Thameslink: Bedford to Gatwick Airport and Brighton Q1 What do you think about these proposals noting that it is not possible to serve both London Bridge and London Blackfriars stations from Preston Park, Hassocks and Wivelsfield until 2018 when the Thameslink works are completed? In this response, all references to fast trains are to be read as referring to trains that run nonstop between Gatwick and East Croydon; the stopping pattern north of St Pancras is irrelevant. We disagree with the proposal as it stands. The timetable as set out seriously disadvantages: Travellers from north of London as regards GTR, both Thameslink travellers and Great Northern travellers, and also those changing to GTR from East Midlands Trains, East Coast, Hull Trains and Great Central. Travellers to/from Gatwick Airport requiring Central London stations in the City of London, Farringdon and St Pancras areas. Travellers from south London wishing to travel onward from Luton Airport and from St Pancras. In all cases this is because there is an effective reduction in the service frequency from 4 trains per hour to 2 trains per hour. This arises because services that are routed via Redhill (and stopping at intermediate stations) are around 15 minutes slower than those routed non-stop via the Quarry lines. For example: 12:34 departure from East Croydon: arrives Gatwick Airport 13:01; 12:49 departure: arrives at 13:04 11:40 departure from Gatwick Airport: arrives East Croydon 11:54; 11:39 departure (one minute earlier) arrives 12:06 We believe that the service to Blackfriars and stations north thereof on the Midland Main Line should depart from (arrive at) Gatwick Airport at approximately 15 minute intervals. We believe that significant passenger flows that are already disadvantaged by the slower journey time between Blackfriars and East Croydon are at risk if the service frequency is effectively reduced. In our submissions regarding the December 2014 timetable we observed that a 15 minute service frequency is very important for airport passengers as it provides comfort that a cancelled (or missed) train will not result in a delay of more than 15 minute and therefore should not result in a missed flight. This observation remains as valid now as before indeed even more valid, given current service performance. Even though it is reasonable to expect that GTR can make improvements between now and December, and the new timetable is itself designed to improve performance, it is unlikely that there will have been a sufficiently long sustained improvement for passengers to feel comfortable with a de-facto 30 minute interval service something that will encourage intending passengers to switch to alternate options such as the car and coach or to airports not on the GTR network such as Heathrow. 28 January 2015 P a g e 1 of 5
We note from discussions that the service pattern being developed is designed as part of the transition to the full Thameslink service pattern to operate from 2018 when there will be eight trains per hour from St Pancras to/from Gatwick Airport south of the Thames there being four fast and four semi-fast. The 2015 pattern envisages that Bedford will be served by two fast and two semi-fast services; services destined for the Great Northern (from 2018) will run only between London Bridge and their southern destinations Brighton (fast, ultimately from Cambridge) and Horsham (slow, ultimately from Peterborough). We believe that from 2018, the City of London and north thereof market would be best served by 6 fast trains (2 * Cambridge and 4 * Bedford) and 2 slower trains (2 * Peterborough). This will provide an approximately 10 minute fast interval service to London Bridge and stations to St Pancras, including Kent and South East London at London Bridge, Crossrail at Farringdon and East Coast, Midland Main Line and Kent High Speed at Pancras. With one additional change, Euston, Paddington and Liverpool Street can all be easily reached. Most London underground lines can also be connected with directly including destinations such as Canary Wharf of considerable importance to Gatwick. We therefore believe that this will be a very busy route and the above will offer a better service. In preparation for this, the December 2015 timetable should provide four fast services per hour. To achieve this, we believe 2 services per hour for Purley, Coulsdon South and Merstham should be transferred to the Reigate and Tonbridge hourly services. We note comments elsewhere about speeding up services from the South coast by omitting a Redhill stop, and whilst we believe it would be for the best if all 6 Thameslink services per hour ran fast, we can see how a stop for 2 per hour at Redhill would balance the total service package better. Q2 Do you support the new journey opportunities between Brighton, Gatwick Airport, Central London, Stevenage, Letchworth and Cambridge? See our response to Q1. We welcome the introduction of new journey opportunities from 2018, but believe the December 2015 2018 timetable results in a considerable reduction in service from the current pattern (this itself being a reduction on the 2014 service pattern). (Overnight Thameslink services north of London) Q3 Do you support faster journey times on overnight services for passengers travelling from stations between Bedford, Luton and London? We support the improvement in journey time. Q4 In order to achieve this, the existing calling pattern of overnight services will have to change and Radlett, Elstree & Borehamwood, Mill Hill Broadway, Hendon and Cricklewood will be served by a new Luton to London overnight service. Do you support this? We believe that the additional fast services overnight should also call at Elstree & Borehamwood. This station has a substantial traveller count and stopping here (in a similar 28 January 2015 P a g e 2 of 5
