 | |||
 SoutheasternClass 375Electrostar atNew Cross | |||
| Overview | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Franchise | South Eastern | ||
| Main regions | Greater London,South East England | ||
| Fleet | |||
| Stations called at | 180 | ||
| Stations operated | 164 | ||
| Parent company | DfT Operator | ||
| Headquarters | London | ||
| Reporting mark | SE | ||
| Dates of operation | 17 October 2021 (2021-10-17)–17 October 2027 (2027-10-17) | ||
| Predecessor | London & South Eastern Railway | ||
| Other | |||
| Website | www | ||
| |||
SE Trains Limited,[3]trading asSoutheastern, is a state-owned Britishtrain operating company in the south east of England. It operates services to destinations inKent, London andEast Sussex, including the domestic services onHigh Speed 1.
It is owned byDfT Operator,[4] which took over operating theSouth Eastern franchise from privately ownedLondon & South Eastern Railway (which also traded as Southeastern) on 17 October 2021.
In September 2021 theDepartment for Transport (DfT) announced it would be terminating theSouth Eastern franchise then operated by theGovia-ownedLondon & South Eastern Railway after revenue declaration discrepancies involving £25 million of public money were discovered.[5][6][7] On 17 October 2021, anoperator of last resort (OLR), SE Trains Limited, took over operations under the Southeastern brand; at the time, the DfT stated the OLR would manage the franchise for a six-year period.[8]
Southeastern has been one of several train operators affected by the2022–2023 United Kingdom railway strikes, the first national rail strikes in the UK in three decades.[9] Its workers are amongst those who are participating inindustrial action due to a dispute over pay and working conditions.[10] These actions have led to Southeastern occasionally being unable to provide a full service level, and due to the often abrupt nature of the industrial action, which has includedovertime bans andstrikes, has sometimes not been able to arrange forrail replacement buses in time.[11][12]
On 1 June 2023, bothe-scooters andelectric skateboards were banned from being carried onboard Southeastern trains; the reason for the ban was that the lithium-ion batteries that power these compact vehicles posed a fire safety risk. Mostelectric bicycles may still be taken on board, however.[13] Over the summer of 2023, Southeastern opened several new secure cycle hubs at railway stations across Kent as part of wider efforts to make its stations more accessible to cyclists.[14] These additions came amid a £4.4 million station improvement programme covering both Kent and south-east London, headed by both Southeastern andNetwork Rail.[15]
In late 2023, Southeastern introduced digital season tickets, referred to as sTickets, enabling customers to purchase and store season tickets on theirsmartphones. They can be bought through Southeastern's website as well as its mobileapplication, incorporate anti-fraud measures, and are valid for travel across south-east London, Kent, and East Sussex.[16] Several other fare changes were made around this time, including the abolition of some super off-peak tickets and various price rises.[17] Around the same time, Southeastern scrapped plans to close many of its staffed ticket offices across its network.[18][19]
In June 2025, as part of the preparations for establishing Great British Railways (GBR) as the new overarching body responsible for rail infrastructure and operations, publicly owned Southeastern and Network Rail (Kent area) unified their operations as South Eastern Railway.[20]
Southeastern serves the main London stations ofCharing Cross,Waterloo East,Cannon Street,London Bridge,St Pancras,Victoria andBlackfriars. The network has route mileage of 540 miles (870 km),[4]covering 180 stations,[4] 164 of which it manages.[21]
Upon its takeover of the franchise, Southeastern initially operated the same routes and services as its predecessor. During December 2022, a new timetable was introduced that reportedly aimed to reduce congestion, improve reliability and better match demand following theCOVID-19 pandemic.[22] One year later, it was announced that Southeastern was to put on an additional 100 trains per week as a result of timetable changes based on customer feedback and travel pattern analysis across Kent, East Sussex and south-east London.[23][24]
Several parties have called for the transfer of Southeastern's metro services toTransport for London (TfL).[25] Prior to the OLR taking over operations, TfL itself had announced its intention to take over the London suburban parts of the franchise and integrate them into a wider metro network.[26][27] Officials such as theMayor of LondonSadiq Khan have publicly supported this move.[28][29]
As of December 2024, the weekday off-peak service pattern, with frequencies in trains per hour (tph), is:[30]
| High Speed 1[31] | ||
|---|---|---|
| Route | tph | Calling at |
| London St Pancras International toFaversham | 1 | |
| London St Pancras International toRamsgate via Faversham | 1 |
|
| London St Pancras International to Ramsgate viaDover Priory | 1 |
|
| London St Pancras International to Margate viaCanterbury West | 1 |
|
| Chatham Main Line[32] | ||
| Route | tph | Calling at |
| London Victoria toRamsgate viaFaversham | 1 |
|
| London Victoria toDover Priory via Faversham | 1 |
|
| London Victoria toGillingham | 1 |
|
| Sittingbourne toSheerness-on-Sea | 1 | |
| Maidstone Line[33] | ||
| Route | tph | Calling at |
