Thameslink reliability and resilience

Future South Eastern services will not be concentrated into single London termini, after consultees rejected the Department for Transport’s suggestion. Trains currently run into St Pancras via HS1 as well as Victoria, Charing Cross and Cannon Street.

However, the DfT does want the three bidders for the eightyear franchise to make changes to services to accommodate new Thameslink services, and to deliver a more reliable, resilient service with more capacity for passengers.

Rail Minister Paul Maynard added: “South Eastern will also, for the first time, be run by a joint team from the operator and Network Rail under a single director - responsible for day-to day performance and accountable to passengers.”

DfT expects new timetables to reduce operational conflicts at Lewisham, and to double services from Victoria to Lewisham to four trains an hour all day. It also expects faster services between London, Tonbridge, Bexhill and Hastings, and four trains per hour between Tonbridge and Ashford, which DfT says broadly restores the service to that before HS1 opened.

It has dropped plans to run hourly faster trains by not calling at quieter stations, in the face of opposition from those who responded to the consultation in the future South Eastern franchise.

Passengers on the new franchise, which starts in April 2019, will be able to claim compensation for delays over 15 minutes, compared with 30 minutes today. First Class seating will disappear from September 2020, the DfT says.

The three bidders are Stagecoach, Go-Ahead/Keolis and Abellio/East Japan Railway Company/Mitsui. Deadline to submit bids is March 14 2019.