manner to the fast service pattern during previous Core blockades) would be useful. For the avoidance of doubt, we believe these services should also call at West Hampstead Thameslink. The all stations south-bound service should be scheduled to arrive at St Pancras with a relatively short wait for the service to Gatwick. This is an important mitigation for existing travellers from stations south of St Albans who already use these services to reach destinations south of Blackfriars. We suspect that there will be limited demand from Luton Airport at this time. Likewise, the northbound all stations service should depart relatively soon after the fast service. Q5 Do you support the integration of the Gatwick Express into the wider Brighton mainline? Yes, we believe that these steps are sensible as evening out the service gaps and making best use of capacity between East Croydon and Gatwick is of benefit to all users of the line, including Thameslink passengers. Brighton Main Line Q6 Do you support the above proposals? See our response to Q1. Mainline West Q7 Do you support our plans to reduce the journey time between London, Horsham, Chichester, Portsmouth Harbour, Southampton Central and Bognor Regis by omitting to call at Redhill? As set out in our response to Q1, whilst we believe that, in isolation, Thameslink services should not call at Redhill, in the interests of overall balance, we can accept that this might be necessary for 2 trains per hour. Q8 Do you support our plans to reduce the journey time between London, Hove, Worthing and Littlehampton by omitting to call at Preston Park and placing the calls at Portslade and Lancing into one train? Mainline East Q9 Do you support our plans to reduce the journey time between London, Lewes, Eastbourne and Hastings by placing the calls at Wivelsfield and Plumpton into one train? 28 January 2015 P a g e 3 of 5
Redhill Q10 (Do you support) the reduction of journey time between London, Reigate and Tonbridge and the change of London terminal from London Bridge to London Victoria? As set out in our response to Q1, we believe these services should call at Redhill, Merstham, Coulsdon South and Purley. Q11 (Do you support) the introduction of new off peak Thameslink services between Redhill, Merstham, Coulsdon South, Purley and London Blackfriars, City Thameslink, Farringdon and St Pancras International earlier than planned We disagree with this proposal for the reasons set out in in our response to Q1. Q12 (Do you support) removing the Redhill stop from London Victoria to Portsmouth Harbour, Southampton Central & Bognor Regis via Horsham services. As set out in our response to Q1, whilst we believe that, in isolation, Thameslink services should not call at Redhill, in the interests of overall balance, we can accept that this might be necessary for 2 trains per hour. Q13 What do you think of more trains calling additionally at Southease during the week noting that there will be a slight increase (2 minutes) in journey times to/from Seaford to accommodate the call? Q14 What do you think of Sunday trains calling at Three Oaks and Winchelsea alternately every two hours on Sundays noting that there will be a slight increase (2 minutes) in journey times to/from Ashford International to accommodate the calls? Q15 Do you support the new journey opportunities between Brighton, Gatwick Airport, Central London, Stevenage, Letchworth and Cambridge? Please refer to our answer to Q2. Further comments Q16 Do you have any further comments not covered in this consultation which you would like to raise for possible future consideration? Sevenoaks services We note that weekend services from Sevenoaks are to be extended to Kentish Town. We welcome this and believe that further journey opportunities could be created by extending 28 January 2015 P a g e 4 of 5
these services to Cricklewood in particular this would offer options for interchange at West Hampstead with the Jubilee line (and Metropolitan line with a second easy change) and with London Overground. On the same basis, Monday to Friday services should also be extended to West Hampstead and Cricklewood. Operating hours of the full off peak service As part of the introduction of this new timetable, we believe it is appropriate to consider extensions to the operating hours of the full off-peak service on Thameslink North, in particular as follows: The Monday to Saturday 15 minute interval service northbound both fast and slow after 22:00 from St Pancras. These services are often as crowded as at rush hour and any service perturbation can lead to significant over-crowding. Passengers in excess of seating is a regular occurrence. The Monday to Friday 15 minute interval southbound service for Mill Hill Broadway, Hendon, Cricklewood and Kentish Town. After the 18:26 departure from St Albans the intervals increase to around 30 minutes and this is a particularly early time to reduce service frequency with people travelling for evenings out, evening shift work and late office finishes. Consideration should be given to adding stops to some of the services at that time which stop at Radlett, Elstree and West Hampstead. 28 January 2015 P a g e 5 of 5