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Feedback from our passengers consistently tells us that providing timely and reliable information, particularly when things go wrong, is one of the biggest priorities for our passengers.
The industry has developed a set of information pledges, which define our commitments in respect of information provision.
We have a number of tools and channels that are available for passengers to find out the latest information both before, during and after the journey. These include our app, website, Live Disruption map as well as the services provided by National Rail Enquiries and other 3rd parties. We also provide information through Social Media, live from our Control Room 24/7
Full details of the information services are available to download on our PIDD Delivery Plan PDF.
As well as tools for our customers, we have several internal systems that enable our colleagues to have the latest information to assist with customer enquiries. These include live maps showing in the real-time location of trains and internal messaging systems providing a live feed from our Control room.
Through our website we provide several journey planning tools including;
All our stations have self-service ticket purchasing facilities and most stations have a ticket office. Details of ticket office opening hours are available on our station information page.
We also provide our contactless smartcard, The Key which can be loaded online, via the Southeastern app as well as at stations.
Tickets, including eTickets and sTickets, can also be purchased through our ticketing website or via the Southeastern app for all journeys on the GB rail network.
A significant number of our stations have staff on-hand to assist customers with information about their journey and to purchase tickets. For details of those stations which have staff-on hand, together with the times they are available, visit our station information page.
Where a station doesn’t have staff available, a “Help Point” is provided which customers can use to connect with one of the team, 24 hours a day.
Customer journey information
All Southeastern stations, and the stations at which we call have Customer Information Screens (CIS). These display details of the next train to depart the station, as well as calling points. In addition, most of our stations have a public address (PA) system which provides audio details of the information displayed on the screens.
All Southeastern trains have Passenger Information System (PIS) which provide visual updates of the journey and automatic announcements about the stations the train will call at. Where we have on board staff, such as conductors or On Board Managers they will also do their best to walk through the train to provide information to all customers.
During planned disruption any customers booking assistance, are advised by our customer services team in advance of travel.
We are currently reviewing how we update and what accessibility information is available at stations and on our website during planned disruption. When there is disruption affecting a journey this will be displayed on customer information screens and through PA announcements at stations. The on board staff on trains will also make announcements about delays, diversions or terminations of service.
You can access information about disruption on our live travel information page, the Southeastern app, through X @SE_Railway or by checking National Rail Enquiries (NRE).
You can access information about planned disruption at stations on our planned engineering work page or through National Rail Enquiries, which will give details of the accessibility of rail replacement services.
Changes to working facilities at stations will be posted as an alert message on the corresponding National Rail Enquiries station page. We have also introduced messages about non-working lifts to our station customer information systems so that when a train is going to be calling at a station where the lift is currently not working, this will automatically be announced on the station display so customers can make alternative arrangements with our staff.
We will do our best to display signage at stations that are affected, such as a lift being out of service, to make all customers aware. If you are on a station or train and notice that something is out of order, please make station or on board staff aware. You can contact us at @SE_Railway, or via our Passenger Assist team if you are on a train and unable to get the train crew’s attention.
If any facilities have been changed from what you expected or booked, our staff will work with you to find the best travel solution for you.
Information points, help points and contact centres
Information on the services Southeastern operates and services operated by train companies that run through stations we manage can be found at our ticket offices, which are also information points on our stations when open. Information about fares, timetables and connections can also be found here, as well as up to date information about any delays or disruptions affecting rail services. They will also be able to confirm any bookings made for the Passenger Assist service. These information points are indicated using the universal ‘I’ sign for information.
The meeting point for booked Passenger Assist will be at the ticket office, the gateline (if there is one), or the platform office. At unstaffed stations when boarding a service with on board staff, please wait on the platform. You can check out our station information page where you'll find each station meeting point is listed.
If you need information about the accessibility of other forms of transport from the station (such as buses, London Underground, trams, metro and taxis), our staff will do the best they can to help you. They may not have access to this information but they will be able to help you with where you can find it.
