‘Meltdown Monday’: Commuters hit out at 'shambles' train services as new timetable introduced nationwide

Rail passengers across the UK suffered delays and cancellations on what was dubbed “Meltdown Monday” after a new timetable was introduced.

There was major disruption across dozens of routes as seven times more alterations than normal were made to train schedules due to new services being launched.

Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) rescheduled every service on its Great Northern, Thameslink and Southern franchise as part of the overhaul.

Hours after the new timetable started on Sunday, it cancelled dozens of trains.

The RMT union called it “Meltdown Monday”, saying it should “spell the end of the privatised chaos on Britain’s railways”.

Passengers in the north and south of England were affected, with many calling the timetable change a “shambles”.

Northern operates services from Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds, Sheffield and Newcastle, while the Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern rail franchise includes services to Bedford, Luton, Peterborough, King’s Lynn, Cambridge, London King’s Cross, London Moorgate, Wimbledon and Brighton.

MOST POPULAR TODAY ON YAHOO

• Sir Elton John’s reaction to Paster Michael Curry’s Royal Wedding sermon is priceless

• Details emerge from star-studded Royal Wedding evening reception

• Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s royal wedding: The best pictures of the day

• Royals caught giggling on camera during pastor’s passionate speech

• Going on holiday? These are the worst UK airports for flight delays

RMT general secretary Mick Cash said: “It is our members dealing with the anger at the sharp end not the well-paid top brass from Arriva and Govia who are responsible for this Meltdown Monday on our railways.

“Both of these companies have sought to compromise safety and access by hacking back on critical staff and it is no surprise to RMT that they can’t be trusted with the massive logistical challenges of bringing in new timetables.

“Frankly I wouldn’t trust the private train operators to run a bath let alone our vital rail routes.”

Northern Rail said a shortage of train drivers was to blame for problems affecting destinations such as Manchester, Liverpool and Newcastle.

One in seven (14%) of its services were cancelled on Monday morning, with a further 17% delayed by at least five minutes.

Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham described the situation as “appalling” and claimed Transport Secretary Chris Grayling “needs to intervene today”.

South-east England’s Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) – which consists of Southern, Thameslink, Great Northern and Gatwick Express – said services in its new timetable are being introduced “incrementally” as drivers and trains are redeployed.

A spokesman said: “Despite some cancellations, passengers will benefit from an overall increase in capacity with immediate effect.”

The Aslef union said not enough drivers have been trained on new routes and rolling stock.

An official said the union had asked the company to start training drivers last summer, but it only started in February.

“Drivers are not on a go slow, they are not calling in sick, but they just have not been trained on the new routes,” the official said.

Angry passengers flooded train operator social media accounts with complaints.

One Twitter user posted a message to Northern Rail which read: “Total shambles – first day of new timetables and it’s even worse than before – if that’s even possible! Your service is shameful!!”

Another wrote to Thameslink: “Why have you introduced a new timetable with no new services to/from Hendon? Two trains cancelled at rush hour this morning. Shambles.”

A Great Northern passenger tweeted: “I organised my life around your new timetable – job, childcare, parking – to find the 8.57am train from Biggleswade into London doesn’t exist.

“I am now waiting one hour for another to get into work. Can you explain to my employer for me? Can you rearrange my childcare too?”

The firm told another customer that trains could be altered “for the next few weeks whilst getting everything into place”.

The timetable shake-up is designed to increase overall frequencies and reliability.

Many of the changes are a result of the £7 billion invested in the Thameslink programme in the South East, including rebuilding London Bridge station, new trains and track improvements.

GTR’s new timetable was developed from scratch and was designed to tackle existing issues by extending stop times at busier stations and increasing turnaround times at destination stations.

There will be almost 400 additional GTR trains every day.

Some passengers in a number of locations have complained that they are being served with fewer or slower services, including in Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, Kent, East Sussex and Surrey, where many people pay several thousand pounds for annual season tickets to London.

Robert Nisbet, regional director at the Rail Delivery Group, which represents the rail industry, said: “We’d like to thank customers for bearing with us as we introduce the biggest timetable change in a generation.

“In the long term these changes will see customers in many parts of the country benefit from more and faster services, better connecting communities and boosting the economy.

“Retiming over 100,000 services is a huge operational challenge.

“We’re working together to deliver the best possible service but continue to advise customers to check their train times before they travel.”