Great Western Coffee Shop

Heard on Radio 4 Today programme this am that enhanced services on Thameslink have been delayed by a year as the operator wants to introduce the enhanced service in stages.

It's already nearly 20 years late, one more won't make much difference.

Not all, just some (from the Southern railways area mainly, like East Grinstead to Cambridge.

The change is to lengthen the ramp up period from one year to two years, since announcements of a transition period a couple of years ago the 24 tph was only achieved gradually over the course of 2018.   Now it will be over a two year period.   They had already intended to have future Thameslink services running short into London Bridge, Blackfriars or Kings Cross.

No doubt it will be reported on in some areas as a kind of disaster, but it could also be seen as sensible to have a gradual approach while they get to grips with the core area ATO and the changeover areas, and the wider area subject to Thameslink traffic management.

Suggestions elsewhere that the delay is about the only positive response to all those timetabling proposals in the "Gibb Report", most of which have been ignored as far as I can see...

Paul

There are also some concerns over some of the existing infrastructure outside the Thamelink work bank needing work to ensure it is resilient .............. read as stuff that was de-scoped by DfT also some renewals work that should have been done over the last few years has been "deferred" so as not hamper the Thamelink possessions and blockades.

The intended 20 trains per hour is still going to be impressive, with new destination added to the through London map, Cambridge, Peterborough and add to that the awesome rebuild of London Bridge ............. if you have not visited the London Bridge you should do even not fully open it is amazing compared to what was there

I've purposely avoided going to London Bridge for several years so I can fully appreciate the scale of the works there when finished.  Sounds like a station rebuilt to cope with increasing passenger numbers for many years to come - just like the hugely impressive rebuild at Reading.

The Reading rebuild is small in comparison to that of London Bridge especially when BDU (Bermondsey Dive Under) Borough viaduct and all the relaying of the junctions South and North of London Bridge 

Although Reading is impressive compared to what it was