Trains Stop at wrong end of platform at Bromley South

SouthEastern is one of the worst train operating company in the UK. And now they are stopping the trains at the wrong end of the of the platform at Bromley South. There is no reason for this whatsoever. You can not exit the station at the bridge half way down the platform. The trains are supposed to stop between the main ticket office bridge and the halfway bridge (with the abandoned Aldous & Campbell lifts). But the trains heading out of London now stop between the halfway bridge and the far end of the platform which is usually empty. Now when a train comes in everybody has to run because they are not expecting the train to stop in such a stupid place. What moron at southeastern decided to move the 4 car stop. (Also a few years ago, the 4 car stop was moved at Gillingham for trains heading towards the coast, so that they would stop closer to staff offices, rather than stopping close to the ticket office. as they don't care that they make the passengers walk further, as long as the staff don't have to walk as far. Also I have missed several trains at Gillingham because of this.)

The Railways in the UK are in a very poor state because stupid idiot John Major privatised them in the 1990s. Nowadays every part of the railways is run by a private company. This was supposed to save the government money, but it has actually cost the government (i.e. the taxpayer) far more money. Nowadays a simple job on the railway can't just be done. It has to all be organised and the job given to a private contractor (who of course takes a commission). Today, money is not well spent in the most efficient way, instead it is passed around in loads circles and very complicated budget systems. All this does is enable private contractors and accountants to get rich.

Today, the railways only work when everything is going according to plan. As soon as something goes wrong, nobody knows what to do. because of the way everything is budgeted and accounted for. so if a small thing happens one day on the running of the railway, there is no scope for staff to use common sense and sort the problem, because it is neither their authority to make a decision and/or its not for their budget to do so. (for example... If one day, a route was more busy than normal, they would not be able to run an extra train, because the train would not be budgeted or accounted for. also there are ultra complicated rules about how money is passed from train companies to the track maintenance companies etc. no individual person would be able to make the decision to run an extra train.)

Since Southeastern took over running the trains where I live, the railway has become ever so uninspiring. Apart from their prestige javelin trains, everything has become SO dull. The stations have been painted in very boring colors. And the trains are not run at the speed limit any more (drivers now accelerate to just under the speed limit, them coast until it is time to slow down. When before they would keep the train exactly on the speed limit until it was time to slow down). Southeastern is a private company who only care about making a profit, not running the trains as fast as they can.

[leethomas]

The main problem with privatisation is the government have too much say in how the railways are run. In BR days, railwaymen made decisions about the railway, nor the big decisions are made by civil servants in Whitehall with no idea or experience how the railways work. If the private companies were allowed to make more decisions they'd provide a better service, so they'd profit more. A return to the old BR way of running things (autonomous, not for profit) would also be better than we have now

[AlteranAnciote]

@benobve - This is not Southeastern's fault. The platform stops have been moved at the order of Network Rail.

[TransitAndTeslas]

This stuff never happens here. Wow that's bad.

[iamkieranm]

Wow; with that timetable saying it was 23:20 you must've been up late!

[SamSitar]

arrive earlier so you don't have to run for your train.

[connerwhite]

This is not southerneastern fault this is networks rail fault because they own the layout and track

[leethomas]

That said, my local TOC (Chiltern) provide an excellent service, with the fast service to Marylebone for me reduced from 1hr5mins to 45mins in the lat two years.

[james]

Let me just close this for you its not stupid at all Bromley south and Grove park are what they call D.O.O       Drive Operates Only and depending in which direction the train is facing the train has to go to that end of the platform so the driver can see the CCTV screens at the end of the platform and depart the train safely.
SouthEastern is actually 1 of the best train operators in the UK in the past they have not said alot about the improvements like they are now, so before you criticise a company know what you are talking about. Did you also know SouthEastern run more trains with people sitting down then standing and less over crowded trains to london then any operator does to london