Thameslink times once London Bridge to Blackfriars is open: major disappointment!

[Bungaroosh]

Hope this is in the correct topic.

I'd been looking forward for a long time to the reinstatement of the Thameslink line between LBG and BFR. Just seen though that the time saving is going to negligible to the point of complete irrelevance.

https://traintimes.org.uk/Btn/Stp/16:35/2018-06-01/changes=0

I can only imagine there was some psychological trick going on, where the slow squeaky trundle up from East Croydon through Crystal Palace, Herne Hill etc. made the journey time seem longer than it actually is.

Still, the route is less hassle than bothering with the tube to get from (e.g.) Brighton to St Pancras, but I had been expecting at least an improvement in the journey time that would actually be noticeable and not just 7% faster.

Bah!

 

[TheDavibob]

Blackfriars to East Croydon has a journey time (I think) cut from 34 minutes to 20 (with an extra stop at London Bridge), i.e. a lot of time is saved in South London. Given the vast majority of Brighton to St Pancras is unaffected (directly) by the reinstatement, why would you expect such massive journey time savings? (Though to me, 14 minutes is quite a lot...)

 

[otomous]

Hope this is in the correct topic.

I'd been looking forward for a long time to the reinstatement of the Thameslink line between LBG and BFR. Just seen though that the time saving is going to negligible to the point of complete irrelevance.

https://traintimes.org.uk/Btn/Stp/16:35/2018-06-01/changes=0

I can only imagine there was some psychological trick going on, where the slow squeaky trundle up from East Croydon through Crystal Palace, Herne Hill etc. made the journey time seem longer than it actually is.

Still, the route is less hassle than bothering with the tube to get from (e.g.) Brighton to St Pancras, but I had been expecting at least an improvement in the journey time that would actually be noticeable and not just 7% faster.

Bah!

We’ll tell the DFT they shouldn’t have bothered

 

[jon0844]

The journey from Blackfriars to London Bridge used to be painful. Almost quicker to walk if the signaller is giving priority to other trains and you sit going nowhere for 10 minutes.

Then during the works, the diversion was even more painful (if more consistent) so when the new timetable is in, people are going to see and feel a HUGE improvement. I expect there's still some padding and what will happen is trains will arrive early, which means if that's your stop then all the better. And trains would be on time as there will be more time for people to board and alight.

14 minutes to me is pretty significant, especially given the short distance. Usually savings like that are over a much much longer distance.

 

[Bungaroosh]

The general time saving as far as I can see seems to be just 6 minutes: 1h 22m vs 1h 28m (on a journey from Brighton to St Pancras)

 

[TheDavibob]

The general time saving as far as I can see seems to be just 6 minutes: 1h 22m vs 1h 28m (on a journey from Brighton to St Pancras)

A good point, though it's worth noting that that's due to a hefty wait at Haywards Heath, so more BML problems than Thameslink ones. The return journey takes 1:18.

 

[edwin_m]

I think East Croydon to St Pancras was about 30min on the previous off-peak Thameslinks via London Bridge and it appears to be the same here. I suspect the extra time allowed for dodging other trains across the crossovers east of London Bridge has been replaced by extra time to make it more likely they will hit their slots on the Thameslink core.

 

[USBT]

I post on another forum for tourists visiting London, and so have been following the Thameslinks (and Southerns) between Gatwick and London (telling them there’s more than the GatEX).

GTW-STP (Brighton-Bedfords) on diversion is 53 minutes. That drops to 44 minutes from the May switchover. So that’s a 9 minute improvement.

If you’re only seeing a 6 minute improvement from Brighton there must be 3 minutes lost on the BML before Gatwick.

And yes, while crawling through Crystal Palace, Tulse Hill et al seems like an eternity, it’s only 8-9 minutes slower than the LBG route.