Live Train Departures

Q: What if the train is full?

If the train is showing as ‘full’, if you have a valid ticket to do so you may want to wait for the next service or travel via a different route. To help you plan, please check journey planners before you travel and continue to utilise our Live Departure Boards or online timetables to see if that service is also expected to be busy.

Q: My train doesn’t show this information, why is this?

If there’s no information shown for your journey, it means information isn’t available for that train. There may be occasions where it isn’t possible to match some services to those on previous weeks due to timetable changes or engineering work, for example, if the last two Saturdays had an altered time due to engineering work.

Check live departures and arrivals from any station and get updates on platform numbers, cancellations, delays, and view which trains may have more seat availability. Check the key below the departure boards for on-train facilities, platform information, and seat availability.

Check live trains

See up-to-the-minute train running times and any delays or cancellations to your journey.

Check your journey

Check our live departures and arrivals board for up-to-the-minute info on how trains are running now, with details of platform numbers, cancellations, delays, and quieter trains.

Our live departure boards will show:

train timings, calling patterns and platform numbers for the next two hours
usual seat availability
length of the train
a short platform indicator
facilities onboard the train, where possible
which side of the train the doors will open

Check the key below the departure boards for on-train facilities, platform information, and seat availability.

To check journey times beyond the next 2 hours, please use our Journey Planner and for real time disruption updates, please see our service page.

View the live map to view routes with disruption.

Find a quieter train

We know it's important to see how busy our trains are likely to be when you plan your journey. We’ve developed a set of tools to enable us to share where we believe trains are going to be busy based on train loading data from the previous two weeks.

If you’re travelling today

If you're travelling within the next two hours and wish to find out how busy your train may be, simply check your journey on our Live Departure Boards and look for the colour coded symbols for seat availability.

If you’re planning ahead

If you’re planning your journey in advance, you can use our online timetables to see how busy trains usually are on each individual day of the week. So if you’re only travelling a couple of days each week, you can compare each day to help you find the quietest times to travel. The timetables do not include service alterations due to engineering work or on the day cancellations. If you are travelling in the evening, at weekends or on a Bank Holiday, please also check the journey planner for any changes to train times.

What if the train is full?

My train doesn’t show this information, why is this?

Delayed by 15 minutes or more?

We know how frustrating train delays can be, and we do our best to keep you moving. But if you’ve been delayed, you may be entitled to compensation.

Find out more about Delay Repay

Download our app

Get the most up to date travel information to help you on your journey with real-time, personalised travel alerts. Plus, get the best value as we automatically show you the best fare and don't charge booking fees. Don't take our word for it - here's what our customers say.

App Store

4.6

Plan your journeys

Easy to book and plan journeys

iPhone 5 Apr 2026

Book in advance

it's easy and quick to buy a ticket on the way to the station

Android 19 Feb 2026

Book tickets

Nice UI, easy to use, found and booked tickets in around 2 minutes

Android 14 Jan 2026

Easy to access

Really good. Auto-fills favourites, but allows easy adjustments. Easy to access stored tickets.

Android 6 Nov 2025

App Store

4.6

Stay up-to-date

Subscribe to email updates. Get travel inspiration, journey updates and exclusive offers delivered straight to your inbox.

We will not pass on your personal information to any organisation outside of Southern.

Should we no longer operate the Southern franchise, please be aware that we will pass your details to the Successor franchise or Secretary of State for Transport to allow you to continue receiving service and/or marketing emails if you have consented to them.

*Must be over the age of 16

We will not pass on your personal information to any organisation outside of Southern.

*Must be over the age of 16

Subscription confirmed

Thank you for subscribing to our email updates. You'll now receivetravel inspiration, journey updates, and exclusive offers delivered straight to your inbox.

You can update your preferences or unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link at the bottom of our emails.

Subscription Failed

Something went wrong with your submission, please try again later.