We’ll make sure that information regarding the services we provide is kept up to date and continuously made available to other train companies and station operators – including information regarding delays, diversions or other events that may impact your journey.
If you require live train running information on the day of travel then please speak to a member of station staff, use the Southeastern app, follow us on X @Se_Railway or use our journey planner. Our customers can also contact us on WhatsApp 07866 002 690.
At our larger stations we will have leaflets and posters available regarding our services and those of other train operators who serve the station. These will be placed at varying heights accessible to you. We also provide posters on our stations, which give you information about local services and transport available from that station, as well as indicating the nearest staffed station if required.
You can find Help Points labelled “Assistance Points” at all of our stations where you can speak directly to an operator who can make arrangements to assist you. Use the Assistance Button to contact a member of the team.
Information regarding all national train services is also available by contacting National Rail Enquiries:
Websites
We continue to develop our websites to ensure they meet AA Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) compliance, an industry-recognised standard for web content accessibility.
The Southeastern website has been designed to work with screen readers, magnifiers, voice over software and in-browser accessibility functions. To help you find the information you need we also provide a link to our Accessibility content from our homepage.
It has everything you need to help you book assistance and purchase a ticket to travel (including details of discounts available to disabled customers). It also includes a direct link to our station information, which includes information about station facilities and staff availability, as well as a Rolling Stock guide that contains details of onboard facilities.
In addition, there’s a link to enable you to access the Making Rail Accessible customer leaflet and details of how to obtain it in other accessible formats. You will find information on how you can provide feedback or make a complaint and we include information on the availability of redress for when assistance has not been delivered as booked. You will also find links to other relevant information.
You can also book Passenger Assist and track your requests through the new Southeastern app.
Create an Accessibility Profile to make booking Passenger Assist even faster.
Download our new app for free the App Store or Google Play.
For further information check our Accessible Travel Policy.
Overall average delay of services in % per category of service (international, domestic long-distance, regional and urban/suburban)
Avg. minute delay per service | 2024/25 |
Mainline | 3.6 |
Metro | 3.0 |
Highspeed | 3.66 |
Southeastern | 3.4 |
% Delay at Departure 2024/25: 16.3%
% Delay at Arrival 2024/25: 42.4%
% delay of less than 60 mins, 60-119 mins, 120 mins or more | 2024/25 |
1-60 minutes | 42% |
60-119 minutes | 0.05% |
120+ minutes | 0.004% |
Running one of the busiest rail services in the UK means that, unfortunately, things can sometimes go wrong.
When they do, we work closely with Network Rail and use a range of contingency plans managed by our joint Control Centre to keep trains running and minimise disruption.