| London Victoria toAshford International viaMaidstone East | 1 | |
| London Charing Cross to Maidstone East (semi-fast) | 1 |
|
| South Eastern Main Line[34] | ||
| Route | tph | Calling at |
| London Charing Cross toDover Priory | 1 | |
| London Charing Cross toRamsgate viaCanterbury West | 1 |
|
| Hastings Line[35] | ||
| Route | tph | Calling at |
| London Charing Cross toHastings | 2 |
|
| Medway Valley Line[36] | ||
| Route | tph | Calling at |
| Strood toPaddock Wood viaMaidstone West | 2 | |
| Metro - North Kent Line[37] | ||
| Route | tph | Calling at |
| London Cannon Street to London Cannon Street viaGreenwich andWoolwich Arsenal (clockwise) | 2 |
|
| London Cannon Street toDartford viaLewisham and Woolwich Arsenal | 2 |
|
| Metro - Bexleyheath Line[38] | ||
| Route | tph | Calling at |
| London Cannon Street to London Cannon Street viaBexleyheath (anticlockwise) | 2 |
|
| London Victoria toGravesend via Bexleyheath | 2 |
|
| London Charing Cross to Dartford via Bexleyheath | 1 |
|
| Metro - Sidcup Line[39] | ||
| Route | tph | Calling at |
| London Charing Cross toDartford viaLewisham andSidcup | 2 | |
| London Charing Cross toGravesend via Sidcup | 2 |
|
| Metro - South Eastern Main Line[40] | ||
| Route | tph | Calling at |
| London Cannon Street toOrpington viaGrove Park | 2 | |
| London Charing Cross toSevenoaks via Grove Park | 2 |
|
| Grove Park toBromley North | 2 | Sundridge Park |
| Metro - Hayes Line[41] | ||
| Route | tph | Calling at |
| London Charing Cross toHayes | 4 | |
| Metro - Chatham Main Line[42] | ||
| Route | tph | Calling at |
| London Victoria toOrpington viaBeckenham Junction | 4 | |
At the commencement of operations, Southeastern retained the sameelectric multiple units as its predecessor. It promptly launched a refurbishment programme covering most of its existing rolling stock; £27 million alone was allocated to the refurbishment of its 29Class 395 Javelin high-speed trains.[43][44] By May 2023, Southeastern had reportedly completed work on half of its 112-strongClass 375 Electrostar fleet under a £10 million upgrade programme; internal changes included the addition of newUSB ports, at-seatelectrical sockets,LED lighting, andenergy meters.[45]
The previous franchisee had finalised a leasing arrangement for the entireClass 707 fleet and was in the process of launching the type into service when the OLR took over.[46][47] Southeastern has continued this deal, thus the remainder of the 30 Class 707s shall enter service as they are released bySouth Western Railway.[2]
Various initiatives have been explored to improve train performance, capabilities and effectiveness. Southeastern formed a team withSiemens Mobility andEversholt Rail to jointly develop a fully automated vehicle inspection system to inspect its vehicles; this technology, which uses numerous high sensitivity cameras and optical laser sensors, is to be first used at the operator's Ramsgate depot, and will be active from 2025.[48]
Southeastern has also examined the prospects for replacing older portions of its train fleet. In November 2022, the operator launched the process of procuring new trains via the issuing of atender. Southeastern has sought between 350 and 640 new carriages for its services; these are projected to be introduced sometime during the mid-2020s.[49][50]
In November 2024 it was announced that in the period between December 2024 and December 2025, Southeastern would be set to receive 13Class 377/1s (377121–133) fromSouthern to replace ageingClass 465 units, being made available by a movement of out-of-serviceClass 379 units andClass 387/1 units to supportGovia Thameslink Railway services.[51]
| Family | Class | Image | Type | Top speed | Number | Carriages | Routes operated | Built | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| mph | km/h | ||||||||
| Bombardier Electrostar | 375/3 | .jpg) .jpg) | EMU | 100 | 160 | 10 | 3 | Main line routes | 1999–2005 |
| 375/6 | 30 | 4 | |||||||
| 375/7 | 15 | ||||||||
| 375/8 | 30 | ||||||||
| 375/9 | 27 | ||||||||
 | |||||||||
| 376 |  | 75 | 120 | 36 | 5 | Metro routes | 2004–2005 | ||
 | |||||||||
| 377/1 |  | 100 | 160 | 9[52] | 4 | Main line routes | 2002–2003 | ||
 | |||||||||
| 377/5 |  | 23 | 4 | Main line routes | 2008–2009 | ||||
 | |||||||||
| Hitachi AT300 | 395Javelin |  | 140 | 225 | 29 | 6 | High Speed 1 services | 2007–2009 | |
 | |||||||||
| Networker | 465/0 |  | 75 | 120 | 50[1] | 4 | Main line and metro routes | 1991–1994 | |
| 465/1 | 47[1] | ||||||||
| 465/9 | 25[1] | ||||||||
 | |||||||||
| 466 | .jpg) | 29[1] | 2 | Main line and metro routes | 1993–1994 | ||||
 | |||||||||
| Siemens Desiro | 707City Beam |  | 100 | 160 | 30[53] | 5 | Metro routes | 2015–2018 | |
 | |||||||||
In May 2022, two Class 377/1 units were transferred from Southeastern back toSouthern.[54]
| Family | Class | Image | Type | Top speed | Number | Carriages | Routes operated | Year withdrawn | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| mph | km/h | ||||||||
| Bombardier Electrostar | 377 | | EMU | 100 | 160 | 2 | 4 | Main line routes | 2022 |
| |||||||||
In May 2024 Southeastern issued a tender for 350 to 640 new carriages to replace the Class 465 and 466 units.CAF,Hitachi,Stadler,Siemens andAlstom are currently bidding for the tender of new fleets.[55][56]
Media related toSoutheastern (train operating company) at Wikimedia Commons| Preceded by | Operator ofSouth Eastern franchise 2021–2027 | Succeeded by Incumbent |
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