Thameslink to curtail some trains from south east London and Kent on permanent basis

This winter’s timetable changes for rail services across the country are starting to become apparent and one change is that many Thameslink services to Luton Airport will no longer run beyond Kentish Town.

That applies to services from Rainham running via north Kent and through the London boroughs of Bexley, Greenwich and Lewisham.

It removes a direct link to stations such as West Hampstead, St Albans and Luton Airport during off-peak periods and all day on Saturdays.

The apparent changes are in order to aid reliability along the rest of the line which has generally been poor ever since services commenced.

Any issues to the north of London have often seen all trains stop running along the line through Greenwich towards Kent, which severs direct connections from Abbey Wood Elizabeth line to fast growing areas across north Kent.

Direct Southeastern services from the Abbey Wood interchange to north Kent only run as far as Dartford requiring a change for onward travel. That’s one key reason Thameslink’s forthcoming summer rail cuts hit so hard. While they state it’s “only” two per cent of services being removed, in those fast growing areas it’s half of all trains running directly to interchange with the Elizabeth line at Abbey Wood.

Win some, lose some

So it’s a case of swings and roundabouts with fewer trains to destinations north of Kentish Town but a more reliable service elsewhere. Whether this means some of the stations Thameslink now skips will see trains stopping remains to be seen, though it seems unlikely.

Currently Thameslink does not call at Erith, Belvedere and Woolwich Dockyard. Last year Thameslink stated they may be able to stop at one of the three but then later stated no additional stops were possible. The main issue is permitting sufficient timetable allowance to enter the central London core section between London Bridge and St Pancras.

Despite skipping three stations Thameslink is no faster along the line than Southeastern Metro services which do call at all three.

In time this may result in even more calls to remove Thameslink from the line as all three stops which are currently skipped are in major housing hotspots. More than 700 homes have recently – or are currently – being built near Woolwich Dockyard station.

Greenwich Council propose a major estate regeneration of Woolwich Dockyards estates providing 1,800 homes.

In Belvedere more than 2,000 homes are proposed or approved, while Erith sees hundreds more. Both could see more than 10,000 new homes in total. That level of growth alongside trains skipping stops would become increasingly untenable.

With that in mind a Southeastern replacement service that would stop at all stops and not require timetable padding to reach the central London Thameslink core become a more appealing prospect.