Midland Mainline timetable changes May 2018

[LowLevel]

I'm hearing that it's been confirmed that from May 2018 EMT services will no longer serve Bedford and Luton at peak times, but will continue to serve Luton Airport Parkway, and will serve Bedford and Luton off peak and at weekends.

Bedford and Luton will get GTR services only. Apparently there will be 7 of those per hour at peak times, 2 of which will call at Bedford, Luton, St Albans and St Pancras before going into the core. No EMT services into St Pancras from Bedford or Luton arriving between 0700 and 1000 or departing between 1600 and 1900.

EMT will be running a Bedford to Wellingborough coach service at peak times including a discount on season tickets for those using it - this is to cater for Bedford to East Midlands commuters.

Apparently the timetable will be fully published in February.

 

[Failed Unit]

I guess experience at reading shows it can be policed - but I wonder why the don’t stop to set down only to avoid the coach.

 

[A0wen]

I guess experience at reading shows it can be policed - but I wonder why the don’t stop to set down only to avoid the coach.

I'm guessing they've checked the volumes travelling from Kettering / Wellingborough to Bedford and found the numbers to be negligible. When travelling on southbound peak services to London from Wellingborough, I rarely see people alighting at Bedford or Luton, yet loads getting on. Retaining the link to the airport makes sense.

I assume this is a temporary measure until the Corby electrification is complete as everything that's been mentioned about that suggests there will be a half-hourly EMU to / from Corby calling Kettering, Wellingborough, Bedford, Luton, Luton Airport and St P.

 

[43074]

Press release here: https://www.eastmidlandstrains.co.u...s-announced-between-Bedford-Luton-and-London/

£7bn is being invested in transforming the Thameslink programme, alongside the biggest upgrade of the Midland Main Line since it was completed in 1870.

As part of the Government-sponsored Thameslink programme, a brand new timetable will be introduced in May 2018. This represents one of the biggest timetable recasts in recent railway history. It will provide many extra peak-time seats, improved journey times and better connections on GTR (Govia Thameslink) services from Bedford to Farringdon, for Crossrail when it opens, as well as to London Bridge and further south.

Work has also started on the transformation of the Midland Main Line which will deliver the biggest upgrade of this line in almost 150 years, bringing better journeys for customers and representing an investment of over £1billion. The Department for Transport has proposed in its consultation on the next East Midlands franchise that this extra capacity is used to deliver more seats on fast, direct services between Corby, Kettering, Wellingborough, Bedford, Luton, Luton Airport Parkway and London St Pancras with longer, quieter, comfortable and more efficient trains.

Detailed planning has been taking place over several months across the rail industry to ensure the new Thameslink timetable can be successfully introduced. East Midlands Trains and GTR have therefore today (11 December 2017) announced some changes needed to the May 2018 East Midlands Trains timetable due to the increased number of GTR trains needing to operate on the shared network between Bedford and London. These changes will be in place until the completion of the Midland Main Line upgrade programme in 2020.

From the timetable change on 20 May 2018 until the completion of the Midland Main Line Upgrade in 2020, East Midlands Trains peak-time services will no longer call at Bedford or Luton*. Direct East Midlands Trains rail services will continue to run from Leicestershire and Northamptonshire to London, and will continue to call at Luton Airport Parkway throughout the day. Off-peak and weekend services will continue to call at Bedford and Luton.

Seven GTR services per hour will continue to run between Bedford, Luton and London during the three-hour morning and evening peaks. To ensure that passengers from Bedford continue to benefit from faster trains, two of these GTR trains each hour will become fast services calling only at Bedford, Luton, St Albans and London St Pancras, with a journey time of around 45 minutes. From May 2018, many GTR trains will be longer with over 2,100 more seats at Bedford and over 3,400 at Luton in the morning peak.

In addition to the new GTR fast services and as part of its longer term plans, East Midlands Trains is working with the Department for Transport to explore the feasibility of securing extra trains which could allow the future introduction of a dedicated peak-time service for Bedford customers.

Customers using East Midlands Trains services to commute from Leicestershire and Northamptonshire to Bedford during peak hours will be provided with an alternative, fully accessible coach service that will connect with rail services at Wellingborough. This will run hourly between Wellingborough and Bedford and any monthly or annual season ticket holders using the replacement coach service will be eligible for a 50% discount on their season ticket.
...
A copy of the new timetable will be available during February 2018.