For specific events, such as severe weather, we have a set of pre-prepared timetables that will be published on our website when activated.
All Cancellations | 2024/25 |
Mainline | 2.5% |
Metro | 2.4% |
Highspeed | 1.9% |
Southeastern | 2.4% |
The periodicity of the cleaning:
Fleet | Total Seats (Current) | Seat Per Vehicle | Ventilation Rate | CO2 Level | Comments |
Class 707 | 275 | 64 (TOS) | 3600m3/h | 1335ppm | CO2 info based on all seats within a vehicle being occupied |
375/3 Electrostar | 176 | 60 (DMOSA) | 10m3/hr/Passenger | Max 993ppm | Tem ≥ + 15o C and Tim ≥ Tic +1 K |
375/6 Electrostar | 242 | 60 (DMOSA) | 10m3/hr/Passenger | Max 993ppm | Tem ≥ + 15o C and Tim ≥ Tic +1 K |
375/7 Electrostar | 242 | 60 (DMOSA) | 10m3/hr/Passenger | Max 993ppm | Tem ≥ + 15o C and Tim ≥ Tic +1 K |
375/8 Electrostar | 242 | 60 (DMOSA) | 10m3/hr/Passenger | Max 993ppm | Tem ≥ + 15o C and Tim ≥ Tic +1 K |
375/9 Electrostar | 274 | 71 (DMOSA) | 10m3/hr/Passenger | Max 993ppm | Tem ≥ + 15o C and Tim ≥ Tic +1 K |
376 Electrostar | 216 | 46 (DMOSA) | >500m3/hr/Passenger | Max 993ppm | Tem ≥ + 15o C and Tim ≥ Tic +1 K |
333 |
86 (DMOS) |
1800m3/hr |
Max 413ppm |
Air ventilated via doors and hopper lites. If Emergency ventilation kicks in due to high temperature it has been recorded at 1800m3/hr. The emergency ventilation is in the process of being isolated. |
|
465/1 BREL |
333 |
86 (DMOS) |
1800m3/hr |
Max 413ppm |
Air ventilated via doors and hopper lites. If Emergency ventilation kicks in due to high temperature it has been recorded at 1800m3/hr. The emergency ventilation is in the process of being isolated. |
377 Electrostar | 230 | 60 (DMOSA) | 10m3/hr/Passenger | Max 993ppm | Tem ≥ + 15o C and Tim ≥ Tic +1 K |
465/9 GEC | 310 | 74 (DMOS) | 1800m3/hr | Max 411ppm | Air ventilated via doors and hopper lites. If Emergency ventilation kicks in due to high temperature it has been recorded at 1800m3/hr. |
466 GEC | 172 | 86 (DMOS) | 1800m3/hr | Max 413ppm | Air ventilated via doors and hopper lites. If Emergency ventilation kicks in due to high temperature it has been recorded at 1800m3/hr. |
395 Highspeed | 349 | 66 | 17m3/min | Max 1435ppm |
Short Question | % Agree/Satisfied |
Amount of information about delay | 57% |
Cleanliness of the inside of the train | 75% |
Cleanliness of the outside of the train | 68% |
Cleanliness of the station | 72% |
Onboard information received | 74% |
Onboard personal safety | 71% |
Punctuality of service | 77% |
Station information received | 87% |
Station personal safety | 71% |
Toilet facilities onboard | 46% |
Southeastern is one of the biggest and busiest train operating companies in the UK with around 138 million customer journeys made on our services in the rail year 2024/25 across South East London, Kent and East Sussex.
Customer satisfaction is one of our top priorities and we’re committed to consistently providing a safe, reliable, and welcoming service on every one of those journeys.
But we know that despite our best efforts there are times when things don’t go to plan. If this happens and you’re not happy with the service you’ve received, then please let us know. It’s important to us that where possible we resolve any issues you’ve encountered. Your feedback also helps to drive improvement across the company and influences the training we provide our people.
This Customer Complaints Handling Procedure explains:
We aim to work with you to resolve any issues as quickly as possible without the need of third party involvement. However, you can contact the Rail Ombudsman if you are unhappy with the response we’ve provided.
