Rail operators Great Northern, Southern and Thameslink are making the changes in order to better suit the needs of passengers as the effects of the pandemic lessen, bringing more efficient service across the network and supporting schools, colleges and office workers with approximately 1,000 train services per week being be brought back into action. 

Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) are committed to adapting the timetable as feedback and monitoring provides further information of new travel patterns as life gets back to normal creating better service for passengers. The changes use drivers in a more efficient way, letting GTR run approximately 200 extra trains each weekday. 

Some routes may see a reduction to assist GTR in bringing extra services to areas where they are most needed when staff are affected by Coronavirus. 

Timetables will be updated from this weekend so that passengers can plan ahead which they are urged to do at www.nationalrail.co.uk also a summary of the changes are now available via the Great Northern, Southern and Thameslink websites and also below.

No weekend services will see changes – as usual, passengers are recommended to check before travelling in case of engineering works causing disruption.

THAMESLINK AND GREAT NORTHERN SERVICES:

Bedford to St Pancras International and Gatwick Airport:

• The route will now see an increase overall in both all-station and fast trains services on the route.
• Two services will run each hour throughout the day between Bedford and Gatwick Airport via Redhill, commencing Monday the 6th of September
• Along with Thameslink services which operate between Bedford and Brighton, four services will now run per hour between Bedford and St Pancras International.
• St Albans and Sutton will see four services running each hour from Monday the 6th of September, which will provide more stopping services throughout the route.

Gatwick Airport to London Bridge via Redhill:

• This route will feature an extra two train services per hour.
• Bedford and Gatwick Airport via Horley, Salfords, Earlswood, Redhill, Purley, East Croydon and Norwood Junction will see two services running each our throughout the day. These services will continue on to Bedford as described above.

Sutton to London Blackfriars (Sutton to St Albans):

• This route will now see four trains per hour.
• St. Heliers and Tooting will run two trains per hour and two will also run via Hackbridge, which will combine to four on the Streatham, Tulse Hill, Herne Hill to London Blackfriars/Sutton part of the route.

Orpington to Luton / London Blackfriars:

• Trains running between Orpington and Luton will see less peak time services.
• Services between Luton and St. Pancras International will have stops at stations on the Bedford and Gatwick Airport via Redhill or St Albans, as per the information above.
• Stations on the Catford Loop should use services between Sevenoaks and London Blackfriars which run throughout the day.

East Grinstead to London Bridge:

• From Monday the 6th of September, the single service in the morning and the evening peak Thameslink service will no longer run on this route.
• Passengers travelling either to or from London Bridge will need to change at East Croydon

Cambridge to King’s Cross:

• This route will see two stopping trains each hour running from Cambridge and Kings Cross at school times and busy times.
• During quieter times in the middle of the day one of the trains which runs each hour will not run between Cambridge and Royston. This means that services will be hourly for Foxton, Shepreth and Meldreth outside of busy times.

Peterborough to King’s Cross:

• This route will have two semi-fast trains during the morning, running from Peterborough to London Kings Cross. These trains will depart Peterborough at 6:36am and 7:04am
• This route will also have two semi-fast trains during the evening running from London Kings Cross to Peterborough. These trains will depart London Kings Cross at 17:42pm and 18:12pm
• For other times passengers can use alternative Thameslink services via St. Pancras International.

SOUTHERN SERVICES:

Caterham and Tattenham Corner to London Bridge:

• Direct fast train services will be brought back to London Bridge and will run every 30 minutes

Clapham Junction to Watford Junction and Milton Keynes:

• Clapham Junction and Milton Keynes will see one train each hour throughout each day. 
• Trains after 18:30pm will only run between Clapham Junction and Watford Junction.
• Busy times will see some services extended to and from Selhurst.

Beckenham Junction to London Bridge:

• Journeys between Beckenham Junction and London Bridge will take place every 90 minutes throughout each day.
• Extra services will be put in place at school times to give better connections for the Dulwich area.
• Passengers at stations such as West Norwood looking for travel to and/or from London Bridge will need to select ‘via Norwood Junction’ on www.nationalrail.co.uk journey planner to find additional journey options.

London Bridge to London Victoria:

• The majority of services will not run on this route.
• Two peak morning services will run from London Victoria to London Bridge leaving at 7:50am and 8:20am. There will also be some late evening services.
• Passengers need to change at Norwood Junction for fast services to and from London Bridge.

Brighton to Hastings:

• Trains will run once per hour throughout the day with 8 carriages rather than four in operation.

Brighton to Hove:

• There will be less shuttle trains running between Brighton and Hove and passengers will be able to use longer distance services from Brighton to and from Littlehampton, Portsmouth and Southampton.

Epsom to London Bridge via Carshalton Beeches:

• Fast services running between Epsom and London Bridge will be every half-hour except for reduced frequency service which runs in the early morning.
• Epsom to London Bridge services depart at 5:45am, 7:16am, 8:15am then every 30 minutes until 22:45pm

Uckfield to London Bridge:

• Uckfield service, which runs every hour, will include an every 30 minute service between 6:33am and 7:33am which will provide support during peak times and also school travel.
• The hourly service will run throughout busy times
• Outside of the busy times mentioned above the service will reduce to every two hours in the middle part of the day when trains are quieter, these periods are as follows

Uckfield to London Bridge quieter periods are 10:30am and 16:30pm

London Bridge to Uckfield quieter periods are 9:07am to 15:07pm

Sutton to London Victoria via West Croydon quieter periods are 21:07pm and 23:07pm

• Sutton and London Victoria via West Croydon service will see up to 4 trains each hour during busy times, reducing to two trains each hour during quieter periods. 
• Changes to Sutton and London Victoria via West Croydon will see 2 trains running per hour during quieter periods.
• Changes during busy times will mean less trains running due to reduced demand such as away from London Victoria during the morning rush hour, or to London Victorian during the afternoon.

Passengers can also use the ‘Find a quieter train’ facility on the Southern, Thameslink and Great Northern websites. This allows customers to see how busy their train may be.

Govia Thameslink Railway Chief Operating Officer Steve White said: “In anticipation of the return of schools and more passengers returning to the office, much of our service will be expanded from 6 September. Like many other businesses our staffing levels continue to be affected by the pandemic but the new timetable has been planned to make better use of the drivers we have available, providing more trains, more reliably.

“The Covid third wave this summer has been the most challenging throughout the pandemic to balance the availability of our resources with the needs of our customers. We apologise if you have been affected.

“These changes will ensure we provide you with an increase in trains and provide a more reliable service as we steadily work to overcome the legacy of the pandemic. As people come back to using the railway, we will continue to adapt our services to match demand.”

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