Thameslink was a

train operating company In the railway system of Great Britain, a train operating company (TOC) is a railway undertaking operating passenger trains under the collective National Rail brand. TOCs have existed since the privatisation of the network under the Railways ...

in the United Kingdom owned by

Govia Govia Limited is a transport company based in the United Kingdom. It was formed in November 1996 as a joint venture between Go-Ahead Group (65%) and Keolis (35%) to bid for rail franchises during the privatisation of British Rail. History ...

that operated the Thameslink franchise between March 1997 and March 2006. The franchise was originally due to end on 31 March 2004, however a two-year extension was awarded to Govia by the

Strategic Rail Authority The Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) was a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom set up under the Transport Act 2000 to provide strategic direction for the railway industry. Its motto was 'Britain's railway, properly delivered'. It ...

on 13 February 2004. In December 2005, the

Department for Transport The Department for Transport (DfT) is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for the English transport network and a limited number of transport ...

awarded the new franchise to

FirstGroup FirstGroup plc is a British multi-national transport group, based in Aberdeen, Scotland.First Capital Connect First Capital Connect (FCC) was a British train operating company, owned by FirstGroup, that operated the Thameslink and Great Northern route, Great Northern sectors from April 2006 to September 2014 which later became the Thameslink, Southern ...

on 1 April 2006.

Services

Thameslink operated passenger services from

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population was 106,940. Bedford is the county town of Bedfordshire and seat of the Borough of Bedford local government district. Bedford was founded at a ford (crossin ...

via the Thameslink route to

London Moorgate Moorgate () is a central London railway terminus and connected London Underground station on Moorgate in the City of London. Main line railway services for Hertford, Welwyn Garden City and Stevenage are operated by Great Northern, while the ...

Sutton Sutton (''south settlement'' or ''south town'' in Old English) may refer to: Places United Kingdom England In alphabetical order by county: * Sutton, Bedfordshire * Sutton, Berkshire, a List of United Kingdom locations: Stu-Sz#Su, location * S ...

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * W ...

and

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

Rolling stock

Thameslink inherited a fleet of 66 Class 319s from

Network SouthEast Network SouthEast (NSE) was one of the three passenger sectors of British Rail created in 1982. NSE mainly operated commuter rail trains within Greater London and inter-urban services in densely populated South East England, although the networ ...

. During 2002, Thameslink hired two Class 317s from

West Anglia Great Northern West Anglia Great Northern, commonly shortened to ''WAGN'', was a train operating company in England. It operated the West Anglia Great Northern franchise between January 1997 and March 2004, as well as the Great Northern franchise between Apri ...

for services to

Moorgate Moorgate was one of the City of London's northern gates in its defensive wall, the last to be built. The gate took its name from the Moorfields, an area of marshy land that lay immediately north of the wall. The gate was demolished in 1762, but ...

. Thameslink received some extra Class 319s from Southern in 2004. Between September 2004 and May 2005, Class 317s were hired from West Anglia Great Northern to operate

to St Pancras services while the Thameslink line was severed for six months for the new St Pancras station to be built.

Depots

Thameslink's fleet was originally maintained at

Selhurst Selhurst is an area in the London Borough of Croydon, England, south-east of Charing Cross. Historically in Surrey, the area is bounded to the west and south by Thornton Heath and Croydon and to the east and south by South Norwood and Woo ...

Depot under sub-contract by

Connex South Central Connex South Central was a train operating company in the United Kingdom owned by Connex that operated the South Central franchise from 26 May 1996 until 25 August 2001. History On 26 May 1996, Connex commenced operating the Network SouthCe ...

/ Southern. With the Thameslink line to be severed for six months, Bedford Cauldwell depot was built in 2004. It progressively took over all work from Selhurst.

Demise

In April 2005, the

announced the parties shortlisted to bid for the new Thameslink Great Northern franchise; Govia was not shortlisted. In December 2005, the

awarded the new franchise to

on 1 April 2006. However, it was announced in May 2014 that Govia had reclaimed the Thameslink franchise, which started on 14 September 2014, thus ending the First Capital Connect franchise. Govia now operates Thameslink under

Govia Thameslink Railway Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) is a British train operating company that operates the Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern franchise, TSGN rail franchise. Within the franchise, GTR runs trains under the sub-brands: Thameslink, Great North ...

References

External links