On May 31, 1:33*pm, Mr Thant
wrote:
On 31 May, 13:02, "Andrew Heenan" wrote:

Thameslink already has two quite separate services, the metro (via the
Sutton Loop), and the Bedford to Brighton. It would make perfect sense for
LOROL to control the metro service, but not the long distance.

Except late at night when the trains run all stops Bedford - St P, and
during the peaks when the service patterns get complicated. They also
share stock and depots and drivers. It would take a major
reorganisation to try to run the metro service as a separate
operation.


But isn't the eventual plan that the suburban services will gain new 8
car trains, whilst the longer distance services will gain 12 car
trains. This will lead to a separation in the rolling stock at least.
The question is surely whether the service has to be completely
separate or whether the suburban section can be specified by TfL as a
signatory to the franchise, with a suitable arrangement of fare
allocations.

The FCC GN side has a much clearer separation between inner and outer
services, with separate stock and termini, and to a large extent,
separate tracks. Few if any inner trains run north of Welwyn/Stevenage
(via Hertford), for example.


There are a few inner suburban trains that run to / from Letchworth
during the peaks. The situation will be more complex when 'Thameslink'
services are expanded onto the ECML at the end of the rebuild
schemes.