Services to increase on Great Northern, Southern and Thameslink from May

Great Northern, Southern and Thameslink will be running more weekday trains in its summer timetable, targeted mostly at supporting commuters returning to the workplace.

Customers are advised to check ahead at nationalrail.co.uk as train times will change from 15 May. Southern will continue running almost all its trains at weekends for passengers making the most of day trips/destinations across our network. However, with fewer people travelling overall throughout the week, some short distance routes will be reduced on Saturdays.

Full details of the changes are available online at Great Northern, Southern and Thameslink. Gatwick Express, which returned in April, will not change. Highlights include:

Great Northern

• More trains (up to 10 every hour) in the morning and evening rush hours to and from Moorgate in the City of London (from Welwyn Garden City or Stevenage)

Thameslink

• New half-hourly peak services that cross central London from Welwyn Garden City, Hatfield, Potters Bar, New Barnet, Oakleigh Park, New Southgate and Finsbury Park to St Pancras International, Farringdon, City Thameslink, Blackfriars, Elephant & Castle and beyond to Sevenoaks
• Two extra trains to and from Bedford in each of the rush hours
• Around twice the number of trains in the peaks at stations between St Albans and London
• Two peak trains an hour from Orpington through to Luton, doubling for the most part the service on the Catford Loop at stations such as Denmark Hill, Peckham Rye, Nunhead and Crofton Park, all of which will cross London
• A half-hourly cross-London service all day between Luton and Rainham doubling the service through Medway towns such as Chatham, Gillingham and Dartford

Southern

• Hastings to Brighton peak services doubled to become half-hourly
• Beckenham Junction to London Bridge via Tulse Hill increased in the peaks to half-hourly
• 40-year-old trains on London suburban routes replaced with more reliable modern trains from the Southern fleet, providing customers with air-conditioning and toilets
• Direct Brighton services restored beyond Chichester, to Portsmouth and Southampton
• Changes to two short distance routes in the inner-London area and two in the Brighton area. Maintains minimum half-hourly frequencies with longer trains where needed

Chief Operating Officer Angie Doll of Govia Thameslink Railway, which runs the services, said:

“The new timetable from Sunday 15 May is the starting point for rebuilding our railway, to help our customers get where they want to go while reflecting new travel patterns which have changed significantly, particularly on weekdays.

“Our priority is to support passengers by running reliable services, working closely with our stakeholders to support the economic recovery of both local and regional rail.”

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