Southern train services doubled on West Coastway route

Train operator Southern hopes to free up space on the A27 with an extra 5,000 seats on trains running between Brighton and Chichester with hopes they will be more reliable and boost the local economy.

Towns will be connected to Brighton for the first time in over a decade as part of the timetable changes which start later this year.

Chichester Station will see more direct services to Brighton during the week (Image: Supplied)

Transport Minister Huw Merriman said the timetable will deliver a better service for people living in the South, with Southern working alongside network Rail and other train operators.

Jenny Saunders, Southern’s Customer Services Director, said: “We are making these changes to give passengers more trains and many more seats on our more popular routes.

"Services will be much more frequent, more punctual, faster in some cases, and more reliable right across the network. There will be less waiting for trains as well because we’ll space out the services more evenly.

“These improvements for the vast majority of our customers along the coastal route will encourage greener travel on our electric trains, tourism and employment, boosting local communities and economies from Southampton to Brighton.”

Passengers getting off a busy train at Brighton Station (Image: Andrew Gardner / The Argus)

The number of trains between Brighton, Worthing and Chichester will double from two an hour to four between Monday and Saturday starting from June.

Services between Brighton and Southampton will also double from hourly to half-hourly to meet demand - plus an extra stop at Woolston for bus connections.

A new hourly all-stations service between Brighton and Littlehampton will connect the two places for the first time since 2007.

Across the board, departures will be more evenly spaced so there is less time spent waiting on the platforms.

Southern is owned by Govia Thameslink Railway (Image: Andrew Gardner / The Argus)

A three-month public engagement programme was held last summer to make sure Southern's changes were suitable for passengers and local communities. 

Direct hourly services between Brighton and Portsmouth were set to be axed but public objections kept the service running.

Jenny added: "To better serve our customers’ needs, we’ve made eight main amendments to our original proposals, and incorporated hundreds of smaller changes to the times of individual trains.”