Winter weather

Heavy rain and flooding can short-circuit power supplies and disrupt signalling systems – the railway’s traffic light system - which is why we closely monitor weather forecasts and act fast when flood warnings are issued. We’ve installed pumps at flood-prone locations like Wadhurst to help clear water quickly and keep trains moving. Flooding can also block lines, wash debris and mud onto the track, or even wash away the ballast – the stones that hold the track in place – making it unsafe for trains to run until repairs are made.

Landslips are a serious risk, especially on embankments and cuttings, even after the rain has stopped. They happen when water saturates the soil, weakening its structure and causing it to slide. In high-risk areas, we’ve installed remote condition monitoring – tiny electronic sensors in the ground that detect any movement and send alerts if a landslip is likely. These alerts are checked using trackside cameras, allowing us to quickly assess the situation and stop trains if needed, keeping passengers safe. On routes like the Hastings line, you’ll see these systems in action, alongside engineering works – such as the 200-metre-long metal wall installed on the Medway Valley line to protect the railway from landslips.

High winds can bring your journey to a halt. Fallen trees and wind-blown debris – including garden items like trampolines – can damage trains and electrical equipment. We manage hundreds of miles of trackside trees and shrubs year-round and ask our lineside neighbours to secure loose items before storms hit.

We have a plan for winter created in partnership with Network Rail which enables us to keep trains running while they manage the effects of winter weather on the tracks, points and signal equipment.

Part of the plan means that on days when we expect the weather to be at its worst, Network Rail instruct us to put in place either a Winter Weather Timetable, or Severe Winter Weather Timetable depending on the weather forecast. These are short-term timetable changes and different to the usual timetable change in December.

On rare days when weather is forecast to be extremely bad with roads and rails impassable, there will be no train service running, but together with Network Rail we will do all we can to avoid this situation to clear tracks and keep trains moving. 

Speed restrictions may be put in place during strong winds and heavy rain which can cause flooding, debris on tracks, and in some cases, landslips. We’ll need to slow trains down to keep you moving safely.

The Winter Weather Timetable is likely to run during ice and light snow which freezes around the electric rail, preventing trains from drawing power. When this timetable is in place, some train times will be different, services will be less frequent, and you may need to change trains to get to your destination. Check before you travel and allow extra time for your journey.

The Severe Winter Weather Timetable is likely to run during heavier snow. Train times will be different, services will be much less frequent, and some stations will be closed. We recommend you avoid travelling.

Heavy rain and flooding can short-circuit power supplies and disrupt signalling systems – the railway’s traffic light system – which is why we closely monitor weather forecasts and act fast when flood warnings are issued. Flooding can also block lines, wash debris and mud onto the track, or even wash away the ballast – the stones that hold the track in place – making it unsafe for trains to run until repairs are made.

Landslips are a serious risk, especially on embankments and cuttings, even after the rain has stopped. They happen when water saturates the soil, weakening its structure and causing it to slide.

High winds can also bring your journey to a halt. Fallen trees and wind-blown debris – including garden items like trampolines – can damage trains and electrical equipment. By putting in place speed restrictions, we enable trains to safely run, albeit a little slower.

When the temperature drops, even the lightest shower of rain or dusting of snow can freeze and become compacted on the rails, turning into dangerous ice. Not only does this freeze around the electric rail and create an insulating effect preventing trains from drawing power and being able to move with any speed – in the worst cases, it stops them from being able to move at all.

Snow and ice also causes points - which allow trains to move between tracks – to freeze solid, or get jammed with compacted snow. When this happens, trains can’t safely run over them.

The couplers that join carriages together can also become iced up, making it difficult to join them together, or split them apart, reducing the number of trains we have available.

The more times trains stop and start in ice and snow, the more likely it is that they won’t get enough power to get going again, and by running the Winter Weather Timetables, we enable trains to stop and start less which means they are less likely to get stuck.

The timetable changes can apply to all stations, so if bad weather is forecast, check your journey before you set off for the station.

Our plans are based on expert weather forecasts, but even the experts get it wrong sometimes. We aim to give you as much notice as possible if the timetable needs to change. But we know how frustrating it can be if the weather turns out better than forecast.

The day before we change the timetable, we have to make sure all our trains are moved to the right sidings and depots overnight and our train crew all know where they’re supposed to be and when. Once these plans are in place, and we’ve provided clear travel advice to our customers, we stick to the plan so you can be sure which trains will be running and when.

Winter weather often affects different places in different ways – so some of our network might be blanketed with snow or flooded, while other areas aren't affected at all. And while it may look clear where you are, our trains often need to travel from places where conditions are much worse or were earlier in the day.

We make sure the night before that our trains and people are in the right places for the timetable that’s running. We can’t change the timetable part-way through the day, as none of the trains or people would be in the right places, and it would cause serious disruption. So once these plans are in place, and we’ve provided clear travel advice to our customers, we stick to the plan so you can be sure which trains will be running and when.

