Thameslink is a 24-hour main-line route in the

British railway system The railway system in Great Britain is the oldest railway system in the world. The first locomotive-hauled public railway opened in 1825, which was followed by an era of rapid expansion. Most of the track is managed by Network Rail, which in ...

, running from , , , and via central London to Sutton, , , Rainham, , , , and . The network opened as a through service in 1988, with severe overcrowding by 1998, carrying more than 28,000 passengers in the morning peak. All the services are currently operated by Govia Thameslink Railway. The Thameslink Programme was a major £5.5billion scheme to increase capacity on the central London section by accommodating more frequent and longer trains, and providing additional routes and destinations. The new services began operating in 2018. In 2016, new Class 700 trains started operating on the route and replaced the Class 319, Class 377 and Class 387 trains which were withdrawn and transferred elsewhere.

Route

Much of the original route is over the Brighton Main Line (via London Bridge) and the southern part of the Midland Main Line, plus a suburban true loop (circuit) serving Sutton. A branch via the

Catford Loop Line The Catford Loop Line is a railway line in southeast London. It carries a suburban stopping passenger service from central London to Sevenoaks, and is also a relief route for the Chatham Main Line carrying passenger trains from London Victor ...

to Sevenoaks was added in 2012. Sections to Peterborough on the

East Coast Main Line The East Coast Main Line (ECML) is a electrified railway between London and Edinburgh via Peterborough, Doncaster, York, Darlington, Durham and Newcastle. The line is a key transport artery on the eastern side of Great Britain running broa ...

, Cambridge via the Cambridge Line,

Horsham Horsham is a market town on the upper reaches of the River Arun on the fringe of the Weald in West Sussex, England. The town is south south-west of London, north-west of Brighton and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Nearby to ...

on the Arun Valley line and Rainham via Greenwich were added in 2018.

East Grinstead East Grinstead is a town in West Sussex, England, near the East Sussex, Surrey, and Kent borders, south of London, northeast of Brighton, and northeast of the county town of Chichester. Situated in the extreme northeast of the county, the civ ...

and Littlehampton are also served in peak hours. The route through central London (today known as Thameslink core) is via

St Pancras International St Pancras railway station (), also known as London St Pancras or St Pancras International and officially since 2007 as London St Pancras International, is a central London railway terminus on Euston Road in the London Borough of Camden. It i ...

for connections to Eurostar and the East Midlands; Farringdon, for London Underground Circle,

Metropolitan Metropolitan may refer to: * Metropolitan area, a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories * Metropolitan borough, a form of local government district in England * Metropolitan county, a typ ...

and Hammersmith & City lines, and the Elizabeth line;

City Thameslink City Thameslink is a central London railway station within the City of London, with entrances on Ludgate Hill and Holborn Viaduct. The station is on the Thameslink route between to the south and to the north. The station opened in 1990 to ...

, which replaced the demolished Holborn Viaduct station and has a southern entrance serving Ludgate Circus;

Blackfriars Blackfriars, derived from Black Friars, a common name for the Dominican Order of friars, may refer to: England * Blackfriars, Bristol, a former priory in Bristol * Blackfriars, Canterbury, a former monastery in Kent * Blackfriars, Gloucester, a f ...

, for main-line rail services and the Underground District and Circle lines; and

London Bridge Several bridges named London Bridge have spanned the River Thames between the City of London and Southwark, in central London. The current crossing, which opened to traffic in 1973, is a box girder bridge built from concrete and steel. It r ...

for main-line links into Kent and Sussex and the Underground

Northern Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a ra ...

and Jubilee lines. King's Cross Thameslink on Pentonville Road closed on 8 December 2007. Trains operating the "main line" service (Bedford and Cambridge to Brighton, Peterborough to Horsham) include first-class accommodation; those operating from Luton, St Albans and Kentish Town to Sutton, Sevenoaks and Orpington are usually standard class only. When Govia operated the original Thameslink franchise these services were designated "Thameslink CityFlier" and "Thameslink CityMetro" respectively, but First Capital Connect dropped this branding. Govia Thameslink Railway now refers to these services as Route TL1 (formerly Route 6) and Route TL2/TL3 (formerly Route 7/8) respectively.

