So what happened with the Timetable Consultation?
As many of you know, Thameslink are in the first phase of a massive timetable consultation that will see all of the existing timetables scrapped in the biggest shake up to the South East rail network in decades.
Thameslink wanted to hear our thoughts on the new timetable proposals, including routes, number of trains, stopping patterns and peak and off peak services, and from the huge amount of documentation that they put together, we pulled out the key points to address:
A minimum of 4 trains an hour 7 days a week
All trains to go through to St Pancras - no terminating at Blackfriars
Trains to be spaced evenly every 15 minutes so you can turn up and go
Trains to stop at all stations on the route (currently they are proposing to skip Kentish Town in the peak time)
The consultation is massive - it's not just for Thameslink services, but also for Southern, Gatwick Express and Great Northern services too. Thameslink have to look at routes for over 130 stations and replan everything.
Thameslink received 13,000 responses and 2,875 of those came from stations on the Cinderella Line supporting our call for more services on the route. That compares to an average of 82 responses per station across the rest of the network and also means that we account for over 20% of the total - an amazing achievement which belongs to everyone!
Another thing we have going for us the full support of our MP, Vicky Foxcroft and you can read her own feedback to Thameslink on the consultation on her website.
Crofton Park Transport Users Group have also submitted a formal, more detailed response to the consultation and you can read this too if you would like more detail.
This is really still just the beginning - the first part of the timetable consultation is being looked at by the Department for Transport, but we need to keep up the fight to secure our new services. Nothing is confirmed yet.
If you havent already, please add your name to our mailing list on our sign up page and we will keep you updated with our progress on the campaign and how we can work together to improve transport in our area.
