On 11 Apr, 10:22, Mwmbwls wrote:

http://www.transportbriefing.co.uk/story.php?id=4878

(quoted text snipped)

With the transfer of the Thameslink Sutton Loop services to other
south eastern destinations - and their termination at Blackfriars will
these service continue to be part of the Thameslink franchise or would
they be better integrated into a southern franchise or even possibly
LOROL. Would a connection to the ELL be of advantage?


Dare I suggest that the precise question of which franchisee actually
runs these services is of less interest to a whole host of other
issues, though I would thing it would be logical that the Sutton Loop
should be grouped together with the rest of the 'South London Metro'
routes rather than whoever runs the Thameslink routes.

All that said what I think is of great interest is whether the 'South
London Metro' routes are transferred over to TfL control when the
current Southern franchise expires, so they become another part of the
London Overground network. However if this were to happen I don't
necessarily think that they'd have to be run by LOROL, as TfL could
appoint another concessionaire for these routes.

Anyway the whole issue of what happens after the current Southern
franchise expires is still unclear as decisions still have to be made.
I guess one possibility is that under the new franchise one franchisee
will run all the South Central routes (both Brighton main line &
Sussex Coast etc *and* South London Metro), but the South London Metro
routes will be run along the basis of a concession agreement with TfL
- thought perhaps having a company with split responsibilities like
this would simply be too complicated to work in reality (i.e. having
to answer to two different masters).

With regards to a connection to the ELL, it's a nice idea but I think
once ELLX phase 2 is in place (linking Clapham Junction via Peckham
Rye to Canada Water and beyond) there simply won't be any spare
capacity left on the core ELL route to funnel more trains along it. If
any Sutton Loop trains were fed up to London Bridge via Peckham Rye
(as indeed a few already are at peak times) then there'd be same-
platform interchange with ELLX trains there.

No doubt there is going to be a certain amount of uproar over this
decision to terminate Sutton Loop trains at Blackfriars, just you wait
- after all people will have made decisions to buy houses and settle
near Sutton Loop stations on the basis of the existing service
pattern, and I don't think there was ever much in the public
conciousness that suggested through Thameslink services were under
threat. Of course changing at Blackfriars isn't really going to be
very hard - indeed if things work as they should the Thameslink route
through the centre of town should run smoothly and frequently. But
passengers do like their through services, which is IMO fair enough.