Herne Hill commuters have “given up” on “hellish” rush-hour trains due to constant delays and cancellations.
Nearly a third of peak-time trains from Herne Hill station to Blackfriars were either cancelled or delayed by over ten minutes in mid-December.
Local MP Helen Hayes has demanded “urgent improvements” from operator Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR).
GTR has apologised to passengers, blaming the disruption on flooding, storms, infrastructure faults and a shortage of drivers.
Between December 11 and December 20, only 70 per cent of morning and evening rush-hour trains from Herne Hill to St Albans came within ten minutes of their scheduled arrival time.
Roughly 11 per cent were over ten minutes late, and 19 per cent were cancelled altogether.
Historically, operators have been expected to run 92.5 per cent of trains on time.
Leon Grove, an animal care student who uses the GTR line on weekdays to get to college, said she had “given up” on the service.
The 22-year-old said: “There are so many delays to the point where I’ve given up and gotten the bus… I’d turn up and see the train was delayed and think: ‘I’m not waiting’.”
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She added that she was “always” late for college. “It was annoying because if I love something, I try to get there early or on time so I get the most out of it.”
On Monday, December 30, as many employees returned to work after the Christmas break, just five out of sixteen rush-hour trains arrived on time.
George Withers, 29, who used to live in Peckham, said “trying to get on there at peak times during rush hour was hellish” due to overcrowding.
Jackie Blumler, 67, said: “I don’t use it that frequently because I’m retired and I tend to use my bike, but on the odd occasion it’s been delayed, it’s been a trauma and taken ages.”
Helen Hayes, MP for Dulwich and West Norwood, said the service was “completely unacceptable” in a letter to GTR, sent on December 20.
She wrote: “Many of my constituents rely on Thameslink services to travel to work, school, and leisure appointments in central London.”
The MP, who said she had been “contacted daily by constituents”, met with GTR representatives shortly before Christmas.
She told the News: “I understand that they have experienced some staffing problems in recent months and are recruiting new drivers to plug these gaps.
“Whilst I welcome this development, improvements are essential in the short term, and I am continuing to exert pressure on GTR for immediate action.”
She placed the blame on the previous Conservative government, which she said had “neglected our railways, failing to recruit the staff needed”.
GTR, a private company, is responsible for its own recruitment but operates under a franchise agreement with the Department for Transport, run by the government.
The franchise, which manages 235 train stations and employs over 7,300 people, has improved its punctuality over the last four years.
According to the Office of Rail and Road, punctuality (trains arriving within one minute of the scheduled time) rose from 57.6 per cent to 68.54 per cent between January 2016 and September 2024.
This makes it slightly better than the national average, with 67.7 per cent of trains being punctual.
However, GTR’s cancellation rate has hovered at around 4.5 per cent since 2019.
This is slightly worse than the national average, which stands at 4.2 per cent.
Michael Solomon Williams, of the pressure group Campaign for Better Transport, recently called for more investment from both government and the rail industry to combat cancellations and delays.
He told the Times: “Delays and cancellations erode passengers’ faith in the railways.”
He continued: “The rail industry and government must work together to invest in both the workforce and infrastructure to improve reliability across the whole network.”
A spokesman for Govia Thameslink Railway said: “We are sorry for the disruption caused to passengers. We met Ms Hayes to tell her about the work we’re doing to reduce delays, and the reasons why some services can be affected.
“These past few weeks have been challenging with flooding, storms and infrastructure faults resulting in delays to our service.
“Driver availability can vary due to reasons such as drivers being on annual leave – especially at this time of year – not working due to sickness, or because they’re undertaking training.
“It takes eighteen months to train a driver so we have a continuous cycle of recruitment to not only cover leavers and retirees but to gradually add to the establishment.”
