South West Trains is now operating its new winter timetable which started on Sunday, 12th December. Following feedback from passengers and stakeholders, the new winter timetable will benefit passengers travelling between Lymington Pier (and from the Isle of Wight via Lymington Pier) onwards to Southampton or London Waterloo.

The key improvements are:

·      The Brockenhurst to Lymington Pier branch timetable is revamped on Mondays to Saturdays so as to improve connections at Brockenhurst. Together with the addition of a later train on the Lymington branch (connecting with the trains from London Waterloo at 20.35), passengers will benefit from a much reduced overall journey time from main line stations. The typical off-peak journey time between London Waterloo and Lymington Pier will now be 17 minutes faster than in the previous timetable.

·      Introduction of a new earlier Saturday morning service from stations west of Poole, allowing more time in London for day-trippers. The 0628 train Poole to Waterloo will start from Wareham at 0611. The 0653 train from Wareham will start at Poole.

·      Changes to other operators’ services have also been taken into consideration and the following services have been re-timed to improve journey times by up to four minutes:
- between Basingstoke and Southampton Central on the stopping services between Waterloo and Poole
- between Portsmouth and Basingstoke on the services between Portsmouth and Waterloo via Eastleigh.

The new timetable is now available to print from South West Trains’ website http://www.southwesttrains.co.uk/timetables.aspx and for all passengers at stations.

South West Trains has simplified its timetable, making it easier for passengers to find relevant information for their journey. It is now possible to create an individual timetable online in only two minutes with a simplified, easy to use menu. South West Trains’ new improved journey planner allows for all travel information, train times, engineering work, station information and ticket purchase to be displayed on one page.

Peter Brooks from South West Trains said: “We’ve been consulting closely with our passengers and stakeholders in various ways, including through the regular ‘Meet the Manager’ events at our key stations.

“One request that came across loud and clear was for improved connections for Lymington Pier passengers and commuters from Brockenhurst. Our new timetable will provide much improved connections, saving a substantial amount of time at Brockenhurst which, we’re sure, will be well received.”