Supriya Ghosh (Editor)

Thameslink and Great Northern

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Other region(s)
  
Norfolk, Surrey, Kent

Stations operated
  
77

Parent company
  
Govia Thameslink Railway

Stations called at
  
129 (approx)

Route km operated
  
778.9

Thameslink and Great Northern assetsgoaheadbuscommediacmspagemedia1222GN

Franchise(s)
  
Part of Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern 14 Sep 2014 - 2021

Main region(s)
  
London, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire, Sussex

Thameslink and Great Northern are the brand names used by the Govia Thameslink Railway train operating company on the Thameslink and Great Northern routes of the Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern franchise, previously operated by First Capital Connect.

Contents

History

Thameslink and Great Northern services were merged into one franchise in 2006 due to the Thameslink Programme. In 2012, it was announced that services of First Capital Connect, Southern (with Gatwick Express) and some Southeastern routes would be merged into a single franchise for the expanding Thameslink network. The Invitation to Tender was to have been issued in October 2012, with the successful bidder announced in Spring 2013 and TSGN originally due to start in September 2013. However, due to the collapse of the InterCity West Coast re-franchising process, all franchising competitions were frozen until January 2013. In January 2013 the government announced that it would extend the contract until March 2014, intending to negotiate with FirstGroup to operate the franchise on a management contract for up to two years.

In March 2013 the Secretary of State for Transport announced that the franchise would again be extended, until 13 September 2014, and that the future franchise would be a management-style contract due to the level of investment and change on the route. In September 2013 a revised invitation to tender was issued. Govia Thameslink Railway was awarded the franchise on 23 May 2014.

On 14 September 2014, Thameslink and Great Northern took over from First Capital Connect, serving 122 stations and operating a fleet of 226 trains. In December 2014, full control was taken of the Sevenoaks Thameslink service (this service was previously jointly operated with Southeastern).

On 21 January 2016 Transport for London announced that it intends to take over the London suburban parts of the franchise in 2021, to form a new suburban metro service.

Services

As of 13 December 2015, the current routes operated off-peak Monday to Friday are with frequencies measured in trains per hour:

Peak-time-only services on Thameslink routes include:

  • Bedford - Beckenham Junction (4 tpd)
  • Bedford - Elephant & Castle (2 tpd)
  • Bedford - Orpington (1 tpd)
  • Bedford - Sevenoaks (4 tpd)
  • Bedford - Sutton via Mitcham Junction (4 tpd)
  • Bedford - Sutton via Wimbledon (4 tpd)
  • Luton - Bromley South via Catford (1 tpd)
  • Luton - Sevenoaks (8 tpd)
  • Selhurst - Luton (1 tpd)
  • Selhurst - Bedford (1tpd)
  • St Albans City - Bromley South (1 tpd)
  • St Albans City - Sevenoaks (6 tpd)
  • West Hampstead Thameslink - Orpington (1 tpd)

    • Great Northern network

    Peak-time-only services on Great Northern routes include:

  • London Kings Cross - Ely (5 tpd)
  • London Kings Cross - Huntingdon (2 tpd)
  • London Kings Cross - Royston (10 tpd)
  • London Moorgate - Hitchin via Hertford North (2 tpd)
  • London Moorgate - Gordon Hill (10 tpd)
  • London Moorgate - Stevenage via Hertford North (12 tpd)

    • Current fleet

    All Thameslink rolling stock is electrically powered dual-voltage units using 25 kV AC overhead power north of Farringdon and 750 V DC third rail to the south.[3]

    Great Northern

    1: ^ The Northern City Line between Moorgate and Drayton Park is also electrified at 750V DC using third rail.