During the Severe Winter Weather Timetable, Southeastern services will not call at these stations –

Adisham	Denmark Hill	Maidstone Barracks	Snowdown
Aylesford	Dumpton Park	Maidstone West	Sole Street
Aylesham	East Farleigh	Martin Mill	Stone Crossing
Barming	East Malling	Minster	Stonegate
Beckenham Hill	Elephant & Castle	New Hythe	Sturry
Bekesbourne	Eynsford	Newington	Sundridge Park
Bellingham	Farningham Road	Northfleet (served by other operator)	Swale
Beltring	Farringdon	Nunhead	Swanscombe
Bromley North	Frant	Ore	Teynham
Canterbury East	Halling	Peckham Rye	Walmer
Catford	Harrietsham	Pluckley	Wateringbury
Charing	Higham (served by other operator)	Queenborough	West St Leonards
Chartham	Hollingbourne	Ravensbourne	Westenhanger
Chestfield & Swalecliffe	Kearsney	Sandling	Westgate-on-Sea
Chilham	Kemsing	Sandwich	Wye
City Thameslink	Kemsley	Selling	Yalding
Crofton Park	Knockholt	Sheerness-on-sea
Crowhurst	Lenham	Shepherds Well
Cuxton	London Blackfriars	Shoreham (Kent)
Deal	Loughborough Junction	Snodland

We appreciate that if the changes apply to your journey, then this will be inconvenient. Trains won’t stop at some stations because the more times they stop and start in ice and snow, the more likely it is that they won’t get enough power to get going again and become stuck. So, we focus on running trains to busier stations to offer a more reliable timetable in severe winter weather.

Because ice and snow insulates the electric rail and prevents trains from drawing power, we’ve planned services to be at least two ‘units’ (two trains joined together, made up of varying carriage lengths). Each unit connects to the third rail, so if one is having trouble drawing power, the other one should still be able to, and the train can keep moving. This means some trains will be longer than usual, and some will be shorter, but they should run more reliably in the winter weather.

We won’t offer rail replacement buses as an alternative to train services, because when the weather is forecast to be this severe, we don’t expect that we’d be able to run them reliably or at all. 

Because the timetable is put in place based on the weather forecast, to allow the forecast to be as accurate as possible, we aim to give you a minimum of 24 hours’ notice that the timetable will change, to give you time to plan.

The length of time that the timetables will last for depends on the weather. Once the worst of the weather is over, and conditions allow us to run our normal timetable, we’ll need some time to get our trains and people back to where they need to be.

We aim to give you a minimum of 24 hours’ notice that the timetable will change, to give you time to plan. Some effects of weather on our railway can happen quicker though, and in those cases, we may need to put changes like speed restrictions in place more quickly.

We’ll let you know in advance on our website that we’re changing the timetable. Departure screens on platforms will show the services that are running, and announcements will be made.

Follow us on X, BlueSky or our Whatsapp channel for updates. 

We make the decision based on the factors involved in running our particular train service in the South East. Different operators will have different factors involved which they will base their decision on. For example, Network Rail would advise them which lines they could safely keep open, and a timetable would be created for that situation. 

Delay Repay works as usual and will be paid based on the published timetable of the day that’s running, and if your journey was delayed by 15 minutes or more. 

If speed restrictions or a Winter Weather Timetable mean that some stations won’t have a service, and you can’t travel as a result, then you can apply for a full refund on a daily ticket as an abandoned journey.

If you decide to travel from a different station (make sure your ticket is valid if you do this), you’ll be entitled to Delay Repay based on the timetable that’s running, and if your journey was delayed by 15 minutes or more.

An abandoned journey is when the train you intended to travel on is cancelled or delayed, and you decided not to travel. If you begin travel but you decide to return to your point of origin without completing the journey due to delays or cancellations, that is also an abandoned journey.

In these cases, you can return your unused ticket to the original retailer or the train company you bought it from to receive a full refund without admin fees. This applies to all non-Season tickets, including those which are normally non-refundable, such as Advance Singles.

During disruption, we generally won’t allow non-highspeed tickets to be used on the highspeed service. However, depending on the scale of the disruption, this advice may change on the day.

So, we always recommend checking our travel advice. You can follow us on X, BlueSky, or use our WhatsApp channel for updates.

We’ll generally contact local bus operators, other train operators on neighbouring lines, and TfL (Underground, Overground, and DLR) to ask that they allow our tickets on their services during disruption.

So, we always recommend checking our travel advice. You can follow us on X, BlueSky, or use our WhatsApp channel for updates.

When we put in place speed restrictions, or run one of the Winter Weather Timetables, we won’t offer alternative transport as part of the timetable plan and so would not refund a taxi fare.

However, we do consider these claims on a case-by-case basis, and each case is reviewed on its own merits. Please contact our Customer Services team explaining why you took a taxi – and please remember to attach a copy of your taxi receipt and your train ticket.

Although the long, warm days of summer may feel like a distant memory, the arrival of winter needn't be a bad thing. As temperatures drop and nights draw in, so too come cosy evenings by the fire and the twinkling of festive lights in trees and windows across the country.

But as we head further into the season and the weather takes a turn, problems can arise across the rail network.

When the mercury plummets, even the lightest shower of rain or dusting of snow can freeze and become compacted on the rails, turning into dangerous ice. Not only does this freeze around the electric rail and create an insulating effect preventing trains from drawing power and being able to move with any speed – in the worst cases, it prevents them from being able to move at all.

Snow and ice also causes points – which allow trains to move between tracks – to freeze solid or get jammed with compacted snow. When this happens, trains can't safely run over them. The couplers that join carriages together can also become iced up, making it difficult to join them together, or split them apart, and reducing the number of trains we have available.

When winter weather strikes, we run snow-and-ice-busting trains to keep you moving. These special trains are kitted out with anti-icing fluid, which works in a similar way to salt gritters on the road, preventing our electric rail from freezing in the first place.

We also fit certain points along the tracks, particularly in places where trains change direction to other lines, with heaters and insulation to further prevent ice build-up.

To try to keep disruptions to your journeys to a minimum, we may have to make some changes to our timetables when bad weather hits. Some services will be less frequent, and some stations may close, but this allows us to complete all the work needed to keep you moving, albeit a little slower than usual to keep you and our staff as safe as possible.