• Our booking engine at tickets.railforums.co.uk (powered by TrainSplit) helps support the running of the forum with every ticket purchase! Find out more and ask any questions/give us feedback in this thread!

Thameslink trains to Moorgate

Status
Not open for further replies.
Sponsor Post - registered members do not see these adverts; click here to register, or click here to log in
R

RailUK Forums

D7666

Member
Joined
12 Aug 2013
Messages
534
Depending on which timetable you look at, between half a dozen and a dozen in each peak.

Towards the end, there was a limited 2 TPH in the post a.m. peak shoulder up to about mid-day and starting again from Moorgate c. 15:00 pre p.m. peak shoulder. This was really for berthing and positioning - in effect trains that would have been ECS had they not run passenger. i.e. it was something like the last 3 arrivals in Moorgate between 1100 and 1200 were 1 8car and 2 4car that berthed until 1500 and worked out then back in as sort of back to front bouncebacks, except as class 1 not 3.

If you are asking about electric trains generally, pre-Thameslink Bed-Pan, the basic all day service was half hourly StAlbans to Moorgate, even Sundays, plus SX peaks trains.
 

Failed Unit

Established Member
Joined
26 Jan 2009
Messages
8,857
Location
Central Belt
Depending on which timetable you look at, between half a dozen and a dozen in each peak.

Towards the end, there was a limited 2 TPH in the post a.m. peak shoulder up to about mid-day and starting again from Moorgate c. 15:00 pre p.m. peak shoulder. This was really for berthing and positioning - in effect trains that would have been ECS had they not run passenger. i.e. it was something like the last 3 arrivals in Moorgate between 1100 and 1200 were 1 8car and 2 4car that berthed until 1500 and worked out then back in as sort of back to front bouncebacks, except as class 1 not 3.

If you are asking about electric trains generally, pre-Thameslink Bed-Pan, the basic all day service was half hourly StAlbans to Moorgate, even Sundays, plus SX peaks trains.
In the "Heyday" the majority of services went through to Moorgate rather than the core in the peak. Very few went near London Bridge. It may be a 12 Moorgate / 8 Core split, but Moorgate was well served. For a period of time the 317s returned to the Moorgate route (working alongside the 319s.)
 

ChiefPlanner

Established Member
Joined
6 Sep 2011
Messages
7,768
Location
Herts
An incentive to use Moorgate was when (despite all the other stuff going on) was the removal of the 4 peak fast Bedford services which even in Thameslink days went to St Pancras main line (to avoid the % share of terminal costs)- this did not go down well as you can imagine. This left the then St Pancras as a horribly quiet station for much of the day , until things happened.

To answer your question , a fair number of services in the peaks , and I am pleased that I managed to get FCC to do something a bit special for the very last trains thanks to a good support from the then MD , and indeed travelled on the last service train.

With the post Hatfield gauge corner cracking crises , MG can came as a great bolthole - an all stations service at 10 min intervals was a proverbial pain - but as the through service was suspended for a while , it got people home (with other services starting southbound from the old Blackfriars station)
 

Aictos

Established Member
Joined
28 Apr 2009
Messages
10,403
To answer your question , a fair number of services in the peaks , and I am pleased that I managed to get FCC to do something a bit special for the very last trains thanks to a good support from the then MD , and indeed travelled on the last service train.
I'm glad that you did, sadly though although I got the last arrival at Moorgate I didn't manage to get the last departure from Moorgate as I was busy networking with the said MD at the time, they were actually really approachable and a very supportive senior manager.
 

ChiefPlanner

Established Member
Joined
6 Sep 2011
Messages
7,768
Location
Herts
So many livery’s as well in one station

I'm glad that you did, sadly though although I got the last arrival at Moorgate I didn't manage to get the last departure from Moorgate as I was busy networking with the said MD at the time, they were actually really approachable and a very supportive senior manager.

Yes the service was seen off very properly and a nice touch apart from the 2 "special" livery 319's , was a charity collection. Elaine did a great job !
 

Bedpan

Established Member
Joined
4 Feb 2010
Messages
1,286
Location
Harpenden
In the "Heyday" the majority of services went through to Moorgate rather than the core in the peak. Very few went near London Bridge. It may be a 12 Moorgate / 8 Core split, but Moorgate was well served. For a period of time the 317s returned to the Moorgate route (working alongside the 319s.)
Yes, I had a very occasional commute from East Croydon 15 - 25 years ago and whilst there was a regular 15 minute interval service through most of the day there was a long gap between trains in the evening peak which was due to lack of capacity to allow trains tocross from the Brighton to South Eastern tracks outside London Bridge. (Hence the dive under which has been built since).
 

ChiefPlanner

Established Member
Joined
6 Sep 2011
Messages
7,768
Location
Herts
Yes, I had a very occasional commute from East Croydon 15 - 25 years ago and whilst there was a regular 15 minute interval service through most of the day there was a long gap between trains in the evening peak which was due to lack of capacity to allow trains tocross from the Brighton to South Eastern tracks outside London Bridge. (Hence the dive under which has been built since).

There was one service in the 1700 to 1800 peak , conveniently timed at around 1725 northbound from London Bridge , as you say capacity and flat crossing issues.
 

Bald Rick

Veteran Member
Joined
28 Sep 2010
Messages
29,070
I heard southbound morning peak trains didn’t stop Barbican

I recall it was northbound trains that didn't in later years due to the narrow platform.

Correct.

In the "Heyday" the majority of services went through to Moorgate rather than the core in the peak. Very few went near London Bridge. It may be a 12 Moorgate / 8 Core split, but Moorgate was well served. For a period of time the 317s returned to the Moorgate route (working alongside the 319s.)

The split was about half and half Moorgate / Core, but as you say almost all thise that went through the core went via Elephant & Castle. The Up morning peak train via London Bridge was 1T11, about 0700 off Bedford, all stations to St Albans, then fast to the Core. Arrived London Bridge about 0820. It lives on today as 9R05.


To answer your question , a fair number of services in the peaks , and I am pleased that I managed to get FCC to do something a bit special for the very last trains thanks to a good support from the then MD , and indeed travelled on the last service train.

I was busy networking with the said MD at the time, they were actually really approachable and a very supportive senior manager.

I was, by chance, on the penultimate train, outside 6 pints of lager. Last train from the old platform 6 - and a straight route onto the Down Moorgate. Driver gave it the beans. Must have been doing 40mph as we crossed the pointwork at the platform ends.

And whilst the M.D. did make a good show of it that night, I can assure you that when she was in the wrong mood she was hell to deal with!


Back to Moorgate services, a fairly high proportion of them were 4 car even in the high peak. For example in the evening peak in around 2003 there were 1710, 1714 and 1724, all Fast from St P to St Albans, and all 4 car. The 1724 was full and standing on departure, crush loaded from Farringdon, and at KXTL it would stop, the doors would open, no one would get off, no one would get on, the station staff had to dispatch it carefully to the driver (as that platform was so crowded), and it would leave late. Every night. When Moorgate closed that went immediately to 8 car, and was in the initial three services that went to 12 car 2 years later.
 

Snow1964

Established Member
Joined
7 Oct 2019
Messages
6,025
Location
West Wiltshire
From 1984 to about 1988 everything went to Moorgate (except the peak services into St Pancras).

There was a period before extra 319s were delivered (was originally only 46 ordered) when some 317s were retained for Moorgate workings (1989?)

Might be a year out with these dates as doing it from memory
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.

Top