After I praised Govia Thameslink Railway’s thorough preparation for the progressive introduction of the full Thameslink network (March issue), I was rightly taken to task for not having covered the severe impact on the Midland main line.
In addition to a major increase in the resource requirement for East Midlands Trains, with three additional HSTs drafted in to maintain the current overall service level, the Thameslink timetable has led to a significantly worse service across the route. The most obvious deterioration is for commuters to Bedford from the North. They now have to take a bus from Wellingborough, with a 50-minute journey time at the height of the peak, compared with around 20 minutes by rail today. In addition, anyone travelling from Kettering and beyond has to change at Wellingborough, with a 10-minute wait.
As we explained in the March issue (p58), many peak MML services are significantly slower. For example, the down ‘Master Cutler’ currently has a 2hr 3min journey time to Sheffield; the equivalent train in the new timetable leaves 10 minutes earlier, makes the same stops but gets into Sheffield three minutes later than now, an overall deceleration of 13 minutes. Not surprisingly, the…
