Thameslink
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Thameslink is a fifty-station line in the British railway system running 225 km (140 miles) north to south across London from Bedford to Brighton through the Snow Hill tunnel. It is a significant commuter route and serves the airports at London Gatwick and London Luton. 28,143 passengers are carried at the morning peak times.[1] Most of its route is over the Brighton Main Line and the lower part of the Midland Main Line.
Upon the privatisation of British Rail the operation of Thameslink services was franchised to a subsidiary of Govia, the train operating company ‘Thameslink’. From 1 April 2006, it was taken over by First Capital Connect along with other services previously operated by WAGN[2]. The branding of most trains, stations, and signs has been changed to reflect the name of the new company, but City Thameslink, King’s Cross Thameslink (closed 8 December 2007) and West Hampstead Thameslink stations retain the word ‘Thameslink’ in their names, since the suffix refers to the Thameslink route itself.
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[edit] History
The Snow Hill tunnel was re-opened to passengers after 50 years in 1988 and the Thameslink network in May 1988 [3]. Prior to this, the northern section was run as the "Bedpan" service from Bedford to London St Pancras, using the Midland Main Line. Some services ran into the old Widened Lines to London Moorgate. From the south, services terminated at Holborn Viaduct.
Running from north to south the central London stations are: St Pancras International for connections to Eurostar and the North[4], Farringdon station, which links into the London Underground’s Circle and Metropolitan lines; City Thameslink (formerly St. Paul’s Thameslink station — the name was changed to avoid confusion with St. Paul's tube station which is a considerable distance away), which replaced the demolished Holborn Viaduct; Blackfriars, which links to a number of other franchises and the District and Circle lines on the Underground; and London Bridge, which also links to a number of other lines. King's Cross Thameslink on Pentonville Road closed in December 2007.
In the south there are two branches. One line runs through London Bridge to East Croydon, then to Brighton. A second branch has a more convoluted history.
To begin with, trains went via Bromley to Orpington and Sevenoaks. Some time after that, the non-Brighton trains ran via Elephant & Castle and Streatham to West Croydon. Although this route, still used by other train services, comes close to the "main line", it never relinks with it. After West Croydon the line ran through Carshalton Beeches to Sutton then to Epsom, Leatherhead, Effingham Junction and finally terminating at Guildford. However this route crossed the commuter networks of what were to become several different rail companies and the onset of rail privatisation made the route increasingly difficult to maintain. Around 1994 the second branch was cut back to West Croydon. Then around 1995 a major overhaul occurred when the route was changed completely. West Croydon was abandoned by Thameslink and instead a new route to Sutton was opened up over existing track through Mitcham Junction with the line then continuing on a loop up to Wimbledon and then rejoining itself south of Streatham. It should be noted, however, that morning peak trains only run in a clockwise direction around this loop, which is a major source of inconvenience for commuters in this area.
The proposed Crossrail project would operate a similar cross-London service from the east to the west, although unlike Thameslink it does not involve re-opening old tunnels, but the building of new ones instead.
[edit] Thameslink Programme (Thameslink 2000)
Since 1991, British Rail (followed by Railtrack, then Network Rail) have been developing proposals to expand and upgrade the Thameslink network in light of the high patronage experienced by operators on the route, particularly today. The project is known as the Thameslink Programme [5]. After a complex, prolonged and frustrating planning process (which officially began in November 1997) Network Rail (the body currently responsible for developing and executing the project) was finally given planning permission and legal powers on 18 October 2006 [6] and funding for the required work (£3.1 billion at 2001 prices, £3.5 billion at current nominal prices) was approved on 24 July 2007.[7] Construction began on October 24, 2007, with Luton Airport Parkway the first station to be extended. The provisional completion date is 2015.[8][9]
[edit] Rolling stock
The Thameslink rolling stock is composed of 74 Class 319 trains built by BREL between 1987 and 1990. These are electrically powered dual-voltage four-car units rated to hold either 289, 308 or 319 passengers. They use 25 kV AC overhead power north of Farringdon and 750 V DC third rail to the south. An additional 12 Class 319 trains will be transferred from Southern between December 2007 and December 2008.
New energy-efficient trains will provide an additional 14,500 seats on the Thameslink route and will be delivered from 2012 -2015, these will be new class 377/375 units[10].
FCC will be getting some 375/6s leased from Southeastern between mid/end of 2008.[citation needed]
[edit] References
- ^ Gov press release data for 1998
- ^ Department for Transport announces winner of Thameslink/GN franchise
- ^ [1] - Subterranea Britannica - Disused Stations
- ^ St Pancras International
- ^ Thameslink Programme
- ^ Network Rail. The £3.5bn Thameslink Project clears major hurdle. Retrieved on 18 October 2006.
- ^ Coward, Andy (15-28 August 2007). "Cross-river rail to boost Capital". Rail 572: 40–3.
- ^ "Work begins on Thameslink project", BBC News, 2007-10-24. Retrieved on 2007-10-24.
- ^ Network Rail (2007-10-24). "£5.5bn Thameslink Programme gets under way at Luton". Press release. Retrieved on 2007-10-24.
- ^ "Thameslink gets 14,500 more seats", BBC News, 2008-04-09. Retrieved on 2008-06-01.
[edit] External links
- Official Thameslink Programme website - by Network Rail
- Thameslink 2000 Public Inquiry 2005 - official website for the second public inquiry
- Strategic Rail Authority Strategic Plan, 30 January 2003, page 101 and route descriptions page 27.
- alwaystouchout.com - information and news on the Thameslink Programme
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