 

[43074]

I guess experience at reading shows it can be policed - but I wonder why the don’t stop to set down only to avoid the coach.

I'd assume it's something to do with platforming at Bedford meaning the calls cannot be accommodated at all. It also has a lengthy time penalty compared to not stopping, and if the paths are less good further South it's an easy way of compensating for this. This seems to be the issue because the press release above suggests they could introduce a ''dedicated peak time service for Bedford customers'' with additional rolling stock, i.e. the difficulty is accessing the station with paths from the North

 

[Failed Unit]

I'd assume it's something to do with platforming at Bedford meaning the calls cannot be accommodated at all. It also has a lengthy time penalty compared to not stopping, and if the paths are less good further South it's an easy way of compensating for this. This seems to be the issue because the press release above suggests they could introduce a ''dedicated peak time service for Bedford customers'' with additional rolling stock, i.e. the difficulty is accessing the station with paths from the North

Very true. 3-4 minutes is a long time on a crowded railway.

 

[A0wen]

I'd assume it's something to do with platforming at Bedford meaning the calls cannot be accommodated at all. It also has a lengthy time penalty compared to not stopping, and if the paths are less good further South it's an easy way of compensating for this. This seems to be the issue because the press release above suggests they could introduce a ''dedicated peak time service for Bedford customers'' with additional rolling stock, i.e. the difficulty is accessing the station with paths from the North

The platforming at Bedford station is a bit odd. Only the northbound fast has a platform on it, the southbound doesn't and southbound trains calling at Bedford have to slew over to the slows on the north side of Bedford to call. They then have to run on the slows for a couple of miles southbound before passing over to the fasts.

 

[38Cto15E]

I am continually reading that the MML is undergoing its biggest upgrade since 1870, surely the St Pancras-Bedford electrification along with the replacement of all the old signalboxes by West Hampstead and later Leicester was bigger?

 

[ChiefPlanner]

I am continually reading that the MML is undergoing its biggest upgrade since 1870, surely the St Pancras-Bedford electrification along with the replacement of all the old signalboxes by West Hampstead and later Leicester was bigger?

Along perhaps with the 4 tracking St Albans to Elstree in 1892 , and the missed opportunity for the LMS electrification plan in the mid to late 1930's from St Pancras to Harpenden.

 

[TheBigD]

Deleted

 

[Starmill]

I assume not stopping is more to do with making space for the 8 Thameslink services per hour to Bedford (although I see that there will now only be 7) than anything to do with nobody travelling between Wellingborough and Bedford. Having to run a bus between those stations will probably not be very popular - and take about 3 times longer than the train.

 

[30907]

there was a Bedford to Kettering DMU for a couple of years but I'm pretty sure that this was discontinued when the Corby service was withdrawn...

I wondered at the time whether the Marston Vale unit could be extended to Wellingborough - but these days it's not so easy: apart from pathing, it would be a different franchise (not to mention unreliable units or 60mph 230s - so I won't)

 

[A0wen]

I wondered at the time whether the Marston Vale unit could be extended to Wellingborough - but these days it's not so easy: apart from pathing, it would be a different franchise (not to mention unreliable units or 60mph 230s - so I won't)

Try getting it through Bedford. Usually the platforms on the east side of the station are occupied by EMUs waiting to leave.

I assume the slows between Bedford amd Kettering will be closed for dualling / electrification, which would make anything other than 90mph DMUs a pain to schedule.

 

[Vectron]

The reason/excuse for not stopping northbound EMT trains in the evening peak is over crowding. Northbound services use platform 4 at Bedford which cannot be used by Thameslink services so platform availability is not an issue.

Edit: removed out-of-date comment about southbound morning services.

 

[louis97]

The reason/excuse for not stopping northbound EMT trains in the evening peak is over crowding. Northbound services use platform 4 at Bedford which cannot be used by Thameslink services so platform availability is not an issue. There haven't been any southbound EMT trains in the morning peak (there is currently a gap between the 06.37 and 09.17 trains) for a few years. This is probably a platform availability constraint although overcrowding would no doubt be a problem as well.