Number of complaints handled and complaint reasons in 2024/25
Total number of complaints closed – 22,696
Total number of complaints received – 22,677
Level 2 categories for complaints | YTD |
Accessibility issues | 542 |
Company policy | 2,043 |
Complaints handling | 1,836 |
Delay compensation schemes | 3,457 |
Environmental | 194 |
Fares, Retailing | 5,790 |
Other | 45 |
Provision of information | 1,911 |
Quality on train | 1,055 |
Safety and security | 1,347 |
Staff conduct and availability | 3,328 |
Station quality | 889 |
Timetabling and connection issues | 1,023 |
Train service performance | 4,351 |
27,811 |
Complaint category (level 3) | Total complaints | Commentary |
Punctuality/reliability (i.e. the train arriving/departing on time) |
4,351 |
Southeastern delivered an On Time MAA of 66.0% during 2024/25, this was a 1.5% decrease on the previous year. Cancellations also increased by 0.3% to 2.4% for the year. This reflects the challenges we have faced with higher capacity timetables than previous years, more customers returning to the Network and the increasing age of both infrastructure and fleet. Despite this year-on-year worsening, both metrics are still improved over the 2022/23 Financial Year. Given the importance of train service performance to our customers, this remains a top contact reason. We’re dedicated to providing the most reliable rail service possible. Our Joint Performance Strategy, published by Southeastern and Network Rail, demonstrates this commitment to improving the reliability of our network for customers. |
Ticket buying facilities (online) |
2,468 |
We strive to making ticket purchasing simple and easy for our customers and have made great strides in increasing our ticketing products and taking advantage of new digital technology. Our customer feedback is imperative in continuing to give our customers access to the cheapest fares available for their journey in the method that suits them. Complaints in this area make up 0.071% of total purchases and we continue to work towards reducing this further, using our customer feedback to drive improvements and making digital tickets accessible to all. |
Ticketing and refunds policy |
1,850 |
Complaints in this area have reduced by 12.48% and largely stem from dissatisfaction around industry policy and restrictions associated with Advanced tickets. This year administration fees for most tickets have been reduced to £5 and we continue to be the voice of our customers and look at reducing this further by ensuring dissatisfaction is raised at an industry level. These complaints also include contacts related to Penalty Fares. In such cases, we explain the appeals process and how to proceed. |
The attitudes and helpfulness of the staff at the station | 1,756 | We take complaints about the conduct of our employees very seriously. Our staff are expected to uphold our company values to ensure you receive the best possible service. All such complaints are shared with the relevant management teams for investigation and, where necessary, appropriate action. We also regularly meet with our frontline colleagues to discuss complaint trends, share lessons learned, and agree on best practices. |
Claim rejected |
1,606 |
Complaints relating to Delay Repay claims accounted for just 0.28% of all closed cases. Every complaint is carefully reviewed to ensure the correct outcome for our customers. Compared to the previous year, complaints about claim outcomes have decreased by 25%. However, due to the high volume of claims processed, it continues to be a common reason for customer contact. |
Southeastern is part of Passenger Assist – a national system that all train companies support, which allows us to make arrangements to assist our customers with disabilities or restricted mobility. This is both for journeys on our network and where you’re connecting with other operators.
We’re committed to this system and we have a dedicated team who will help you book assistance.
We understand that planning in advance isn’t always possible – you can turn up at any station that is accessible to you and request assistance onto a train from a member of our staff. If the station doesn’t have staff you can get in contact with us by calling Passenger Assist or using the help points located at all of our stations.
In Kent and East Sussex the train services have conductors and all of our highspeed services have On Board Managers.
We’ll do everything we can to make sure that you’re assisted as your needs require. If a train service isn’t accessible to you, we’ll provide alternative accessible transport at no extra cost.
We can have this all arranged for you if you have booked in advance but please be aware that it may take a little longer if we are not aware that you are traveling
For journeys planned in advance, you can book assistance through Southeastern (as well as any other train company) for journeys that are either direct or involve connections and other train companies on the National Rail network. You can request Assisted travel at any point during your journey. To make sure we have staff available to help you, we recommend you book at least 2 hours in advance of travelling.
You can contact us to request Assisted travel at any time of the day. If your journey involves another train company we may need to confirm part of your journey with them. This might depend on their contact centre opening hours. If this is the case, we will discuss options with you.
Our Passenger Assist team is available 24 hours a day, and every day except Christmas Day on 0800 783 4524 (or for our text relay service, prefix these numbers with 18001). They can also be contacted by filling out a form on our website. Once you have made a booking you will be given a confirmation number, a copy of the booking can also be sent by email.
Not all Southeastern stations are accessible or staffed. Some of our trains are also Driver Only Operated (DOO), which means that there is no conductor on board.
When booking assistance to or from these stations, especially on DOO trains, we will do everything we can to ensure you get the help and assistance you need. We have a team of Mobile Assistance Staff who are able to assist people at stations or on and off trains when there are no other staff available.
If a station isn’t accessible we can provide, at no extra cost, alternative accessible transport, such as a taxi, to take you to the most convenient accessible station.
