The Times of the Last Trains Home.

Many things about the Southminster Branch Line irritate people, but early departure of the last trains home are one of the more common complaints. This is especially weekday trains (last at 2215), although the time of the last train on a Saturday bothers quite a few people. However, currently the thing that annoys most is the lack of connections to Stratford.

Data for the current timetable

Day of the week	Last train to Southminster	Last train to Southend	Difference (hours:minutes)
Monday-Friday	2215	0050	2:35
Saturday	2145	0050	3:03
Sunday	2115	0045	3:30

Data for the Summer and Autumn of 2004

Day of the week	Last train to Southminster	Last train to Southend	Difference (hours:minutes)
Monday-Friday	2200	0050	2:50
Saturday	2120	0050	3:30
Sunday	2052	0050	3:58

Note there is a definite (but very small) improvement in the times of the last trains between the current and the old Summer/Autumn timetable of 2004. Southend services have not experienced an improvement in the times of their latest trains, whereas the Southminster Branch Line has. However, since the Southend trains run so much later anyway, there is less need for an improvement.
I wrote to the Rail Passengers Council in an attempt to get these times changed, as I think they are far too early, but no progress was ever made. The RPC seemed to be acting as a postman, sending information between me and 'one' with no comment. I gave up with them as they appear to be too ineffective.

'One' have cited Network Rail as one reason for not running later trains. After asking Network Rail if this is true, and a lot of hassle I have finally seen a response from Network Rail. It seems clear to me the RPC are not overly effective.