Because Easter Monday is the perfect day for a little adventure. The family is here, the sun is trying, and everyone has the day off. It’s the ideal moment to take a train to the seaside or visit Nana in the countryside.
But if you assume the trains run like a normal Tuesday, you’ll end up like Gary from down the road. Gary planned a big day out to the beach last year. He arrived at the station at 9am, only to discover the next train wasn’t until 11:17am.
Gary spent two hours eating a sad pastry from the station kiosk. Don’t be Gary. Be the person who checked the timetable the night before and felt like a genius when everyone else was scrambling.
The “Timetable Trick” you need to know
Here’s the secret: most train companies run a Sunday service on Easter Monday. That means fewer early trains and the last train home departs earlier than you’d expect. It’s like the train is saying, “I’m done by 9pm, thanks.”
For example, my local train to the city usually runs every 15 minutes on a weekday. On Easter Monday? It’s every 30 to 60 minutes. That difference feels like forever when you’re juggling a toddler and a bag of chocolate eggs.
The other sneaky thing is engineering works. Easter weekend is prime time for rail repairs. So you might find your normal route is replaced by a bus. A bus. On a bank holiday. The horror.
A little story to make you smile
My friend Sarah once hopped on a train on Easter Monday, feeling proud she’d checked the app. She got to her town okay. But then the train just… stopped. The conductor announced, “This is the end of the line because of track work.”
Sarah was three miles from her destination. She ended up walking through a field in her nice shoes, chased by a very curious sheep. She now tells this story with laughter, but you could tell she was not amused at the time.
The moral? Always check the specific station announcements, not just the generic “Sunday service” rule. Every line is a little different, like a family recipe for Easter lamb.
Where Southeastern trains will not run in Kent over the Easter Bank
