RAIL fares expert Barry Doe notes that Thameslink 2000 has arrived - a mere 18 years late!
FAST trains between St Pancras and East Croydon have been running via Elephant & Castle for several years while the rebuilding at London Bridge, with its associated infrastructure, was taking place.
From May 20, they resume from Blackfriars to London Bridge, using the old Charing Cross lines, now dedicated to Thameslink since the former switched to the new Borough Market lines. They will use platforms 4 & 5 at London Bridge then proceed towards East Croydon.
Within about one-and-a-half miles they cross the new Bermondsey dive-under on what are now called the ‘Down’ and ‘Up’ Sussex fast lines.
The dive-under itself contains four tracks: a Southeastern reversible line (not yet open), the ‘Down’ and ‘Up’ Southeastern main lines and the ‘Down’ Sussex slow line. For about the past month many Thameslink trains have been using this non-stop between Blackfriars and East Croydon to generally test the route and offer driver experience. However, it seems quite arbitrary as to which do this.
I’m told that when they started, if they were stopped by signals at London Bridge they didn’t release the doors, but it seems that now they make a public stop, even though it’s unadvertised at other stations. However, more recently four new trains have been running (and advertised) on Mon-Fri only, with the added bonus of using the new tunnels between St Pancras and Finsbury Park.
Two are the 0946 & 1317 PeterboroughHorsham, calling Finsbury Park 1059 & 1429 and departing London Bridge 1126 & 1457. They return 1000 & 1330 from Horsham, departing London Bridge 1129 & 1504 and arriving Finsbury Park 1152 & 1527.
The second pair are the 1124 & 1424 Cambridge-Brighton, calling Finsbury Park 1209 & 1511 and departing London Bridge 1242 & 1542. These return 1132 & 1432 from Brighton, departing London Bridge 1249 & 1534 and arriving Finsbury Park 1313 & 1557.
It is well worth travelling the Finsbury Park to East Croydon section each way to sample the new connection at St Pancras, the restored
lines between Blackfriars and London Bridge and, not least, crossing the amazing Bermondsey dive-under. Avoid a paper ticket, which is £11.70 Day Return. If you travel offpeak an Oyster single is only £3.40. The Oyster Daily Cap (Zones 1-5) is £11.60. Otherwise use an Off-Peak Day Travelcard.
When I did it I travelled from Waterloo East to London Bridge to join the 1129 to Finsbury Park, having already used the Bermondsey flyover. The fare should have been £1.60 (with railcard added to my Oyster). On exit I was charged £2.60.
So, did this mean everyone who tries this axis is being charged £1 too much with a railcard (£1.50 without)? I checked with the highly-knowledgeable Mike Whitaker, who runs the excellent Oyster website ( www.oysterrail.org.uk) and he told me that’s because there is as yet no fare for that journey, so it defaults to a higher rate.
The reason is that, of course, the only previous way from Waterloo East to Finsbury Park (National Rail) was by using the tube at some stage to reach King’s Cross. Put simply, Transport for London (TfL) hasn’t got its act together in time.
I went to colleagues at the Rail Delivery Group (RDG), as clearly this needs sorting if thousands of users aren’t going to be overcharged. They told me new fares have to be formally agreed between TfL, operators and the RDG ‘London Scheme’. It seems it was planned to implement them with the new timetable in May but, with the new services having started ‘early,’ the relevant team is looking at it urgently.
Some fares are correct, such as the £3.40 for East Croydon to Finsbury Park, which would be £4.90 if you used the Tube to King’s Cross. But others are not yet done - note it doesn’t affect a Daily Cap.
The cynic in me can’t help pondering if this is ‘Thameslink 2000’– a mere 18 years late, yet TfL is still taken by surprise!