Thameslink excluded from the TFL map

Crossrail will, of course, be proudly displayed on the London Underground map when it opens, adding a rather pleasant deep mauve colour to the existing array.

Not so Thameslink, it seems. This is a National Rail rather than a Transport for London project, although just as with Crossrail it will act as a way of relieving sections of the Tube. In particular, the key section running from St Pancras, Farringdon, City Thameslink and Blackfriars will be run at metro-type frequencies of, eventually, 24 trains per hour. With the expansion in the number of stations it serves, Thameslink will also enable a wide range of journeys to be made on its trains, which currently might at the moment best be made partly by Tube.

Yet, as my colleague Barry Doe has pointed out ( RAIL 835), TfL has so far adamantly refused to put even part of the Thameslink line on the London Underground map. TfL argues that this is because it does not own the services, but this is pure cant. The real reason is that cash-strapped TfL could lose revenue to Thameslink’s privatised operator if people use it instead of the Underground.

As Barry has said, in the past Thameslink has been on the map. Indeed, the north London line was shown long before it actually became part of London Overground, so that excuse does not wash.

This is just the sort of daft decision which discredits the railway system - a crazy barrier to integrated travel. It’s time that the Rail Delivery Group put pressure on TfL to ensure that when Crossrail comes into service, the relevant Thameslink services and connections are also put on the map.