Bedford currently has 4 EMT trains to London in that time frame. 0709, 0755, 0829 and 0905.

 

[Starmill]

There haven't been any southbound EMT trains in the morning peak (there is currently a gap between the 06.37 and 09.17 trains) for a few years.

Where did you get that idea?

If you search for Bedford to London St Pancras services, the following are operated by East Midlands Trains:

0538
0630
0709
0755
0829
0905
0917

From my understanding as these are the fastest services most Bedford to London commuters use them.

 

[43074]

I assume not stopping is more to do with making space for the 8 Thameslink services per hour to Bedford (although I see that there will now only be 7) than anything to do with nobody travelling between Wellingborough and Bedford. Having to run a bus between those stations will probably not be very popular - and take about 3 times longer than the train.

That looks like an increase by 1 because the draft timetables (for TL) showed 2tph starting from Flitwick, 2tph from Bedford all stations to St Albans then fast to London and 4tph semifast from Bedford calling Flitwick or Leagrave then Luton, Harpenden and St Albans, making 6tph from Bedford. Apparently the Flitwick services are formed from Cauldwell Depot, and accessing Bedford station from the depot requires a reversal, which there is insufficient capacity to do in the new timetable, so to provide the capacity further South they start there rather than from Bedford.

 

[MadCommuter]

Can the bay at Bedford still not access the MML? I always thought this was a missed opportunity when it was put in.

I'm going back years, but I'm sure the bay could hold a 4 car unit, but would this be any good in the days of longer trains now?

Thr Bay could access the line through the wash, could that connect back to the MML?

Ultimately the station needs a rebuild. Whatever happened to that?

 

[A0wen]

The reason/excuse for not stopping northbound EMT trains in the evening peak is over crowding. Northbound services use platform 4 at Bedford which cannot be used by Thameslink services so platform availability is not an issue. There haven't been any southbound EMT trains in the morning peak (there is currently a gap between the 06.37 and 09.17 trains) for a few years. This is probably a platform availability constraint although overcrowding would no doubt be a problem as well.

Quite - if you get the 17.00 or 17.30 off St P they pretty much empty out a Bedford having been standing room only until then.

 

[70014IronDuke]

Can the bay at Bedford still not access the MML? I always thought this was a missed opportunity when it was put in.

I'm going back years, but I'm sure the bay could hold a 4 car unit, but would this be any good in the days of longer trains now?

Thr Bay could access the line through the wash, could that connect back to the MML?

Ultimately the station needs a rebuild. Whatever happened to that?

Bedford has been a series of half-done jobs ever since they built the avoiding fast lines and declined to put platforms on them at the time. I'm sure posters on Ye Olde Rail Forume in 1875 (or whenever) posted threads like: "The Midland Railway will regret this farthing-pinching attitude. They will have to rebuild the station eventually, at greater cost." and "Bedford will suffer economically as the railway operator will not want to stop their fast expresses hauled by their magnificent Johnson 4-2-0s there because of the time penalty."

The rebuild of 1980 was yet another missed opportunity.

But aside from a total rebuild, one possibility would be to build a station to the north - Bedford North Parkway or OAkley or Milton Earnest and terminate every second Thameslink train there - thus freeing up platform space at Bedford - and providing a new service a few miles north, helping to cut car traffic from there into the current station.

 

[DarloRich]

I'm hearing that it's been confirmed that from May 2018 EMT services will no longer serve Bedford and Luton at peak times, but will continue to serve Luton Airport Parkway, and will serve Bedford and Luton off peak and at weekends.

Bedford and Luton will get GTR services only. Apparently there will be 7 of those per hour at peak times, 2 of which will call at Bedford, Luton, St Albans and St Pancras before going into the core. No EMT services into St Pancras from Bedford or Luton arriving between 0700 and 1000 or departing between 1600 and 1900.

EMT will be running a Bedford to Wellingborough coach service at peak times including a discount on season tickets for those using it - this is to cater for Bedford to East Midlands commuters.

Apparently the timetable will be fully published in February.

Like Milton Keynes - that seems to work, just.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Like Milton Keynes - that seems to work, just.

