar” in December. Today, he says when timetable changes were made last year “there was an inbuilt bias towards optimism.”

“Passengers expect someone to be in charge of major timetable changes, to ensure robust oversight and the power to hit the stop button when something is going wrong.”

Mr Smith said the watchdog would be monitoring the new changes and levels of staff members to help passengers.

“People will welcome the additional services but they also want a reliable railway service.”

Timetable changes are made twice a year in order to keep up with passenger demand.

However, rail chiefs have defended the move not to have one single person in charge. They say lessons have been learned.

A spokesperson for the Rail Delivery Group says, “changes are only being made where they won’t unduly impact punctuality.”

Timetable changes will start from Sunday. They are set to continue over the next few days and weeks. The industry will employ a “gradual approach” to prevent repeat’s of last year’s chaos.

Southeastern will reduce journey times. This is from the Kent coast to Victoria by up to 4 minutes.

c2c will also run additional trains from Southend to London.

 

 

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