    Future rolling stock

    In 2011 the consortium Cross London Trains Ltd. consisting of Siemens Project Ventures, 3i Infrastructure plc and Innisfree Ltd was announced as preferred bidder with Siemens to manufacture and maintain the rolling stock to run on the Thameslink routes from 2016. This was a politically controversial decision as the competing bidder Bombardier Transportation had a train factory in the UK. Both the procurement process and final close of contract were significantly delayed, resulting in the expected first delivery date moving from 2012 to 2016. The trains are known as Class 700s and the £1.6 billion contract to manufacture and provide service depots for the trains was finalised in mid 2013. A fleet of 115 8- and 12-car trains are expected to enter service between 2016 and 2018. Associated rolling stock depots are being built at Hornsey and Three Bridges.

    Because of the delay in procuring the Class 700 trains, 29 Class 387 trains were ordered for the Thameslink route, facilitating the release of existing Class 319 trains to newly electrified routes. Delivery was completed in 2014 and the trains entered service later that year. The order includes provision for an extra 140 vehicles. It was originally planned that once the Class 700s begin entering service, the Class 387s would be transferred to Great Western Railway for use on routes in the Thames Valley. However a change of plans saw GWR order an entirely new fleet of Class 387s with the ex-Thameslink examples expected to be cascaded to the Great Northern routes upon delivery of the Class 700s. This will allow Great Northern to operate fast services at up to 110 mph, something which the old fleet was incapable of.

    In addition to the introduction of the new Class 700 units, GTR also plan to procure a further 25 new 6-car trains for use on Great Northern suburban services that originate from London Moorgate, replacing the 40-year-old Class 313 trains. In December 2015 it was announced that Siemens would be providing these new trains as a follow-on to the Class 700 order.

    Franchise commitments

    This franchise is different from other franchises let since privatisation in 1996. Now the operator, in this case Govia, gives all revenue to the government, rather than paying set premiums. The Department for Transport will pay Govia, totalling around £8.9bn over the franchise period of seven years, from the expected revenues of £12.4bn. With this Govia expects to make a 3% profit, and the risks on costs will be Govia's, while the DfT will profit or lose from fluctuations in revenue.

    Govia plans to invest £50m in all 239 stations it will manage. It plans to:

  • Enhance all 239 stations including improving access, replace electronic information screens and working with local authorities on the redevelopment of St Albans and Luton stations.
  • Increase staffing hours at many stations, with the 100 busiest stations staffed from first to last train, like London Overground stations.
  • Extension of 'the key' smartcard which Southern has been introducing.
  • Provide 104 stations with free wifi.
  • £1.5m on station access improvements including increased cycle storage and electrical vehicle charging points.

    • Other plans include:

  • Half-hourly King's Lynn to London services
  • Direct Peterborough, Cambridge, Welwyn Garden City and Finsbury Park to Tattenham Corner, Caterham, Horsham services.
  • Increasing Great Northern suburban services to four trains per hour via Enfield Chase and New Barnet
  • Great Northern suburban services to run to Moorgate at weekends and on weekday evenings
  • 50% increase in capacity from Uckfield to London in the peaks.
  • Doubling overnight Thameslink services
  • Sevenoaks Thameslink services to run on Saturdays
  • Working to extend Oyster to Epsom, Gatwick Airport, Luton Airport Parkway, Welwyn Garden City and Hertford North
  • Class 387 Electrostars for King's Lynn express services, releasing Class 317s, 321s and some Class 365s for newly electrified routes elsewhere.
  • Creating an Alliance arrangement with Network Rail in 2016, like South West Trains.

    • Performance

    In February 2015, Thameslink and Great Northern came at the bottom of Which? magazine's Best and worst UK train companies customer survey, scoring a customer satisfaction score of 43%. Thameslink and Great Northern was also scored 2/5 stars in each of the specific categories covered by the survey (including Reliability, Punctuality and Cleanliness of toilets) - which is the worst performance of any UK train operator.

    Passenger numbers on Govia Thameslink Railway (which also includes Southern and Gatwick Express) have risen from 262 million annually in 2010/11 to 327 million annually in 2015/16.

    References

    Thameslink and Great Northern Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA


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