Services

Off-peak

The published Thameslink off-peak service pattern as of December 2022, with frequencies in ''trains per hour'' (tph), includes:

Peak hours

During peak hours, the 1tph Letchworth Garden City to London King's Cross service (from the table above) is extended to/from Cambridge, with extra calls at Baldock, Ashwell & Morden, Royston, Meldreth, Shepreth and Foxton, thereby creating a 2tph Cambridge to London King's Cross (and return) stopping service during these hours only. Also during peak hours, the 2tph London Blackfriars to Sevenoaks service (from the table above) is extended through the 'core tunnel' to/from Welwyn Garden City (though a few services originate at Finsbury Park), with extra calls at City Thameslink, Farringdon, St Pancras International, Finsbury Park, New Southgate, Oakleigh Park, New Barnet, Potters Bar and Hatfield. As well as these services, during peak hours, several trains in each direction (approximately 2tph) run to/from Orpington (originating/terminating at either London Blackfriars, Luton, West Hampstead Thameslink or Kentish Town), all calling at Petts Wood in lieu of stations from St Mary Cray to Bat & Ball. In addition, some very limited services run: In each direction there are 6 trains per day that operate to/from (originating/terminating at either Bedford, West Hampstead Thameslink, St Pancras International or London Bridge) and beginning on the 16th of January, there is 1 service per day that operates to/from (originating/terminating at London Bridge).

History

Passenger services operated across London through the Snow Hill Tunnel from mid- Victorian times until World War I, when services terminated at Moorgate from the Midland line to the north, and at

Holborn Viaduct Holborn Viaduct is a road bridge in London and the name of the street which crosses it (which forms part of the A40 route). It links Holborn, via Holborn Circus, with Newgate Street, in the City of London financial district, passing over ...

from the south, at a time when most inner cross-London traffic had been lost to buses and trams. There were low-level platforms under the main part of Holborn Viaduct station known as the Snow Hill platforms: these can still be seen when leaving City Thameslink station travelling northwards. On 14 June 1941, railway manager George Dow proposed in an article in the London evening newspaper ''

The Star ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'' that new routes be built in tunnels from Marylebone south to Victoria, and from King's Cross south to Charing Cross. Both were to connect with a Paddington–Liverpool Street tunnel that he proposed, anticipating Crossrail by 40years. He also proposed a north-east to south-west such link (Liverpool Street to Charing Cross), all giving seamless, key, main-line connections. The Snow Hill Tunnel route remained open for cross-London freight trains until 1970, when the short section between Farringdon and Holborn Viaduct was closed. Overhead electrification, completed in 1982, allowed the northern section to run as the ''Midland City Line'' from Bedford via the Midland Main Line to St Pancras, and via the City Widened Lines to Moorgate. The Snow Hill tunnel was re-opened by

British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...

to passenger trains after 72years, with Thameslink beginning in May 1988. On 29 January 1990, the section between Blackfriars and Farringdon was temporarily closed to permit the construction of a new alignment. The route through the site of the long-closed Ludgate Hill station, over Ludgate Hill to

was abandoned and demolished. The replacement route under Ludgate Hill was opened on 29 May 1990 by the Network SouthEast (sector of

) concurrently with station, which was initially called St Paul's Thameslink but was renamed in 1991 to avoid confusion with

St. Paul's station St Paul's is a London Underground station located in the City of London financial district. The station, which takes its name from the nearby St Paul's Cathedral, is on the Central line, between Bank and Chancery Lane stations, and is in far ...

on the Underground (Central line), about away. King's Cross Thameslink on Pentonville Road closed on 8 December 2007, when the Thameslink platforms at nearby St Pancras opened. In the south the services divide: many main-line trains run almost due south through

East Croydon East Croydon is a railway station and tram stop in Croydon, Greater London, England, and is located in Travelcard Zone 5. At from , it is one of the busiest non-terminal stations in London, and in the United Kingdom as a whole. It is one of t ...

and many continue to

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

, but the other route/branch has evolved, as follows: *From 1988 to 1991 such trains went variously **via Bromley: to Orpington or to Sevenoaks, (both since resumed) or; **via Herne Hill and East Croydon to Purley (off peak only). *From 1991 to 1994, such trains went only via Elephant & Castle and

Streatham Streatham ( ) is a district in south London, England. Centred south of Charing Cross, it lies mostly within the London Borough of Lambeth, with some parts extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Wandsworth. Streatham was in Surrey ...

to West Croydon, Carshalton Beeches, Sutton, Epsom, Leatherhead and

Effingham Junction Effingham Junction railway station is just north of the far northern border of the village of Effingham, closer to the centre of East Horsley, homes of which it borders, in Surrey, England. Although the station takes its name from the former s ...

, to

Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, around southwest of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The name "Guildf ...

. *From 1994 to 1995 such trains terminated at West Croydon (cutting franchise zone-crossing due to

rail privatisation The privatization of transport refers to the process of shifting responsibility regarding the provision of public transport or service from the public to the private sector. Introduction Transit privatization is highly controversial, with propo ...

