Some welcome news on the Seaford to Brighton and Brighton to Lewes branch railway lines
As you may well know, some services along the coast between Brighton and Seaford and Brighton and Lewes are operated by Class 313 carriages. They are the oldest trains run by Southern Rail , dating from the 1970s with no toilet facilities or air conditioning. Many of you have told me about the need for better, more modern trains with more facilities on these well used routes and I have been lobbying for improvements for local passengers with GTR.
I am therefore pleased to say, with the introduction of the Summer 2023 timetable from Sunday 21 May, Southern Rail are planning to entirely retire the Class 313. This will mean replacing all Class 313s on the Brighton to Seaford route and the Brighton to Lewes route, so that customers will have a more modern train, with a second member of staff on board.
With the addition of air-conditioning, accessible toilets, and a £55m upgrade currently underway, these trains will be much more comfortable for passengers as there will also be more space on board as the three carriage Class 377 Electrostars will be used instead.
This is welcome news for passengers on the local branch lines who have complained of not have the same level of carriage as the mainline trains for many years and I hope this change will improve local rail journeys. Thanks to GTR for listening to passengers.