Thameslink, Great Northern and Southern train timetable shake-up 2018: What you need to know about the changes

Commuters are being warned to brace themselves for what has been dubbed the “biggest timetable shake-up in rail history.”

Govia Thameslink (GTR) changed the arrival and departure times of its trains on Sunday and they have told passengers to expect their trains to call at different stations.

Nearly 400 extra trains are being provided each day which the GTR promised would provide a “significant boost” to commuters.

But, the Rail, Maritime and Transport Union has warned that the changes will be “a disaster.”

Here is everything you need to know about the new time table.

Why are the timetables changing?

The shake-up is part of the operator’s RailPlan 20/20 programme and has been devised to increase the number of trains available for passengers and provide a more frequent service.

What is actually changing?

GTR said it will be running 3,600 trains across its network which includes Southern rail, Gatwick Express, Thameslink and Great Northern – this is 400 additional trains.

Departures and arrivals have been re-set across the entire GTR network.

Where do the routes operate?

Southern services run between London and the Sussex coast (Brighton, Worthing, Eastbourne, Bognor Regis, Hastings) and parts of Surrey, Kent and Hampshire (Ashford International, Southampton, Portsmouth).

Thameslink runs services between Bedford and Brighton, Luton/St Albans and Sutton, Wimbledon and Sevenoaks, while Great Northern operates between London and Welwyn, Hertford, Peterborough, Cambridge and King’s Lynn.

The Gatwick Express is a non-stop direct services between Gatwick Airport and London Victoria.

How were the changes decided?

The timetables were developed taking into account the current issues facing passengers such as short turnaround times at stations which can lead to delays and inadequate stop times which do not account for the number of people getting on and off the train.

GTR said it carried out the biggest consultation of its kind taking into account responses from 28,000 passengers over 18 months.

How will it benefit you?

GTR has promised “huge benefits” and said the new timetable will create space for an extra 50,000 morning peak-time passengers travelling into London.

It also said 80 more stations will have direct services to central London by 2019.

What could be the negative impact of the new timetable?

Train operators have already warned of some initial teething problems such as trains not running at normal times during the introductory phase of the transition.

Passengers have been told to check before they travel for changes to travel times ahead of the shake-up.

Charles Horton, GTR's chief executive, said: “We are introducing the biggest ever change to a rail timetable to significantly boost capacity on the UK’s most congested network. We don’t want passengers to get caught out and so we strongly advise them to look up the times of their trains as they will find that from 20 May each and every one of them has changed.

“Due to the sheer scale of the changes, we will have to redeploy a large number of trains and crews and services may not run at normal times during the introductory phase, although the impact on peak time services during the transition will be minimal.”

The changes to the timetable have caused a negative response from the RMT who said the new timetable could be disastrous.

RMT General Secretary Mick Cash said: “The planned new timetable on GTR will place massive additional strains on infrastructure and staffing levels that are already struggling to cope with current capacity. The company are winging it with potentially disastrous consequences. RMT has warned repeatedly about the pressure on the central core through the middle of London which is crucial to the delivery of these plans.

“It also remains a fact that this company have proved themselves unfit to run a railway since they were inflicted on a long suffering public. From attacking their own staff to axing safety-critical guards and ignoring the views of passenger and disability groups their track record is truly shocking.

“Instead of trusting them with a new timetable they should be stripped of the franchise to make way for an integrated, publicly owned operation that is properly equipped to deliver these services.”

Where can I find out more?

Passengers should check their train times at www.nationalrail.co.uk. More information is also available at www.railplan2020.com.