Thameslink could push further rail cuts this autumn after government take control
Thameslink rail services could see further cuts this autumn following services being halved soon for six weeks over the summer holiday on the Greenwich line.
The rail company was recently taken under direct government control with one of the first moves then seen being a halving of services for six weeks from Rainham to Luton via major areas of new housing in north Kent and the Greenwich line.
Thameslink provide the only direct services from fast growing stations in north Kent to the Elizabeth line at Abbey Wood.
That could again be repeated in October during the half-term break. Because apparently leisure travel isn’t welcome despite being the biggest growth area.
PR drive
Thameslink have been quick with PR stating service cuts are a fraction of the thousands of trains they run weekly – though that disguises than it’s a 50 per cent cut on this specific line.
Those cuts mean just one train per hour running directly from north Kent stations to interchange with the Elizabeth line. In addition trains through fast growing parts of inner London such as Deptford – with many new homes recently built – will see gaps of 30 minutes.
This probably isn’t what many expected when Labour waved the banner of taking over train services. But then what use is nationalisation if it only means cuts from government?
It also rides roughshod over this government’s aim of increasing new housing if the first thing they do upon taking over rail services serving new housing is to cut trains.
Thameslink claim the cuts will be reinvested into other services but there’s zero sign of that along the Greenwich line.
Just today I used it and many thousands of new homes are apparent at numerous stations along the route from Plumstead to Woolwich to Greenwich. Thameslink either don’t know or don’t care about capturing that potential customer base under the control of a frankly inept Department for Transport.
And as for the trains and stations? Same old story. Almost every station – shared with Southeastern – is left unstaffed so avoiding paying is a doddle. Staff on board? Don’t be silly.
If you wanted to run a railway badly you couldn’t do better than this.
This is nuts. It’d make some sort of sense if alternative Southeastern services were adequate but they aren’t so the resulting timetable is one train an hour running directly to the Lizzie line. Then further towards central London it’s half an hour between trains. This is semi rural levels of service rather than densely populated towns in the middle of London. What are DaFT playing at? Labour are bafflingly bad in government.
Hi
Taken under Govt control
100% disaster starts now
That’s the reason they were run by private companies for many years
British Rail was underfunded overstaffed and abysmal when compared to Europe
When every decision is a political one not a business one it’s Communism
If the franchises were still in place, this would have happened.
Commuter services rely, and have always relied on, Government subsidy. Whether nationalised or not. Subsidy was cut during the pandemic, and isn’t being reinstated at anywhere near the rate to match the rise in rail use.
So, whether railways are privatised or not, DfT and HM Treasury should be the target of your ire.
Just as an aside, the railway infrastructure has been nationalised for 70 of the last 78 years.
Oh, and other privatisation thoughts.
There were zero, none, nada, zilch compliant bids the last time the Southeastern franchise was tendered. That’s how attractive running railways is to the private sector.
You must have forgotten the privatised Thameslink year-long disaster when the new timetable after the completion of the route rebuild including Blackfriars, London Bridge and the ECML link was complete.
Taking on the ECML franchise destroyed Sea Containers.
Completely illogical – and completely opposite to what we were promised as benefits of nationalised rail by Labour. I’m really dissatisfied with our MPs who are far too silent on this.
And worth noting that during this unpleasant heat wave, only the Thameslink trains on this route have air conditioning. Southeastern trains can be unbearably hot.
If the franchises were still in place, this would have happened.
Commuter services rely, and have always relied on, Government subsidy. Whether nationalised or not. Subsidy was cut during the pandemic, and isn’t being reinstated at anywhere near the rate to match the rise in rail use.
So, whether railways are privatised or not, DfT and HM Treasury should be the target of your ire.
Just as an aside, the railway infrastructure has been nationalised for 70 of the last 78 years.
So lobbying to reverse these cuts from Labour local MPs and Labour Greenwich Council has come to nought ?
You highlight this is a fifty per cent cut on a specific line that services huge , growing parts of SE London as well as one of London’s four World Heritage Sites – Greenwich Maritime – whose visitor numbers are increasing.
Had assumed that local Labour had some influence on a Labour Treasury and Dept for Transport.
Clearly not.
Perhaps Thameslink should axe the Rainham service and to operate as far as Dartford or Gravesend. Plus will Thameslink could operate to Caterham, Tattenham Corner and Epsom Downs or will Southern continue to operate those services from London Bridge.
Your mooted routes involve the northerly East Croydon approaches. It was capacity constraints there – and absolutely nothing else, all the public justifications were just spin – that led to the Rainham route being added in at the very last moment.
I think Rainham was chosen because Dartford and Gravesend lacked capacity to turn the service there.
And, in the final irony, some of the benefits of the Bermondsey dive-under, in terms of route separation, were thrown away by a route using the North Kent Lines being added in. It was never planned for.
Thameslink should keep the Rainham route with some Thameslink trains to terminate at Dartford, Gravesend and Rochester to/from Luton. Since GTR/TSGN was taken back into public ownership and to be part of Great British Railways from next year.
And with Chiltern Railways, East Midlands Railway, Avanti West Coast and Great Western Railway to be re-nationalised and to be part of Great British Railways.
And with LNER, Northern, Greater Anglia, c2c, Southeastern, West Midlands Trains and TransPennine Express already been re-nationalised. And London Overground, Elizabeth Line, Merseyrail, Tyne & Wear Metro, ScotRail and Transport for Wales that are operated completely different.
Just axe the tediously slow Thameslink Rainham service already and bring back
The old Charing X to Medway semi fasts via Woolwich and Blackheath
Thameslink won’t scrap the Rainham service and I can’t see it happening. But if they do then Southeastern should run the Rainham service from London Charing Cross via London Bridge and/or London Victoria.
These cut backs are the start of Thameslink essentially binning the service off, it’s already been cut back to Kentish Town at all times