). **From the latter year such trains have run "to/from" a nominal furthest point of a true circular loop, Sutton, the

Sutton loop The Sutton Loop Line, Retrieved 2012-01-12 also known as the Wimbledon Loop, is a railway line that diverges from the Portsmouth Line at Streatham South junction and rejoins it near Sutton station. Trains leave southwards from to enter the lo ...

calling at stations including

Mitcham Junction Mitcham Junction is a National Rail station served by Southern and Thameslink trains, and a Tramlink stop. It is in the London Borough of Merton and is in Travelcard Zone 4. The station opened on 1 October 1868 specifically to provide an interc ...

, Streatham and

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 * ...

. *From 2018 the service was greatly recast and expanded following the completion of the Thameslink programme: **A regular service to Rainham has been added. **A regular service to Horsham has been added. **In the north the present termini of the trains are Luton, Bedford, Cambridge, Peterborough, St Albans and in peak hours, Welwyn Garden City.

Franchise owners

As of the early 1990s privatisation of British Rail, Thameslink was franchised to Thameslink, a subsidiary of Govia. By late 1998, more than 28,000 passengers were carried at morning peak times. From 1 April 2006, the franchise was taken over by First Capital Connect along with some services that had been WAGN's. The branding of most trains, stations, and signs was changed to match the name of the new company, but

and West Hampstead Thameslink were not renamed as ''Thameslink'' referred to the route. After criticism of the loss of the apt name for this group of routes, First Capital Connect's publicity began calling this set of services its "Thameslink route" to distinguish it from the former WAGN services. On 14 September 2014, Govia Thameslink Railway took over operations from First Capital Connect.

Thameslink Programme

Given the network's success, realised plans arose to upgrade the network to cope with persistent peak-time overcrowding. Network Rail obtained planning permission and legal powers in 2006, funding was secured in July 2007 and construction began in October 2007. Plans included rebuilding the station buildings at Farringdon (in conjunction with the Crossrail project) and West Hampstead Thameslink, total rebuild of

and

stations, two new underground platforms at St Pancras International, a new tunnel north of St Pancras International to the

to allow through services to Peterborough and Cambridge, and platform lengthening. A new 8- and 12-carriage fleet of Class 700 trains began in 2016. The new services on to the

Great Northern route The Great Northern route (formerly known as Great Northern Electrics) is the name given to suburban rail services run on the southern end of Britain's East Coast Main Line and its associated branches. Services operate to or from and in Lon ...

began initially on 8 March 2018, with the full timetable being introduced in May 2018. The London and South East Route Utilisation Strategy published in July 2011 laid out a provisional 24 timetable. South of London it would provide four trains to Brighton (one semi-fast, one stopping) and two each to Three Bridges, Horsham, East Grinstead, Caterham, Tattenham Corner, Tunbridge Wells, Ashford International, Maidstone East, Sevenoaks and Bellingham. North of London there would be eight semi-fast trains to Bedford, four stopping trains to St Albans, two stopping and two semi-fast trains to Luton, two semi-fast trains to Peterborough, two semi-fast trains to Cambridge and four stopping trains to Welwyn Garden City. Below is a provisional timetable solely for services running through the 'Thameslink core' tunnel. This 'provisional timetable' was proposed before the upgrade and has not yet been achieved. See Services section above for the current service pattern.

Rolling stock

Current fleet

Class 700

New Class 700 trains provide an additional 14,500 seats and were delivered between 2015 and 2018. Siemens Mobility was named preferred bidder on 16 June 2011, with the

Desiro City The Siemens Desiro (, , ) is a family of diesel or electric multiple unit passenger trains developed by Siemens Mobility, a division of the German Siemens AG conglomerate. The main variants are the Desiro Classic, Desiro ML, Desiro UK and the la ...

train family. The contract was signed in June 2013 for 1140 carriages, with 55 twelve-car and 60 eight-car trains. The depots are at Hornsey and

Three Bridges Three Bridges may refer to: England *Three Bridges, West Sussex, a neighbourhood within the town of Crawley **Three Bridges F.C., an association football team **Three Bridges railway station **Three Bridges depot, a rail depot * Three Bridges, Linc ...

. The Three Bridges depot opened in October 2015 and the first trains entered service in spring 2016. All units are now in service, having replaced the Class 319 and Class 387 fleets.

