In message , at 14:11:06 on Mon, 9 May
2016, D A Stocks remarked:
There is still quite a lot of work to be completed at London Bridge
and Bermondsey before the new services can run because there isn't
capacity south of the river to run a full service north of the river
- the trains need somewhere to come from and go to. AIUI this work is
proceeding to schedule but won't be complete until 2018.

http://www.thameslinkprogramme.co.uk...ervice-changes

Is it still "early 2016" (perhaps May 15th is, officially)?

"The first new trains start to run on the Thameslink route from
early 2016."

There are a fair number of trains sitting in the sidings at Three
Bridges, and they sometimes venture out on to the main line.

In passenger service?

I doubt it. I think part of the problem is that there is nothing in
common between the existing and new fleets in terms of maintenance and
depot locations, so doing a 'new train for old' substition might not be
as trivial an exercise as one would wish. The current timetable has a
Three Bridges to Bedford stopping service so this might provide an
opportunity. There may also be an argument for waiting until the route
is available so that they can test and commission ATO through the core
before putting the trains into service.

All those issues should have been known about years ago, well before the
current promises to start the new trains from whenever "early 2016"
expires.

--
Roland Perry