To me it would make sense for all IC trains to call at Bedford but only for use to/from the north for connections from Thameslink (and none to call south of there). Thameslink provides more than enough commuter capacity, and ramming IC trains full for the first half hour makes no sense - the 4/5 car units are probably more than sufficient if there weren't commuters on them.

This would also make sense for Reading, but the problem there is providing enough capacity on the regional services, which is not a problem at Bedford with all those 12 car EMUs.

OTOH, the platform issues at Bedford would seem to cause problems there - I wasn't aware of those. So they are probably stuck with two changes once the Corby EMUs start, or a double back to Luton Airport Parkway (which one hopes will be permitted with an easement of some kind, which probably won't be easy to abuse due to Luton Airport Parkway having barriers).

 

[A0wen]

To me it would make sense for all IC trains to call at Bedford but only for use to/from the north for connections from Thameslink (and none to call south of there). Thameslink provides more than enough commuter capacity, and ramming IC trains full for the first half hour makes no sense - the 4/5 car units are probably more than sufficient if there weren't commuters on them.

This would also make sense for Reading, but the problem there is providing enough capacity on the regional services, which is not a problem at Bedford with all those 12 car EMUs.

OTOH, the platform issues at Bedford would seem to cause problems there - I wasn't aware of those. So they are probably stuck with two changes once the Corby EMUs start, or a double back to Luton Airport Parkway (which one hopes will be permitted with an easement of some kind, which probably won't be easy to abuse due to Luton Airport Parkway having barriers).

I don't agree - the only logical stopping point on the MML south of Wellingborough is Luton Airport Parkway - the clue being in the second word of the station name.

The problem is that then you have no connectivity between Kettering / Wellingborough and Bedford - ultimately all of this is a hangover from the MML electrification which was curtailed at Bedford back in the late 70s / early 80s. What they *should* have done back then was electrify through to Kettering and run a fast 'outer' suburban service calling Luton, Bedford, Wellingborough, Kettering and remove all Inter City stops south of Kettering.

Fortunately the flows between Bedford and Wellingborough aren't significant so the temporary removal of direct services between them won't be too much of a problem. And they will be reinstated when the Corby electrification is sorted and there's a half-hourly service running on there.

Not sure I understand this point though:> "So they are probably stuck with two changes once the Corby EMUs start, or a double back to Luton Airport Parkway" Who will have "two changes" ? Once the Corby EMUs start long-distance EMT services will be stopping at Kettering, possibly Wellingborough and possibly Luton Airport Parkway - but until the timetable appears for that, it's all guesswork.

 

[MadCommuter]

one possibility would be to build a station to the north - Bedford North Parkway or OAkley or Milton Earnest and terminate every second Thameslink train there - thus freeing up platform space at Bedford - and providing a new service a few miles north, helping to cut car traffic from there into the current station.

Best idea I've read yet. No doubt this would create traffic issues in those villages but with some more infrastructure it would help solve problems around the double mini roundabouts at Shakespeare Road (if they are still there?)

 

[Bletchleyite]

Not sure I understand this point though:> "So they are probably stuck with two changes once the Corby EMUs start, or a double back to Luton Airport Parkway" Who will have "two changes" ? Once the Corby EMUs start long-distance EMT services will be stopping at Kettering, possibly Wellingborough and possibly Luton Airport Parkway - but until the timetable appears for that, it's all guesswork.

Anyone wanting to travel from a Thameslink station north of Luton Airport Parkway to somewhere north of there, like Sheffield.

It'd be comparable to VT stopping serving MKC, moving all the stops to Watford Jn, with connections only available via LM at Rugby (at which not all VTs stop).

To me, logic is that the ICs should all stop at the outermost suburban station for quality connections.

 

[Vectron]

Where did you get that idea?

If you search for Bedford to London St Pancras services, the following are operated by East Midlands Trains:

0538
0630
0709
0755
0829
0905
0917

From my understanding as these are the fastest services most Bedford to London commuters use them.

You're right. I stopped commuting from from Bedford a few years ago and haven't kept up with the peak hour service changes. I've edited my post accordingly.

 

[A0wen]

Anyone wanting to travel from a Thameslink station north of Luton Airport Parkway to somewhere north of there, like Sheffield.

