Great Northern and Thameslink: changes in new summer timetable

Some services will increase and others reduce from Sunday 21 May as Great Northern and Thameslink introduce their new summer timetables.

On some stopping services, the journey between King's Cross and Cambridge will be faster, and all trains will call at Alexandra Palace, which will help to transport visitors to the event venue. More passenger trains will run on the King's Lynn to Cambridge Fen Line, to meet demand as passengers continue to return to rail travel after the Covid pandemic.

Extra evening services will go to Letchworth, and trains between Moorgate and Welwyn Garden City, and Stevenage via Hertford North, will operate to a more evenly spaced four-per-hour service outside peak hours between Alexandra Palace and Moorgate.

The times of other services may change as well, by as much as thirty minutes on some trains. Passengers are advised to check online journey planners such as nationalrail.co.uk for details.

There is less change on Thameslink routes, although this does involve reduced services. Claiming that this will “better match demand”, Thameslink will run fewer trains in the evening (after 7:30pm) between Kentish Town and Luton, and in the early (approximately 7.30pm to 9:30pm) between Luton and Bedford. The operator promises that “there will still be plenty of capacity and this is timed to avoid the rush hour and late evening when passengers are returning from nights out”. There will be one train per hour overnight between Bedford and Three Bridges, calling at Gatwick Airport.

Full details of the timetable changes are as follows:

Great Northern

London King's Cross to Ely / King's Lynn

• Several London King's Cross to Ely services will be extended through to King's Lynn, providing trains every half hour between Ely and King's Lynn between around 04:40 and 08:40 and between around 15:30 and 20:30.
• Several services have been retimed slightly to provide faster journey times.
• The 08:12 and 16:42 from Kings Lynn, and the 06:02 and 14:42 from King's Cross will now use eight-carriage Class 700 Thameslink trains.

Moorgate to Welwyn Garden City / Stevenage via Hertford North

• Most trains have been slightly to provide a more evenly spaced four-trains-per-hour service between Alexandra Palace and Moorgate outside peak hours.

London King's Cross to Cambridge (stopping services)

• Trains have been retimed slightly and journeys are now faster, particularly those out of London King's Cross.
• All services will now call at Alexandra Palace.
• Additional evening services will run, providing a half-hourly frequency out of London King's Cross until 21:27, then hourly. At Welwyn Garden City, Welwyn North and Knebworth, these extra services will replace the late-night Brighton to Cambridge Thameslink services.
• The Thameslink King's Cross to Letchworth/Cambridge service will transfer to Great Northern, with some departures provided by Class 387 trains. Outside peak times, when the service is split (one train per hour runs London King's Cross to Letchworth and the other runs King's Cross to Cambridge), the two trains will switch, changing departure and arrival times at stations such as Foxton by 30 minutes. This service will call at Ashwell & Morden during peak hours and in the evening, but this station's all-day service will now be provided by Thameslink Brighton to Cambridge services.

Thameslink

Three Bridges to Bedford

• Three Bridges to Bedford services on weekdays and Saturdays between 19:30 and 21:30 will terminate at Luton, reducing the service between Luton and Bedford from four trains per hour to two trains per hour in this two-hour period.

Rainham to Luton

• After the 18:43 departure from St Pancras International on weekdays and Saturdays,, all subsequent services on the Rainham to Luton Thameslink route will run between Rainham and Kentish Town only. Frequency at West Hampstead Thameslink, Mill Hill Broadway, Elstree & Borehamwood, Radlett, St Albans, Harpenden, Luton Airport Parkway and Luton will reduce by two trains per hour (to four or more per hour) after around 19:30. Frequency at Kentish Town will increase by two trains per hour.

Bedford to Three Bridges / Horsham to London Bridge – Sundays

• Following a user-group suggestion, the hourly Sunday service between Horsham and London Bridge will be replaced by extending one of the two-per-hour services between Bedford and Three Bridges (via London Bridge) to Horsham.
• There will now be direct Sunday services between Horsham, Littlehaven, Ifield, Crawley and London Blackfriars, Farringdon, and St Pancras International for the first time.

Bedford to Three Bridges – Overnight services

• The 02:53 Bedford to Brighton service will now run Gatwick Airport to Brighton only, and the 03:15 Three Bridges to Bedford service will no longer run. This will mean that cross-London frequency is now hourly, rather than half-hourly between the hours of approximately 03:30 and 04:30.

Jenny Saunders, Customer Services Director for Great Northern and Thameslink, said: “We're pleased to be making these adjustments to provide more seats when and where more passengers need them. Changes are designed to make the best positive difference locally, and respond to requests and suggestions from our passengers. We recommend that all our customers check online journey planners for changes on their route before travelling in the week beginning 21 May.”