Call: 0800 783 4524
Text Relay: 18001 0800 783 4524
Online: www.southeasternrailway.co.uk
(Available 24 hours a day, every day except Christmas Day)
There are a number of ways in which we can help you when you're travelling with us:
We’ve made sure that our contact centre staff are trained to help all of our customers and provide the best possible assistance, including customers with both visible and non-visible disabilities.
We’ll do all that we can to assist you making your journey, but we’re not able to accompany you throughout your journey. We’re unable to provide personal care such as help with eating, taking medication or using the toilet. If you need this support when travelling, you should travel with a companion.
To make a booking or for any travel queries please call Passenger Assist –
Telephone - 0800 783 4524You can also book Passenger Assist and track your requests through the new Southeastern app.
Create an Accessibility Profile to make booking Passenger Assist even faster.
Download our new app for free the App Store or Google Play.
For more information and to book assistance using our on line form please click on the following link: https://www.southeasternrailway.co.uk/travel-information/more-travel-help/accessible-travel
Top five Accessibility Complaints 2024/25 | Commentary |
1. Assistance Staff (42%) |
Complaints in this area arise predominantly with un-booked assistance, when no staff are present at designated meeting points, when customers seek directions to platforms, or when navigating through barriers at short notice. We’re increasing the number of Mobile Assist Staff – who are a team of roving staff who can be deployed to provide assistance to board our trains and to help at our stations when stations are unstaffed. They are based at key locations throughout our network. The team provides assistance whether it has been booked or not. We’re also updating and building new training material for our teams co-produced by our Assisted Travel Advisory Panel. |
2. Booked Assistance no provided (28%) |
Complaints in this area are mainly driven around the deployment of ramps to assist customers on and off our trains along with the availability of trained staff. As well as re-staffing many of our stations we’re also purchasing new ramps to facilitate quicker assistance on and off the train at stations, by aligning these with the accessible coach. We’re also training and deploying Accessibility Champions at our stations to improve the service and ensure our teams are available to assist throughout service. |
3. Unbooked Assistance not provided (15%) |
Complaints in this area are mainly driven around the deployment of ramps to assist customer on and off our trains along with the availability of trained staff. As well as re-staffing many of our stations we’re also purchasing new ramps to facilitate quicker assistance on and off the train at stations, by aligning these with the accessible coach. We’re also training and deploying Accessibility Champions at our stations to improve the service and ensure our teams are available to assist throughout service. The addition of Mobile Assist Staff as mentioned in point 1 will also help ensuring we have staff available where our customers need them. |
4. General unhappiness with Passenger Assistance Experience (9%) |
