Thameslink Services/Timetable from May 20th 2018

[Hadders]

Stevenage used to 8 trains to London between 0700 and 0759 in the old timetable. In the improved new timetable this was reduced to 7.

According to NRE there will be 4 running tomorrow morning, which presumably represents the emergency timetable.

 

[OwenB]

According to NRE there will be 4 running tomorrow morning, which presumably represents the emergency timetable.

Communication not one of GTR's strong points.

 

[jon0844]

Today at WGC things have been shockingly good. A few issues very early in the morning but then pretty much everything has run. Two services (same working) have been cancelled due to a driver taken ill, but otherwise everything on the emergency timetable has run today.

 

[OwenB]

Is there an official emergency timetable on the Great Northern route now then? I must have completely missed that.

 

[jon0844]

Is there an official emergency timetable on the Great Northern route now then? I must have completely missed that.

There has been a special timetable both weekends, published the night before. There should also be one for the week published this evening.

Screens are no longer in disruption mode and there is a feeling, at last, of some normality.

But today is Sunday and there aren't anywhere near as many trains (or people - many of whom likely stayed at home. Something people tomorrow won't be able to do).

 

[OwenB]

Ah right okay thanks, I thought that was just because of engineering works across the weekends (whether you believe they're real or not). Any chance of them publishing tomorrow's at some point before I go to bed?

 

[Hadders]

The matter of emergency timetables and delay repay is an interesting one. As I understand it if an emergency timetable is introduced then that is used in delaybrepay calculations, rather than the normal timetable.

If GTR are introducing a genuine emergency timetable then that needs to be clearly referenced on the homepage of their website, NRE and posted prominently at stations, not buried deep in the detail of the railplan 2020 website

 

[gingerheid]

The Cambridge > Core service for tomorrow doesn't look terribly different to a little more than what they actually managed to operate on Friday, so hopefully this is the start of them considering whether they do actually have people able to run the services they'd like to run!

At the gaps some places have in their off-peak services though!

 

[Bishopstone]

At the gaps some places have in their off-peak services though!

EG nothing on the Up from Littlehaven between 09.59 and 11.59

Nothing on the Up from Arlesey between 11.04 and 13.34!

The Brighton-Cambridge service is reduced to a handful a day.

 

[Mutant Lemming]

Not to sound like I'm just on an anti-Thameslink whine again (even though I am) but on Friday morning there was a cancellation just prior to one of the biggest gaps in the peak for stopping services (so that the 22 min gap became 37) making it nigh on impossible to board and that is after all waiting passengers were entreated to recreate a scene from Monsieur Hulot's Holiday by having to make a last minute dash form platforms 1 to 3. In an effort to plug the gap this semi-fast service was now made all stations though no one on board was expecting it to stop at Hendon and Cricklewood and no one at those stations could physically board as the train was so rammed - just making everything that bit later. Am not shouting too loudly (nay nothing so emotive as previous terms like Pathetic and Shambles) as it just seems to bring out the droves of TOC apologists.

 

[TimG]

EG nothing on the Up from Littlehaven between 09.59 and 11.59

Nothing on the Up from Arlesey between 11.04 and 13.34!

The Brighton-Cambridge service is reduced to a handful a day.

Looks like 2 per hour thameslink from Brighton... spectacular failure given that there have been 4 for the past 4 years. Fewer high peak (leaving Brighton before 715 say) trains to London Bridge than there were two years ago? Shocking.

 

[Bishopstone]

Looks like 2 per hour thameslink from Brighton... spectacular failure given that there have been 4 for the past 4 years. Fewer high peak (leaving Brighton before 715 say) trains to London Bridge than there were two years ago? Shocking.

And whilst there are now very few Southern services from Brighton to London in the am peak, Thameslink tickets are not being accepted on the 4tph (during the peak) Gatwick Express.

 

[mugam4]

And whilst there are now very few Southern services from Brighton to London in the am peak, Thameslink tickets are not being accepted on the 4tph (during the peak) Gatwick Express.

This in particular is absolutely ridiculous. (Let's not have a discussion about ticket validity on GTR..) I cannot believe there is not ticket acceptance on Gatwick Express. I've understood the reasons for the previous issues, but this is purely unjustifiable. Some of the gaps in the revised Thameslink service Brighton-London are an hour long - I know there's worse on the GN side - and there have been some Southern cancellations in previous days as well. To not accept tickets on Gatwick Express is absolutely ridiculous.

 

[Hadders]

And whilst there are now very few Southern services from Brighton to London in the am peak, Thameslink tickets are not being accepted on the 4tph (during the peak) Gatwick Express.

Absolutely crazy. There is mutual acceptance everywhere else but not on the precious Gatwick Express.

 

[Bishopstone]

It doesn’t look like we have an emergency timetable for this week, after all. Just a wide selection of cancellations applied to Journey Planner the evening before, with strong warnings to check for more cancellations on the day.

So, exactly the same unsatisfactory situation as last week.

 

[JonathanH]

It doesn’t look like we have an emergency timetable for this week, after all. Just a wide selection of cancellations applied to Journey Planner the evening before, with strong warnings to check for more cancellations on the day.

So, exactly the same unsatisfactory situation as last week.

There are a handful of STP schedules in for odd things like Finsbury Park to Horsham and a Horsham to East Croydon train in the evening peak. No schedule shown for what happens after East Croydon. There is also one additional Kings Cross to Peterborough train just after midday.

