Great route, could be much better (ThamesLink)

Member Name: freuders

Product:	ThamesLink
Date:	23/07/02 (160 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Useful routes, Only cross-rail link in London, Connects Gatwick and Luton airports

Disadvantages: Capacity too low, Poor stations, Trains starting to show age

The Thameslink routes are the closest London has to a modern, cross-rail and high-speed metropolitan railway. But it still suffers from many of the ills found in the rest of the old British Rail system.

Unlike every other mainline service in London, the Thameslink does not terminate at the edge of the centre and force you to use the crammed Underground or slow buses. Instead, it starts in Brighton, or Wimbledon, goes right through London, emerges the other side and carries on all the way to Bedford or Luton.

The advantages of this are that you get delivered to your central destination directly, without the need to change to a different mode of transport, and you can travel directly between Gatwick and Luton airports.

Now comes the flip side - like so much else that's good in the UK, it could be so much better and probably would be had it been developed in one of many other countries.

Firstly, the capacity of the line is much too low. The fact the line goes through London is due to the reopening of a Victorian tunnel in the 80s, adjacent to Farringdon Road, which allowed the networks north of St Pancras and South of Blackfriars to be joined. Unfortunately, the tunnel has only two lines and the stations at Farringdon and Kings Cross Thameslink are much too small and have inadequate facilities to cope with a cross-rail route. Platforms are too short, meaning that only 8-cars trains can run on the line, and concourse space is almost non-existent.

The trains are adequate. They are roomy enough - I've read that they are the widest trains to operate in the UK - but quickly become cramped due to the high demand for services. Doors are positioned only towards the middle of the carriages leading me to get trapped on a couple of occasions and unable to leave the train at my stop. The carriages are not air conditioned and though conditions in summer are not as bad as on the sweltering Tube, they would be eased a great deal b
y air conditioning.

Expansions and improvements to the Thameslink network are promised, but behind schedule. The updgrade programme, called 'Thameslink 2000', has yet to commence. Ultimately, many more services and longer trains will operate, and there will be a link to the East Coast Mainline, allowing trains to run to Peterborough for the first time.

When exactly improvements are going to be started and completed, no one is daring to predict. Until then, those lucky enough to live on the Thameslink will continue to have access to a service that's unique in providing cross-rail services, but, frustratingly, fails to be outstanding.

Summary: