Train times change on Thameslink and Great Northern for winter timetable

Services will change with extra trains on some routes of Great Northern and Thameslink (north of London) from Sunday 12 December 2021 as Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) introduces its winter 2021/2022 timetable.

However, engineering work during the Christmas and New Year festive period will also see extensive changes (see editor’s notes) and, with Covid-19 continuing to affect operations with temporary reductions in some places, passengers are urged to always check before they travel.

On weekdays on Great Northern (see editor’s notes), there will be an extra morning and evening service between Peterborough and King’s Cross via Huntingdon, St Neots, Biggleswade and Stevenage. Stopping services between King’s Cross and Letchworth/Royston will now run through to Cambridge, providing two trains per hour at Meldreth, Shepreth and Foxton throughout the day. There will also be some extra morning and afternoon services to and from Moorgate.

On Thameslink (see editor’s notes), north of London, there will be extra semi-fast services for Luton, Luton Airport Parkway, Harpenden, St Albans City, Radlett, Elstree & Borehamwood, Mill Hill Broadway and West Hampstead Thameslink with an additional two departures per hour during busy times.

However, for the first two weeks of the timetable, from 13 December, the weekday stopping service that links St Albans with Sutton will reduce from four trains every hour to two. This will mean St Albans will temporarily have eight trains to London per hour, rather than 10.

Thameslink and Great Northern Managing Director Tom Moran said: “We’re changing our train times this December to provide some additional services for passengers. However, with the impact of Covid-19 still being felt and extensive engineering work this Christmas, there will be some temporary additional alterations in places to ensure planned services are as reliable as possible.

“We advise our customers, including those travelling to see friends and family over the festive period, to check before leaving home using live travel updates on our websites and at National Rail Enquiries where they can also sign-up for alerts.”

Passengers are also reminded that, from today, they must wear face coverings across the railway unless exempt.

ENDS

Notes to editors

Extra services on Great Northern

Peterborough to King’s Cross via Huntingdon, St Neots, Biggleswade and Stevenage 

Great Northern services to King’s Cross will increase to provide four AM departures from Peterborough (03:24: 06:05: 07:04: 08:03) and three PM departures from King’s Cross (17:12: 18:12: 19:18), retimed to provide an hourly frequency. Thameslink services towards St Pancras International will continue to run on a half-hourly basis in addition to these services.  

King's Cross to Cambridge - stopping services

All stopping services from King's Cross to Letchworth / Royston will now run through to Cambridge, providing two trains per hour at Meldreth, Shepreth and Foxton throughout the day.

Welwyn Garden City / Hertford North to Moorgate

One additional morning service from Moorgate to Welwyn Garden City will run, departing at 09:17

One additional morning service from Moorgate to Hertford North will run, departing at 09:25

Two additional afternoon services from Welwyn Garden City to Moorgate will run, departing at 16:10 and 16:40.

Services on north Thameslink

Luton to St Pancras International / London Blackfriars (Orpington to Luton)

Semi-fast services will increase at Luton, Luton Airport Parkway, Harpenden, St Albans City, Radlett, Elstree & Borehamwood, Mill Hill Broadway and West Hampstead Thameslink with an additional two departures per hour during busy times.

Mondays to Fridays, 13-24 December 2021 St Albans City to Sutton via St Pancras International – The current four trains per hour service on this route will reduce to two trains per hour in each direction. One train per hour will travel via Wimbledon and one via Hackbridge. Services will continue to be affected after this date until 3 January due to engineering work at Kentish Town (see below). These services will be updated in online journey planners such as www.nationalrail.co.uk on 6 December for the period 12-18 December and on 13 December for the period 19-24 December.

Engineering work across Great Northern and the north Thameslink route

Saturday 11 December and Sunday 12 December

• Line closure between Cambridge and Cambridge North – Changes to services between Cambridge and London, and between Cambridge North and King’s Lynn
• Central London – No cross-London Thameslink service on Sunday 12 December

Saturday 18 December – Sunday 19 December 2021

• Midland Main Line and Brighton Main Line – Reduced Thameslink services between Bedford and Brighton

Christmas Eve, Friday 24 December

• Trains will finish running earlier than normal on all routes with last trains departing central London from around 20:00

Christmas Day, Saturday 25 December 2021 – No service

Boxing Day, Sunday 26 December 2021 – No service

Monday 27 – Tuesday 28 December 2021

• Finsbury Park to Moorgate – No train service because of East Coast Digital Programme engineering work

Monday 27 December – Monday 3 January 2022

• Reduced and amended Thameslink service between St Albans/Luton and Sutton because of engineering works in the Kentish Town area

Please note this list is not exhaustive and does not include weekday late night engineering work. Passengers should check every journey at www.nationalrail.co.uk