It'd be comparable to VT stopping serving MKC, moving all the stops to Watford Jn, with connections only available via LM at Rugby (at which not all VTs stop).

To me, logic is that the ICs should all stop at the outermost suburban station for quality connections.

But no different to the situation on the ECML where from Hitchin if you want to go north you either have to go via Stevenage or Peterborough.

MKC and Bedford aren't really comparable. Bedford's a town of 90,000, Milton Keynes is about 2.5 times that.

The problem is the MML has 5 stations in its first 70 or so miles which have connection onto what were Inter City services - Kettering, Wellingborough, Bedford and the two Lutons.

In reality only two of them can actually justify it moving forward - Luton Airport - for the connectivity to the airport and Kettering - because it will be the interchange as the northern point of 'outer suburban' electric services and to provide northbound connectivity from Kettering to Harborough and Leicester.

And people travelling from 'north Thameslink stations' to Sheffield have 2 changes most of the time anyway, because it's only the Nottingham services which regularly stop south of Leicester - there are a couple in the peaks which are to / from Sheffield, but they're the exception.

 

[BelleIsle]

But aside from a total rebuild, one possibility would be to build a station to the north - Bedford North Parkway or OAkley or Milton Earnest and terminate every second Thameslink train there - thus freeing up platform space at Bedford - and providing a new service a few miles north, helping to cut car traffic from there into the current station.

This was discussed when John Prescott was Environment Secretary as part of a plan to put new housing in the South East. Relieving Bedford station was a bonus. In addition to usual local opposition such schemes generate, the developers (who were going to fund it) wanted Thameslink frequencies but EMT timings and this was not possible. With electrification now happening it could be a starter again.

What they really need to do is get the new Beford station scheme back up and running. Last I heard it was in development hell with all sorts of excuses cited. Everything from being coupled to East West Rail and too much risk over its platforms to Bedford Council not being willing to fund the new walking route to the town centre and station realm improvements. If anyone knows what is going on I would love to know.

 

[A0wen]

the developers (who were going to fund it) wanted Thameslink frequencies but EMT timings and this was not possible. With electrification now happening it could be a starter again.

Electrification will make precisely no difference to that. EMT have a limited number of paths on the MML south of Bedford so will only ever stop 2 TPH there. Thameslink on the other hand run 7 or 8 BUT will have a stopping pattern which slows the journey down - at the very least TL will be looking to stop at Flitwick both Lutons and probably Harpenden and St Albans en route to London.

Expecting EMT timings with TL frequency is barking at the moon unless a LOT of other people further down the line from Bedford suffer.

 

[voyager1]

To me it would make sense for all IC trains to call at Bedford but only for use to/from the north for connections from Thameslink (and none to call south of there). Thameslink provides more than enough commuter capacity, and ramming IC trains full for the first half hour makes no sense - the 4/5 car units are probably more than sufficient if there weren't commuters on them.

The problem here is that there's a big difference in the journey times to Luton and Bedford on East Midlands Trains compared with Thameslink. Not only that but the East Midlands Trains are much more reliable as they start from St Pancras where Thameslink start in Brighton and have to deal with the congestion of passing through Central London.

I travel from Luton to London St Pancras on Thameslink to get a seat in the morning. In the mornings going south bound, Thameslink is very reliable and for me its a more comfortable journey compared with having to stand on an East Midlands train that has already called at Bedford.

Coming home in the evenings, Thameslink is very crowded with St Albans and Harpenden bound passengers; standing room only as I get on at St Pancras. Not only that but they can be hit and miss. I much rather go upstairs to catch an East Midlands train because I almost know for certain the train I want will be there waiting for me. It gets me into Luton in 22 minutes. The quickest Thameslink is 30 minutes but given the fact its late quite a lot of the time, its more than just an 8 minute increase in journey time - something that is very significant when trying to connect on to a bus service. Not only that but most of the northbound Thameslinks call at Platform 3 which means having to go up the narrow stairs with lots of other passengers when East Midlands call at Platform 5 - which is straight out into the bus interchange.

For someone going to/from Bedford, most Thameslink trains take an hour where East Midlands only takes 38 minutes. That is one hell of a difference. For people who work a long day, 40 minutes additional travelling time per day is a long time.