Southeastern is part of Passenger Assist – a national system that all train companies support, which allows us to make arrangements to assist disabled/older passengers or anyone else requiring assistance. When things go wrong, we want to hear from our customers. Improvements have been made to our post journey Passenger Assist survey to ensure the information we capture is relevant and allows us to enhance our Passenger Assist service. Additionally, we’ve introduced learning reviews as a part of our complaint handling process to ensure assistance failures are not repeated where possible. |
5. Lack of accessible facilities at station (5%) |
We continue to ensure our stations are accessible through ongoing investment in Access for All. This feedback has been used to improve accessibility at many of our stations with new lifts, handrails and accessible toilets. Additionally introducing a step free journey planner and in-app Passenger Assistance booking tool to make planning journeys even easier. Where stations remain accessible we’ve increased our Assisted Travel team to help our customers plan their journeys with our help. |
All passengers are welcome on our train services, and we're committed to providing a safe and comfortable journey for everyone and we want to continue to hear from our customers to improve our services further. That’s why we’ve made improvements to the accessibility of our website and how customers can contact us by:
Type | Metric | P1 | P2 | P3 | P4 | P5 | P6 | P7 | P8 | P9 | P10 | P11 | P12 | P13 |
Booked | Volume of booked assistance completions | 1,282 |
1,465 |
1,482 |
1,686 |
1,872 |
2,074 |
2,107 |
1,875 |
1,688 |
1,665 |
1,402 |
1,613 |
2,000 |
Un-booked | Volume of un-booked assistance (Turn Up and Go) completed | 2,437 |
2,513 |
2,630 |
3,106 |
3,928 |
4,251 |
4,890 |
4,543 |
4,668 |
3,790 |
3,911 |
4,761 |
5,382 |
Rail Period |
did you receive all the booked assistance you required when you made your reservation? |
|||||
Yes |
Part |
No |
||||
P1 2024/25 | 187 | 93.5% | 12 | 6.0% | 1 | 0.5% |
P2 2024/25 | 169 | 89.9% | 9 | 4.8% | 10 | 5.3% |
P3 2024/25 | 181 | 90.5% | 10 | 5.0% | 9 | 4.5% |
P4 2024/25 | 207 | 86.3% | 16 | 6.7% | 17 | 7.1% |
P5 2024/25 | 237 | 89.4% | 25 | 9.4% | 3 | 1.1% |
P6 2024/25 | 179 | 86.9% | 16 | 7.8% | 11 | 5.3% |
P7 2024/25 | 150 | 90.4% | 8 | 4.8% | 8 | 4.8% |
P8 2024/25 | 165 | 90.7% | 10 | 5.5% | 7 | 3.8% |
P9 2024/25 | 139 | 88.0% | 16 | 10.1% | 3 | 1.9% |
P10 2024/25 | 165 | 89.7% | 11 | 6.0% | 8 | 4.3% |
P11 2024/25 | 104 | 90.4% | 4 | 3.5% | 7 | 6.1% |
P12 2024/25 | 118 | 90.1% | 7 | 5.3% | 6 | 4.6% |
P13 2024/25 | 168 | 85.3% | 15 | 7.6% | 14 | 7.1% |
Overall | 2,169 | 89.2% | 159 | 6.5% | 104 | 4.3% |
Rail Period |
On a Scale of 1-5 (1 being poor, 5 being excellent) how would you rate the service you |
|
Volume of Answers |
Average Score |
|
P1 2024/25 | 203 | 4.7 |
P2 2024/25 |
189 |
4.7 |
P3 2024/25 | 198 | 4.8 |
P4 2024/25 | 233 | 4.6 |
P5 2024/25 | 259 | 4.7 |
P6 2024/25 | 204 | 4.6 |
P7 2024/25 | 164 | 4.7 |
P8 2024/25 | 181 | 4.6 |
P9 2024/25 | 157 | 4.7 |
P10 2024/25 | 182 | 4.5 |
P11 2024/25 | 113 | 4.6 |
P12 2024/25 | 134 | 4.7 |
P13 2024/25 | 189 | 4.6 |
Overall | 2,406 | 4.7 |
Rail Period |
Would you consider using our Assisted travel service again? |
|||
Yes |
No |
|||
P1 2024/25 | 202 | 100% | 0 | 0.0% |
P2 2024/25 | 191 | 98.5% | 3 | 1.5% |
P3 2024/25 | 195 | 98.5% | 3 | 1.5% |
P4 2024/25 | 232 | 98.7% | 3 | 1.3% |
P5 2024/25 | 258 | 99.2% | 2 | 0.8% |
P6 2024/25 | 189 | 96.9% | 6 | 3.1% |
P7 2024/25 | 165 | 99.4% | 1 | 0.6% |
P8 2024/25 | 172 | 95.6% | 8 | 4.4% |
P9 2024/25 | 150 | 98.7% | 2 | 1.3% |
P10 2024/25 | 177 | 98.3% | 3 | 1.7% |
P11 2024/25 | 118 | 100% | 0 | 0.0% |
P12 2024/25 | 134 | 100% | 0 | 0.0% |
P13 2024/25 | 188 | 98.4% | 3 | 1.6% |
Overall | 2,371 | 98.6% | 34 | 1.4% |