Honiton: South Western Railway announces new timetable with increased services

South Western Railway has announced a new timetable will come into force on Monday 21 February, which will see train services return to pre-pandemic levels, as the threat of Omicron retreats.

Earlier this year, South Western trains were forced to reduce their services as a result of staff shortages and reduced passenger numbers.

The railway company are now experiencing fewer staff shortage, which allows them to put on more trains whilst maintaining reliability. Passenger numbers are also increasing as people return to the workplace after the government's work from home policy was lifted.

Through trains from Exeter St. David's to London Waterloo have been reinstated. The timetable is almost identical to the one that was in place in December 2021.

In a statement, South Western Railway Managing Director Claire Mann said: "It has been a difficult period for our railway and the customers it serves, with significant staff shortages giving us no choice but to temporarily reduce our timetable last month.

"With staff availability now consistently improving, we are pleased to be able to announce this uplift, which will essentially see service levels return to where they were prior to the spread of Omicron.

"More and more people are returning to our railway, and this timetable will ensure that we match capacity and demand while delivering reliability for customers."

Details of the new timetable are available here