Still mainly just huge gaps though. Put any two points into Realtimetrains and you seem to find a two hour gap at some point.

 

[Hadders]

It doesn’t look like we have an emergency timetable for this week, after all. Just a wide selection of cancellations applied to Journey Planner the evening before, with strong warnings to check for more cancellations on the day.

So, exactly the same unsatisfactory situation as last week.

I agree. Officially there's no announcement of an emergency timetable, so delay repay claims should be honoured in respect of the schedule.

I wonder how long it'll be before GTR rejects delay repay claims and says it was running an emergency timetable....

 

[Robert Symonds]

Absolutely crazy. There is mutual acceptance everywhere else but not on the precious Gatwick Express.

I think if it was me, I would get on the Gatwick Express and if they queried it I would ignore or say take me to court!Its a joke with the service being offered.

 

[frediculous]

The matter of emergency timetables and delay repay is an interesting one. As I understand it if an emergency timetable is introduced then that is used in delaybrepay calculations, rather than the normal timetable.

During the emergency timetable in the snow earlier in the year, I asked Southeastern as was told to base my delay repay claim on the normal timetable. I don't know if it is the same for GTR.

 

[BRX]

How many brighton line commuters realise that Gaywick Express is run by the same company and franchise as TL?
Maybe now is the time for them to find out.

 

[Bedpan]

Oops, sorry!

 

[Bedpan]

During the emergency timetable in the snow earlier in the year, I asked Southeastern as was told to base my delay repay claim on the normal timetable. I don't know if it is the same for GTR.

What, even when the emergency timetable hasn't been published so nobody knows what it is?

 

[embers25]

VTEC to the rescue this morning with 1G00 0450 Peterborough to Kings Cross calling at Biggleswade, Hitchin and Stevenage. Formed from 3G00 from Kings Cross which also seems to have stopped at all stations from Stevenage to Peterborough...was it in service? David Horne didn't confirm if TL only tickets are valid but you would assume so. Not sure why no Huntingdon at least on the return but I'm guessing it's the first VTEC to Biggleswade and Hitchin for a while and certainly between them!

 

[Bishopstone]

Why are so many early AM trains starting very late - 30-40 minutes - then skip-stopping into London? I noticed this last week, too.

I thought there was a GTR aspiration to avoid skip-stopping, but this had gone out of the window by 05.00 this morning.

 

[Mutant Lemming]

Another Thameslink Monday morning...…….

06:47 Sutton (London) via Wimbledon Delayed 1 Details for the 06:47
06:58 Orpington Delayed 1 Details for the 06:58
07:20 Sutton (London) via Wimbledon On time 1 Details

 

[Hitchincommute]

Woke up this morning at 0530 and checked app to see 0704 and 0720 shown as running Hitchin to London. Check again at 0630 and both cancelled. Gap from Hitchin to London now 0653 to 0741 where there used to be 0701, 0709, 0718, 0725, 0732 and 0736!

 

[OwenB]

I don't understand how you can remove a bunch of services and still have last minute cancellations. The 6.07 HAT-KGX was cancelled with maybe 5 minutes notice.

 

[Failed Unit]

I will be interested to see whether tomorrow's timetable includes more, or fewer, trains than the pre-May timetable. I realise it's difficult to measure, with various service groups having changed TOC and joined-up through the core.

I'm not familiar with the Northern situation, but I've read their PR material suggesting that even after the services cut from tomorrow until July, they will still be running more trains than pre-May. Will this be true of Thameslink, I wonder?

I don’t think any station in the peak had more trains than the previous timetable so any cancellation is worse than before.

WGC had 4 Tph to Kings Cross and 4 to Moorgate in the peak. That was supposed to stay the same but with a reduction in seats on the 700s.

Some stations such as Oakleigh park and New Southgate saw a reduced service even before the cancellations.

I can’t see GN trying the we are running more trains than before line.

One think that is interesting is if has totally taken the focus away from how uncomfortable the 700s are. People don’t care as long as the can fit on any train. But they all want the old timetable back. Don’t trust anything either GTR or DFT say and want GTR out.

 

[SaveECRewards]

VTEC to the rescue this morning with 1G00 0450 Peterborough to Kings Cross calling at Biggleswade, Hitchin and Stevenage. Formed from 3G00 from Kings Cross which also seems to have stopped at all stations from Stevenage to Peterborough...was it in service? David Horne didn't confirm if TL only tickets are valid but you would assume so. Not sure why no Huntingdon at least on the return but I'm guessing it's the first VTEC to Biggleswade and Hitchin for a while and certainly between them!

They ran it at least some times last week. A lot of VTEC staff live on the Great Northern route so one of the reasons for this service is to help them out. It makes sense to allow passengers to use it too, after all why not if they have the capacity and it'll mean some fare revenue for VTEC.

 

[sefton]

The matter of emergency timetables and delay repay is an interesting one. As I understand it if an emergency timetable is introduced then that is used in delaybrepay calculations, rather than the normal timetable.

If GTR are introducing a genuine emergency timetable then that needs to be clearly referenced on the homepage of their website, NRE and posted prominently at stations, not buried deep in the detail of the railplan 2020 website

Even when there has been a real emergency timetable I have submitted Delay Repay claims on the basis of the timetable that was published when I bought my ticket.

They have always been paid.