Past fleet

Class 319

Rolling stock used on Thameslink included the 86 Class 319 trains built between 1987–1988 and 1990. These are electrically powered dual-voltage four-car units rated to carry 289, 308 or 319 passengers. Four Class 319 trains had been transferred from

Southern Southern may refer to: Businesses * China Southern Airlines, airline based in Guangzhou, China * Southern Airways, defunct US airline * Southern Air, air cargo transportation company based in Norwalk, Connecticut, US * Southern Airways Express, M ...

in December 2008 and the last four followed in March 2009, from which point they were all on Thameslink. The last was withdrawn in August 2017.

Class 377

First Capital Connect acquired 23 four-coach Class 377 sets during 2009 on sublease from

, for the Thameslink route for additional capacity and to allow some of the Class 319 trains to be released for the

Catford Loop The Catford Loop Line is a railway line in southeast London. It carries a suburban stopping passenger service from central London to Sevenoaks, and is also a relief route for the Chatham Main Line carrying passenger trains from London Victor ...

service to Sevenoaks, now jointly operated with

Southeastern The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each se ...

under Key Output 0 of the Thameslink Programme.

Class 317

Class 317 units built in the early 1980s were still in use when services into Moorgate ceased in March 2009: the last timetabled service ran from Farringdon to Bedford on 9 October 2009.

Class 387

Due to delays in the new Class 700 fleet, the DfT and Southern ordered 116 electric dual-voltage carriages (29 trains) with the option for another 140 carriages (35 trains).Procurement of New Rolling Stock
– (press release) The potential competition for 116 electric (dual voltage) new rolling stock vehicles, with an option for a further 100 vehicles, would be openly tendered via the rail Link-Up system. The new rolling stock will be of dual voltage configuration and is required to operate up to 110mph. Any rolling stock manufacturer registered on the rail Link-Up system would be able to compete for this opportunity. The tender for the new trains was won by Bombardier and the first set entered service in December 2014, with all in service by May 2015. By 2018, all units were replaced by the new Class 700 fleet with the Class 387 fleet moving over to the

Great Northern Great Northern may refer to: Transport * One of a number of railways; see Great Northern Railway (disambiguation). * Great Northern Railway (U.S.), a defunct American transcontinental railroad and major predecessor of the BNSF Railway. * Great ...

brand.

Electrical power

All rolling stock used on Thameslink is electrically powered dual-voltage units using overhead power north of Farringdon and 750VDC third rail to the south.

2014 franchise

The invitation to tender for the Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern franchise was expected to be issued in October 2012, with the contract commencing in September 2013. On 29 March 2012, the

Department for Transport The Department for Transport (DfT) is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for the English transport network and a limited number of transport matters in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland that have not been devolved. The d ...

announced

Abellio Abellio (also Abelio and Abelionni) was a god worshiped in the Garonne Valley in Gallia Aquitania (now southwest France), known primarily by a number of inscriptions which were discovered in Comminges, in the Pyrenees. He may have been a god of ...

, FirstGroup, Govia, MTR Corporation and

Stagecoach Group Stagecoach Group is a transport group based in Perth, Scotland. It operates buses, express coaches and a tram service in the United Kingdom. History Stagecoach was born out of deregulation of the British express coach market in the early ...

had pre-qualified to bid for the franchise. Due to problems with the

InterCity West Coast InterCity West Coast (ICWC) was a 1997–2019 railway franchise in the United Kingdom for passenger trains on the West Coast Main Line (and branches thereof), between London Euston, the West Midlands, North Wales, Liverpool, Manchester, Carlis ...

tendering process, the process was delayed, with the new franchise delayed until September 2014. The new franchise includes the South Central franchise currently operated by Southern and certain routes from the

Integrated Kent Franchise The South Eastern franchise, also known as the Integrated Kent franchise, is a railway franchise for the provision of passenger services between London and Kent in South East England. History The South Eastern franchise was formed as a shadow ...

currently operated by

. On 23 May 2014, it was announced that the franchise has been awarded to Govia Thameslink Railway. The new Thameslink Southern & Great Northern franchise will include both the Thameslink Great Northern and South Central franchises. Govia Thameslink Railway began operations on 14 September 2014, with the former First Capital Connect routes Thameslink and

Thameslink 2

Railfuture, an organisation campaigning for better rail services for passengers and freight, has proposed an additional north–south route, connecting the Brighton Main Line to routes north of London, via

, Lewisham, Canary Wharf, and Stratford.

Notes

References

External links

Official Thameslink Programme website

Thameslink Programme
– Network Rail
Thameslink 2000 Public Inquiry 2005
– official website for the second public inquiry *

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 Rail transport in the United Kingdom, the railway industry. Its motto was 'Brita ...